Ancient ruins of Cumae

Location of the province of Naples

Cumae (Italian: Cuma; Ancient Greek: Κύμη Kymē or Κύμαι Kymai or Κύμα Kyma^[1]) is an ancient Greek settlement lying to the northwest of Naples in the Italian region of Campania. Cumae was the first Greek colony on the mainland of Italy (Magna Graecia), and the seat of the Cumaean Sibyl. It was the Cumaean alphabet that was adopted in Italy, first by the Etruscans (800 - 100 BC) and then by the Romans (300 - 100 BC), thus becoming the Latin alphabet, the world's most widely used phonemic script. The Cumaean alphabet was also used throughout the Greek island of Euboea.

Today Cuma - Fusaro is a frazione of the comune of Bacoli.

Early history[link]

The settlement, in a location that was already occupied, is believed to have been founded in the 8th century BC^[2] by Euboean Greeks, originally from the cities of Eretria and Chalcis in Euboea, who were already established at Pithecusae (modern Ischia); they were led by the paired oecists (colonizers) Megasthenes of Chalcis and Hippocles of Cyme.^[3]

The Greeks were planted upon the earlier dwellings of indigenous, Iron-Age peoples whom they supplanted; a memory of them was preserved as cave-dwellers named Cimmerians, among whom there was already an oracular tradition.^[4] Its name refers to the peninsula of Cyme in Euboea. The colony was also the entry point in the Italian peninsula for the Euboean alphabet, the local variant of the Greek alphabet used by its colonists, a variant of which was adapted by the Romans and became the Latin alphabet still used worldwide today.

Cumae was a direct offshoot of an earlier colony on the nearby island of Ischia, Pithecusae,^[5] founded by colonists from the Euboean cities of Eretria and of Chalcis (Χαλκίς), which was accounted its mother-city by agreement among the first settlers.^[6]

The colony thrived. By the eighth century it was strong enough to send Perieres and a group with him, who were among the founders of Zancle in Sicily, and another band had returned to found Triteia in Achaea, Pausanias was told.^[7] It spread its influence throughout the area over the seventh and sixth centuries BC, gaining sway over Puteoli and Misenum and, thereafter, founding Neapolis in 470 BC. All these facts were recalled long afterwards; Cumae's first brief contemporary mention in written history is in Thucydides.

The growing power of the Cumaean Greeks led many indigenous tribes of the region to organize against them, notably the Dauni and Aurunci with the leadership of the Capuan Etruscans. This coalition was defeated by the Cumaeans in 524 BC under the direction of Aristodemus, called Malacus, a successful man of the people who overthrew the aristocratic faction, became a tyrant himself, and was assassinated.^[8]

Contact between the Romans and the Cumaeans is recorded during the reign of Aristodemus. Livy states that immediately prior to the war between Rome and Clusium, the Roman senate sent agents to Cumae to purchase grain in anticipation of a siege of Rome. ^[9] Also Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the last legendary King of Rome, lived his life in exile with Aristodemus at Cumae after the establishment of the Roman Republic.^[10]

Also during the reign of Aristodemus, the Cumaean army assisted the Latin city of Aricia to defeat the Etruscan forces of Clusium.

The combined fleets of Cumae and Syracuse defeated the Etruscans at the Battle of Cumae in 474 BC.

Oscan and Roman Cumae[link]

The Temple of Zeus at Cumae was converted into a paleochristian basilica

Entrance to the Cave of the Sibyl

The Greek period at Cumae came to an end in 421 BC, when the Oscans broke down the walls and took the city, ravaging the countryside. Some survivors fled to Neapolis.^[11] Cumae came under Roman rule with Capua and in 338 was granted partial citizenship, a civitas sine suffragio. In the Second Punic War, in spite of temptations to revolt from Roman authority,^[12] Cumae withstood Hannibal's siege, under the leadership of Tib. Sempronius Gracchus.^[13]

Under Roman rule "quiet Cumae" slumbered until the disasters of the Gothic Wars, 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. In 1207, forces from Naples, acting for the boy-King of Sicily, destroyed the city and its walls, as the stronghold of a nest of bandits.

The Sibyl of Cumae[link]

Cumae is perhaps most famous as the seat of the Cumaean Sibyl. Her sanctuary is now open to the public.

