The Indo-European origin of the name “Vesuvio” is to be found in the roots "aues" (to light) or "eus" (to burn), linking to its volcanic identity. The volcanic arch of Campania, which from Roccamonfina, crosses the Phlegraean Fields and Ischia, reaching up to Vesuvius, is part of a group of volcanoes, including the insular ones Etna, Vulcano, Stromboli and the submerged Marsili, formed on an area of subduction created by the convergence of the African and Eurasian plates. Structurally, the Vesuvius is a volcano whose outer cone (Somma) was before the internal cone. Located at an altitude of 1132 m above the sea level., Punta Nasone (part of the Somma complex) is the highest peak of the ancient cone. An hypothetical reconstruction of the original shape of the Vesuvius before the first eruption explains that it was 2500 m high. During the 19 AD, Greek historian Strabo described Mt.Vesuvius as an extinct volcano. Plinio the Younger watched the 79 AD eruption from Capo Miseno and transmitted many details about the eruption after hearing the tales of the survivors of the rescue party in favour of the populations affected from the eruption, launched by his uncle, Plinio the Elder, Between the 106 and 107, Plinio the Younger wrote two letters to Tacito, focusing on the eruption. These two letters became the most ancient vulcanological witnesses in human history. Lots of frescoes describing Mt.Vesuvius are kept in many ancient Pompeian houses. The most famous, probably, is the one of “Casa del Centenario”. In this fresco there is the Vesuvius covered with many vineyards, as a testimony that the ancients thought to be close to an extinct volcano. Therefore, before the 79 AD, the volcano was depicted like an only mountain. A territory characterized from the presence of this volcano, which represented, for better or for worse, a factor in renewing the anthropogenic activities, to the present day. A volcano, the only one still active of Continental Europe, whose repeated activity made its soils particularly interesting for the agricultural activities.