Bump for later perusal. Those giant Roman cargo carriers were really something.
It remains a little odd to me that this came as a surprise to any specialists in Roman history or archaeology. I mean, how the hell do these birds think the Romans moved obelisks up to 300 tons in weight from Egypt to Rome — overland? Caligula had at least eight 200 ton one-piece columns quarried in Egypt and brought by sea for a temple he was building to himself, and his pleasure barge was discovered in the early 20th c, buried in a dried up inland lake. It displaced over 200 tons. Unfortunately, it was destroyed during the WWII battles for Italy. :’(