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Institute of Maritime History

Preserving our maritime heritage

From Caligula to the Nazis: The Nemi Ships in Diana’s Sanctuary

Texas A&M University Press recently published John McManamon’s research on the Lake Nemi barges. From the publisher’s website:

The saga of Caligula’s barges sunk in Lake Nemi south of Rome—how the huge vessels came to be there in the first place; why they became a cause célèbre for Mussolini’s Fascist regime; how they were, after multiple attempts, recovered from the lake bed; and why they were shortly thereafter destroyed—is, in the words of author John McManamon, a good story that is worth telling: “It has memorable characters, twists and turns in the plot, no lack of conflict and tension, and a dramatic ending where something clearly went wrong.”

In  From Caligula to the Nazis: The Nemi Ships in Diana’s Sanctuary , McManamon takes readers on an excursion through history to the fiery ending of the tale, a journey propelled by narrative energy and enhanced by the fruits of careful research. Related topics include Roman mythology and state religion, the erratic reign of the infamous Caligula, underwater archaeology as practiced during the Renaissance, the ideological exploitation of archaeology by Il Duce and his fascist followers, and a historical whodunit to ascertain the choices that led to the arson of the ship remains. McManamon covers every chapter in the 2,000-year history of the ships and does not ignore the mistaken interpretations that at times led subsequent researchers into blind alleys. In the end,  From Caligula to the Nazis  provides for both academic specialists and informed general readers the careful unwinding of a centuries-long mystery, replete with heroes, villains, gods, kings, and numerous ordinary folk swept up into the maelstrom.

The book can be purchased from Texas A&M University Press or Amazon .

The Truth Behind Caligula’s Nemi Ships

• June 4, 2020
• Ancient History , All Posts , History , Rome and Lazio

Caligula’s Nemi Ships may have been destroyed by fire in 1944. But they live on conceptually as vessels for the emperor’s debauchery and excess.

According to the ancient sources, when Caligula wasn’t busy indulging his scandalous sex life and shagging his three sisters or arbitrarily murdering anyone who posed him the slightest threat, he would spend his time making the lives of Rome’s senatorial elite a living nightmare, demanding to be worshipped as a god or leading the Roman state or the Roman army on a series of vainglorious (and ultimately  fruitless ) pursuits. 

But aside from his more notorious proclivities, what’s less well-known is that Caligula was an enthusiastic shipbuilder.

What Our Sources Say

The emperor’s second-century AD biographer, Suetonius, has left us a colourful description of some magnificent galleys Caligula had built along the stunning southern Italian coastline of Campania.

He had constructed some Liburnian galleys, their prows studded with jewels, their sails of many colours, whose ample interiors housed baths, porticoes, and dining rooms as well as a large variety of vines and fruit trees , so that lounging on these vessels he might travel by day along the shores of Campania entertained by choirs and orchestras.

Archaeologists are constantly discovering Roman shipwrecks , some dating as back as the First Punic War against Carthage (264 – 241 BC). But we have yet to locate the ships Suetonius mentions. In all likelihood, they, like the vast majority of relics from the ancient world, have been lost to the processes of erosion and biological degradation. However, although a lot of what Suetonius writes about Caligula is historically debatable, we know that he was telling the truth about the emperor’s nautical endeavours because we’ve discovered two—soon to be three—other ships the emperor built.

The site of the ships’ discovery, Lake Nemi, lies 19 miles south of Rome in the region of Lazio. The lake’s name, Nemi, comes from the Latin word nemus , meaning “holy wood”. It’s easy to see how this description might have come about. Lake Nemi is a place of astounding natural beauty: situated some 300 metres above sea level, the lake was formed within an extinct volcanic crater. Its stunning scenery wasn’t lost on past commentators. Lord Byron wrote of, “Nemi, navelled in the woody hills”, while artists from Turner to Jean Charles Joseph used the lake as the backdrop for their dramatic landscapes (pictured below).

Today, Nemi is famous mainly for its distinctively small and sweet strawberries. Throughout history, however, Nemi has been famous across Italy and abroad as the resting place of Caligula’s colossal pleasure barges (known as the Nemi Ships).

