Palace Of Diocletian

The Palace of Diocletian (in Croatian , is the walled imperial residence built by Emperor Diocletian Coast Dalmatian to retreat after his voluntary abdication in 305. This is one of the buildings from the late antiquity 's best preserved. These remains are preserved in the historical heart of Split in Croatia. Contrary to popular legend, the city - Spalatum in Latin - is named after one of the city Greek neighbor of Aspalathos - "Bush White" - not the Latin word meaning palace - palatium. The emperor Diocletian lived there most of the last years of his life and at his death, his body was placed in a sarcophagus placed in the mausoleum he had built. The palace is an exceptional testimony to the staging of architectural ideology tetrarchy who did not survive its founder. Bringing together a prestigious residence, a temple and a dynastic mausoleum is a prototype model palatial tetrarchy which went through two other iterations less grandiose in Romuliana to Galerius and arkamen probably Maximin Daia. After the death of its sponsor, the palace continued until the ^sixth century to serve as the official residence for the provincial administration and major figures in exile, but it also housed a textile factory. After the invasions Slavic , a small town developed within its walls and succeeded Salone as episcopal seat and administrative authorities Byzantine. She ended up spending under control Venetian and remained a stronghold of the Republic until the latter's dissolution in 1797. From the ^sixteenth century , the remains of the palace attracted the attention of European scholars and architects, and had a definite influence on the current neoclassical.

A retreat for Diocletian

Reconstitution of Diocletian's Palace by Ernest Hbrard

Plan of the palace returned by E. Hbrard

Follis bearing the portrait of Diocletian, struck at Trier in 300 - 301.

After two decades at the pinnacle of power, a longevity that Rome is more used since the late ^second century . Revenue sick of his campaign on the Danube against the Carp , his condition worsened, and he is very weak. He remains confined to his palace during the following winter, so that rumors about his death are soon running around the city. When he finally returns to the public March ¹ 305, is like a sick man with emaciated, barely recognizable. Then joined the galley and, according to Lactantius , the press to retire to his advantage. The credibility of this source is not yours, it is equally probable that Diocletian himself who decides to abdicate and to implement a project he may be designed from 295 and he s is maintained with the second Augustus, Maximian , at their last meeting in 303: if disease is likely to dictate the precise timing of its implementation, the decision itself is a plan arranged long . On ¹ May 305, on a hill a few miles from Nicomedia, on the very spot where he was proclaimed emperor Diocletian addressed his soldiers for their mean abdication and transfer of supreme power in the new galley and August Constantius , assisted by two new Caesars, Maximin Daia and Flavius Valerius Severus. The same day, his colleague Maximian abdicated in Milan and return its powers to Constantius.

This abdication is unheard of that a political strike contemporaries: Diocletian becomes a private citizen (even if it retains the dignity of Augustus) and retired to his hometown where he had built a residence for his retirement at Spalato . Aged just over 60 years, there still lives a decade, enough to see the crumbling political system he had devised to ensure the salvation of the empire. However, he resists the solicitations of those who urged him to come out of retirement to end the civil war between his successors. In 308 alone, he became consul again, and agrees to the request of Galerius, to get to the interview Carnuntum November 11: there, he forced Maximian to end his attempt to return to power, while Licinius was appointed Augustus to replace killed by Severus Maxentius . But it was his last speech in the political affairs of the empire: when asked to take the purple to end the usurpation of Maxentius, he replies that he prefers to literally cultivate cabbages in his retirement Dalmatian . He never leaves Spalato subsequent years, even trying to save his wife Prisca and daughter Valeria Galeria , the death of her husband, Galerius, in 311, was put to thank you for Maximin and Licinius : it happy to send messages and emissaries to the two emperors in their favor. This retreat is so complete you do not know with certainty the cause nor the exact date of his death - perhaps 3 December 311.

If Diocletian at Spalato is therefore almost continuously from 305 to 311, the date of construction of the palace is not known with certainty. The fact that it already existed in 305 (but nothing says it was totally completed) is sometimes taken as evidence that the abdication of Diocletian was planned from the outset in the political project tetrarchy, in which case the construction would started around 295. It can also be later. A date for the start of construction of the palace is the year 298 , when the Empire is experiencing a brief respite after several military successes, notably Galerius against the Persians and Diocletian himself in Egypt : Fall 297 in the summer of 298 , Diocletian Matt effect rebellions usurpers Lucius Domitius Domitianus, first, and Aurelius Achilleus, in Thebes , in the Fayoum. He bases this occasion new cities, and Diocletianopolis Maximianopolis. Egyptian residence of Diocletian and lasts almost a year and a half, during which he deals include plans for buildings to Rome as the baths that bear his name. A letter from the procurator of Thebes, Aurelius Isidorus, dated January 28, 300 , and for the transport of Syene to Alexandria columns that are intended for a monument of Diocletian . The palace of Split is just remarkable for its abundance of materials of Egyptian origin: the twelve statues of sphinxes , the hundreds of columns of red granite, pink or gray, red, and some marbles from Egypt. This peculiarity may be related to the passage of the emperor in Egypt, in which case the construction of the palace would not be earlier than 298 . It remains in any case only a hypothesis: There is no archaeological or literary data does not specify the date of its construction or whether its construction was completed in 305 .

The plane and the remains of the palace

Diocletian's residence combines aspects of several types of buildings: it is both a fortress with its ramparts, a city with its streets and shrines, and a large villa with the luxury of his private apartments. It is thus representative of the three main architectural forms that characterize the era of its founder.

