How a lost mosaic from the Roman emperor's reign ended up entertaining guests in a New York City apartment.
When stains had to be cleaned from a mosaic that once decorated a lavish pleasure vessel from the first century, they were not remnants from the debauched revelries that the murderous and sex-crazed Roman Emperor Caligula used to hold on the ship.
When Caligula was assassinated in A.D. 41 after ruling for only four years, his two ships were sunk where they sat, in the middle of Lake Nemi, a small volcanic lake southeast of Rome. Stretching 230 feet and 240 feet long and mostly flat, the wood ships were clearly constructed as barges meant to sit in placid water, not to negotiate waves. According to in 1908, the ships were topped with silk sails and featured orchards, vineyards, and even bathrooms with running water .
"There was a lady with a young guy with a strange hat that came to the table," Del Bufalo said."And he told her, 'What a beautiful book. Oh, Helen, look, that's your mosaic.' And she said, 'Yeah, that's my mosaic.'" "It was an innocent purchase," Fioratti told the Times in 2017."It was our favorite thing, and we had it for 45 years."
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