It is incredible that Caligula thought to build these 220 and 230 feet long floating orgy palaces on Lake Nemi, considering it only has a circumference of 3.5 miles. It is even more incredible that, since the emperor’s assassination at the hands of his Praetorian Guard in 41 AD, the area’s inhabitants never lost the knowledge that two of these ships lay sunken at the bottom of the lake’s western side.

Salvaging the Nemi Ships

There was no shortage of attempts to salvage the Nemi Ships over the centuries. Most, however, did far more harm than good. The first salvage effort came about in the mid-fifteenth century when the Lord of Nemi, Cardinal Prospero Colonna, commissioned the renowned architect Leon Battista (the designer of Rome’s original Trevi Fountain) to devise a way of pulling them up from the lake bed. Battista’s response was to construct an enormous raft, complete with ropes, pulleys, and grappling hooks which divers would attach to the ships’ hulls, and sail it out into the middle of the lake.

His efforts, however, were in vain. Though the hooks managed to get purchase of the ancient ships, they were unable to dislodge them from the lakebed’s muddy grip. They succeeded only in tearing off the ships’ lead water pipes and various fragments of wood from the beaten and bruised vessels. It wasn’t all for nothing though: classical enthusiasts were at least impressed by the quality of the woodwork. Subsequent attempts were more or less to follow this example (and share in its success) until 1895, when Signor Borghi obtained permission from Nemi’s landowner, Prince Orsini, to head up another expedition.

With his team of divers, Borghi brought to the surface numerous bronze works that decorated the ships’ hulls. In addition to more lead piping and gilded bronze roof tiles, Borghi managed to salvage a bronze lion’s head (pictured above); one of many remarkable decorative artworks used to hold the ships’ mighty oars in place. While Borghi’s efforts may have borne fruit, it also marked a temporary halt to salvage attempts at Nemi, not least because authorities were becoming increasingly concerned that the Nemi Ships were several expeditions away from completely disintegrating.

They were right in their decision. Over the centuries local fishermen had been picking away at the Nemi Ships, motivated less by archaeological curiosity than by the considerable potential to profit from salvaging (and subsequently selling) ancient artifacts: initially to local landowners, later to wealthy travellers on their grand tours. But despite the momentary abandonment of salvaging projects, those wanting to uncover the hidden wonders of the Nemi Ships wouldn’t have to wait long.

The breakthrough came under Mussolini’s fascist government in the 1920s. “Il Duce” was an ardent supporter of salvaging the Nemi Ships—eager as always to get his hands on anything Roman that would lend prestige to his party. He outlined his plan to drain the lake in a speech in 1927, and in October the following year, he put his project into action. The first ship emerged from the depths in March 1929; the second in June 1931. The wood of their vast carcasses was treated, artifacts were taken, and they were housed in the purpose-built Museo delle Navi Romane (Museum of the Roman Ships) on the shore of the lake.

The Elusive Third Ship

Some might think it ironic that the Nemi Ships survived for over 2,000 years underwater only to be destroyed within a decade of their life on the surface. But this is unfortunately what happened. On May 31, 1944, an unknown group of retreating Nazi soldiers committed a malicious act of arson when they set the ships alight. By the time the Italians knew what had happened, it was too late. Aside from notes in the historical record, all that was left of Caligula’s magnificent vessels were cinders. As fortune would have it, however, it seems there is a third.

Mussolini’s party never drained the deepest part of the lake which had been rumoured since the fifteenth century to be the resting place of a larger 400 feet long vessel. Like the other two ships, it’s likely to be excessively luxurious: resplendent with mosaicked floors, marble columns, gold decorations, and (in its day) hot and cold running water. Nor is this ship’s existence just the stuff of rumours. Local fishermen have testified to this ship’s existence by reporting Roman artifacts they find snagged up in their fishing lines.

The hunt is already underway.

Various Italian authorities have teamed together to launch a cooperative (and therefore distinctly un-Italian) effort to search for the lost ship. Using hi-tech scanners, they have already identified an area some 100 feet deep for divers to scour. Things always move slowly in Italy, and so far they have only made it to a depth of 90 feet without much success. But we should soon have a better idea of what—if anything—remains of this third titanic vessel.

