(CNN) The Black Sea gave up a few more of its secrets when storms whipped the coast of Amasra, northern Turkey, last month.

A number of Roman ruins dating from the first to third century AD washed ashore, the latest remnants to emerge of the ancient Anatolian city of Amastris.

The objects were found by locals walking the shoreline who noticed carved marble and other masonry among the rocks. The marble remnants are indicative of a period of construction during the reign of Roman emperor Septimius Severus (193-211 AD) says Baran Aydin, director of the Amasra Museum.

Severus, a military leader who took control in the bloody Year of the Five Emperors, oversaw the Roman Empire when it controlled approximately half the coastline of the Black Sea. Amastris significantly predates his rule. The city, 184 miles east of Istanbul, was founded by Persian princess Amastrine in the early fourth century BC and passed between Roman, Byzantine, Genoese and Ottoman control in the last two millennia.

"We know from old travelers' reports there were some very spectacular temples in Amastris," Aydin says. It's possible, he adds, that parts of the find came from these Roman temples.

Read More