Tiber Island Warship

Many legends surround Tiber Island in Rome. One of the legends holds that when a pestilence was ravaging the city, around 291 BCE, a snake sacred to the god of healing Asclepius was being brought to Rome from Epidaurous when it jumped off the ship and swam to Tiber Island. This was seen as a sign, and so a temple to Asclepius was erected on the island and the plague passed. The remains of a travertine and tuff warship prow which can now be seen on the north-east corner of the ship is assumed to