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Roman shipyard of Stifone (Narni)
Encyclopedia
The Roman shipyard of Stifone is an archaeological find of Roman origin recently discovered in Umbria
, in the municipality of Narni
, inside an artificial channel adjacent the Nera River
, about 900 metres down-river from the village of Stifone. Its position is just behind the river port of the ancient city of Narni
, of whom some remains are still visible in the river bed.
« The origin of the word Stifone comes from the Greek and it has been used to indicate a place where timber boats and rafts were built to be sent towards Rome »
(Rutilio Robusti, Narni, guida della città e dintorni, 1924)
That contribute has been taken up by other authors, as Italo Ciaurro and Guerriero Bolli, both of them have motioned the origin of the toponym, with the second who talks about a shipyard of Stifone although he was thinking at the Byzantine period. Without the support of the evidences, the story of an ancient shipyard has remained not very investigated, so it wasn’t possible to elaborate a cognitive frame beyond the simple quotes. Following the logic and the Robusti’s contribution, it has been normal thinking about a site fitted for the construction of river rafts designed for the transport of people and goods. Once the discover has come to light, the frame has left open other interpretations, of whom suggestive that one which doesn’t exclude a connection with the events of the Punic Wars
. This due to the significant dimensions of the structure and the human efforts perceivable behind its realization. For this reason, the volunteers who are trying to improve the knowledge of the area have hoped for more attention from archaeologists and public administrations. Being an evidence without similar corresponding on the territory, its importance risks to be underestimated if the exact dating will not be determined.
, following the Tiber River in Orte
, is confirmed by the classic authors Strabo
and Tacitus
. The Greek geographer refers about "not big boats"; the Latin historian instead describes in detail the journey of the consul Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso
and his wife Plancina who, in the 19, returning to Rome from the provinces of Siria
, decided to leave the Via Flaminia
and taking a ship at Narni
.
« Starting from Narni, to avoid suspects or because who fears is uncertain in his plans, he followed the waterway of Nera River and then of Tiber. So he increased the popular grudge because, once landed with the ship at Cesari’s grave, in broad daylight and with riverside full of people, they advanced cheerful in face, him among a crowd of clients and Plancina with her following of women» (Tacitus, Annales, Book III, 9)
However, the navigability of the Nera River is related only with the last part of its waterway, included between Stifone and the confluence of Nera with the Tiber. The narrow gorges below Narni, in fact, make impossible this practice.
«About one thousand steps beyond Taizzano, there was time once a port along the Nera River, as demonstrated by some traces»
(F. Cardoli, Ex notis Fulvij Carduli S.J. presbyteri Narniensis de Civitatis Narniae, Origine et antiquatibus).
The river port was found in the same position in the year 1879, when an informer of the marquis Giovanni Eroli noticed the remains of two big pilasters used to fasten the boats.
In the following contributes there wasn’t anymore mention about its precise location. So, with the construction of some dams up stream, and the consequent rise of the river level, the port was tacitly believed as submerged. The remains of it, unlike of the common believing, were however in the same place described by the Jesuit, although hidden among the bushy vegetation. Only in the year 1992 the port returned again to be quoted by the local historiography, when the archaeologist Roberto Nini wrote some reflections more pertaining to the story and the territory. Some years later, the river port was visited by the superintended for the regional archaeological heritage, Daniela Monacchi, but it’s strange to notice like nobody had realized the close presence of an ancient shipyard, also because of some stagnant water which obstructs the passage, this since the époque of the Jesuit who mentioned the difficulties for a comfortable exploration of the area.
and stern
(the thinnest parts of the boat), the measures appear quite substantive for simple river rafts, especially with reference to the notable distance between a wall and the other. So far, it has seemed more prudent not to speak about Roman quinquereme
or trireme
without the essential comparisons, especially considering how the historians themselves are not agreed about the exact measures of these warships. However, most of them share similar opinions when they speak about their draft, supposed to be quite moderate , then potentially suitable to descend along the last stretch of the Nera River, which is very copious of water before to flow into the Tiber River. The reasons of a shipyard quite far from the Tyrrhenian Sea
, but however well linked with it through the river way, should be found on the abundance of raw material offered by the Umbrian territory (wood of different quality), with the area of Narni fall under the Roman domination since 299 BC. In add, it is interesting to ascertain how the classical authors of that period didn’t supply clear information about the different position of the navy yard, included Polybius
who has been the most important historians of the Punic Wars. The need of safety could be linked with the choice to assemble ships in the up-country, without the risk to be exposed at the potential threats of the enemy from the sea. In fact, the modern historians are in agreement to collocate the ancient navalia inside the city of Rome, in the area of Campus Martius
. It means the shipyard of Stifone could be only one of the different structures used at that époque, in whom the imposing effort made by the Romans in the year 261 BC to create their first war fleet is famous. However, it’s right and proper to insist how the hypothesis, although generally shared by the researchers, are at the moment still under assessment.
