The burning of the Ships of nemi

Saturday, October 28, 2023 - 5:00 p.m.
Conference Hall Abbey of S. Nilo - Grottaferrata

Presentation of the book
THE BURNING OF THE SHIPS OF NEMI
Investigation of a World War II cold case
By Flavio Altamura and Stefano Paolucci

The fire that destroyed Caligula's famous ships, which took place in Nemi on May 31, 1944, is a subject that has never ceased to cause discussion among the inhabitants of the Alban Hills. Did German soldiers stationed at the site really set the fire, as the commission of inquiry determined? Or were those responsible for that disaster to be sought elsewhere, such as among the evacuees who had taken refuge in the museum or even among local partisans? Over the past eighty years, there have been many alternative "truths" that have challenged the official version: but none has ever appeared entirely convincing, not even the one that blamed the Nazis.
So what had happened, really, in those dramatic hours? Who or what could have caused that incalculable loss to science and human civilization? This is what archaeologist Flavio Altamura and historian Stefano Paolucci set out to discover with the volume we are presenting, the first dedicated to the subject and the result of more than ten years of research. Combining the rigor of the historiographical method with the precision of scientific investigation, the authors take us through an engaging investigative process that unfolds through the discovery and analysis of vast unpublished documentation, including photographs, tracked down in archives all over the world. A veritable historical counter-investigation, cast in the chiaroscuro of the complex wartime period, it dismantles the many arbitrary hypotheses advanced over time and meticulously reconstructs the events that preceded and followed the fire, until a new dynamic of the facts emerges that is as unsuspected as it has always been in the public eye.

The initiative is promoted by the GAL Colli Albani "Bruno Martellotta" ODV, in collaboration with the Lazio Regional Museums Directorate, the Museum of Roman Ships in Nemi, and the Municipality of Grottaferrata, and enjoys the patronage of local authorities.

Info
info@gruppoarcheologicolatino.org
Tel. 06 9459854