Zaccaria Innocenti was an ancient Roman warlock who lived sometime during the 1st century AD.[1] He unwisely cast the Tarantallegra spell on himself and danced around inside the crater of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.[1] The volcano had a major eruption that year, which destroyed the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, killing at least 1500 people.[2] It is unknown whether Innocenti was among those casualties.
Etymology
Zaccaria is the Italian form of Zechariah,[3] a Hebrew name meaning "God remembers,"[4] while Innocenti is an Italian surname that derives from the Italian word for "innocent" (innocente).[5] Neither is consistent with the naming conventions of ancient Rome.