for the year 207 BC, especially as a strategic point. After having intercepted a correspondence between Hasdrubal
and his brother Hannibal, the Roman legions decided to block the passage in proximity of the shipyard area, as it’s clearly deductible by the geographical coordinates provided by the author
« Two knights of Narnia were returned from the battle in the camp situated at the entrance of the narrow gorge which opens the way to Umbria »
(Livy, Ab Urbe Condita, XXVII)
The narrow gorge which opens the way to Umbria is exactly behind the archaeological area, situated just in proximity of its entrance
arrived to the place to evaluate the credibility of the hypothesis, they didn’t find yet the essential economic resources for the publication. However, all the information above can be found out from the bibliography and external links listed below.
Umbria
Umbria is a region of modern central Italy. It is one of the smallest Italian regions and the only peninsular region that is landlocked.Its capital is Perugia.Assisi and Norcia are historical towns associated with St. Francis of Assisi, and St...
, in the municipality of Narni
Narni
Narni is an ancient hilltown and comune of Umbria, in central Italy, with 20,100 inhabitants, according to the 2003 census. At an altitude of 240 m , it overhangs a narrow gorge of the Nera River in the province of Terni. It is very close to the Geographic center of Italy...
, inside an artificial channel adjacent the Nera River
Nera River (Italy)
The Nera is a 116 km long river which flows almost entirely in Umbria, Italy. A tributary to the Tiber, its sources are in the Monti Sibillini, east of Foligno. It flows southward past Terni and Narni. It joins the Tiber near Orte.-See also:...
, about 900 metres down-river from the village of Stifone. Its position is just behind the river port of the ancient city of Narni
Narni
Narni is an ancient hilltown and comune of Umbria, in central Italy, with 20,100 inhabitants, according to the 2003 census. At an altitude of 240 m , it overhangs a narrow gorge of the Nera River in the province of Terni. It is very close to the Geographic center of Italy...
, of whom some remains are still visible in the river bed.
The shipyard in the local historiography
Before the discovery, it’s very indicative to certify how the local historiography had already mentioned the ancient presence of a similar structure. The former major of Narni, Rutilio Robusti, have asserted:« The origin of the word Stifone comes from the Greek and it has been used to indicate a place where timber boats and rafts were built to be sent towards Rome »
(Rutilio Robusti, Narni, guida della città e dintorni, 1924)
That contribute has been taken up by other authors, as Italo Ciaurro and Guerriero Bolli, both of them have motioned the origin of the toponym, with the second who talks about a shipyard of Stifone although he was thinking at the Byzantine period. Without the support of the evidences, the story of an ancient shipyard has remained not very investigated, so it wasn’t possible to elaborate a cognitive frame beyond the simple quotes. Following the logic and the Robusti’s contribution, it has been normal thinking about a site fitted for the construction of river rafts designed for the transport of people and goods. Once the discover has come to light, the frame has left open other interpretations, of whom suggestive that one which doesn’t exclude a connection with the events of the Punic Wars
Punic Wars
The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage from 264 B.C.E. to 146 B.C.E. At the time, they were probably the largest wars that had ever taken place...
. This due to the significant dimensions of the structure and the human efforts perceivable behind its realization. For this reason, the volunteers who are trying to improve the knowledge of the area have hoped for more attention from archaeologists and public administrations. Being an evidence without similar corresponding on the territory, its importance risks to be underestimated if the exact dating will not be determined.
The ancient navigability of the Nera River
The ancient navigability of the Nera River, as a natural way to send farm produce towards RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, following the Tiber River in Orte
Orte
Orte is a comune in the province of Viterbo, in the Italian region Latium Lazio, located about 60 km north of Rome and about 24 km east of Viterbo. As of 31 December 2006, Orte had a population of 8,364....
