Battle of Cumae
The Battle of Cumae was a naval battle in 474 BCE between the combined navies of Syracuse and Cumae against the Etruscans.[1]
| Battle of Cumae | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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Syracuse, Sicily Cumae | Etruscans | ||||||||
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| Hiero I of Syracuse | Etruscan kings | ||||||||
The Greek city of Cumae was founded in 8th century BCE in an area towards the southern Etruscan border. By 504 the southern Etruscans were defeated by the Cumaeans, but they still maintained a powerful force. In 474 they were able to raise a fleet to launch a direct attack on Cumae.[2]
After he was called on for military assistance, Hiero I of Syracuse allied with naval forces from the maritime Greek cities of southern Italy to defend against Etruscan expansion into southern Italy. In 474, they met and defeated the Etruscan fleet at Cumae in the Bay of Naples.[3] After their defeat, the Etruscans lost much of their political influence in Italy. They lost control of the sea and their territories were eventually taken over by the Romans, Samnites, and Gauls. The Syracusans dedicated a captured Etruscan helmet at the great panhellenic sanctuary at Olympia, a piece of armour found in the German excavations there. The Etruscans would later join the failed Athenian expedition against Syracuse in 415 BC, which contributed even further to their decline.
The battle was later honored in Pindar's first Pythian Ode.[2][4][5]
References
- Larissa Bonfante (1986). Etruscan Life and Afterlife: A Handbook of Etruscan Studies. Wayne State University Press. pp. 75–. ISBN 0-8143-1813-4.
- http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_cumae_474.html
- Lee L. Brice (21 April 2014). Warfare in the Roman Republic: From the Etruscan Wars to the Battle of Actium: From the Etruscan Wars to the Battle of Actium. ABC-CLIO. pp. 277–. ISBN 978-1-61069-299-1.
- The Cambridge Ancient History. Cambridge University Press. 1923. pp. 152–. ISBN 978-0-521-23347-7.
- Andrew J. Turner; K. O. Chong-Gossard; Frederik Juliaan Vervaet (2010). Private and Public Lies: The Discourse of Despotism and Deceit in the Graeco-Roman World. BRILL. pp. 55–. ISBN 90-04-18775-8.
