The secret in Lake Nemi (Part 1) World sensation in a volcanic lake: when dictator Mussolini baffled archaeologists
Since the Middle Ages, a crater lake near Rome has been whispering its secret: time and again, fishermen retrieve mysterious fragments from the water - until the fascists had the lake lowered at the end of the 1920s. What emerges at the bottom becomes a global archaeological sensation.
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- An inconspicuous volcanic lake a few kilometers from the Italian capital Rome is the scene of an archaeological thriller.
- Behind it lies a trail from antiquity: a controversial emperor, a sacred place - and reports of floating luxury residences.
- For centuries, fishermen and adventurers salvage mysterious remains - enough to keep a stubborn mystery alive.
- It is only with modern equipment and political ambition that the project is radically tackled. What is uncovered goes beyond all expectations.
- The second part of the report on the spectacular finds at Lake Nemi near Rome will be published on Sunday, March 15, blue News. If you want to read it now, you can do so here.
Lake Nemi is a dark, small crater lake in the Alban Hills, around 27 kilometers southeast of Rome. It was formed in the cauldron of an extinct volcano.
With an area of 1.7 square kilometers and a depth of 33 meters, it is smaller than many Swiss mountain lakes. But in the spring of 1929, something happened there that electrified Italy - and later the whole world: The water level sinks.
The mud cracks open. And suddenly wood appears, lots of wood.
What engineers of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini pull out of the mud is soon considered one of the most spectacular archaeological discoveries in Europe in the 20th century.
But the story begins much earlier, with an ancient text by the historian Suetonius, which is no less extraordinary.
Caligula - myth or monster?
Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, known as Caligula - the "little boot" because he is said to have walked around the army camp in little military boots as a child - was long regarded as a monster of antiquity: brutal, uninhibited, megalomaniac.
In his Vita Caligulae, the Roman civil servant and historian Suetonius paints a picture of an emperor who humiliates the elite, abuses sacred places and allows himself to be celebrated like a god.
Today, Caligula is viewed in a more differentiated way:
This is because Suetonius only wrote about the emperor decades after his early death. This is why his text is now regarded as a politically tinged portrait of a tyrant: many things seem exaggerated, some exaggerated.
However, there are two stories in it that are astonishingly concrete - so concrete that they became real traces centuries later.
Suetonius mentions two details: Caligula has luxury floating ships built. And: he associates the emperor with a very specific place: Lake Nemi.
Emperor Caligula's luxury ships
For Suetonius, Caligula's bad reputation was primarily due to his unrestrained extravagance. He describes the emperor as a master of luxury, who had several ships built - magnificent galleys with gem-studded beaks, colorful sails, bathing facilities, porticoes and dining halls, even planted with vines and fruit trees.
According to Suetonius, Caligula would camp on these floating palaces during the day, accompanied by music and choral singing, and sail along the coasts of Campania.
A sacred lake - and a deadly office
In the other passage, Suetonius takes his readers to Lake Nemi. This was a special place in antiquity: The sanctuary of Diana Nemorensis, a place of worship of supra-regional importance, lies on the shore. According to Suetonius, this place was ruled by a priest-king with a deadly office. Anyone wishing to replace him would first have to kill him in a duel.
Caligula was bothered by the fact that this priest had held his office for "too long". So he sent a particularly strong slave to kill and replace him.
For the biographer, this is further evidence of the young emperor's arbitrariness and abuse of power.
For historians, it is an indication that Caligula had a personal relationship with this lake.
And the young emperor was by no means the only one to be captivated by this place. The lake was considered sacred, attracted Roman pilgrims and became a retreat for the upper classes in imperial times. Julius Caesar is also said to have owned a villa there.
A sacred place - and a stage for power. Pure Otium - a retreat from the hustle and bustle of Rome.
Perhaps also for the lavish Emperor Caligula?
Does the lake harbor a Roman secret?
In 476 AD, the Roman Empire is history. With the Pippinian Donation, the rule of the popes over Rome and the surrounding area began in the 8th century. Lake Nemi is now part of the Papal States.
Above the crater lake, the village of Nemi clings to a narrow terrace on the northern inner wall of the caldera - almost 200 meters above the water.
For its medieval inhabitants, the lake is one thing above all: a source of food. But the by-catch is puzzling: time and again, fishermen retrieve obscure objects from the depths: pieces of metal, remnants of wood, individual ancient fragments.
There are enough traces to keep a rumor alive for centuries: Does the lake bed harbor a Roman secret?
1446: Alberti and the first reach into the dark
In the 15th century, the spirit of the Renaissance began to take a new look at Lake Nemi. The humanist and historian Flavio Biondo belonged to the new generation that not only read Roman written sources, but also systematically related them to real places for the first time.
What if there really were archaeological treasures from Roman times hidden beneath the surface of the water?
