Caligula Tubi
Faith Lienhard
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The recovery of the two hulls from Lake Nemi afforded archaeologists and naval historians of the 1930s an unprecedented opportunity to study specific aspects of ancient Roman ship construction.9 We now know from the excavation of Roman shipwrecks that, in many ways, the construction of the Nemi ships followed a fairly canonical process. First, a shell was formed by attaching pine hull planks to the keel, and then to one another, using pegged mortise-and-tenon joinery. Planks were connected end to end to form strakes (runs of planking) by means of diagonal scarf joints, which were nailed at the tips. Oak frames were installed on the interior and fastened to planking by means of copper nails driven through oak treenails (thick wooden dowels) and double-clenched (bent twice) over the internal face of each frame. The exterior of the hull was smeared with pitch, followed by a layer of woolen textile, and finally a 1-mm-thick skin of lead sheathing was affixed with nails driven in a quincunx pattern.
The first ship, 71 m (233 feet) in length, is sometimes described (inaccurately) as a sailing ship or merchantman, but it had no mast and it carried no cargo; it was in fact a veritable floating palace.14 Early efforts to salvage the first ship damaged or destroyed portions of the bow, but its graceful curving cutwater shape is preserved in three sections of a bronze casing that fit onto the stem. The first ship carried two wooden steering oars, each approximately 12 m (40 feet) long and originally mounted on either stern quarter. Various pieces of hydraulic equipment recovered from the first ship included lead pipes, a bronze faucet, and terracotta pipes (tubi fittili) both rectangular and circular in section. The latter were often found cemented together in pairs, giving rise to the suggestion that they functioned like suspensurae in a heated Roman bath.15 Surviving elements of the superstructure included tessellated pavements, opus sectile pavements, a marble doorsill, wooden window shutters, and roof tiles of terracotta and gilded copper. Two circular wooden turntables, the larger being almost 1m (3.3 ft) in diameter, equipped with spherical bronze or conical wooden rollers, were likely designed for showcasing heavy objects such as statuary. The domestic nature of the archaeological material indicates that the first ship was primarily a private residence that functioned as a continuation of the lakeside villa.16
Figure 4. Remains of the hull of the second ship recovered from dredging of Lake Nemi, 1932. Archivio Fotografico Storico del Museo della Scienza e della Tecnologia L. da Vinci. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
When the second Nemi ship was hauled ashore in October 1932, scientists knew little about the conservation of waterlogged wood. To the credit of those involved, the enormous wooden hulls were covered with damp canvas to prevent desiccation and distortion and later coated with a plant-based tar mixture, on the advice of Norwegian researchers who had used a similar substance to treat several Viking ships. The ships were given modest cover, but by 1933 it became clear that exposure to the elements was causing their rapid deterioration, so local suppliers donated tons of cement, bricks, iron, and lumber to construct the Museo delle Navi Romane, which opened in 1936 on the north shore of Lake Nemi.
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