CUMA. - Testimonies of an ancient Christian community at C. are found in two pagan temples erected in the Greek period, rebuilt in the Roman-Augustan age, and transformed into churches in the 5th century or at the latest at the beginning of the 6th.
The first is the one called that of Apollo (34 x 23 meters) on the lower terrace of the acropolis, brought to light again in 1912, whose basilical plan, perhaps divided into three naves, was occupied by more than 90 early Christian trench graves; the other is that of Jupiter on the upper terrace of the citadel, excavated between 1926 and 1930. Its transformation into a Christian basilica (39.60 x 24.60 meters), divided into five naves with the addition of brick pillars, meant that the presbytery, which replaced the cella of the Augustan temple, came to be situated almost at the center of the building. Also very characteristic is the position of the baptistery in the central nave behind the presbytery: the circular basin, revetted inside and out with marbles, was covered by a tugurium supported by at least 6 small columns, of which remains have been found. In the temple an inscription has been discovered attesting the cult of the relics of the martyr St. Maximus, whom legend has die in Apamea and then be transferred to C. by a certain Juliana. A hagiographic document, known to Bede (v.) and therefore earlier than the 8th century, speaks of a martyr Juliana of Nicomedia whose body, like that of St. Maximus, would have been transferred to C.: it is perhaps the same Juliana for whom St. Gregory (Registrum, IX, 180-81) requested sanctuaries from Bishop Fortunatus of Naples in order to consecrate an oratory.
According to the mention in certain Acts of martyrs, it would have been an episcopal see in the 4th century; the names of some bishops of the 5th century are known to us, thus for example it is known that a bishop by the name of Adeodatus took part in 465 in a synod held in Rome (cf. P. F. Kehr, Regesta pontificum Romanorum, Italia Pontificia, VIII, Berlin 1935, pp. 469-71).