PTOLEMY IV PHILOPATOR'S THALAMEGOS
This is not an "imagining". It is an accurate reproduction based on an eye-witness account from Kallixeinos of Rhodes who walked onboard. The measurements were calculated by Fritz Caspari in 1916. Michael Pfrommer added period-style artistic touches. The document below presents the provenance of the drawings, as well as an analysis of the original Greek text (a copy by Athenaeus of Naucratis).
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Walk through the giant pleasure barge, following step-by-step descriptions of each room.
(In Ancient Greek) I emphasize "ancient" because even if you could cut&paste, Google translator can't handle it. I can't read this at all in any comprehensive sense,
but I can recognize keywords. Reach out on the WWW for a velum document 1000 years old, which is a copy of 1000 year-old papyrus. This is an exceptionally "clean" copy of Athenaeus from the Vatican.
Athenaeus English Translation
(In German) Caspari's Foundational Analysis of the Thalamegos
Pfrommer's Artistic Additions (Nice Temple)
Michael Bengtsson has a nice reconstruction of the Pfrommer-styled exterior, and a very detailed interior of the first deck following Caspari's diagram.
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Read Bengtsson's paper. He's got some wonderful reconstructions of Ptolemaic Alexandria. Frankly, I like them better than any others I've seen. They fit very closely with historic descriptions and they're high quality.
Did Cleopatra use the Thalamegos to give Julius Caesar a tour of Egypt? What do YOU think? See CAESAR IN EGYPT.