While we wait for the third ship to be discovered, we’ll have to make do with the other ghosts from antiquity that continue to haunt Nemi. There are, however, many. As previously mentioned, Nemi derived its name from the Latin word for “holy wood”, and as well as being famous for its outstanding natural beauty (and debauched booze cruises aboard Caligula’s Nemi Ships), Nemi was famous in antiquity for being the home to the Rex nemorensis , or the “King of the grove.”

Quite uniquely in the ancient world, this king could only be a slave who had run away from his master. He was, in reality, less a king and more a priest to the goddess of nature and hunting, Diana. However, like a king, he always faced the real and terrifying prospect of being violently supplanted by someone stronger. The removal of the incumbent king was in fact turned into a quasi-religious ritual, in which after plucking a golden bough from the grove, any other runaway slave could challenge the king to mortal combat. If the king won, he would retain his position. If not, his victor would take up the (dubiously desirable) title in his place.

Testament to the strength of Caligula’s attachment to the Nemi area is the fact that his story ties in with that of the Rex nemorensis . According to Suetonius, Caligula was a very jealous ruler and hated anybody who commanded even a morsel of power or respect. This extended beyond senators and popular theatre performers to include the King of Nemi himself. In the emperor’s opinion, one particular king had held his position for too long. So in a particularly spiteful act, Caligula decided to supplant him. He procured the strongest slave he could find and sent him to Nemi to fight the incumbent king.

To cut a long story short, the defending king, at his post in one of the worst jobs in the ancient world , had far less longevity than either of Caligula’s Nemi Ships.

• Alexander Meddings

Based in Rome, Alexander Meddings is a published writer, travel specialist and tour guide. After completing his MPhil in ancient history at the University of Oxford, he moved to Italy to pursue his passion at the source.

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Italians viewing antique Emperor Caligula's Nemi ships, 1932

After nearly 1,900 years at the bottom of Lake Nemi, the ships became visible again.

Between 1928 and 1932, two enormous wooden ships, which once belonged to Emperor Caligula, and had lain on the bottom of the Lake Nemi for over nineteen hundred years, were salvaged in what was perhaps the greatest underwater archaeological recovery ever accomplished.

The larger ship was essentially an elaborate floating palace, which contained quantities of marble, mosaic floors, heating, and plumbing such as baths among its amenities. Both ships featured technology long thought to be recent inventions.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the whole affair was the fact that knowledge of the two huge vessels being in the lake had never been lost throughout the ages, from the reign of Caligula to the twentieth century. There were several attempts at salvage carried out at various times, most of which resulted in the degradation of the wrecks and plundering of artifacts.

Lake Nemi is a place of great scenic beauty. It is formed by the crater of an old volcano and the name is derived from the Latin word for a grove. It has a surface of 1.67 km2 (0.64 sq mi) and a maximum depth of 33 meters (108 ft).

Throughout history, various deities have been venerated there. The area is principally associated with the goddess Diana and the lake was known in antiquity as the Speculum Dianae or “The Mirror Of Diana”.

There is considerable speculation regarding why the emperor Caligula chose to build two large ships on such a small lake. From the size of the ships it was long held that they were pleasure barges, though, as the lake was sacred, no ship could sail on it under Roman law implying a religious exemption.

Local fishermen had always been aware of the existence of the wrecks, and had explored them and removed small artifacts, often using grappling hooks to pull up pieces, which they sold to tourists.

As one of his royal passions, Emperor Caligula ordered several large barges to be built to use on Lake Nemi. The two vessels, which were designated in modern times as Prima Nave and Seconda Nave , (First Ship and Second Ship), had dimensions of 70m x 20m (230ft x 66ft) and 73m x 24m (240ft x 79ft) respectively.

While there can be little doubt that the ships were built at the capricious whim of a spendthrift despot, their intended purpose and eventual use have long been the subject of debate by scholars and historians. Some contend that Caligula built the barges to show the rulers of Syracuse, Sicily, and the Ptolemaic rulers in Egypt that Rome could match any luxurious pleasure barges that they built.

Other scholars argue that Caligula designed one of his ships as a floating temple to Diana and some say that the other ship may have been used as a floating palace where Caligula and his court could indulge in the depravities that history has credited to him.

