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!

Works Cited:

Seminar Notes: Ancient Technology

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/miscellanea/nemi/nemi.html

archive.archaeology.org/0205/abstracts/caligula.html

Pompeii is Crumbling--Can it be Saved??

Pompeii is Crumbling--Can it be Saved?

 by Maria Cristina Valsecchi

for National Geographic News

 published November 8, 2011

Last month, part of a major wall came tumbling down in Pompeii, the ancient Roman city frozen in time by a first-century eruption of Mount Vesuvius. It was only the latest in a spate of collapses at the site, which experts say is in critical condition.

Though the site is said to be safe for tourists, the disintegration is alarming enough to have spurred the European Union to pledge 105 million euros (145 million dollars) for preservation.

Troubles at the World Heritage site, near modern Naples in southern Italy, began in earnest last year. In November 2010 Pompeii's Schola Armaturarum, a large building once used by gladiators for training, crumbled overnight due to water infiltration. Just a few weeks later, a 12-meter-long (13-yard) wall protecting a structure known as the House of the Moralist had fallen down in heavy rain.

Now that poor weather has returned, more trouble has followed. In late October, a portion of Pompeii's perimeter wall came apart.

Pompeii's "Situation Is Critical"

Last year, after the Schola Armaturarum had collapsed, UNESCO sent a team to inspect the site.

"The situation is critical," said Alix Barbet, an archaeologist at the French National Center for Scientific Research and a member of the Pompeii mission. "There is a lot to do."

According to UNESCO's report, the ruins' decay is exacerbated by excessive moisture and lack of routine maintenance. Inspectors are also concerned by the amount of ivy growth at the site.

"The backlog of maintenance needs to be tackled urgently," the report states. "Equally, drainage needs to be improved so that rain and groundwater are readily and rapidly removed to prevent the damage."

(See a picture of the baths of Pompeii.)

"What Pompeii's remains need is a continuous work of preservation, to counter the damage due to the elements," said ancient-Rome expert Filippo Coarelli, a former professor of archaeology at the University of Perugia.

"The archaeological site is very large: more than 40 hectares (nearly 100 acres) of streets, private houses, and public buildings," Coarelli said. Yet "today only five skilled workers take care of the whole site.

"The number is largely inadequate."

With the expected infusion of funds from the EU, Pompeii officials aim to improve those perceived inadequacies.

"We will monitor the state of preservation of the structures," said archaeological superintendent Teresa Elena Cinquantaquattro. "We'll secure the buildings in worst shape, we'll take steps to mitigate the damage from the elements, and finally we'll restore a number of houses and monuments."

(Watch video: Mount Vesuvius victims.)

The Tourists Keep Coming

Buried by Vesuvius in A.D. 79, the rich commercial town has been progressively excavated since the mid-18th century. The resulting frozen-in-time tableau has attracted travelers for centuries.

And despite Pompeii's recent collapses, tourists keep flocking to the site. "Their number is continuously growing. In 2010 they were more than 2.3 million," Cinquantaquattro said.

As archaeologist Coarelli noted, the small portion of the site open to the public is well maintained.

"Pompeii's troubles are out of view and the place is absolutely safe for tourists."

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-VB