The above description is reinforced by a figure of a truncate colossus, supposed to represent Vesuvius in the time of Strabo, a graphic portrayal that has been popular ever since the first attempt in this direction was essayed by Camillo Peregrino,[1] in 1651. Strange as it may seem, some writers have been misled into supposing that such was the actual form presented by the mountain in the middle of the seventeenth century. As a matter of fact, all these fanciful restorations of the Somma form of crater, however cleverly they may interpret geological evidence, and to that extent suggest remote prehistoric conditions, can not be considered as having any real historical foundation. For we have no right to interpret literary documents in a manner wholly discordant with what is known of the structure and behavior of the mountain itself, but rather should first seek to establish their credibility by scrutinizing them in the light of ascertained facts. If it has been easy to misconstrue Braccini's account of the crater in the first quarter of the seventeenth century, should we not be wary of accepting the usual rendering of ancient authors? And who is so bold as to claim that the huge truncate cone of which Strabo is commonly understood to speak finds any visible support in Pompeiian wall frescoes, of which several representing Vesuvius in a more or less idealized fashion have been discovered? Impressionistic as all of these paintings are, it is not difficult to perceive that the local scene which caught the artist's fancy was after all not very different from that which still meets our gaze from within or hard by the disinterred city.[2]
We may affirm, then, this conclusion: there is no good reason to suppose that Vesuvius appeared materially different in the yesterday of one or two thousand years ago than it does to-day. The summit of the younger cone, still partially encircled by the ancient Somma rim, has been undergoing comparatively slight modification throughout probably the whole course of human history. And we must perforce believe it to have been existent even before the race of man had appeared on the face of the earth, and had begun to acquire dominion over it.
- ↑ 'Discorsi della Campania Felice,' p. 309. (Naples, 1651.)
- ↑ For a recent and interesting discussion of this whole matter, and also of the events of the Plinian eruption, one may consult the following: Enrico Cocchia, 'La forma del Vesuvio,' an essay reprinted in Volume III. of his 'Saggi Filologici' (Naples, 1902); and S. Herrlich, 'Die antike Ueberlieferung liber den Vesuv-Ausbruch im Jahre 79.' Beitr. zur alten Gesch.,Vol. IV. (1904), pp. 209-220.
