DIVING INTO THE PAST

You dive down to the city once known for the pleasures of the
flesh and reach out to pick up an object last touched by a
human living under the Roman Empire. Will you succumb to
the temptation to keep the artifact or allow others to see
remnants from Baiae, the city drowned by the Mediterranean?

BY MICHAEL SEDGE (*) - PHOTOS BY GUIDO PICCHETTI

vered an array of treasure, including statuary of mythological gods Aphrodite and Dionysus, now in the National Museum of Archaeology in Naples.

By far the most significant discovery came in 1969 when a member of the Centro Subaqueo Baiano came across a ninfio (sculptured work found in fountains of antiquity) 13 meters from shore in roughly 3.5 meters of water. Unlike the previous treasures, the ninfio was recovered off Punto dell'Epitaffio, 450 meters from the central location of the underwater city.  The find turned out to be from an elaborate villa or, as experts speculated at that time, one of the many thermal baths that were popular in and around ancient Baiae. Within this huge underwater structure, divers recovered two more marble statues. Further dives two years later turned up three more marble figures along with an array of household artifacts.

According to Giuliana Tocca Sciarello, superintendent of archaeology in Naples, the statues included a baby, probably a child of the imperial family, a Dionysus, and the most interesting piece of all, a well preserved, detailed depiction of Antonio Minore, who lived during the first half of the first century after Christ. "These discoveries not only put a date to the works, but confirmed the theory that this seventy-two-square-meter structure was not a public bath, as previously considered, but part of theè imperial palace that was known to have existed in Baiae."

Wet Archaeology
When the underwater archaeology boom swept Italy in the early 1980s, experts such as architect Antonio Di Stefano of the Centro Studi Subacquei of Naples joined the Baiae project. A scale blueprint of the ancient city and imperial villa were produced, giving experts for the first time an overall view of the remains.

object  protruding  about  15  centimeters from theè sand. It was the top of a large amphora that probably would measure 75 centimeters if intact. Lying beside the interior wall of what may have been a villa, I found a round object about 50 centimeters in diameter with a handle on one side and spout on the opposite side. I would later find out that the piece was a third-century oil lamp.

"Divers are always finding new artifacts in the city," a dive-shop owner said. "The most valuable find, I think, was a tiny marble statue about twenty-five centimeters high, in excellent condition." Thievery has become a problem in ancient Baiae. Organized artifact smugglers sell the treasures of Baiae and surrounding archaeological sites to clients in Europe and Japan.

And what about the legal restrictions on removing artifacts from Italian waters without permits? "This country is full of ancient finds," the shop owner said. "If you find something, you're a fool if you don't keep it." This finders-keepers attitude is typical of many divers. According to the regional minister of antiquities, however, divers with minor finds can easily and legally keep possession of the artifacts if they report them and obtain a holder's permit. For valuable discoveries, which are taken by the state, divers receive a cash award of 25% of the artifact's assessed value. This was the case when the Riace Bronzes were discovered in 1972 by an amateur diver off the coast of Reggio Calabria. The statues' estimated value was $ 2 million.

According to Giuliana Tocca Sciarello, "There is an underwater museum here far greater than that of Pompeii. When the water is clear, one can easily see the remains of the city." A diver described it this way: "Before the dive I thought it was going to be dull. But once down there it hits you—centuries ago people actually lived here."