The Smaller Nemi Ship

The Nemi ships were two ships, one larger than the other, built during the reign of the Roman emperor Caligula in the 1st century CE at Lake Nemi, 19 miles south of Rome. No one knows why Caligula chose to build two large ships on such a small lake, especially since it was a sacred lake where pleasure barges were prohibited by law.

The larger ship (240 feet long, 10 feet longer than the smaller ship, shown in this photo) was an elaborate floating palace, containing quantities of marble, mosaic floors, heating and plumbing, and amenities such as baths. Both ships featured technology thought to have been developed much later, including lead-tipped anchors, hand-operated bilge pumps, and piston pumps that supplied hot and cold running water via lead pipes.

Although local fishermen knew that at least one vessel was at the bottom of the lake, the ships were not recovered until after 1927, when Italian dictator Benito Mussolini ordered Lake Nemi drained. By June 10, 1931, the smaller ship had been recovered and the second ship was exposed. A specialized museum was built over both ships in January 1936. The discovery proved that the Romans were capable of building large ships.

Both ships were destroyed by fire in World War II on the night of May 31, 1944, after a US artillery barrage, although some suspect that the retreating Germans destroyed the ships on purpose. Only some bronzes, a few charred timbers, and some material stored in Rome survived the fire. One-fifth scale models of the ships were built in the Naples naval dockyard.