, is confirmed by the classic authors Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
and Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
. The Greek geographer refers about "not big boats"; the Latin historian instead describes in detail the journey of the consul Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso
Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso
Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso , Roman statesman, was consul in 7 BC; subsequently, he was governor of Hispania and proconsul of Africa.In AD 17 Tiberius appointed him governor of Syria...
and his wife Plancina who, in the 19, returning to Rome from the provinces of Siria
Siria
Şiria is a commune in Arad County, Romania. According to the 2002 census it had 8,140 inhabitants.The administrative territory of the commune is and it lies in the contact zone of the Arad Plateau and Zărandului Mountains...
, decided to leave the Via Flaminia
Via Flaminia
The Via Flaminia was an ancient Roman road leading from Rome over the Apennine Mountains to Ariminum on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and due to the ruggedness of the mountains was the major option the Romans had for travel between Etruria, Latium and Campania and the Po Valley...
and taking a ship at Narni
Narni
Narni is an ancient hilltown and comune of Umbria, in central Italy, with 20,100 inhabitants, according to the 2003 census. At an altitude of 240 m , it overhangs a narrow gorge of the Nera River in the province of Terni. It is very close to the Geographic center of Italy...
.
« Starting from Narni, to avoid suspects or because who fears is uncertain in his plans, he followed the waterway of Nera River and then of Tiber. So he increased the popular grudge because, once landed with the ship at Cesari’s grave, in broad daylight and with riverside full of people, they advanced cheerful in face, him among a crowd of clients and Plancina with her following of women» (Tacitus, Annales, Book III, 9)
However, the navigability of the Nera River is related only with the last part of its waterway, included between Stifone and the confluence of Nera with the Tiber. The narrow gorges below Narni, in fact, make impossible this practice.
The position of the river port and its rediscovery
The geographical coordinates of the ancient river port of Narni were revealed in the 16th century by the Jesuit Fulvio Cardoli, who saw in person its traces. Below his contribute:«About one thousand steps beyond Taizzano, there was time once a port along the Nera River, as demonstrated by some traces»
(F. Cardoli, Ex notis Fulvij Carduli S.J. presbyteri Narniensis de Civitatis Narniae, Origine et antiquatibus).
The river port was found in the same position in the year 1879, when an informer of the marquis Giovanni Eroli noticed the remains of two big pilasters used to fasten the boats.
The finding of the shipyard
Meanwhile, someone had decided to patrol the channel which hosts the remains of the shipyard, in particular a group of people from the close village of Nera Montoro who knew the old popular story regarding the presence of a similar structure. After perceiving its destination, the local artist Alvaro Caponi has tried to reconstruct the hypothetical functioning producing some sketches, but despite its importance, the discovery has remained without any development. This till the beginning of the new century, when a young free-lance journalist, Christian Armadori, taken to the place by the entrant archaeologist Claudio Maturi with the prospect of an article, has been stunned by the find insomuch as undertaking an appropriate research. Then, in the year 2006, a group of volunteers has established the cultural association Porto di Narni Approdo d'Europa with the aim to put the archaeological site under the attention of the local government, and few time later also the major of Narni, Stefano Bigaroni, has gone to the area in order to check the plausibility of the discovery.The structure of the shipyard
The remains are situated inside an artificial channel dug in the rock, long about 280 m, once united with the Nera River upstream and downstream, as showed by some maps of the land office. It is composed with two opposite cut walls, far from each other about 16,5 m, which showed a series of squared holes disposed on three lines, for a total of 30 incisions per wall, on the theoretical basis carried out by the artist who has reconstructed its scale drawing (the holes still visible are only 27). The function of these holes has been referred with the need of stability of a ship during the assemblage operations, since they seem to be perfectly fitted to insert lateral props in support. The fact the holes run for about 13 metres per wall, and considering how the props shouldn’t be necessary for prowProw
thumb|right|295pxThe prow is the forward most part of a ship's bow that cuts through the water. The prow is the part of the bow above the waterline. The terms prow and bow are often used interchangeably to describe the most forward part of a ship and its surrounding parts...
and stern
Stern
The stern is the rear or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite of the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Originally, the term only referred to the aft port section...
