CIMMERII, anciently a people near the Palus Mæotis. They invaded Asia Minor 1284 years before Christ, and seized upon the kingdom of Cyaxares. But after they had been masters of the country for twenty-eight years, they were driven back by Alyates, king of Lydia. This is also the name of another nation on the western coast of Italy. The country which they inhabited was supposed to be so gloomy, that, to indicate great obscurity, the expression of "Cimmerian darkness" has been proverbially used; and Homer, according to Plutarch, drew his images of hell and Pluto from the gloomy and dismal country where they dwelt.