Editing Cumae (section)

===Oscan and Roman Cumae===
[[File:Cumae Cave of the Sibyl AvL.JPG|thumb|Entrance to the Cave of the Sibyl]]
[[File:Cumae Temple of Jupiter back AvL.JPG|thumb|The Temple of [[Zeus]] at Cumae was converted into a paleochristian [[basilica]]. The [[baptismal font]] can still be seen in the back of the building.]]
[[File:Grotta di Cocceio - uscita via Arco Felice Vecchio (2018) 02.jpg|thumb|[[Grotta di Cocceio]]]]

The Greek period at Cumae came to an end in 421&nbsp;BC, when the [[Oscans]] allied to the Samnites broke down the walls and took the city, ravaging the countryside.<ref>Livy, iv.44</ref><ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], xii. 76.</ref> Some survivors fled to Neapolis.

The walls on the acropolis were rebuilt from 343 BCE. Cumae came under Roman rule with [[Capua]] and in 338 BCE was granted partial citizenship, a ''[[civitas|civitas sine suffragio]]''. In the [[Second Punic War]], in spite of temptations to revolt from Roman authority,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/10907/10907-h/10907-h.htm|title=The Project Gutenberg eBook of The History of Rome; Books Nine to Twenty-Six, by Titus Livius|website=www.gutenberg.org}}</ref> Cumae withstood [[Hannibal]]'s siege, under the leadership of [[Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus (consul 215 and 213 BC)|Tib. Sempronius Gracchus]].<ref>Livy, xxiii.35-37.</ref>

The city prospered in the Roman period from the 1st c. BCE along with all the cities of Campania and especially the bay of Naples as it became a desirable area for wealthy Romans who built large villas along the coast. The "central baths" and the amphitheatre are built.

During the civil wars Cumae was one of the strongholds that [[Octavian]] used to defend against [[Sextus Pompey]]. Under [[Augustus]] extensive public building works and roads were begun and in or near Cumae several road tunnels were dug: one through the Monte di Cumae linking the forum with the port, the [[Grotta di Cocceio]] 1&nbsp;km long to [[Lake Avernus]] and a third, the "Crypta Romana", 180m long between Lake Lucrino and Lake Averno. The temples of Apollo and Demeter were restored.

The proximity to [[Puteoli]], the commercial port of Rome and to [[Misenum]], the naval fleet base, also helped the region to prosper.

Another very important innovation was the construction of the great Serino aqueduct, the [[Aqua Augusta (Naples)|Aqua Augusta]] supplying many of the cities in the area from about 20 BC. [[Domitian]]'s [[via Domitiana]] provided an important highway to the [[via Appia]] and thence to Rome from 95 AD.

The early presence of Christianity in Cumae is shown by the 2nd-century AD work ''[[The Shepherd of Hermas]]'', in which the author tells of a vision of a woman, identified with the church, who entrusts him with a text to read to the presbyters of the community in Cuma. At the end of the 4th century, the temple of Zeus at Cumae was transformed into a Christian basilica.

The first historically documented bishop of Cumae was Adeodatus, a member of a synod convoked by [[Pope Hilarius]] in Rome in 465. Another was Misenus, who was one of the two legates that [[Pope Felix III]] sent to [[Constantinople]] and who were imprisoned and forced to receive [[Eucharist|Communion]] with [[Patriarch Acacius of Constantinople]] in a celebration of the [[Divine Liturgy]] in which [[Peter Mongus]] and other Miaphysites were named in the [[diptych#Ecclesiastical|diptychs]], an event that led to the [[Acacian Schism]]. Misenus was excommunicated on his return but was later rehabilitated and took part as bishop of Cumae in two synods of [[Pope Symmachus]]. [[Pope Gregory the Great]] entrusted the administration of the diocese of Cumae to the bishop of [[Misenum]]. Later, both Misenum and Cumae ceased to be residential [[episcopal see|sees]] and the territory of Cumae became part of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Aversa|diocese of Aversa]] after the destruction of Cumae in 1207.<ref>Camillo Minieri Riccio, [https://books.google.com/books?id=DpxSAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA37 ''Cenni storici sulla distrutta città di Cuma''], Napoli 1846, pp.&nbsp;37–38</ref><ref>Giuseppe Cappelletti, [https://books.google.com/books?id=JdUCAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA526 ''Le Chiese d'Italia dalla loro origine sino ai nostri giorni''], vol. XIX, Venezia 1864, pp.&nbsp;526–535</ref><ref>Francesco Lanzoni, ''[https://archive.org/stream/MN5017ucmf_0#page/n227/mode/2up Le diocesi d'Italia dalle origini al principio del secolo VII (an. 604)]'', vol. I, Faenza 1927, pp.&nbsp;206–210</ref> Accordingly, Cumae is today listed by the [[Catholic Church]] as a [[titular see]].<ref>''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 {{ISBN|978-88-209-9070-1}}), p. 877</ref>

Under Roman rule, so-called "quiet Cumae"<ref>Juvenal, Satire III</ref> was peaceful until the disasters of the [[Gothic War (535–554)|Gothic Wars]] (535–554), when it was repeatedly attacked, as the only fortified city in Campania aside from Neapolis: [[Belisarius]] took it in 536, [[Totila]] held it, and when [[Narses]] gained possession of Cumae, he found he had won the whole treasury of the Goths.