The site on which is built the palace known dual slope with a gradient greater than 8 m from north to south, towards the coast, and less than 2 m in the east-west direction. The area is built over 3.8 hectares and forms a slightly irregular rectangle: the external and internal dimensions of each side and are respectively of 215.5 m and 191.25 m to the east and west, 175 m and 151 m north and 181 m and 157.5 m to the south. As a guide, the palace occupies about 1 / 6 ^th of the surface of a fortress legionary standard designed for 5,400 soldiers, twice the surface of a 500-strong helpers. In 1926 , when the medieval and modern housing installed in the fortress still existed, the population within the walls was 3200 inhabitants for 278 houses .

The Walls

General map of Split in 1912

Porta Aurea restored by E. Hbrard

Map of the Porta Aurea

The walls of the fortification, with an average thickness of 2.10 m, consists of two walls of masonry, from 0.40 to 0.60 m thick and a massive block - shapeless rubble embedded in mortar. The exterior cladding of the walls is a rectangular device pseudo-blocks of limestone ISODOM carefully prepared and assembled without mortar , but with iron clamps. Masonry is sitting continuously without adjustment bricks. It rests directly on the foundations laid on bedrock .

The wall becomes thinner at the top - 1.15 m - beginning two seats in the embrasures of the windows of walkway. These are shaped arches formed by two rows of stones dmaigris (outside 17, inside 11), with an average width of 2 m from 3.10 to 3.90 m in height at the center. A simple cornice S goes around the perimeter at regular intervals from the ground, and therefore, given the slope at a height variable and it is higher by 1.10 m at the northeast corner to West Gate, the lowest point where it is still visible. On the west side, and the cornice is located 22 m above sea level, but on the east side, it is 0.82 m lower: the change in level is up to the octagonal tower Gateway North. This results in a different size of openings in the walkway between the western and eastern halves of the north wall - they are respectively 3.60 and 3.10 m. Between each round, there are 6 or 7 holes .

On the south side, the upper wall (9 m above the foundation) is entirely occupied by an arcaded gallery which evokes the facade of a house: it is a common element in the imperial palace, which found for example in the coastline of Bucoleon palace in Constantinople, or the palace of Diocletian at Antioch. This gallery consists of 42 arches bounded by 44 columns involved, topped with half capitals. She is interrupted by three balconies in the center and sides. Two other arcades intermediates are characterized by increased width: they correspond to the openings of two large main rooms on the upper level of private apartments, the hall basilica to the west and east triclinium . In the rendition of classical and Hbrard Niemann, bathing the sea just south foot of the rampart: in reality, it is unclear whether this was the case all along the south side .

The curtain is reinforced with three types of towers, corner towers, square, octagonal towers flanking the three doors, dividers and square towers, all widely protruding from the wall, as is the case with ancient fortifications late. Three corner towers still exist at least partially while the fourth, the south-west corner, was destroyed around 1550 after being undermined by the sea access to the towers was built by a passage in the thickness of the curtain on the ground floor as the upper level.

The Peristyle

The cardo is extended south of the junction with the decumanus by an oblong courtyard paved, lined with arcades , and measuring 27 m long and 13.50 m in width: Long known as the "Court of the cathedral, we has become accustomed to the ^twentieth century to designate it as the Peristyle, referring to the two columns that define the . High of 5.25 m, the columns are granite red to Egypt for twelve of them, and marble for others - perhaps cipolin of Euboea. Many of them have been rimmed bronze long because they had cracked under the weight of the architrave and arcades. More than a monument to himself, the Peristyle is actually composed of three facades of buildings along the boundary, the monumental vestibule private apartments in the south, the porch of the mausoleum to the east, and the front of the temple temenos of Jupiter in the west.

Originally, the intercolumniations lateral arches were closed by a balustrade made of perforated panels (of transenna ), a height of 2.40 m: one of transenna was still visible at the time of Adam. The intercolumniation marking the entrance to the shrine and temenos is slightly larger, while the three arches to the south are a little higher, up almost touching the architrave.

The south side of the Peristyle is the porch tetrastyle monumental private apartments: four red granite columns surmounted by capitals of Corinthian capitals supporting a pediment and architrave which the central part, above the door, an arch shape. The pediment is crowned with a baseboard turn off 4.26 m to accommodate a statuary group - perhaps a chariot. Access to the porch from the yard was by two flights of stairs leading to the side openings, while the central intercolumniation was barred by a transenna, giving it the form of a court. It was not preceded by a staircase going up, but instead of a staircase descending to a vaulted door giving access to the lower level of the vestibule, and beyond the South Gate. In the Renaissance , two chapels were added in intercolumniations side of the porch .

The level of the courtyard was originally lower than that of neighboring buildings: it was therefore surrounded on three sides on the three degrees north, east and west. Taken together, the Peristyle presents itself much like a classical temple that was fully returned.

The Shrine

Cup Mausoleum in the state of 1912

The Mausoleum occupies the southeast corner of the palace, a rectangular area enclosed by 32 m wide and 39 m long, whose facade is the arcade is the Peristyle. The other three sides of the enclosure are solid walls, the same height as the arch, with the interior facing niches alternately semicircular and square, where the statues were to be installed. The central area of the temenos is occupied by the mausoleum of Diocletian's octagonal, the best preserved monument of the palace, largely thanks to its subsequent transformation into a church and its restoration between 1880 and 1885 .

The mausoleum is an octagon of 7.60 m side with thick walls of 2.75 m thick based on a podium broader high of 3.70 m. The podium also octagonal houses a crypt vault of 13 m in diameter, and extends westward for about 9 m to support the porch . It is on the southwest side of this extension is that the narrow opening (about 1 m) of a passage allowing access to the crypt by the west side. The crypt, which was lighted and ventilated by three slots near the top of the podium, probably had no formal function, and could be the resting place of the sarcophagus of Diocletian. The interior was not decorated and partly obstructed by eight buttresses projected forward from the walls toward the center. The existence of a well, whose date is uncertain, suggests that this space remains available, although its function is not defined.

