Salona (, ) was an ancient city and the capital of the Roman province of DalmatiaWilkes, John J. Dalmatia. 1969 near Split, in Croatia. It was one of the largest cities of the late Roman Empire with approximately 60,000 inhabitants. It was the last residence of the final Western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos and acted as the de facto capital of the Western Roman Empire during the years 476–480. Salona was founded in the third century BC and was mostly destroyed during the invasions of the Avars and Slavs in the seventh century AD. Despite this, there remain many Roman characteristics, including walls, a forum, a theatre, an amphitheatre, public baths and an aqueduct.
Location
Salona was founded on a sheltered inlet on the Adriatic coast. The ruins of Salona are located in the modern town of Solin, around six kilometres from the major city of Split, in Croatia. The terrain around Salona slopes gently seaward and is typical karst, consisting of low limestone ridges running east to west with marl in the clefts in between them.
History Salona grew in the area of the Greek cities of Tragurium and Epetium on the Jadro river in the third century BC. It was the birthplace of Roman Emperor Diocletian. In the first millennium BC,Solin early history the Greeks set up a marketplace.Excavations at Salona, Yugoslavia, 1969–1972: conducted for the Department of Classics, Douglass College, Rutg, by Christoph W. Clairmont, 1975, , page 4, "If we are correct in our interpretation of the earliest finds from Salona, the emporion, even if very small, was a settlement in a strategic position" Salona had also been in the territory of the Illyrian Delmatae, before the conquest of the Romans. Salona became the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia,Everett-Heath, John. "Dalmatia." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. Oxford University Press. 2005. Encyclopedia.com because it sided with the future Roman dictator Gaius Julius Caesar in the civil war against Pompey. Martia Iulia Valeria Salona Felix (the full name of the ancient city) was founded probably after the Roman civil wars under Julius Caesar. The early Roman city encompassed the area around the Forum and Theatre, with an entrance, the Porta Caesarea, on the north-east side. The walls were fortified with towers during the reign of Augustus.Jasna Jeličić-Radonić and Ana Sedlar. "Topografija antičke Salone (I) Salonitanska Urbs vetus." Tusculum 2. The early trapezoidal shape of the city was transformed by the eastern and western expansion of the city.
The city quickly acquired Roman characteristics: walls, a forum, a theatre, an amphitheatre (which are the most conspicuous above-ground remains today), public baths, and an aqueduct. Many inscriptions in both Latin and Greek have been found inside the walls and in the cemeteries outside, since Romans forbade burials inside the city boundaries. Several fine marble sarcophagi from those cemeteries are now in the Archaeological Museum of Split. All this archaeological evidence attests to the city's prosperity and integration into the Roman Empire. Salona had a mint that was connected with the mint in Sirmium and gold and silver mines in the Dinaric Alps through Via Argentaria.
When the Roman Emperor Diocletian retired, he erected a monumental villa (palace) in a suburban location (6 km away). This massive structure, known as Diocletian's Palace, became the core of the city of Split (Spalatum) after the fall of Salona. Diocletian's tomb was also reportedly located somewhere near Salona.
Salona's continuing prosperity resulted in the extensive building of churches in the fourth and fifth centuries, including an episcopal basilica and a neighboring church and baptistery inside the walls, and several shrines honoring martyrs outside. These remains have made Salona a major site for studying the development of Christian sacred architecture.Dyggve, Ejnar. History of Salonitan Christianity. 1951. (Summary of most important buildings and possible interpretations); see now A. M. Yasin. "Reassessing Salona's Churches: Martyrium Evolution in Question," Journal of Early Christian Studies 20:1 (2012): 59–112 and recent excavations The Salonitan bishop held the position of metropolitan bishop of Dalmatia. After the fall, bishopric and other remains were transferred to Split (see Archbishopric of Spalathon). The borders and influence of Salonitan Archdiocese included almost all of today's Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina south of river Sava and west of river Drina.
Salona was the only Eastern Adriatic port-city listed in Diocletian's Edict on Maximum Prices, and out of all listed port-cities it had most maritime connections (those being with Alexandria, Ephesus, Nikomedia, Seleucia Pieria, and Carthago). The connection with Ravenna was also prominent. The connections were not only about exchange of goods and monuments, prominent individuals also traveled, remained to live and die at Salona (especially from Syria). Salona played a key role in the Gothic War (535–554) and it was besieged by the Ostrogoths. Seemingly it was a big port as for the Battle of Sena Gallica (551), Byzantine general John sailed from it with 38 ships (compared to Ravenna's 12).
Salona is the largest archaeological park in Croatia. According to Constantine VII's De Administrando Imperio (tenth century), Salona was "half the size of Constantinople". Although initially believed that it housed over 60,000 inhabitants, recent excavations have found that the population may have been at least 80,000.
