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The appearance of inhabitants

Contrarily to what could be imagined, because of the instable nature of this territory, very remote traces of the human presence date back to the III millennium B.C..

In fact in Ischia, where it stands out the imposing top of the ancient mount Epomeo, they were found ruins of Neolithic age. But this famous isle is not the only locality in which they were discovered remote traces of the human presence.

In Cumae, another starting point for the development of the Phlegraean civilization, during the excavations effected by the Earl of Syracuse in 1852 and the ones led by Stevens in 1878, they were recovered in very ancient tombs furnishings, kitchenware and many other ruins pertaining to the funeral rite which, according to the scholars, were part of those typical customs of the indigenous people of the Mediterranean.

This would demonstrate the existence of a pre-Hellenic civilization which located Cumae beside those cities of Campania such as Capua or Nola which, without any external influence coming from other peoples, had their own development.

But it is difficult if not even impossible to establish exactly to which race of the Mediterranean peoples they actually belonged ...

The most diffuse theory is the one according to which to the original Mediterranean population, they succeeded the Osci, the most ancient proto-historic people of Campania, who occupied the whole region.

This which seems to be the realest hypothesis is supported by Strabone's witness, who claimed that the peoples of Calcide, before they settled in Cumae, drove the Osci out. ...

According to other scholars, to the ancient and original population they succeeded the Cimmeri, who lived in caves and preferred to create underground links to the normal ones which were at the open sky.

This would be confirmed not only by the many corridors found in Cumae, many of them perfected and enlarged in the following ages; this tradition would be continued by the different civilizations which settled in this territory. ...

In conclusion, what appears to be evident is that, before any possible influence, in Cumae as in Ischia, there was an indigenous people with their own usages and customs, on which they superimposed during the centuries the ones of other civilizations, a theory which gains the consecration of certainty, especially thanks to the archaeological recoveries.

Gianni PICONE "From Posillipo to Cumae"

... According to Strabone, the foundation of Cumae is to be attributed to the people of Calcide and to the one of Cumae of Asia. Doing so, he raises it to a more ancient city and colony of Italy.

The expedition, according to his narration, was led by Ippocle of Cumae and Megastene of Calcide, assisted during their voyage, propitiated for divine will, by a dove during the day, by the sound of a bronze harpsichord at night, which guided them along the route traced by Apollo. Successively, from this first settlement, they left the people who went and built up Palepoli.

On the contrary, according to more recent theories, the real settlers were the peoples coming from Cumae of Asia who, before landing on the Phlegraean shores, stayed in Calcide of Euboea, where they supplied themselves with victuals and men, largely enriching their formations with the people living there. ...

Anyway, what is for sure is that before the colonists landed in Cumae, they stayed in the islands Pithecusa (Ischia) and Prochyta (Procida) and that the new city raised over pre-existing settlements.

In the VII and in the VI century B.C., the rule of the city was extended almost to the whole peninsula of Cumae, as far as Pozzuoli, so becoming a real trading power in strong ascent.

In 528 B.C., according to the most qualified witnesses supported especially by Herodotus, some of the citizens of Samos, famous isle of the Aegean Sea, rebelled against the tyrannical laws of Polycrates, and emigrated to the Phlegraean region.

They were warmly welcomed by the people of Cumae, as it was its interest to enlarge the amount of the taxpayers and to create a new defensive fortress, to be placed side by side to the one of Miseno. So the people from Samos established themselves on the rock of Pozzuoli, natural and inaccessible promontory which dominated the whole gulf, giving to the place the name Dicearchia, that is right empire.

Gianni PICONE "From Posillipo to Cumae"