Submitted for award of PhD September 2006. - King's College London

It is difficult to know where exactly the border between the lands of Cumae
and Capua lay after the arrival of the Samnites. It is likely, as Frederiksen suggested,
that after its foundation Cumae dominated most of the Campanian plain between the
rivers Sebethus and Clanius. 515 The foundation of Naples in the second half of the
fifth century BC and the development of Capua must have diminished the extent of
the Cumaean territory (see maps III and IV). The sanctuary of Hamae, three miles
from Cumae may have been positioned on the border with Capua, because the
sanctuary was under their joint control 516 The foundation of Literrum in 194 BC
also limited the extent of Cumaean territory to the north, where the sand dunes on
which a forest of scrub trees grew, referred to by Strabo as the silva gallinaria,
certainly belonged to Capua together with the plain of Licola. Cumae also controlled
the areas of lakes Avernus, Lucrinus and Fusarus, the hilly lands of Mount Gaurus
and probably also the Campi Phlegrei, although following the foundation of
Dicaearchia by refugees from Samos, these lands probably became the object of
dispute. The port of Misenum and the town of Baiae were under Cumaean control for
most of the fourth and third centuries BC. 517
It is not unlikely that these towns were
also conquered by the Samnites at the same time as Cumae.
The coastline of Cumae has changed considerably since antiquity. The
acropolis was probably surrounded by the sea on three sides. The area had plenty of
water with extensive lagoons and marshlands to the south and to the north of the city,
and was dotted with lakes. Paget has argued that pre-Samnite Cumae had two
sheltered harbours to accommodate at least part of its fleet. 518 The port declined after
the Samnite invasion whether as the result of natural causes, such as the shifting of
515
Frederiksen (1984) map H.
516
Livy 23.35. See also charter 3.2.4.
517
Livy 24.13.6 mentions that Hannibal devastated
the lands of Cumae as far as the promontory of
Misenum, which might suggest that the whole peninsula was under Cumaean control.
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