Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture
2316 W. 1st Avenue
Spokane, WA 99201
On 10 March, 241 BCE, the final naval battle of the First Punic War was fought off western Sicily, where a large Roman fleet engaged an equally large Carthaginian fleet near the Aegates Islands. The ancient historian Polybius tells us how the Romans won a decisive victory and forced the Carthaginians to sue for peace shortly thereafter. Now, almost 2300 years later, the site of the battle has been found off Levanzo Island, and its landscape has been carefully surveyed. By the end of 2012, ten warship rams, a number of helmets, and wide scatter of transport amphoras have been located on the sea floor beneath the battle zone. For the first time ever, we can examine the fallout from an ancient naval battle. This lecture will discuss the various finds of this underwater project, focusing in particular upon the military equipment and the significance of those objects, among the earliest Roman armor ever found.
Sponsored by Lunell Haught