EGADI ISLANDS, ITALY—Finestre sull’Arte reports that an extraordinary artifact linked to a momentous historic event was recovered from the seafloor in the waters of the Egadi Islands west of Sicily. Divers from the Society for the Documentation of Submerged Sites recovered a well-preserved Roman helmet belonging to a soldier involved in the 241 b.c. Battle of the Aegates, in which Roman and Carthaginian naval fleets clashed. The bronze Montefortino-type helmet was typical of the ones used by Roman soldiers between the fourth and first century b.c. The remarkably well-preserved artifact is still equipped with its protective neck and cheek guards, which is rare. “The Montefortino helmet is one of the most beautiful and complete ever recovered,” said Francesco Paolo Scarpinato, Sicily’s Councilor for Cultural Heritage and Identity. During the third century b.c., as both Rome and Carthage vied for political and military control of the western Mediterranean, they engaged in a 23-year-long conflict known as the First Punic War. During the Battle of the Aegates, which was the deciding encounter of the war, the Romans were purported to have sunk 50 Carthaginian ships and captured 70 more. It was a devastating loss for Carthage that resulted in their total defeat and, for the first time, the emergence of Roman military superiority. To read about a battle for control of Sicily in 480 b.c., go to "The Fight for Ancient Sicily."
