Strabo Geography 5.4.4

[4] The maritime cities [of Campania], after Sinuessa, are Liternum, ¹ where is the sepulchral monument of the first of the two Scipios, surnamed Africanus; it was here that he passed the last days of his life, having abandoned public affairs in disgust at the intrigues of certain opponents. A river of the same name ² flows by this city. In like manner the Vulturnus bears the same name as the city ³ founded on it, which comes next in order: this river flows through Venafrum ⁴ and the midst of Campania. After these [cities] comes Cumae, ⁵ the most ancient settlement ⁶ of the Chalcidenses and Cumaeans, for it is the oldest of all [the Greek cities] in Sicily or Italy. The leaders of the expedition, Hippocles the Cumaean and Megasthenes of Chalcis, having mutually agreed that one of the nations should have the management of the colony, and the other the honour of conferring upon it its own name. Hence at the present day it is named Cumae, while at the same time it is said to have been founded by the Chalcidenses. At first this city was highly prosperous, as well as the Phlegraean ⁷ plain, which mythology has made the scene of the adventures of the giants, for no other reason, as it appears, than because the fertility of the country had given rise to battles for its possession. Afterwards, however, the Campanians becoming masters ⁸ of the city, inflicted much injustice on the inhabitants, and even violated their wives. Still, however, there remain numerous traces of the Grecian taste, their temples, and their laws. Some are of opinion that Cumae was so called from τὰ κύματα, the waves, the sea-coast near it being rocky and exposed. These people have excellent fisheries. On the shores of this gulf there is a scrubby forest, extending over numerous acres of parched and sandy land. This they call the Gallinarian ⁹ wood. It was there that the admirals of Sextus Pompeius assembled their gangs of pirates, at the time when he drew Sicily into revolt. ¹⁰