Geology, geography, and early history of Italy

Geology, geography and early history of Italy 

We all heard about Mount Vesuvius eruption, burying Pompeii. I checked with Gemini about major volcanos in continental Europe. I got six, four in Italy and two in Greece. Isn’t it a coincidence that Greece and Rome were the igniting fires of civilization? 

North of Sicily, there are two volcanic islands, one called Vulcano, the other called Stromboli. Vulcano came from Vulcan, Roman god of fire and forge. From Vulcano we got vulcano (volcano in English). From Stromboli we get stromboli, a type of volcanos that erupt continuously and gently, as Stromboli does for several thousand years.

There are two major volcanoes near Naples, Mount Vesuvius and Phlegraean Fields. The area around Naples becomes very fertile because of volcanic ash. Naples was settled by Ancient Greeks very early. They called it Neapolis (New City). This New City is the longest continuously inhabited city in the western world. Naples was once the second most populous city in Europe, after Paris, around 1600. 

Most of southern Italy was first developed by Ancient Greeks as part of Greater Greece. Another famous city state is Syracuse in Sicily. Archimedes, the greatest Greek mathematician and physicist, was from Syracuse. Most of the great scientists in Ancient Greece,  actually lived outside Greece proper. 

The push of African tectonic plate against the Eurasian plate creates the volcanoes in Italy. It also makes Italy, as well as Greece, quite mountainous. But unlike Greece, Italy does have a large fertile plain, centered around Rome. This large fertile plain supports a large population and hence a large military. Eventually, Rome overpowers Greece, dominated the western world for the most of the recorded history. Most of the cultural, political and legal systems today are heavily influenced by Rome.