In Roman mythology, there is an entrance to the underworld located at Avernus, a crater lake near Cumae, and was the route Aeneas used to descend to the Underworld.

The Temple of Zeus at Cumae was transformed into a Christian basilica at the end of the fourth century. At Cumae was set a widely influential Christian work of the second century, The Shepherd of Hermas said by its author to have been inspired by way of visions.

The colony was built on a large rise, the seaward side of which was used as a bunker and gun emplacement by the Germans during World War II.

Notes and references[link]

See also[link]

• Aristodemus of Cumae
• Battle of Cumae
• Cumaean Sibyl
• Grotta di Cocceio

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cumae

Coordinates: 40°50′55″N 14°03′13″E / 40.84861°N 14.05361°E / 40.84861; 14.05361

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (June 2011)

This article appears to contradict another article. Please see discussion on the linked talk page. Please do not remove this message until the contradictions are resolved. (August 2010)

Guadalupe Rivera Saavedra (born January 30, 1972) in La Barca, Jalisco, Mexico, is a Mexican regional singer.^[1][2]

Early Life[link]

As a youngster, Lupillo, his sister Jenni Rivera and the rest of the Rivera family moved to Long Beach California, where Lupillo graduated from Long Beach Polytechnic High School in 1990.

Career[link]

Rivera wanted to be a restaurant owner. His father Pedro Rivera, however, was a recording label/studio owner(Cintas Acuario) . Wanting to give his son a hands-on business experience, Mr. Rivera hired his son Lupillo to work at the studio when a contracted singer failed to show up for a recording session. Lupillo was given the task of looking for local talent at bars, with the idea that some of that talent could be signed by his father's company. When Lupillo first started singing he was called "El Torito" Lupillo Rivera.Later when becoming more famous he was known as "El Toro del Corrido. Lupillo's uncle was a semi-famous professional boxer, known as El Toro Rivera to Mexican boxing fans. By 1999, Lupillo began to sing using his own name[Lupillo]. By then, he had already signed with Sony Discos. His star began to rise meteorically at that point. In 2001, he was awarded a Premios lo Nuestro.

Personal Life[link]

In Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, while he was driving to a concert location, his SUV flipped over. He required hospitalization. Months later, Adán Sánchez, a years-long friend who had grown to admire and become like a little brother to Lupillo, died at the age of nineteen in another car accident, leaving Lupillo Rivera devastated. In 2004, a Marine who died in Iraq had requested for Lupillo to sing at his funeral should he die, and Lupillo complied with the request, leaving one of his famous sombreros on the Marine's burial casket during the funeral. On December 11, 2006, after leaving a restaurant around 1 am in Guadalajara, Jalisco, his SUV was shot 7 times. It is not known if the shooting was an attempted murder, kidnapping or just robbery. Lupillo's brother Pedro Rivera Jr. is a Spanish language Christian singer and ordained pastor of the Southern Baptist Church.the name of the church is Primer Amor located in Whittier, CA. it is a Spanish speaking service. On August 8, 2008 he had a son.

Discography[link]

• Selena La Estrella 1995
• El Moreno 1999
• Puro Corridos Macizo 1999
• El Toro De Corridos 2000
• El Señor de los Cielos 2001
• Y Sique La Vendimia 2001
• Gabino Barrera-Cartel De Tijuana 2001
• Viente Mujeres 2001
• Despreciado 2001
• Sufriendo A Solas 2001
• Amorcito Corazon 2002
• Los Hemanos Mas Bucados 2002
• De Bohemia Con Lupillo Rivera 2003
• Con Mis Propias Manos 2004
• Pa Corridos 2004
• El Rey De Las Cantinas 2005
• Entre Copas Y Botellas 2006
• Mi Homenaje A Pedro Infante 2007
• Desde Una Fiesta Privada 2007
• En Acustico 2008
• Tiro De Gracia 2008
• Esclavo Y Amo 2009
• 24 Horas 2010

Personal life[link]

On June 21 Lupillo Rivera and his two young children appeared on the Spanish talk-show, Cristina, and he told Cristina that he has 7 children. Six of them biologically his and one that he has accepted as his own.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Lupillo Rivera Myspace Page