Sphinx of Ramesses II / Tuthmosis III.

The space inside the temenos around the shrine, could be paved or landscaped garden. The entrance to the mausoleum itself, on the west side, is marked by a jamb continuous, richly decorated with a scroll of vines dotted with animal heads. Both consoles support a coronation frieze. Almost all the original entrance porch has disappeared, owing to the construction of the belfry from the XIII ^century and the ^seventeenth century : it retains its foundation in the traces of the eight columns of the porch, which would resemble a smaller version of the porch of the Hall. Two statues of sphinxes were placed on both sides of the stairs of the porch, and it is possible that others surrounded the Mausoleum. The presence of these statues have a strong Egyptian funerary connotation, as guardians of tombs, is an element which strengthens the identification of the octagon with the mausoleum of Diocletian. One of the Sphinx is in Basalt black and measures 2.46 m long 0.65 m wide and 1 m in height. His two forelegs have a more human form and animal and he had to take a vase for the offerings. On the plinth of the statue engraved with a frieze of bearded and beardless warriors, bearing shields on which are inscribed the names of cities in Palestine : it could be an inscription dating from the reign of Ramses II ( 1279 - 1,213 BC. AD ) added to it a statue dating back to Pharaoh Thutmose III ( 1,504 - 1450 BC. ). A second Sphinx, originally placed in front of the former, it is carved in granite of Aswan : it is smaller with a length of 1.51 m, a width of 0.45 m and a height of 1 , 44 m - excluding the head, which is broken. It bears an inscription dating from the reign of Amenhotep III ( one thousand three hundred and eighty-six - one thousand three hundred and forty-nine BC. . The broken head of another sphinx, this time in pink granite, was discovered in a house in replacement : it could belong to another statue placed around the mausoleum. Finally, another head sphinxes discovered in 1908 at the Salone could come from a statue was originally placed in Split.

Restitution axonometric Mausoleum E. Hbrard

The circular chamber of the mausoleum has a diameter of 13.35 m with a maximum height of 21.50 m in the center . At ground level, the sides are alternately occupied by four semi-circular niches and four rectangular niches - one of which corresponds to the entrance on the west side. Between the niches at a distance of 0.56 m from the wall, there are eight columns of red granite from Aswan , surmounted by a Corinthian capital and an architrave to slip, which give this big order a total height of 9, 06 m. He in turn is overcome, without basis, a small order of eight columns - four of porphyry and four Egyptian granite gray - four composite capitals and four neo-Corinthian capitals, architrave and a second recess, a height of 4.85 m. The two combined orders reach a height at the base of the dome , from 13.91 m. The columns have no architectural function, but are purely decorative and were added after the completion of the structure of the Mausoleum .

Interior view of the dome of the Mausoleum: note trompillons bricks.

Grand Architectural Mausoleum

Model of the palace showing the location of the Mausoleum

The hemispherical dome rises to a height of 1.25 m above the upper cornice. It is made of bricks produced locally, stamped Dalmatian. The masonry of the vault has a dual system, with a trompillons storied building for the lower part (which gives the face a pattern similar to plumage - see illustration cons), and construction sliced conical part higher. It was not pierced by an oculus, unlike for example the dome of the Pantheon in Rome. The masonry was probably hidden by a coating of mosaic. The dome was covered by a roof tile with eight slopes, surmounted by a pine cone resting on four animal figures.

The chamber floor was originally paved with black marble and white. The provision of funeral facilities of Diocletian and his family in this area is not known. The historian Ammianus Marcellinus reports the theft of a purple robe found in this tomb in 356. Moreover, the sarcophagus of Diocletian was probably porphyry, as is the case with those of the Constantinian dynasty: fragments of porphyry preserved in the Archaeological Museum of Split could come from .

The only other surviving original decor is a frieze carved behind the capitals of the higher order: these are scenes of hunting, with erotes , garlands and masks. The erotes wear crowns in which three faces are carved decoration reminiscent of some Roman sarcophagi. Above the niche facing the entrance, are two clipeatae imagine , one man and one woman, identified respectively with Diocletian and his wife Priscilla (executed in 313 at Thessaloniki on the order of Maximin Daia). This last identification has been called into doubt because Prisca never received the dignity of augusta nor was officially recognized as empress. On the other hand, the female portrait features a crown shaped crenellated tower which is not the type of female imperial portrait, but that of Tyche , for use as personifications (city, province or virtue) in Late Antiquity: this special Tyche would be that of Aspalathos and its association with the portrait of Diocletian would give it a value of city founder .

This second hypothesis is based largely on the approximation of these reliefs with a pair similar in appearance to imagine clipeatae listed on the spandrels of the "Little Galerius arch" in the palace of the emperor in Thessalonica: one of the portraits is that Galerius, and the second that of Tyche, most likely the city of Thessaloniki. A recent study led to reconsider this comparison, however, since traces are clearly visible on the arc of recovery show that Tyche is a modification of the posterior female portrait that was hanging from original galley, and may well have been that of his wife, Galeria Valeria , daughter of Diocletian and Prisca, performed with his mother in Thessaloniki in 313 . The representation of the Tyche of Thessaloniki is therefore not the primary motive but that is the result of a damnatio memoriae. It is not excluded that it was the same in Split, but the study of the female portrait in this context remains to be done.