Seutonius, the Roman historian described the two biggest barges as being built of cedar wood adorned with jeweled prows, rich sculpture, vessels of gold and silver, sails of purple silk, and bathrooms of alabaster and bronze. The floors were paved with glass mosaic, the windows and door frames were made of bronze, and many of the decorations were priceless.

The Romans made ball bearings out of the lead and they probably used the ball bearings on the Nemi ships to make the statues of the gods rotate or to move the windlasses. The flat-bottomed Nemi barges were not self-propelled.

Instead, they were attached to the shore by chains and bridges stretching across the water so people and commerce could travel back and forth. According to some historical accounts, Caligula’s ships were the scenes of orgies, murder, cruelty, music, and sport.

Some contend that Caligula built the barges to show the rulers of Syracuse, Sicily, and the Ptolemaic rulers in Egypt that Rome could match any luxurious pleasure barges that they built.

The two vessels, which were designated in modern times as Prima Nave and Seconda Nave, (First Ship and Second Ship), had dimensions of 67m x 19m and 71m x 24m respectively.

In 1446, Cardinal Prospero Colonna and Leon Battista Alberti followed up on the stories regarding the remains and discovered them lying at a depth of 18.3 meters (60ft), which at that time was too deep for effective salvage. They caused significant damage to the ships by using ropes with hooks to tear planks from them.

The Fascist government of Benito Mussolini worked to recover Caligula’s ships for about five years – from October 1928 to October 1932. Mussolini ordered antiquarian Guido Ucelli, the Italian Navy, engineers of Civil Engineers, industry, private individuals, and archaeologists to drain Lake Nemi.

The local people and archaeologists knew of an ancient Roman underground tunnel that connected the lake to farms outside the crater and they connected it to a floating pumping platform. Using powerful pumps and water scooping machines, the workers lowered the level of the lake and by June 10, 1931, they had recovered the first ship and the second had been exposed.

By this time the water level had dropped more than 20 meters (66ft) with over 40 million cubic meters of water removed. A London Times story reported that everyone on the site cheered as the waters receded to reveal the first Nemi ship. After nearly 1,900 years at the bottom of Lake Nemi, the ships again rode the waves.

The devastation caused by previous attempts at lifting was all too apparent from the time the ship became visible. Practically all of the original upper-works had been torn off and what remained lay in a jumble inside the hull with a multitude of other artifacts.

Benito Mussolini attending the inauguration of Museum of Nemi (Il Museo delle Navi Romane).

The ships were destroyed by fire in World War II on the night of May 31, 1944. Several US army shells hit the Lake Nemi Museum around 8 pm, causing little damage but forcing the German artillery to leave the area. Then a few hours later, smoke arose from the Museum and soon the two ships were burnt to ashes although the museum’s concrete structure suffered little damage.

The Lake Nemi Museum was restored and reopened in 1953. Photographs, drawings from the Italian Navy survey, and drawings of archaeologist G. Gatti also survived the fire, allowing artists and architects to make reconstructions of the two ships.

The spaces that once held the two immense Nemi Ships are now filled by one-fifth scale models built in the naval dockyard near Naples, and bronzes and other artifacts that survived the fire. Outside the Lake Nemi Museum, a life-size reconstruction of the sailing ship’s hull is displayed.

Emperor Caligula’s Nemi ships

By 1827, interest had revived to recover Caligula’s ships. Annesio Fusconi built a floating platform from which to raise the wrecks however, several of his cables broke so he called a halt until he could find stronger cables. When he returned, he found that the locals had dismantled his platform to make wine barrels leading to him abandoning the project.

The discovery proved that the Romans were capable of building large ships. Before the recovery of the Nemi ships, scholars often ridiculed the idea that the Romans were capable of building a ship as big as some ancient sources reported the Roman grain carriers were. Piston pumps supplied the two ships with hot and cold running water via lead pipes.

The hot water supplied baths while the cold operated fountains and supplied drinking water. This plumbing technology was later lost and only re-discovered in the Middle Ages.

