User:The Cunctator/Scrap

Navigium Flammae (Latin, literally ships of fire) were specially constructed vessels used for the transportation of pooks from Roman Brittania to Rome itself. The pook, a gourd-shaped vegetable of the squash family, was much in demand in the Roman Empire, and was the most profitable export from Brittania in the first and second centuries CE. However, being native to the damp climate of coastal Britain, the pook does not keep well in dry storage. The navigium flammae were built with a special stone-lined hold in which a fire was kept burning, and into which small amounts of water were poured to make steam. The steam kept the pooks moist and prevented spoilage in transit.

The Roman Emporer Claudius (Tiberius Drusus Nero Claudius Caesar) was said to have ordered seven shiploads of pooks for a state banquet around 50 CE. Most pooks were grown by the Celts, whose tribal homeland was well suited for pook farming.