A third portrait in the mausoleum of Split is Hermes Psychopompe, according to a funeral theme expected in this context .

The mausoleum is surrounded with a colonnade of 24 columns by reinvestment and other materials on the Corinthian capitals, and covered by a roof tile resting on an architrave on the exterior of the mausoleum.

The Mausoleum of Diocletian is comparable to other contemporary monuments such as the "Mausoleum of Galerius" in Thessaloniki (in reality probably a temple of Cabiri ), and especially the Mausoleum of Maxentius on the Via Appia in Rome. The analogy of the monument with the Rotunda of Galerius in Thessaloniki has also led N. Duval to express doubts about the exact function of the octagon Split: demonstration that the Rotunda could be the tomb of Galerius since it was found to be without challenge Gamzigrad may call into question the identification traditional mausoleum in Split. In some medieval traditions, the octagon was a temple palace and the tomb of Diocletian was elsewhere. The epitome of Gamzigrad where the mausoleum is on the hill of Magura, outside the palace walls, calls to question the link between the palace and mausoleum . Even the monument looks best known to the palace complex is not identified with absolute certainty. It is certainly one of the monuments of late antiquity's best preserved.

The temple

Facade of the temple restored by E. Hbrard

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Cup temple restored by E. Hbrard

Current appearance of the temple

The southwestern corner of the palace was occupied by another temenos, a width equivalent to that of the Mausoleum, but longer (44 m) . Nothing remains of the narthex and thus the cover, but the rest of the temple is very well preserved. The exterior walls of the cella , 11.40 m long, have a device snugly and are decorated with pilasters at the corners of their tent. The gate, 2.50 m wide and 6 m high, has a richly carved mantelpiece: in the midst of foliage, children pick grapes while birds flit around. Two consoles scrolls bear a Corinthian cornice to ten corbels : the between-corbels are occupied by carved heads representing two newts , Helios , Hercules , Apollo , an unidentified human head, two wins and a winged eagle. No part of this iconography can be directly connected to the ideology tetrarchy .

The room of the temple is covered by an arch barrel, made of three rows of tiles carefully adjusted, and sculpted to form a coffered ceiling: the decor of carved human heads and rosettes is often compared to that of the Temple of Venus to Rome, built during the reign of Hadrian near the Forum Romanum. Immediately under the arch runs a Corinthian cornice with corbels are decorated by lightning.

The cult statue that contained the cella is probably the one that was brought to Venice in the late ^fourteenth century : it is assumed, according to the divine descent Diocletian wanted to give, it was a statue of Jupiter , which was dedicated the temple . The presence of the Jovian eagle, and heroic servant of Jupiter what Heracles among the figures carved on the cornice outside, but also flashes on the ledge inside are consistent with this hypothesis.

As the podium of the mausoleum, the temple has a crypt, which is accessed by a narrow passage at the rear. Its function is unknown.

The Hall

Behind the monumental entrance porch forming the south side of the Peristyle is the vestibule , a large circular chamber ( Rotunda ) 12 m in diameter and 17 m in height. Its walls do not a machine but a masonry blocks prepared alternating layers of rubble and brick and mortar ones ( crazy paving mixtum ). Four semicircular niches open up both sides of the north and south entrances of the room, which was originally lit by small windows high. The ceiling is a vault, like the walls should be covered with a mosaic of colored glass. The Rotunda Lobby is inscribed in a square building, so that the walls were thick enough in corners to accommodate the spiral staircases leading to upper and lower levels. The level in the basement of the Hall was provided with access on all four sides, to the east and west spa, the Peristyle and basement apartments.

The Spa

The narrow space between the two north temenos and private apartments to the south is occupied by two small ensembles thermal , each with their palestra and parts of services. Both baths have been uncovered by the excavations and contemporary remains unknown. Several pieces provided with hypocausts have been identified and a praefurnium for bathing west.

The water supply for the baths and the whole palace is through an aqueduct bringing water from Jadro River, 9.7 km distant. The best preserved section of the book consists of 28 mostly underground arches high of 16.5 m through the valley of dry Dujmovaa. The flow of water is estimated at 13 m ³ / s. is 1,000,000 m ³ per day.

Private apartments

Seaboard of the palace which gave the private apartments (restitution E. Hbrard)

The residential area of the palace itself is a strip 40 m wide, immediately behind the south faade. These apartments are based on a series of vaulted underground chambers with a height of up to 8 m. The main entrance is located in the prolongation of the south passage of the Porch, with a large rectangular room (31 x 12 m) in the architectural continuity of Peristyle. This room, lighted by tall windows, might be covered by a barrel vault, and went from the hallway in the north to the long gallery of the south facade, the only access to the private apartments.

Two skylights flank the entrance hall and separate two symmetrical rows of small rectangular pieces (approximately 4.30 x 5.25 m), covered with barrel vaults, opening onto an arched corridor on the opposite side. In the eastern half, are a series of skylights and rooms arranged around a large octagonal room provided with niches where we recognize the main dining room, the triclinium. The north-south axis of the piece corresponds to the inputs and is roughly aligned with one of the biggest openings of the south facade of the palace. The western half of the apartments includes the largest room, rectangular (32 x 14 m), terminated at the north end by an apse registered. His cross vaults rest on six massive pillars arranged in two rows, creating three separate wings. The room is lit by two skylights on the symmetrical east and west sides. It is accessed through three gates on the south side. It is likely that this is the main hearing room of the palace. The west end of the complex is occupied by a set of 14 small pieces of various shapes, some with apses, circular or other Phillips. The location of the package near the courtroom and away from the triclinium suggests that these are actual parts of the private residence .