The emperor Caligula had a very brief reign. He ruled from 37A.D. to 41A.D. for a period of three years and ten months. He is generally depicted by historians as a cruel megalomaniac who was noted for many excesses, not the least of which was his ability to squander, in a year, the entire resources of the Imperial treasury that had been built up by his predecessor Tiberius, on extravagant but useless schemes.

Caligula’s brief reign came to an abrupt end when he was assassinated by members of the Praetorian Guard, who were sickened by his depraved behavior and reckless expenditure. He was twenty-eight years of age.

Updated on: November 25, 2021

Any factual error or typo?  Let us know.

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Special operations outlook 2019 digital edition is here, book review – mussolini’s navy: a reference guide to the regia marina 1930-1945, by maurizio brescia; naval institute press; 256 pages.

By Mike Markowitz - February 20, 2013

Mussolini reviewing the crew of the battleship Littorio in Taranto, June 21, 1942. Istituto Luce Rome photo

Long the butt of ignorant jokes, the Royal Italian Navy ( Regia Marina ) of World War II had capable professional officers, gallant sailors, and beautiful fast ships designed by gifted engineers. What it didn’t have was petroleum, and that was fatal. As British Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon observed at the end of World War I, the Allies “floated to victory on a sea of oil.”

Nevertheless, for 39 months, the Italian navy took many hard knocks and dished out a few to the vaunted British Royal Navy, fighting not only on the Mediterranean, but also in the Red Sea, the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, and even on Russia’s distant Lake Ladoga.

Nevertheless, for 39 months, the Italian navy took many hard knocks and dished out a few to the vaunted British Royal Navy , fighting not only on the Mediterranean , but also in the Red Sea, the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, and even on Russia’s distant Lake Ladoga . Particularly adept in special operations with small craft and frogmen, it conducted some memorably audacious raids.

The Italian battleship Guilo Cesare firing salvos from her big guns near Punta Stilo during the Battle of Calabria. Ministero Della Difesa-Marina photo

There were many shortcomings beside lack of fuel. The navy failed to plan, train or equip for night fighting, even though a group of young technicians had constructed a prototype radar as early as 1936. Italian submarines took too long to dive. Excessive muzzle velocity, and the decision to save weight by mounting twin guns close together in single cradles on some classes of ships, resulted in inaccurate gun salvoes. Italy’s 1938 racial laws, adopted under Nazi pressure, deprived the fleet of Jewish scientists and engineers.

In war, the losers, having fewer reputations to protect, sometimes write better history than the winners. The superb 22-volume official history of the Regia Marina in World War II , published at Rome between 1958 and 1978 has never been translated. Until now, James Sadkovich’s 1994 book, The Italian Navy in World War II has been the best single-volume account for English-speaking readers, but it is now expensive and becoming hard to find.

Mussolini’s Navy: A Reference Guide to the Regia Marina 1930-1945 , therefore, will fill a major gap in the naval history of World War II for general readers. The book is logically organized into 10 chapters:

• The Regia Marina from 1861 to 1939
• Dock Yards, Naval Bases, Ports, Shipyards and Coast Defenses
• Fleet Organization and Operations
• Ships in Service 1940-45
• Surface and Underwater Assault Craft
• Naval Aviation
• Italian Naval Camouflage in the Second World War
• Uniforms, Ranks, Insignia, and Decorations
• Who’s Who in the Italian Navy in the Second World War

There is a bilingual bibliography, notes on photographic sources, and Index.

In a sense, it wasn’t Mussolini’s navy at all.  It was the Royal Navy of Victor Emanuel III (1869-1947).  Although the shy and scholarly king was reduced to a figurehead by the Fascist seizure of power in 1922, the navy was fiercely monarchist and socially conservative. The new Italian Air Force, more supportive of Fascist ideology, was also more favored by the regime. Inter-service rivalry handicapped the war effort as much for Italy as it did for Japan.

Mussolini’s Navy: A Reference Guide to the Regia Marina 1930-1945, by Maurizio Brescia; Naval Institute Press; 256 pages

War losses for the Italian navy totaled two battleships ( Conte di Cavour , sunk at Taranto by British torpedo bombers, Nov. 12, 1940, and Roma sunk by German guided bombs, Sept. 9, 1943,) 13 cruisers, 39 destroyers, sixty submarines, and most of the large pre-war merchant fleet. But on the critical North Africa convoy route, 86 percent of the supply tonnage and 90 percent of the troops landed safely in Libya, despite Allied air superiority during much of the campaign.