In 1446, this question became a project: Cardinal Prospero Colonna, Lord of Nemi, has the lake investigated. Leon Battista Alberti, humanist and architect - a contemporary of Biondo, led the expedition. He has a large raft built, on the deck of which he has lifting devices installed. Swimmers from Genoa dived down to attach ropes with hooks to the objects under water.
What the divers bring to the surface is enough to fire the imagination: wooden beams, lead plates, bronze fragments, even part of a large statue is said to have been recovered. These are not chance finds.
Alberti and his team are certain: there is something big at the bottom of the lake.
But the technology of the mid-15th century is not sufficient to lift the artifacts.
1535: The diving bell - the first glimpse of the unknown
Almost a century later, a new expedition ventures to Lake Nemi - this time with a diving device. The Italian engineer and military theorist Francesco De Marchi arrived, accompanied by Guglielmo de Lorena, the inventor of one of the earliest underwater devices.
Their goal: to stop groping in the dark and finally see what lies at the bottom of the lake.
What followed was spectacular for the time: in July 1535, Francesco de Marchi lowered himself into the depths in a wooden diving bell. A round barrel made of oak wood, held together by iron hoops, with a small viewing window made of "thick crystal".
Francesco De Marchi was one of the first people ever to venture into the water with a diving bell. He describes his dive in Lake Nemi in his monumental work "Della Architettura Militare".
Image: Wikipedia
The diving bell was developed by the engineer Guglielmo de Lorena from Lorraine. De Marchi was so impressed by the invention that he had to swear an oath not to reveal the secret of the air supply.
Image: The International Journal for the History of Engineering& Technology
Francesco De Marchi was one of the first people ever to venture into the water with a diving bell. He describes his dive in Lake Nemi in his monumental work "Della Architettura Militare".
Image: Wikipedia
The diving bell was developed by the engineer Guglielmo de Lorena from Lorraine. De Marchi was so impressed by the invention that he had to swear an oath not to reveal the secret of the air supply.
Image: The International Journal for the History of Engineering& Technology
Down below, it is dim, quiet and, above all, cold. De Marchi can barely make out more than shadowy outlines, and the thick glass distorts the view and makes everything appear larger. He feels his way forward, step by step, along the bottom. Then he comes across wood. He follows the shape, reaches for an edge, for a plank. And a pattern emerges from the diffuse something:
Ribs. Planks. A curvature.
At this moment, he realizes that this is not a jetty. Not wooden flotsam. In front of him lies the hull of a ship - and a gigantic one at that.
De Marchi doesn't dare go inside - the danger of unbalancing the bell is too great. But he grabs whatever he can get his hands on: Wood, nails, lead pipes, bricks - things to prove what he has just found.
He has a piece of the hull, complete with a lead lining, taken to Rome, where it is to be measured and examined. He later complains that it has been stolen.
He describes what a dive in the bell jar felt like: "From the belly up, it was like being in a hot oven - from the elbows down, it was freezing cold."
"Nevertheless," says De Marchi, "you could stay underwater with this instrument for one to two hours and work there." It is a technological breakthrough. A milestone in underwater research.
1895: Antiques dealer hires diver
It was not until the 19th century that Lake Nemi came back into the limelight. In 1827, knight Annesio Fusconi, a technology-loving adventurer, made the next attempt: he wanted to finally solve the mystery with an improved diving bell. But the lifting attempts fail - the ropes break. In the end, only a few salvaged individual parts remain, some of which are sold.
In 1895, things became even more drastic: Eliseo Borghi, a Roman antiques dealer, hired a professional diver - and began to literally cannibalize the wrecks.
He rips out over 400 meters of wooden beams and drags them to shore, where they rot or end up as firewood. Valuable pieces disappear into private collections - the rest are bought by the state for the National Museum in Rome.
The state then pulled the emergency brake: Italian Education Minister Guido Baccelli banned further interventions.
The damage is extensive - but at least the dives provide more clarity: two huge ships lie at the bottom of Lake Nemi. One close to the shore, at a depth of five to twelve meters. The second further out, at 15 to 20 meters.
Dictator Mussolini: the lake becomes a stage
In the 1920s, the fascist regime sought symbols of national self-exaltation. Dictator Benito Mussolini wanted to prove that his state could achieve great things - and that modern Italy was directly linked to the power of ancient Rome.
The sunken ships fit perfectly: splendor, technology, the imperial era. It could hardly be more symbolic.
In 1927, the Duce gives the order to lower the lake and salvage the wrecks. The military, engineers and industry work together, coordinated by a specially established salvage committee. Two industrial groups took over the work - free of charge.
The decisive trick this time is not in the modern equipment, but in antiquity itself: An underground drainage channel that had already been built by the Romans is reactivated.
