Free Republic

Reuters reports that a bronze ram has been recovered from some 260 feet of water off the coast of western Sicily, near the Aegates Islands, by divers from the Society for the Documentation of Underwater Sites. The front of the ram is decorated with a helmet topped with three feathers, but deposits of shells and seaweed currently cover any other possible marks or inscriptions. Such a ram would have been placed on the bow of a warship and used to attack enemy vessels. This ram, and 26 others recovered from the area, have been assigned to the Battle of the...

Archaeologists have discovered an intact Roman helmet while conducting an underwater study near the Aegadian Islands off Sicily’s western coast. The helmet dates from the time of the First Punic War (264–241 BC), the first of three major wars fought between the Roman Republic and Carthage, the two main superpowers competing for domination of the western Mediterranean. The conflict was mostly fought on and around Sicily, resulting in the island being annexed as a Roman province and Carthage forced to pay large reparations. Remarkably preserved with both cheekpieces still intact, the helmet has been identified as a Montefortino type –...

Punta Scario is opposite to and only twenty minutes by sail from, the Egadi Islands which gave their name to the Roman naval victory that took place on the morning of March the 10th, 241 BC and ended the First Punic War. The wreck's contents, epigraphy and Carbon 14 determinations are consistent with this period, while circumstantial evidence points to a connection with the Battle itself. The Ship's architecture and contents show that it was not a merchantman, but some kind of hastily built auxiliary warship, possibly a Liburnian. After the Battle the wind had changed direction, so that by...