Caligula's Giant Ship

{{Short description|Ruined Roman barge}}

{{More citations needed|date=November 2021}}

Caligula's "Giant Ship", also known as the "Round Ship", was an extremely large barge, the ruins of which were found during the construction of Rome's Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Fiumicino, Italy, in the 1950s.{{cite book |last1=Allaby |first1=Michael |last2=Richard |first2=Garratt |year=2010 |title=Exploration: New Lands, New Worlds |publisher=Infobase Publishing}} This was previously a Roman port a few kilometers north of Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber River. The ship was dated to {{circa|37 AD}} using dendrochronological dating methods.

This Roman barge had a length of about {{convert|312|ft|m|2}} and a beam of about {{convert|69|ft|m|2}}. It was probably able to carry 1,300 tons of cargo.

According to Pliny, this or a similar ship was used to transport the obelisk in St. Peter's Square from Egypt on the orders of Emperor Caligula.[http://www.afloat.com.au/afloat-magazine/archive/2006_January2006_TheWorldsLargestShipandaTaleoftwoports.htm The World's Largest Ship, And a Tale of Two Ports] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150519080600/http://www.afloat.com.au/afloat-magazine/archive/2006_January2006_TheWorldsLargestShipandaTaleoftwoports.htm |date=2015-05-19 }}, Alan Lucas, AFLOAT, October 2006.