Vesuvius has a long historical
and literary tradition. It was considered
a deity of the genius type at the time
of the explosion in the year 79:
it appears under the registered name
of Vesuvius as a snake in the ornamental
frescoes of many residential sanctuaries
or dwellings that survive Pompeii.
An inscription from Capua to IOVI
VESVVIO shows that it was worshiped
as the power of Zeus. That is, Zeus Vesuvius.
Mount Vesuvius / vɪsuːviəs /; Italian:
Mount Vesuvio [monte vezuːvjo];
Napolitano: Vesuvius? Latin: Mons Vesuvius
[mõːs wɛsʊwɪ.ʊs]; Also Vesevus or Vesaevus
in some Roman sources is a somma-
stratovolcano located in the Bay of Naples
in Campania, about 9 kilometers
east of Naples and a short distance
from the coast. It is one of the many
volcanoes that make up the campanian
volcano. Vesuvius consists of a large cone
partially surrounded by the steep crest
of a boiler peak caused by the collapse
of a previous structure and initially
much higher. Mount Vesuvius is known
for its eruption in 79 AD. which led
to the burial and destruction
of the Roman cities of Pompeii,
Herculaneum, Orlando and Stabia,
as well as many other settlements.
The explosion threw a cloud of stones,
ash and volcanic gases at a height of 33 miles
(21 km), throwing molten rock and pulverized
pumice at a speed of 6 x 105 cubic meters
of 7.8 x 105 hm per second, finally
releasing one hundred thousand times
the thermal energy released by the Hiroshima-
Nagasaki bombing. More than 1,000 people
died in the explosion, but the exact numbers
are unknown. The only witness to the event,
who survived, are two letters from Pliny
the youngest to the historic Tacitus.
Vesuvius has closed many times
since then and is the only volcano
on the European continent that erupted
in the last hundred years. Today,
it is considered one of the most
dangerous volcanoes in the world due
to the population of 3,000,000 inhabitants
living nearby, which makes it the most
densely populated volcanic region
in the world and its tendency to violent
explosions of the Plinian type. . . The Romans
considered that Vesuvius was dedicated
to Hercules. The historian Diodorus Siculus
refers to the tradition that Hercules,
in carrying out his work, passed
from the country of nearby Cumae
on his way to Sicily and found there
a place called "Plain of Flegaria",
Field of Flegrasien, "Plain of Fire",
from a hill that initially drowned fire. . .
now it's called Vesuvius. "They were inhabited by thieves,"
the children of the Earth, "who were giants,
who with the help of the gods pacified
the region and continued the events
behind the tradition, if there are any,
remaining known as in the name of the city
Herculaneum. An inscription by the poet
Martial in AD 88 suggests that both Aphrodite
as the protector of Pompeii and Hercules
were worshiped in the area that was destroyed by its eruption.