The interpretation of complex imperial palace, fortress or villa?

Representation of the faade of the palace of Theodoric the Great in Ravenna on a mosaic of Sant'Apollinare nuovo

The name "Palace" commonly attributed to the architectural complex of Split can be misleading: in formally abdicating, Diocletian became again a private citizen, and that as such he spent the last years of his life in this residence, that contemporary sources refer unambiguously as a house . There is no evidence that the monument was used as a palatium (the term Latin is the etymological origin of "palace"), that is to say building designed to house both the residence private deck and to deploy the ceremonial Aulic developed that characterizes the imperial power in late antiquity .

Split and the theory of the imperial palace

However, the first architects and archaeologists to undertake studies of Split developed to readily recognize the architectural features that announce their opinion in terms of late antique imperial palaces and Byzantine : the importance of channels with columns, the Peristyle and its monumental porch, the hall, among others, resemble hallways, banquet halls, rotunda and basilica is actually found in the Imperial Palace later. The risk of this interpretation is a double anachronism in the history of imperial ceremonial first, and in the course of the life of Diocletian on the other - when it no longer occupies the emperor residence and its main activity certified is not the government but the garden - to believe the split assigned to interview Carnuntum.

The architecture of the complex of Split has been compared to other contemporary buildings: Diocletian and built a palace during his reign at Antioch , which is known only by the description that he has left Libanius : the apartments were at the end of a street, behind a monumental porch, while the facades overlooked a lake and had a colonnade and loggia. The monumental gate in the Peristyle Hall can also evoke the facade in the background of Missorium of Theodosius , sometimes identified with the imperial palace of Milan. These comparisons have led some historians such Ejnar Dyggve to recognize in terms of Split complex ceremonial ordered along a central axis leading to the imperial court room: the first element would be interpreted as a basilica Peristyle hypthre (open), the threshold of which the emperor would appear in an architectural framework highlighting the majesty of his person, the "porch" - the porch of the Hall - just outside the throne room itself - the Hall and reinterpreted, emphasizing the symbolic architectural cosmic constitute its dome.

Reconciliations are nevertheless misleading. The number of imperial palaces tetrarchies or chronologically close enough known to be included in the comparative reasoning is very low, nothing remains of the Palace of Diocletian's government who was at Nicomedia , and virtually nothing of the palaces of Sirmium , Milan or Trier (apart from the Basilica in the latter case). The remains of the Grand Palace of Constantinople are almost as scarce, and attempted reconstructions based on the descriptions that exist vary considerably. The description for Libanius of Antioch says nothing about its internal organization. The only fairly well known example that could be cited is the Palace of Galerius in Thessaloniki, but the complex is fully integrated into the planning of the capital tetrarchy, particularly through the arch of Galerius and the racecourse , and therefore does is absolutely not comparable to the architectural complex of Split, built in the countryside.

All items listed as features of late antique palace architecture can actually be attributed to other architectural styles much more common: the front portico is not an authority figure but a common feature of almost all buildings public, the use of large colonnaded streets in an orthogonal plane is found in all major cities of the East Roman fortified perimeter differs from urban pregnant at the time. Even the description of the entrance porch of the palace of Antioch is not really comparable to the Peristyle: In the first case, this is indeed the main entrance of the palace complex from the outside, whereas in the second case, an interior entrance to the complex.

The Peristyle Nor has the function of the basilica, but a communication space, a hub linking together the different monuments (Temple, Mausoleum) and especially the different levels of the palace staircase descending basement hallway linking the Peristyle and the gallery facade and the south gate is so crucial as the architectural element. Structural continuity between the Peristyle and private apartments are nice, but it must be interpreted in terms of circulation and not according to the model of a ceremonial imperial processional. She must not forget the difference in levels: the apartments are private and to remain elevated at a level comparable to the construction of the northern part of the complex, and thus compensate for the natural slope.

A fortress?

Porta Ferrea

In some ways reminiscent of the palace complex military architecture of the period: the overall plan itself reminiscent of a castrum rectangular model that tetrarchs build number on the borders of the empire . The street layout is similar to that of a Roman military camp: praetoria leads via the North Gate (porta praetoria) at a crossroads with via principalis linking eastern and western gates (porta principalis dextra and sinistra). It is beyond this junction normally found in a fort the principia, the headquarters, flanked by the courtroom (praetorium), the residence of the commander of the garrison, and the shrine (aedes) signs legionnaires.

Among the variations on the plan known at the time, there is thus strong Drobeta on the north bank of the Danube , where space is divided into four quarters symmetrical two perpendicular central lines, or, closer still Schema Split, Diocletian's fortress at Palmyra : but with the same arrangement of channels while principia located against the inner side, opposite the main gate. The comparison is valid only if we recognize the elements of the principia in the buildings in the southern part of Diocletian's Palace in Split: as such, the Peristyle with its colonnaded portico and monumental central arch can raise the front an aedes principiorum a legionary fortress classic.

With its features via both military architecture, urban and rural residential, is in fact in the words of N. Duval, the equivalent of a modern castle . The term evokes a French monumental complex involving a ceremonial residence and outbuildings, monumental architecture, and often fortified. But just as the voluntary abdication of Diocletian was an almost unheard of Roman imperial history, the residency requirement for retirement without a building remained true after Tetrarchy equivalent.

