Most of the Italian cultural symbols destroyed during the Second World War, from the "Ponte Vecchio" in Florence to "La Scala in Milan, have been rebuilt. Still missing fifty years later are two beautiful Roman ships that were housed in a little museum near the volcanic lake of Nemi in the Alban Hills, near Rome. They were the biggest and best conserved vessels dating back to ancient times. Recovered between 1927 and 1932 and considered an extraordinary find by international archaeologists, they were burned on 31 May 1944, probably by retreating German troops. These wooden vessels were the expression of a most sophisticated ancient shipbuilding technology which was lost and reappeared only,in the 18th century in the British fleet. The Roman Emperor Caligula (37-41 AD) had them built on the shores of the mysterious lake sacred to the goddess Diana, to be used in celebrating religious rites under the moon. When Caligula was assassinated, they were sunk and soon forgotten. Only the fishermen handed down the memory to their descendants. After the Renaissance, several unsuccessful attempts were made to recover them, and artists dreamed of them and painted them without having ever seen them.

Seventy years ago, the wrecks were recovered by temporarily draining much of the lake. They were dragged ashore on trolleys and a state-of-the-art museum built around them. One of the ships, which were first buried under the mud and then burned, will rise from its ashes like the legendary Phoenix: the project is to rebuild it from drawings and little models that escaped war damage. Rosario D'Agata, a retired manager of AGIP, is the promoter of the idea. At the beginning of the 1990s, while working in the company's image creation department, he had his first inspiration: to rebuild ancient Greek ships in Crotone (in the province of Calabria) or Gela (Sicily), ancient Greek ports where AGIP operates.
An ancient ship can become a cultural, tourist and economic attraction. When an ancient warship, like the ones that beat the Persians at Salamis, was rebuilt in Greece, D'Agata delayed no longer. His idea was developed at Gela. A Vl century BC Greek merchant ship measuring 20 metres by 6 metres was designed. AGIP was Interested In the idea, thinking that it could strengthen the relationship between the company and the local inhabitants. But for D'Agata the time had come to retire. He moved to his father's house near Nemi where, still thinking of the ship for Gela, he found fertile ground for a more ambitious project: rebuilding one of Caligula's ships, the destruction of which had nearly extinguished the charm of the whole place. He studied the matter thoroughly and set up an international team of archaeologists, historians and naval engineers. One of the members Is Prof. Pietro Alfredo Gianfrotta, a naval archaeologist and lecturer at the University of Tuscia who collaborated in the reconstruction of the Greek trireme and was the first to think of rebuilding one of the ancient ships at Nemi. The project is strictly scientific. All the historical evidence was gathered, including an old film that shows the recovery of the ships in 1927, and found the drawings made by the Italian Navy. Reconstruction will take no account whatever of all the fantastic hypotheses that have grown up over the centuries. When they were launched by Caligula, the two vessels were floating sanctuaries. In 1927 they looked like two great barges. All that remains of the original ships are the guardrails, which were decorated with double-fronted herms, curios and wolf heads: these bronze relics are now kept at the National Museum in Rome. The deck was covered with marble and mosaics of many colours. But what stood on the original ships? Most probably little temples and colonnades. On the ship to be rebuilt a little artificial temple will be built, which can always be taken down, so that the public will know that it is just an idea, for which there is no scientific evidence. The destruction of the two ships was a major loss for world cultural heritage. Although flat bottomed, they were real masterpieces of engineering. Without the precious Nemi boats, we would have had to base our knowledge of ancient Roman shipbuilding techniques on incomplete writings, paintings, mosaics, or wrecks (some recently recovered) in very bad condition. In 1927 some astonishing discoveries were made on the two boats. The Romans made ball bearings out of lead, and the ones on the Nemi boats may have been used to make the gods' statues rotate, or to move the windlasses. On board there was hot water and a pumping system to empty the sump wells. The "Dianae Lacus" (Diana's Lake) Association - part of the Castelll Romani Cultural Trust - was founded for the project, with Rosario D'Agata as Chairman. Subsequently the project was officially presented. A short documentary produced with the help of Agenzia Giornalistica Italia immediately aroused interest in the Nemi ships. Thanks to the Internet, they have become famous again, and in a short time the site received 1,700 hits. The vessel to be rebuilt was dubbed "The Ship", and In San Diego, California, the newspaper of the American Archaeological Institute used the Italian name in a headline: "La Nave to be reconstructed." How much will it cost? In all, about 10 billion lire: 5-6 billion for the construction work (one and a half billion just for the wood), the rest for maintenance and the security system. Leading shipyards have been chosen to implement the project at Lavagna (Genoa) and Torre del Greco (Naples). How will the money be raised? "The project is very popular, says D'Agata, and there will be no lack of sponsors. We have been working on different fronts, and have approached several banks. The ship is a very good investment, with a high return in terms of image. We are thinking of using it for private visits, entertainment, concerts, and other events. To interest the public in the cause, the first part of the ship to be built will be the 10 metre-long bow structure, which includes the most fascinating parts of the ancient vessel: the helm, the ship's beak, which was for ploughing through the waves and ramming enemy ships; and the figurehead and name of the vessel. It will be assembled at a spectacular ceremony: the various parts will appear in the sky, transported by helicopter. The ship's bow will become a sort of "logo", the symbol of Roman vessels risen from their ashes.