From 1928, Lake Nemi was drained step by step. Pumps suck out the water and the level sinks for months. 31 million cubic meters of water had to be drained and the water level lowered by 22 meters before the lake would release the ships.
1928: A ship's hull emerges from the mud
And then the unbelievable happens: in March 1928, the first ship's hull emerges from the mud. The pictures go around the world. Aristocrats, ministers and scientists arrive and are thrilled.
Only the "Neue Zürcher Zeitung" does not really want to join in the rejoicing. It doubts whether the scientific yield will live up to the enormous costs and expectations.
And indeed, the recovery remains dangerous and causes the costs to explode: The bottom slips, a storm paralyzes the pumps - the lake threatens to fill up again. In 1930 - at a depth of almost 14 meters - the second ship also appears. Eyewitnesses report that it seemed to float again for a moment: the water level had already risen that high.
After setbacks, abortions and political debates, science was able to prevail.
In 1932, both ships are finally on land.
Marble floors, gilded panels and bronze decorations
Their dimensions are overwhelming: with lengths of 73 and 71 meters and widths of 24 and 20 meters, they are longer than a Boeing 747 and twice as wide as the German training sailing ship, the Gorch Fock.
Workers erect protective roofs, expose the hulls and slowly pull them ashore on rails. Each beam is numbered, each component documented. The salvage does not take days - it takes years.
The salvage of the Nemi ships becomes a sensation - even cigarette manufacturers dedicate their own trading cards to the find of the century. On the left of the card is one of the many decorative bronze props found in the wreck.
Image: imago stock&people
Visitors from all over Europe flock to Lake Nemi to marvel at the remains of the ship's hull. Among the onlookers were King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, numerous ministers, military officers and high-ranking state representatives from Germany and abroad.
Image: Wikipedia
And, of course, international high society: pictured here is Millicent Veronica Willison, the wife of William Randolph Hearst. Hearst was an influential US newspaper publisher, media entrepreneur and politician. He became famous for his so-called "yellow journalism", i.e. sensationalist, often highly exaggerated reporting.
Image: IMAGO/Bridgeman Images
Survey drawing of the first Nemi ship during the excavation: the detailed image documents the hull structure, superstructure and scattered finds - the basis for the scientific reconstruction of the ancient magnificent ship.
Image: L'Archeologo Subacqueo, Anno VI, n. 3 (18), Settembre-Dicembre 2000
Floor plan of the second, smaller Nemi ship according to Guglielmo Gatti's measurements. The drawing shows the clear lines of the hull and the dense frame structure as documented during the salvage.
Image: L'Archeologo Subacqueo, Anno VI, n. 3 (18), Settembre-Dicembre 2000
The salvage of the Nemi ships becomes a sensation - even cigarette manufacturers dedicate their own trading cards to the find of the century. On the left of the card is one of the many decorative bronze props found in the wreck.
Image: imago stock&people
Visitors from all over Europe flock to Lake Nemi to marvel at the remains of the ship's hull. Among the onlookers were King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, numerous ministers, military officers and high-ranking state representatives from Germany and abroad.
Image: Wikipedia
And, of course, international high society: pictured here is Millicent Veronica Willison, the wife of William Randolph Hearst. Hearst was an influential US newspaper publisher, media entrepreneur and politician. He became famous for his so-called "yellow journalism", i.e. sensationalist, often highly exaggerated reporting.
Image: IMAGO/Bridgeman Images
Survey drawing of the first Nemi ship during the excavation: the detailed image documents the hull structure, superstructure and scattered finds - the basis for the scientific reconstruction of the ancient magnificent ship.
Image: L'Archeologo Subacqueo, Anno VI, n. 3 (18), Settembre-Dicembre 2000
Floor plan of the second, smaller Nemi ship according to Guglielmo Gatti's measurements. The drawing shows the clear lines of the hull and the dense frame structure as documented during the salvage.
Image: L'Archeologo Subacqueo, Anno VI, n. 3 (18), Settembre-Dicembre 2000
The sensation grows with every detail uncovered: marble and mosaic floors, column bases, gilded copper plates, ornate bronze decorations.
There are bathing facilities with hot and cold water, fed by a system of lead pipes. Particularly spectacular are the rotating platforms with ball-bearing mechanisms - technology that the engineers of antiquity were not thought capable of for a long time.
Caligula's name in lead
The dating leaves little doubt. Archaeologists have found brick stamps, building forms and materials that clearly belong to the early imperial period. Even more decisive: several lead pipes bear inscriptions with Caligula's name.
«C. CAESARIS AVG GERMANIC»
Mussolini had a museum built and the finds were preserved and exhibited.
The story could end here. But it does not.
While the archaeologists celebrate, time is running out - without them realizing it.
The second part about the spectacular finds at Lake Nemi near Rome will be published on Sunday, March 15, blue News. If you want to read it now, you can do so here.