The "palace of retreat" and "family palace"

The discovery in Serbia in the late ^twentieth century of two fortified complex, Romuliana and arkamen , having, to varying degrees, the same characteristics as the palace of Split has to put in a set of "retirement palace" imperial dating from the Tetrarchy. The will of an emperor to magnify by building his small homeland, no matter how modest she has encountered before Tetrarchy, for example with the reconstruction of Philippopolis Syria by Philip the Arab. It is found again in the sixth ^century, this time also Illyricum, with the ephemeral foundation of Justinian Justiniana Prima . Unlike in the case of the three sets mentioned above is a reproduction of a well defined architectural pattern linked to the political project tetrarchy, and the ideal of a retirement program at its place of origin after the exercise of power during a period finite. One finds Romuliana to the same type of walled villa to Split, combined with a small mausoleum in the distance, where were deposited the remains of Emperor Galerius after his cremation on a pyre which archaeologists have found the remains. In the case of arkamen, the villa is less well known - only a less imposing than Romuliana enclosure has been excavated - but it is also associated with a funerary complex, where the recovered material (pieces of imperial porphyry statue, ornaments ) allows to locate the cremation of an empress of the time tetrarchy, probably the mother of Maximinus Daia.

There were probably other comparable sets still unrecovered or unidentified: we know that Maximian, although he preferred a retreat in Campania or Lucania , had been construct a large villa in Illyria. And the emperors of the Tetrarchy, all of Illyrian origin, were they built large "palace of retreat" or "family palace" in this region of the Empire.

The palace after Diocletian

Uses of the palace in Late Antiquity

The coastline of the palace as seen by Adam 1764

We know almost nothing about the fate of Diocletian's palace for nearly two centuries after the demise of the founder of Tetrarchy. The province of Dalmatia continues to be administered by a governor residing at Salona, and belonging to the diocese of Illyricum: as such it depends on the Western Empire until the reign of Honorius understood before proceeding under the control of the Eastern Empire when Valentinian III ascended the throne of Ravenna in 425 , and finally falling into the hands of the Ostrogoths in 493. Compared to the border provinces directly affected by the successive barbarian invasions below the Rhine and Danube, Dalmatia seems relatively quiet . The region is even used to accommodate refugees, but also characters disgraced therein exiles desolate island of Boa (Ciovo) is temporary or final destination of magister Officiorum Florentius in 361 , former proconsul of Hymetius in Africa 371 - 372 , or even in March Jovinianus 412 .

An official residence

It is probably in the villa, still maintained that Galla Placidia and her son Valentinian resident in 425 when staying for some time before winning Salone Ravenna ^, . Diocletian's mausoleum is in any case remained intact since it is mentioned by Ammianus Marcellinus relates that an attempt 356 - 357 under Constantius II to fly the purple robes that are preserved . In ^the fifth century , Sidonius Apollinaris is still referring to the mausoleum. After the death of Aetius , the Earl of Dalmatia, Marcellinus, between government and rebels in the province independently until his assassination in Sicily in 468 , the Palace serves as his residence, as well as his nephew Julius Nepos who succeeded him, before taking control in 474 of the throne of Ravenna chasing Glycerius : the latter was exiled to Salona, where he became bishop. After the end of his short reign, in August 475 , Julius Nepos back to Salone where he continues to proclaim August on the coinage of the West he was hit , and trying to regain power in Ravenna with the support of Zeno. He was finally assassinated on May 9 480 by his followers Viator and Ovid, perhaps with the help of Glycerius, at his residence near Salone: it is plausible that this is still the Palace of Diocletian ^, .

The complex probably find its function of residence of the governor of Dalmatia during the reign of the Ostrogoths, then back under Roman control in the offensive preliminary to the campaign of Italy under Justinian in 537. The hinterland of Salona was soon beset by raids by the Avars and Slavs who eventually attack the cities of the coast in the last decades of the ^sixth century. The last Roman official testified at Salone is the Proconsul Marcellinus, in which Pope Gregory I sent a letter in 599. The last entry is dated Salone the epitaph of the Abbess Johanna, a refugee from Sirmium , died May 12 612 . The city is abandoned in the early ^seventh century , which is not the case of complex Spalato .

A textile factory

Plan remains of the palace in the city in 1912 (Hbrard)

One of the most interesting particulars of Spalato in late antiquity lies in the Notitia Dignitatum (XI) which indicates the existence of a "Procurator gynaecii Iovensis Dalmatiae - Aspalato. According to the official catalog and dignities of the Roman Empire late, dating from the late ^fourth century and whose western part was probably not enjoyed the same updates that the eastern part under Theodosius II , Spalato therefore welcomed a " harem Jovian "under the direction of a procurator , under the control of Count largesse sacred: it is a state textile factory, producing the fabrics needed for the military (uniforms) and administration. The traditional assumption is to see a partial transformation of the palace complex of Diocletian, at an unknown date but necessarily after the death of the emperor, as this craft seems a priori incompatible with a prestigious residence, mainly because of the odors. This conversion would however only partial since the literary evidence indicates that the palace is still home to the ^sixth century distinguished guests.

Another assumption latest , this incompatibility of function, already undermined by sources, is largely a contemporary prejudice: the textile industry, dyeing in particular, were well represented at the heart of ancient cities, to Ostia or Pompeii for example, and sometimes abutted rich private houses. The Grand Palace in Constantinople included many workshops of craftsmen working for the court. It would not be absurd to find within the same complex fortified residence of prestige and a factory state. Both functions were clearly separated geographically by the two main streets, with facades facade could also be used to mask the less noble activities to public view . This hypothesis is hampered by the lack of archaeological remains attributed with certainty in such activity . The difficulty is that none of the sites listed as having hosted such facilities not found the remains, and it is unknown what type of building search. We must therefore use other information to confirm this hypothesis.

