Cumae

American  

[kyoo-mee] / ˈkyu mi /

noun

1. an ancient city in SW Italy, on the coast of Campania: believed to be the earliest Greek colony in Italy or in Sicily.

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Cumae British  

/ ˈkjuːmiː /

noun

1. the oldest Greek colony in Italy, founded about 750 _bc near Naples

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Other Word Forms

• Cumaean adjective

Example Sentences

If the eruption had taken place in late October, many more would have been saved by attending the weekly market at Cumae, which lay still farther from the danger zone.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026

Puteoli and Cumae proved to be popular destinations among those who survived the eruption.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026

At Cumae, a huge shell was found in the Sibyl's grotto, which the discoverers told themselves was the amplifier through which the Sibyl had broadcast her prophecies.

From Time Magazine Archive

For there was no stronghold in Campania except those at Cumae and at Naples.

From Procopius History of the Wars, Books V. and VI. by Dewing, H. B.

The wool of the Phrygian uplands, woven in the looms of Miletus, reached the Etruscan markets by way of Sybaris; through Cumae, Rome and the rest of Latium obtained the elements of Greek culture.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 4 "Grasshopper" to "Greek Language" by Various