MURDERED KINGS.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVIII, Issue 10781, 29 December 1928, Page 2

MURDERED KINGS.

A CAESAR’S DREAM-SHIPS. •

(By Horace O in the Melbourne Argils)! !

One of the strangest stories in the world is recalled by the draining of Lake Nenii, near Rome, at Signor •Mussolini’s direction, for the purpose of recovering two galleys built by the Emperor Caligula, who reigned over the Roman Empire from 3 1 to. 41 A.D.; which , were sunk in the lake. The lake, how called Nenii, lies about 18 miles south of Rome, filling a crater in the Alban Hills. In ancient times its gleaming surface,' a mile or more in diameter, was called the Mirror of Diana. Over the steep slopes around it lay the gloom of primitive forests, except where, m the Sacredi Grove, ■ a marble temple showed white through the oak trees. Here the King of the Grove lived among the. temple girls, who guarded - riches so great tha't Augustus once borrowed from their treasury. Before Rome’s long history began a barbarous worship of the' godless Diana had spread to Nenii from Scythia. It prescribed that there must be a King of the Sacred Grove, who should reign only till soirio fugitive should defeat him in a duel to the death. Always the King, having won his throne so murderously, carried a dagger in his hand, and always he must accept the challenge to fight. What merciless duels the temple women must have watched! for hundreds of years the marble steps were reddened. Neither jof the contestants dared return to the outer world Sometimes the newcomer would be a gladiator, trained in every trick of dagger and sword. On a bas-relief an ancient sculptor has shown the end of such a combat. The high priest lies dying, and beside him four women attendants turn to salute his conqueror and their King. Often they had to cry “The King is dead 1 ,” but- never “Long live the King.’’ There were so many fugitive slaves and runaway gladiators. In historical times the newcomer was always one or the other. in 393 A.D. the cult was suppressed and the civilised world, tottering before the northern barbarians, forgot the temple and Caligula’s galleys. A thousand years went by, and at last, his interest aroused by tales that fishermen told of great ships seen dimly in the lake’s depths, Alberti, an Italian engineer, about 1430 built a raft of casks and beams from which he fished with hooks of his own design. But his capstan chains broke and all that he brought up were some fragments of the hull. -l rom these he learnt that the frame was of larcliwood, and that the 3in timbers of the sides were caulked with tar and sailcloth, sheeted with lead fixed with copper nails. After another century had passed Francesco de Marchi took to Nenii a primitive cliiving bell which he had invented. Descending in this he looked through its “portholes,” to be terrified by the sight of shoals of fish three feet long! Actually they were whitebait magnified by the convex spy-glasses. Jn 1895 the first successful work was begun. As divers went round the hulbuj-attacking floaters, the engineers on shore were amazed to see the outlines of two great ships completed. One was as large as an Atlantic liner of a generation ago. It measured 233 ft., with a beam of 80ft the dimensions of the smaller vessel were 2loft by 66ft. Then the secrets of the galleys began to he guessed, and flic exquisite luxury of Roman art was demonstrated once, in ore. Bailing and parapets were of gilded bronze, decks were tiled with thin discs of serpentine land porphyry, set in gold, green, red, and white enamels. Though merely utilitarian, the mooring rings had been moulded as lions and/ wolves holding bronze rings in their mouths. To fountains ain ids hip lead pipes had carried water ; an inscription on one of them showed that the ships were built during the reign of Caligula. One broken beam brought ashore measured 85ft. Un the decks' had lieen marble terraces, gardens, and miniature temples, and when their purple sails drew the great galleys ncioss the lake any god might have delighted to “laze” under the striped awnings. The vessels were sunk on a western side of the lake. It has been suggested that they were floating palaces moored .to the shore. Closo by was the temple, also long forgotten. In the 17th century excavations were attempted, the discoveries including a rich frieze of gilded bronze, coins and statuettes. One of the most remarkable of the ancient works at Nemi is the tunnel, over a mile long,, by which the lake was drained! and kept at a constant level. In parts its depth is 140 ft. Possibly use will he made of this Gunner in the pumping operations. Much damage has been caused by the attempts to raise the ships, and undoubtedly the present plan of draining the lake is the only one by which they can he salvaged' without further injury. . . , Though their interest is slight compared with that ol the Nenii galleys, since 1876 three other Ronian ship’s have been discovered. In 18/6, while the foundations of a bridge were being sunk by compressed air in the Tiber, a cylinder was driven through a hulk, which, however, was so deeply buried that exploration was impracticable. In 1884, at Porto d’Anzio, the mainmast, rudder, and other portions of a vessel were . uncovered during excavations for the building of an hotel. The timber was converted into several articles of furniture. Again, in the following year, the wreck of a Boman merchant ship was discovered near Artur a. It had been engaged in the wine trade, and constant tiecomposition ol shells lw.d made the jars m the hold h compact mass. Even so. several beautiful amphovas were chipped out and sent to museums. Another wreck lies off The ‘ northern coast of Africa. On this, a Roman vessel lost while carrying a cargo of statuary, French archaeologists were recently reported to he salvage.