According to the Notitia Dignitatum, there are indeed fourteen in the late Roman Empire, based in Rome , Aquileia , Milan , Canusium , Bassianae, Sirmium Aspalathos and thus in Illyria , in Lyon , Reims , Trier , Tournai and Autun in Gaul , at Carthage in Africa , and Venta in Britain. The same source also reports that a nine-dye to Salona in Dalmatia, so close to the gynaeceum Aspalathos. The location of these great workshops of State seem to be dictated by several factors: the proximity of the destinations of their production, namely the army deployed in the border provinces, the location of the main administrative centers of the Empire, and the geography of 'agropastoral economy, ie proximity to suppliers of raw material, wool. It is especially this last factor that may justify implantation of gynaeceum Aspalathos and dyeing Salone: Dalmatia is an important region of sheep - in Illyrian , or Delm Dalm also means shepherd - with a long tradition of weaving wool .

The gynaecea are actually windmills to wool , which require for their operation a constant and abundant water: she was assured by the Split monumental aqueduct, probably planned from the outset of the palace, with a capacity of 1, 1 million m ³ per day appears to be disproportionate to the size of the complex. By comparison, water supply contemporary Split has a section of comparable size (0.75 x 1.60 m) than the water and feeds a population of 173,000 inhabitants . The ancient aqueduct of Salona was less important than Split while serving a town of 50000 inhabitants. The overcapacity of the aqueduct of Split is also amazing that the only facility large consumer of water attested archaeologically is the spa complex of palaces, much smaller than large urban Imperial Baths. Their operation is continuing probably until the water damage during the war against the Goths in the early sixth ^century, but they are not sufficient to justify such a supply: the operation of gynaeceum, with its large settling ponds wool likely located in the northern area of the walled, which allows us to understand the larger size of the aqueduct.

Other indirect evidence can be adduced in favor of the existence of a woolen mill in Split, perhaps dating back to the days of Diocletian. The qualifier Joviensis attributed solely to gynaeceum Aspalathos in the Notitia strongly suggests a reference to the tutelary deity of Diocletian in the ideological system tetrarchy. These schools also require a large workforce servile , the gynaeciarii, among which are under Diocletian, at the time of the last great persecution, many Christians into slavery for refusing to recant their beliefs. These are organized into gynaeciarii collegia, and compelled to reside at their place of work : they could have housed in the outbuildings north of the palace. Now the ^fifth century , the patron saint of soldiers and weavers is St. Martin of Tours , which is a small church dedicated to the walkway above the Golden Gate. Perhaps it is an indication of the presence of Christianity from the foundation of the palace, in connection with a primary function also manufacturing state. Another saint honored in Split, to have suffered martyrdom , is a Anastasius, which is a fuller (Fullo) , another trade expected in such a context. Finally, the plant which probably gives its name to the site, Aspalatho is the genista acanthoclada that is used to produce a coloring agent in dyeing.

From the palace to the medieval town

The plan of Split in 1764 by Adam

According to church history written by Thomas Salone Archdeacon in the ^thirteenth century , the people of Salone threatened by the rise of the Slavs in Dalmatia took refuge first in the islands of the coast, before returning on the continent by setting up, under the direction of a certain Severus to Diocletian's palace and its surroundings . After some initial difficulties, Roman and Slavic peoples of the region reach a modus vivendi, which restores the bishopric of Salona now transferred to Split: John of Ravenna, a papal legate, was elected bishop in 650 because of the Former mausoleum of Diocletian, then coincides with a temple of Jupiter, the new cathedral of his diocese, after having cleared of pagan idols.

According to Thomas Archdeacon, a shipment is sent by John of Ravenna to Salone to retrieve the relics of St. Domnius, but should return after being mistaken burial: the saint's remains are then placed in the cathedral, and serve as when justifying the claims of the Church to the primacy of Split on the Dalmatian ecclesiastic . Domnius is indeed a martyr who perished salonitain 10 April 304 in the auditorium of Salona, during the great persecution ordered by Diocletian. He was buried with a priest, Asterius and four soldiers, in a mausoleum near the city. According to the papal chronic, these relics were the object of another translation, in 641 under Pope John IV , who was of Dalmatian origin. He had negotiated with the Slavs and the return of the relics have been made in Rome . This second tradition best exemplified on the fate of the relics salonitaines led to question the historicity of John of Ravenna and actions : this would be a fiction later, perhaps the ^ninth century or ^tenth century. This shall not invalidate the hypothesis of a reoccupation of the palace complex in ^the seventh century , the question is rather whether there was continuity solution or not .

The baptistery of the cathedral of Split, which is none other than the temple facing the mausoleum, converted to that use, included a sarcophagus attributed to Archbishop John, the main material evidence confirming the version of church history due Thomas Archdeacon. This is probably not the John of Ravenna, whose historicity is in doubt, but a character namesake who lived in the late ^eighth century. The extension of the Empire Carolingian to 800 in Dalmatia accompanied Frankish missions among the Slavs of the region.