On the critical North Africa convoy route, 86 percent of the supply tonnage and 90 percent of the troops landed safely in Libya, despite Allied air superiority during much of the campaign.

Dr. Maurizio Brescia, the author, is an editor of the Italian military history magazine, Storia Militare , and a talented draftsman who produced many of the detailed line drawings in the book.

After making a rendezvous off the North African coast, an Italian cruiser and a Littorio class battleship steam slowly past the British escorting ships towards Malta to surrender, all together there were two battleships, five cruisers and four destroyers. Sailors of HMS Warspite are in the foreground, Sept. 10, 1943. They were also escorted by units of the British destroyer flotillas as well as the battleships Valiant and Warspite (from which this photograph was taken). Despite some successes the Regia Marina was unable to overcome its many shortcomings. Imperial War Museum photo

This handsome, large-format book is beautifully illustrated with photographs – many never published before – drawings, and maps. The only shortcoming, perhaps, is the lack of a chapter covering detailed specifications of Italian naval guns and torpedoes. The color plates of camouflage patterns will be of particular value to modelers and naval miniatures war gamers.

By Mike Markowitz

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8:17 AM February 21, 2013

Dear Mr. Markovitz, First of all, many thanks for your very positive review of my book “Mussolini’s Navy”: it’s always fine reading such favourable comments and I do hope that you liked the book very much. Please take note that the caption of the first photo of this page (published also on page 228 of “Mussolini’s Navy”) is mistaken. In fact, it was taken in June 1942 as stated in the original caption: “Taranto, 21 June 1942. Aboard the battleship Littorio, Mussolini reviewing the ship’s crew, followed – from left to right – by Aldo Vidussoni (Secretary of the Partito Nazionale Fascista), by Adm. Arturo Riccardi (Capo di Stato Maggiore della Regia Marina) and by Adm. Angelo Iachino (CinC of the Squadra Navale). (Istituto Luce, Rome)” As a matter of fact, Mussolini visited Italian ships during the war at least a couple of other times between 1940 and 1942, but these events – not being substantial for the outcome of the naval war in the Mediterranean – are rarely described in foreign and even in Italian publications. Many thanks again! Sincerely, Maurizio Brescia (Author of “Mussolini’s Navy”)

8:33 AM February 21, 2013

Mr. Brescia,

Any mistake on the caption was on our end and not Mr. Markowitz’s. I’ve corrected the caption. Thank you for commenting with a correction. We strive for accuracy.

Your source for trustworthy defense news

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Divers to scour lake for Emperor Caligula’s 2,000-year-old pleasure ship

Today, the serene waters of Lake Nemi make it a quaint getaway, one that is best known for its peaceful landscapes and the area's delicious wild strawberries.

But in ancient Roman times, the volcanic lake southeast of Rome was the anchor point for Emperor Caligula's pleasure ships — massive and ornate barges that were rumored to be the sites of wild orgies and other excessive indulgences.

For nearly 2,000 years, the sunken remains of Caligula's pleasure ships tantalized divers, who launched expeditions to recover them, with little success.

It wasn't until 1927, when Italian dictator Benito Mussolini ordered Lake Nemi drained, that two of the ships began to be fully revealed. Measuring 230 and 240 feet long, the “Nemi ships” recovered over the next several years astounded researchers with their advanced technology.

At the time, however, Lake Nemi was only partly drained — and in the decades since, rumors have persisted that the remains of a third, 400-foot-long pleasure ship lurk in the deepest part of the lake.

Local fishermen report getting their nets snagged in that area of the lake, only to bring up Roman artifacts, according to the Telegraph .

“We know from documents from the 15th century that one of the boats went down in an area of the lake different to where the other two were found during the Fascist era,” Alberto Bertucci, the mayor of the town of Nemi, told the newspaper.

Ancient Romans depicted Huns as barbarians. Their bones tell a different story.

Questions about whether a third pleasure barge belonging to Caligula is sunken in Lake Nemi could be answered soon. Divers on Wednesday will begin scouring the muddy lake bottom for the legendary ship using sonar and other modern equipment.

