Some very ancient history indeed!

I was fascinated to read that marine archaeologists believe they've discovered the site - or at least the general area - of the Battle of the Aegates Islands, the final naval engagement (in 241 B.C.) of the First Punic War between Carthage and Rome. MSNBC reports:

The remains of a sunken warship recently found in the Mediterranean Sea may confirm the site of a major ancient battle in which Rome trounced Carthage.

. . .

The shipwreck was found near the island of Levanzo, west of Sicily, which is where historical documents place the battle.

In the summer of 2010, Royal and his colleagues discovered a warship's bronze ram - the sharp, prolonged tip of the ship's bow that was used to slam into an enemy vessel. This tactic was heavily used in ancient naval battles and was thought to have played an important role in the Punic fights.

The ram is all that's left of the warship; the rest, made of wood, apparently rotted away.

"There's never been an ancient warship found - that's the holy grail of maritime archaeology," Royal told LiveScience. "The most we have are the rams and part of the bow structure."

. . .

The new ram is the third such recent discovery near that site.

In 2008, the same team uncovered a beaten-up warship ram with bits of wood still attached, which the scientists were able to carbon-date to around the time of the end of the first Punic War.

Another ram that had been pulled out of the water by a fishing boat three years earlier in the same area bore an inscription dating it to the same time period.

This third ram, Royal said, is almost identical in shape and size to the one found in 2008.

"At this point you've got to begin to say, 'We have for the first time archaeologically confirmed an ancient naval battle site,'" Royal said.

There's more at the link. Further information may also be found at the Web site of the RPM Nautical Foundation, which is conducting the project.

It's fascinating to think that a warship ram made almost 2,300 years ago is back above the water after so long. If only it could talk . . . the tales it could tell! Did the ship to which it was attached sink any opponents? Or was it sunk before it could do any damage? What happened to the crew?

Peter