But towards the end of the century, the region is still changing hands when it returns under the control of the Byzantine Empire. In 868 , Basil ^I. emerges Ragusa headquarters Arab and Byzantine rule strengthens the theme of Dalmatia. The first reliable description of medieval Split in the figure and administrando De Imperio of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (c. 29 ):

La cit de Spalato, ce qui signifie "petit palais", fut fonde par l'empereur Diocltien ; il en fit sa propre rsidence, et construisit l'intrieur une cour et un palais, dont la plus grande partie a t dtruite. Mais quelques restes demeurent aujourd'hui, comme la rsidence piscopale de la cit et l'glise de Saint-Domnus, dans laquelle repose saint Domnus lui-mme, et qui tait le lieu de repos du mme empereur Diocltien. En dessous se trouvent des salles votes qu'il utilisa comme prison et dans lesquelles il enferma cruellement les saints qu'il tortura. Saint Anastase repose aussi dans cette cit. Le mur de fortification de cette cit n'est construit ni en briques ni en ciment, mais de parpaings, d'un et souvent deux orgyies de longueur pour une orgyie de largeur, et ils sont ajusts et joints l'un l'autre par des crampons de fer noys dans du plomb fondu. Dans cette cit se trouvent aussi des ranges serres de colonnes, avec des entablements au-dessus, sur lesquels le mme empereur Diocltien proposa de construire des votes et de couvrir toute la cit, et de construire son palais et tous les logements de la cit au-dessus de ces votes jusqu' une hauteur de deux ou trois tages, de sorte qu'ils couvraient peu d'espace au sol dans cette mme cit. Le mur de fortification de cette cit n'a ni avant-mur ni galerie mais seulement de hauts murs et des archres. "

La description du site par Constantin VII, vers 948 - 949 , montre que le complexe palatial s'est transform en une petite ville, dont l'armature est encore fournie par les constructions antiques tardives. L'archologie confirme que les premires phases de construction postrieures au VI ^e sicle font un usage intensif des structures antiques tardives en remploi, qu'elles se contentent en gnral de partitionner avec des murs grossiers lis l'argile. La population de ce gros bourg est majoritairement d'origine slave, d'aprs plusieurs indices : l'archevque Jean au X ^e sicle encore un autre dirigeant de l'glise locale, lui mieux connu est certainement slave, car son pre se prnommait Tordacatus, forme romanise du slave Tvrtko . La sculpture architecturale de la chapelle Saint-Martin, dans la porte nord des fortifications se rapproche stylistiquement du matriel prsent dans les fondations des nobles croates du IX ^e sicle.

Progressivement, de nouvelles constructions viennent masquer les vestiges du palais de Diocltien : la plus ancienne est le beffroi lev au-dessus des remparts de la porte ouest, vers 1100 , pour la chapelle dite de Notre-Dame des cloches ( ) . Les plus anciens vestiges d'architecture civile mdivale sont les grandes maisons gothiques deux ou trois tages qui envahissent l'espace intrieur du palais aux XII ^e sicle et XIII ^e sicle. Le dveloppement urbain conduit la ville au-del du rempart ttrarchique au XIII ^e / Sup> century and a new civic center is developed in the late Middle Ages to the Western Wall.

The rediscovery of the Palace of Diocletian

Reconstruction of the palace of Fischer von Erlach published by Farlati.

The first known traveler interested in the palace of Diocletian is Cyriac of Ancona , who returned from a trip to Achaia and Epirus stops in Split and Salona 29 and 30 July 1436 to copy inscriptions. The first description due to a local scholar, in Croatian , is the fact Marko Markuli in the late ^fifteenth century. He describes the temple of Jupiter and noted that the "Rotunda" (ie the Hall) still has fragments of mosaic in place. In 1567 , the Chancellor of the Commune of Split Proculiano Antonio, describes the major palaces and buildings, among which are probably the two circular buildings of the temenos of the temple of Jupiter. Tomko Marnavi, Bishop of Bosnia , for his part relates the story of the discovery of the sarcophagus of Diocletian in the southeast tower of the palace . It was not until 1721 and the Summary of historic architecture of the architect Austrian Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach , to see the first drawings from field surveys. This reconstruction is taken by Daniele Farlati in illustration of his second volume Illyricum Sacrum in 1753.

The peristyle, as seen by Adam 1764

In July 1757 , arrived in Split architect Scotland Robert Adam , who continues to Dalmatia's Grand Tour started in Italy, accompanied by French painter Charles-Louis Clrisseau. Its stated goal is to produce a collection of drawings of the remains of Diocletian's Palace, which comes in addition to that he spent baths of the same emperor in Rome . The result of five weeks of his stay is a remarkable portfolio published in 1764 in Venice, with 61 illustrated plates, the work of Clrisseau . Despite errors, probably due to the simplifications in the name of the search for symmetry, the drawings remain until the early ^twentieth century work of reference on the palate. She also had an impact on European neoclassic architecture. One of the buildings constructed later by Robert Adam and his brothers to London along the Thames is such directly inspired by the coastline of Split .

A few decades later, in 1782 , the French painter Louis-Franois Cassas realized in turn drawings of the palace, published in 1802 by Joseph Lavalle in the story of their journey . Their relevance to the work of Adam lies in greater fidelity to the actual state of the remains, and to provide additional information that his drawings of the medieval town .

It was not until then the start of the ^twentieth century to see realized a few years apart the two major scientific studies of the palace, which remain the basis of contemporary literature. The first is the work of Austrian architect Georg Niemann between 1905 and 1910 , and the second that of the French Ernest Hebrard and Jacques Zeiller between 1906 and 1910.

After founding the two studies, work has continued. In 1924 , the diocese next to the cathedral was destroyed in a fire, which provides an opportunity to reach the northern outskirts of the Mausoleum . The reconstruction of Split at the end of the Second World War saw the completion of a draft release of former north and east facades of the palace. But it is mostly from 1957 that an effort to enhance the monumental complex led the brothers and Jerko Tomas Marasovi to undertake excavations, which can revise many respects the old rendition of the palace : their work which continued until 1975 carried on essentially the Peristyle, the Hall and the Imperial Apartments. They led to the discovery of two small round buildings in the temenos of the Temple. Meanwhile, Sheila Mc Nally and the University of Minnesota led nine stratigraphic excavations between 1965 and 1974 , including exploring the complex thermal north private apartments .

Notes

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