“If it’s down there, and it’s that long, then we are talking about the world’s first luxury cruise ship,” Bertucci told the Times of London . “Every emperor had a villa — but Caligula demanded floating villas complete with columns, hot water, gold and mosaics.”

Indeed, the pair of Caligula's pleasure ships found during Mussolini's time as prime minister revealed palatial furnishings and advanced naval mechanisms, including bronze statues, marble floors and lead pipes marked “Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus” (Caligula's full name) that would have carried hot and cold running water, according to a 2002 Films Media Group documentary .

“The Nemi ships are very important, partly because they are the most complete wrecks of their period ever found and because of their huge size,” Italian archaeologist Marco Bonino said in the documentary. “No other wrecks, whether on land or at sea, have provided so much useful information as the Nemi ships, both about construction techniques and about naval architecture.”

The two ships were housed in a museum near the lake but were destroyed in a World War II fire in 1944.

The cruelty and debauchery of Rome's third emperor have remained legendary through the centuries, although scholars debate whether the more salacious details of Caligula's life were exaggerated. He came into power in A.D. 37 but fell ill in the fall of the first year of his reign and began exhibiting, by all accounts, signs of disturbing mental illness.

Historical accounts of his authoritarian rule, bizarre requests and grandiose lifestyle depict someone who showed traces of Joffrey Baratheon from “Game of Thrones,” King Louis XVI and Scrooge McDuck.

Caligula spent untold sums of money on infrastructure projects, some on aqueducts and temples — but also once ordering hundreds of Roman merchant ships to create “a 2-mile floating bridge across the Bay of Bauli so he could spend two days galloping back and forth across it,”  according to the History Channel . The network describes Caligula's personal exploits as similarly strange and lurid:

He tormented high-ranking senators by making them run for miles in front of his chariot. He had brazen affairs with the wives of his allies and was rumored to have incestuous relationships with his sisters. Caligula was tall, pale and so hairy that he made it a capital offense to mention a goat in his presence. He worked to accentuate his natural ugliness by practicing terrifying facial expressions in a mirror. But he literally wallowed in luxury, allegedly rolling around in piles of money and drinking precious pearls dissolved in vinegar. He continued his childhood games of dress-up, donning strange clothing, women’s shoes and lavish accessories and wigs — eager, according to his biographer Cassius Dio, “to appear to be anything rather than a human being and an emperor.”

Caligula often referred to himself as a god and had his enemies tortured and killed.

Throughout his reign, he continued to spend in excess, depleting the Roman treasury. The young emperor was assassinated in A.D. 41 by members of the Praetorian Guard, elite soldiers who were supposed to protect the emperor.

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Italian police seize Mussolini's yacht from businessman

Italian police have seized a yacht that once belonged to Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini from a businessman suspected to be linked to organised crime. Photo / File

Italian police have seized a yacht that once belonged to Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini from a businessman suspected to be linked to organised crime.

The yacht was among €28 million ($47 million) in assets - including real estate and luxury cars - seized after an investigation into three individuals and 10 firms, finance police said.

A confiscation order from a Rome court named the yacht owner as Salvatore Squillante, 68. The lawyer acting for Squillante declined to comment.

Squillante bought the classic sailing boat, christened the Black Flame by a Fascist friend who gave it to Mussolini as a present in the 1930s, through one of the seized companies.

The boat was deliberately sunk in 1943 to stop it falling into German hands after the Fascist regime fell, and was hauled out and restored after the war.

The court document said Squillante, who served a community service sentence for a 1993 fraudulent bankruptcy, made business deals that suggested he might be linked to a Rome-based mafia network allegedly run by one-eyed ultra-rightist Massimo Carminati.

He rented property to a firm owned by convicted murderer Salvatore Buzzi, who is accused of being a prominent member of the crime ring that allegedly skimmed millions of euros off city hall contracts in Rome.

His activities "could raise suspicions of a possible hidden pact between this man and members of organised crime [groups]," the court document said.

During the "Capital Mafia" investigation, police who had tapped Buzzi's telephone recorded him saying the drug trade was less lucrative than schemes involving migrants.

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