Rare Roman artifact found near Sicily

Published: July 1, 2008 at 10:35 PM

PALERMO, Italy, July 1 (UPI) -- Italian researchers say a rostrum, used by ancient Romans to ram enemy ships, was found off the coast of Sicily.

The rare bronze appendage may have been used in the final naval battle of the First Punic War, ANSA reported Tuesday. The rostrum was recovered about 230 feet below the surface by divers aided by remotely operated vehicles.

Sicily's maritime affairs department department head, Sebastiano Tusa, said the Egadi rostrum confirms his theory that a battle took place northeast of the island of Levanzo between fleets from Rome and Carthage during the Battle of the Egadi in 241 B.C., the Italian news agency said.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Order reprints



Additional News Stories
Notre Dame fires Charlie Weis (15 min)
CDC: H1N1 decreasing nationwide (17 min)
UPI NewsTrack Business (19 min)
Human-animal bond undervalued (20 min)
Corn harvest lags behind others (21 min)
Crude oil prices rise Monday (24 min)
Grain futures mostly higher Monday (38 min)
fark
German tourist tells Disney World security that he had bombs in his backpack. Ha ha, just kidding...
Your mother is in a car accident, so you pull over and C) Kick the reponding State Trooper in the...
Someone stole Simon? ALLLLLLLL-VINNNNN
Instead of providing light during a power outage, lamp oil in a sauce pan will only provide you...
Ready-for-Fark headline: "Drive-by gooseing in North Mankato park"
Man tells cops he's wearing nylons and making sexual gestures to passing vehicles because the meth...