Nave I Museo delle Navi Antiche di Pisa.jpg by Wikimedia Commons
Caligula commissioned the construction of what might have been considered luxury yachts in the ancient world. The Nemi ships, named for Lake Nemi in which they were built, incorporated the finest materials and design of the day. With indoor plumbing, baths, salons, and marble flooring, these ships could rival even today’s workmanship.
The discovery of the two Nemi ships at the bottom of the lake unveiled to modern scientists that Romans had technological advancements previously believed to be recent inventions. Led anchor stocks, piston pumps that provided both heated water for bathing and cooled water for drinking, thrust ball bearings thought to have first been invented by Davinci, and the oldest crank handles ever found, have all proven that the ancient peoples were not nearly as primitive as scholars like to believe. The Nemi ships are now on display at the Museum of Roman Ships, or Museo delle Navi, preserved for modern people two learn a thing or two from their predecessors for a change.