Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-16
GALLEYS OF LAKE NEMI
PLEASURE BARaEs OF EMPERoRs
TIBERIUs AND CALIGULA-
From the Scientific American.

From the Scientific American.
Ruried under the waters OF Lake Nemi ne
two pleasure galleys, which belongeo 10 .ne
Emnerors Tiberius and Caligula, and whlch
contain art treasures that have been COW
eted for five hundred years
1t was Julius Caesar who hrs' hi' upo4i
Lake Nemi as summer resort iof oi '.'
banks he built a villa, splenoio IN .noSe
aoy. Int later far outdone in brilliancy py
the floating residences of his successors.
From pamphlets which have been pup
nshed by Prof. Emilio Giuria and sighoi
Elseo Borghi, 1t seems that Leon ALBERT
an archbishop, made some attempts IN 'he
fifteenth century to recover the treasures
buried In the lake. A hundred years later
a fairly systematic exploration or the DOL
tom of the lake was undertaken by LIE
march,. a French engineer, who seems 10
have been the first to have MADE 1airiy
thorough survey for that day. He mace
few drawings Of the probable appearance "
Cai,e,,Ia,s galley as he conceived 1t, ana
from his designs q Flemish engraVer pre-
nared what he conceived to be its original
appearance.
Although stray relics were found now
and then. no further systematic effort was
made to recover the contents OF the ola
hulks until Signor Eliseo Borgnl came upo,
the scene in 1905 Divers were engaged,
and the TWO RdlteyS lOCdtcu, -
carefully examined From both, oronzes:
nieces of wood anchors and ornaments OF
all kinds were collected.
or the two vessels the larger measures
the smaller 200 feet in length by 90 feet IN
beam. 1t Is because Of their unusual SIZE
(war galleys were much smaller) that t'e
vessels, 1t is inferred must have oeen useo
as pleasure barges Among the more M
teresting relics which have been brought
to the surface may be mentioned hon
head. cast in one piece and beautifuiiy
worked A ring Is held in the Hons teeth.
Clearly the piece formed the Top OF "
tached to It, Still other pieces which, IKE
this, were intended for the reception OF
ropes are wolves heads, hyenas' heads ana
the heads Of various animals. remark :,
able specimen is a Medusas head, mounted
upon a cap An interesting rectangular
bronze grating, with the two side bars by
which 1t was held in place. Is likewise IN
cluded among the exhibits The pars nave
projections at their ends. so that they
could be fitted into beams or metal pieces.
Inasmuch as there are no holes, 1t may be
inferred that the grating was placed hori-
zontally and held In position by Its own
weight.
Caligular.
Curiously enough, some pieces of lead pipe
were also found, and these bear ample evil
dence that the galley from which they came
had been the scene Of the pleasures of Call
eula. They bear the inscription c. Caesars
Aug. Germanici. which was the ofticiai
name of Caligula. Lead plates were also
used in sheathing the vessel They were
held by fat-headed copper nails some two
inches long. Why lead should have been
used is not very clear: 1t does not form
watertight Joint, and the absence or Or
ganisms In the lake hardly 1usttfies Its use
as a preventive of fouling.
Signor Borghi recovered many pieces OF
mosaic. tiles, porphry and serpentine. intsi ..
mixed with colored glass and enameied py
fusion. These were probably used for paw
ing the decks.
On the galleys supposed to have been
used by Tfberius relics were obtained quite
similar to those from Caligula's vessel one
of these has the form of a bronze cap TOT
the end of a beam and carries a hand. which
the Roman navigators always used as
taltsman.
From the Investigations of the divers we
may CLEAN much Of the construction OF the
vessels, even though we may not be able
| to present an absolutely accurate restora-
| ton Some of the wood which was useo
was soft, and some hard and resinoua Ut, Inc
soft wood employed mainly for sheathing
and deck pianking. is white pine. hewn. no
doubt, on the shores of Lake Nemi The
harder wood Ia either red pine or lark, Just
which It II dificult to determine, because
decomposition has set In. Oak pins were
employed to hold down the planking. In
sheathing the vessels the planks were
placed edge to edge and Joined by Wedges.
As the planks sweiled the edges formed 9
tight Joint. Long copper nails were driven
through the planks at intervals OF four OF
Ave feet, the nails passing Through one
plank down to the next, and the succeeding
nail being drfven through the second plank
- h.