(the thinnest parts of the boat), the measures appear quite substantive for simple river rafts, especially with reference to the notable distance between a wall and the other. So far, it has seemed more prudent not to speak about Roman quinquereme
Quinquereme
From the 4th century BC on, new types of oared warships appeared in the Mediterranean Sea, superseding the trireme and transforming naval warfare. Ships became increasingly bigger and heavier, including some of the largest wooden ships ever constructed...
or trireme
Trireme
A trireme was a type of galley, a Hellenistic-era warship that was used by the ancient maritime civilizations of the Mediterranean, especially the Phoenicians, ancient Greeks and Romans.The trireme derives its name from its three rows of oars on each side, manned with one man per oar...
without the essential comparisons, especially considering how the historians themselves are not agreed about the exact measures of these warships. However, most of them share similar opinions when they speak about their draft, supposed to be quite moderate , then potentially suitable to descend along the last stretch of the Nera River, which is very copious of water before to flow into the Tiber River. The reasons of a shipyard quite far from the Tyrrhenian Sea
Tyrrhenian Sea
The Tyrrhenian Sea is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy.-Geography:The sea is bounded by Corsica and Sardinia , Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, Basilicata and Calabria and Sicily ....
, but however well linked with it through the river way, should be found on the abundance of raw material offered by the Umbrian territory (wood of different quality), with the area of Narni fall under the Roman domination since 299 BC. In add, it is interesting to ascertain how the classical authors of that period didn’t supply clear information about the different position of the navy yard, included Polybius
Polybius
Polybius , Greek ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 220–146 BC in detail. The work describes in part the rise of the Roman Republic and its gradual domination over Greece...
who has been the most important historians of the Punic Wars. The need of safety could be linked with the choice to assemble ships in the up-country, without the risk to be exposed at the potential threats of the enemy from the sea. In fact, the modern historians are in agreement to collocate the ancient navalia inside the city of Rome, in the area of Campus Martius
Campus Martius
The Campus Martius , was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about in extent. In the Middle Ages, it was the most populous area of Rome...
. It means the shipyard of Stifone could be only one of the different structures used at that époque, in whom the imposing effort made by the Romans in the year 261 BC to create their first war fleet is famous. However, it’s right and proper to insist how the hypothesis, although generally shared by the researchers, are at the moment still under assessment.
The other finds emerged in the area
A series of finds emerged in the surrounding fields had already indicated how in the past an urban settlement was based in the area. In the year 1914 an ancient spa pool was found (the zone is very rich in water springs), while two stones with inscriptions came to light at short distance from the shipyard in the years 1850 and 1970 . Then, a new proof of the importance of the area in the Roman époque has recently emerged with the discovery of a cistern 25 metres deep, still very close to the archaeological site . The ancient importance of that territory in the Roman ages is additionally confirmed by a narration of LivyLivy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
for the year 207 BC, especially as a strategic point. After having intercepted a correspondence between Hasdrubal
Hasdrubal
Hasdrubal was the name of several Carthaginian generals of the First and Second Punic Wars...
and his brother Hannibal, the Roman legions decided to block the passage in proximity of the shipyard area, as it’s clearly deductible by the geographical coordinates provided by the author
« Two knights of Narnia were returned from the battle in the camp situated at the entrance of the narrow gorge which opens the way to Umbria »
(Livy, Ab Urbe Condita, XXVII)
The narrow gorge which opens the way to Umbria is exactly behind the archaeological area, situated just in proximity of its entrance
The non usability of the archaeological area
The remains of the shipyard, despite the pleas, are at the moment completely abandoned, with vegetation and stagnant waters to put its partial integrity under the risk of further damages. The area, subjected to the possibility of sudden floods due to the presence of dams located upstream, is under the management of the multinational energetic Endesa Italia, so nobody can get there for guided visits without particular authorizations. In add, the original destination of it has been strongly twisted in the medieval époque, this for the installation of several watermills.Present state of the studies
At the moment the studies carried out by the free-lance journalist Christian Armadori, with the support of the other volunteers involved in the cultural association as Sara Uffreduzzi and Vittorio Budassi, are still in wait to be published. Despite having obtained the interest of a prestigious editor who manages archaeological subjects, with the endorsement of some experts of the University of PerugiaUniversity of Perugia
University of Perugia is a public-owned university based in Perugia, Italy. It was founded in 1308, as attested by the Bull issued by Pope Clement V certifying the birth of the Studium Generale....
arrived to the place to evaluate the credibility of the hypothesis, they didn’t find yet the essential economic resources for the publication. However, all the information above can be found out from the bibliography and external links listed below.
External links
- http://www.secretsofsouthumbria.it/the%20roman%20shipyard.htm
- http://www.litalianonews.com/content/pdf/mensile_2006-APRILE.pdf
- http://www.narninews.it/index.php?act=news&id=4174
- http://www.carro.it/romaeterna/roma/fabri.html