PURSUING HISTORY: Ancient Wonder - The Nemi Ships: Palaces of the Sea

There is a man standing at the head, just to put this into a size perspective.

The biographer (the term is used loosely) Suetonius records in his bio about Caligula,

"He also built Liburnian galleys with ten banks of oars, with sterns set with gems, particoloured sails, huge spacious baths, colonnades, and banquet-halls, and even a great variety of vines and fruit trees; that on board of them he might recline at table from an early hour, and coast along the shores of Campania amid songs and choruses. He built villas and country houses with utter disregard of expense, caring for nothing so much as to do what men said was impossible."

Suetonius, Life of Caligula (XXXVII.2)

He is referring to the ships the Roman Emperor Caligula had built at Lake Nemi in the century CE. One ship was a floating temple dedicated to the goddess Diana (Artemis Grk equivalent). The larger of the two was essentially a palace on the sea. It had marble, mosaic floors, heating, and plumbing for baths. The emperor was thought to be influenced by lavish lifestyles of the Hellenistic rulers of Syracuse and Ptolemaic Egypt.

Possible reconstruction

The ships had technologies that many thought impossible for the Romans:

- Many thought that the Romans were not capable of building such large ships that were described in literary sources. covery proved that the Romans were capable of building large ships. Before the recovery of the

- The anchors had metal stocks in order to be heavy enough. Originally thought to be just wooden. The Nemi ships were built during the time of transitioning to metal anchors.

- The Nemi ships had bilge pumps that operated as the modern bucket dredge.

- Piston pumps gave the ships hot and cold running water through lead pipes – the hot water for baths, the cold for fountain and drinking water.

- Each ship had a rotating statue platform – one mounted on caged bronze balls and the second used cylindrical bearings. (Thought to be first envisioned by Leonardo da Vinci.)

Unfortunately these ships were destroyed in a WWII fire on May 31, 1944. Several US army shells hit around the museum causing little damage, but caused the Germans to leave the area. Two hours later, smoke was seen from the museum. There are conflicting views on which side was responsible for the destruction.

Thankfully, there are still archival photographs!