Fall
In the early seventh century the Roman limes on the river Danube and Sava fell and was militarily abandoned, leaving the Roman province of Dalmatia open for conquest. The events of the fall of the city because of its location are relevant to the understanding when the province and coastal cities periphery succumbed to barbaric invasion. Pope Gregory I in July 600 wrote to the archbishop of Salona, Maximus, in which he expressed concern about the arrival of the Slavs ("de Sclavorum gente quae vobis valde imminet et affligor vehementer et conturbor").Rapanić, Željko. (2013) "O početcima i nastajanju Dubrovnika" (The origin and formation of Dubrovnik) p. 94; Starohrvatska prosvjeta, Vol. III No. 40 According to De Administrando Imperio (tenth century) and Thomas the Archdeacon's Historia Salonitana (thirteenth century), Salona was largely destroyed in the seventh century invasions by the Avars and Slavs (more specifically the Croats per Thomas the Archdeacon who also identified them with Goths and Slavs). The city was reportedly conquered by trickery when the Avar-Slavs, having previously defeated a Roman army dispatched from Salona/Klis at the river Danube or Sava (possibly also near Cetina), passed the frontier castrum of Klis in disguise and expelled the Romans from the city. When it became their possession, they "settled and thereafter began gradually to make plundering raids and destroyed the Romans who dwelt in the plains and on the higher ground and took possession of their lands". Refugees from Salona settled in other coastal and island cities (Decatera, Ragusa, Spalato, Tetrangourin, Diadora, Arbe, Vekla and Opara) and inside Diocletian's Palace.
The exact date of destruction and fall is uncertain. Pope John IV sent abbot Martin (possibly future Pope Martin I) to Dalmatia in 641 to redeem captives, which was interpreted that Salona must have been destroyed before that date. As Salona's refugees are also said by Thomas the Archdeacon to have founded Ragusa around 625 it meant that Salona had to be destroyed around 625 or before. In the scholarship, it was traditionally dated to 614, although opinions varied between 608 and 639. The last dated inscription, reflecting existence of life in the city, in the ruins is dated to 12 May 612. However, 1970s were found many coins, out of which few were of Heraclius and youngest minted in 630/631. It is interpreted as evidence that the city was rather becoming steadily abandoned after 614 and probably destroyed in 639. Some other archaeological excavations probably show a small group of people continued to live with newcomers until mid-seventh century when it became abandoned. Tibor Živković argued that the attack happened in the early 630s and became abandoned after that time.
The new Slavic population settled outside the ruins to the east near the river Jadro, where Old-Croat graves can be found. In the tenth and eleventh centuries, Croatian kings founded and rebuilt three churches in the area, of which of St. Stephen was used as a royal mausoleum for Croatian Kings (with a found sarcophagus of Queen Helen of Zadar), while the Basillica of St. Peter and Moses (now called the Hollow Church) served as the coronation site for king Demetrius Zvonimir in 1075. The archaeologically confirmed information is found in the Historia Salonitana.
Architecture Manastirine The Manastirine are the remnants of a basilica and cemetery outside of the town. The earliest parts of the complex date back to the second century BC. The bishop and martyr Saint Domnius was buried here after being executed in the amphitheater in 304 AD.
At the end of the fourth century, the complex was partly destroyed during the German incursions, and in the mid-fifth century, a three-nave basilica was constructed on top of the ruins. Many sarcophagi can be found here. In the early seventh century, the cemetery was looted and partly destroyed.
The cemetery exhibits a feature of Christian cemeteries at that time to have deceased buried as close as possible to the martyr or Ad sanctos.
Tusculum Architectural and ornamental fragments, the inscriptions of capitals, and columns from the area were replaced by a building built in 1898. It was restored in 2008.
City walls
The construction of the Salonitan city walls took several centuries. The earliest part of the city was surrounded by walls as early as the second century BC. During the Pax Romana the city expanded to both east and west.
During the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius around 170 A.D., under the constant threat of Germanic tribes, the east and west suburbs were included in the walls, which were fortified with at least 90 towers. Some parts of existing buildings were used in the extensions to the walls, thus making them integral. The total circumference of the elliptical shape of the walls was approximately , with varying width from enclosing 240 acres .
During the reign of Emperor Theodosius II in the early fifth century, all the towers were reconstructed, as witnessed by an inscription on the walls. Furthermore, in the first half of the sixth century, triangular-shaped endings were added to some square-shaped towers to improve the city's security and defense system. Such examples are visible today on the northern side of the Urbs orientalis.
Episcopal center The center of Christian Salona is in the northwest part of the eastern city. Here is an Episcopal center with twin lengthways basilicas, a baptistery, and Bishop's Palace were built in the fifth century A.D.
This Basilica is the largest in the entire area of Dalmatia. The best-preserved part of the oldest part of the city (Urbs vetus) is the eastern wall and Porta Caesarea with two octagonal towers and three passages; one for cart traffic and two for pedestrians on each side of the wider passage. The central passage was probably equipped with a movable grid, as indicated by grooves on side pylons.
Aqueduct
Emperor Augustus built an aqueduct to supply the city with water from the river Jadro. It was in length, and the best-preserved part is north of the episcopal center. Calculations show that the aqueduct could supply enough water for about 40,000 people.
Thermae