The Romans identified Vulcan with the Greek smith-god Hephaestus and he became associated like his Greek counterpart with the use of fire in metalworking. A fragment of a Greek pot showing Hephaestus found at the Volcanal has been dated to the 6th century BC, suggesting they were already associated. However, Vulcan had a stronger association than Hephaestus with fire's destructiveness, and his worshippers wanted to encourage the god to avert harmful fires. 