as does whether was named after it. An epigram by the poet Martial in 88 AD suggests that both Venus, patroness of Pompeii, and Hercules were worshipped in the region devastated by the eruption of 79. Etymology was a name of the volcano in frequent use by the authors of the late Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. Its collateral forms were , , and . Writers in ancient Greek used or . Many scholars since then have offered an etymology. As peoples of varying ethnicity and language occupied Campania in the Roman Iron Age, the etymology depends to a large degree on the presumption of what language was spoken there at the time. Naples was settled by Greeks, as the name , "New City", testifies. The Oscans, an Italic people, lived in the countryside. The Latins also competed for the occupation of Campania. Etruscan settlements were in the vicinity. Other peoples of unknown provenance are said to have been there at some time by various ancient authors. Some theories about its origin are: From Greek = "not" prefixed to a root from or related to the Greek word = "I quench", in the sense of "unquenchable". From Greek = "I hurl" and "violence", "hurling violence", *vesbia, taking advantage of the collateral form. From an Indo-European root, *eus- < *ewes- < *h₁ews-, "shine", "burn", sense "the one who lightens", through Latin or From an Indo-European root *wes = "hearth" (compare e.g. Vesta) Topography Vesuvius is a "humpbacked" peak, consisting of a large cone (Gran Cono) partially encircled by the steep rim of a summit caldera caused by the collapse of an earlier (and originally much higher) structure called Mount Somma. The Gran Cono was produced during the A.D. 79 eruption. For this reason, the volcano is also called Somma-Vesuvius or Somma-Vesuvio. The caldera started forming during an eruption around 17,000–18,000 years ago and was enlarged by later paroxysmal eruptions, ending in the one of AD 79. This structure has given its name to the term "somma volcano", which describes any volcano with a summit caldera surrounding a newer cone. The cliffs forming the northern ridge of Monte Somma's caldera rim reach a maximum height of at Punta Nasone. The summit of the main cone of Vesuvius is above sea level and more than above the long valley of Atrio di Cavallo (the northern floor of Monte Somma's caldera). The