Salona

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Salona ( Greek Σαλωνα ) was the metropolis of the Roman province of Dalmatia , which is located in the south-eastern part of the Adriatic coast . It was abandoned during the Great Migration Period . Later, the medieval city of Solin was built east of the ancient city of Salona .

Episcopal center and thermal baths
amphitheater

history

Salona was founded in the 4th century BC. Founded. Originally it was the base and port of the Illyrian Dalmats , a tribe of the Illyrians . In the immediate vicinity were the Greek colonies Tragurion ( Trogir ) and Epetion ( Stobreč ). During this time, Greek hermits and Italians lived in Salona in addition to the native Illyrians . After the civil war between Caesar and Magnus Pompey in 47 BC. Salona received the status of a Roman colony and became the metropolis of the Roman province of Illyria . The remains of the ancient city are in today's Solin , 6 km from Split . After the last uprising of the Illyrians was thwarted , Salona grew very quickly and undisturbed and experienced its heyday.

The most important time for Salona was the time when Emperor Diocletian reigned (284-305). Not far from Salona he had a splendid palace ( Diocletian's Palace ) built, where he retired after his abdication in 305. Salona was called Valeria after his family name ( nomen gentile ). At that time Salona was a densely populated city that counted almost 60,000 inhabitants with the surrounding area. The old town center was built trapezoidally and protected by thick walls. Parts of this wall date from the 2nd century BC. The eastern part of the city walls has been preserved to this day. It was built from large blocks of stone. The city ​​gate , Porta Caesarea, had octagonal towers on either side. In the middle was the space for cars, left and right the passages for pedestrians. From there a road continued over "five bridges", as the remains of the arches are called today. The road branched out, one going south and the other north, inland.

The city grew and many public buildings were built during this period. In the south-eastern part of the city a forum was built with the Capitol as the center of public, political and religious life. A theater was built very close to the forum with a capacity of 3500 spectators. On the Trajan Column in Rome there is a portrait of Salona, ​​on which you can see the theater. To the south of the theater was an earlier built temple. Outside the city walls, along the streets that led out of the city, the necropolises were built according to Roman tradition. The best known is the western necropolis, in horto Metrodori, it was located next to the road to Tragurion and was known for the "cyclopean" border walls of the tombs. In the 1st century BC The city began to expand to the east and west. Because of the dangers posed by Germanic tribes, the city walls were extended to fortify the newly cultivated areas. The city got an elliptical shape with a 1.6 km long east-west and a 700 m long south-north axis.

amphitheater

Since the construction of the city walls had to be carried out quickly, some buildings simply became part of them. Also the above ground, in the 1st century BC. The irrigation system built in BC was integrated into the wall as well as the most monumental building in Salona, ​​the amphitheater . The Danish archaeologist and architect Ejnar Dyggve , who spent many years excavating Salona, ​​suspects that the amphitheater was built in the second half of the 2nd century BC. Was built and at least 15,000 spectators had space in it. In the arena bloody fights between the gladiators and wild animals were fought. This also explains the presence of two holy sites found in the substructure of the building, dedicated to the goddess Nemesis. In Hellenism , Nemesis was also considered the goddess of agons (competitions of all kinds) and was worshiped in the amphitheaters and racetracks in Roman times. The Christians later turned the holy places into chapels to commemorate Christian martyrs who perished in the arena. A part of the inscription "RP DONO DEDIT" was found below the places of honor, which means that the Saloniter owed the construction of the amphitheater to a wealthy fellow citizen. During the Gothic War (535–554), the amphitheater was modified a little to protect itself from the enemy. The arena survived the decline of Salona; it was not until the Venetians destroyed the building in the 18th century to prevent the Turks from taking shelter there. Close to the amphitheater is the gladiators' cemetery. Some old sarcophagi are still preserved. The remains of the arena, only the lower parts of the massive walls, are well preserved, and this is how Dyggve was able to make the famous reconstruction.

religion

In addition to the official Roman religion, many different religious communities lived side by side in ancient times , followers of various oriental religions who worshiped Isis and Cybele , the Jewish faith community, but also the followers of the sun god Mithras , whose places of worship were found in several places in Salona. From the 3rd century onwards, the Christian community of faith developed in Salona, ​​which is also related to the Salonitic bishop Venancije (Latin Venantius Martyr), who came from Rome to spread the Christian faith in the province and to rebuild the church in Salona to organize. During the reign of Diocletian (284–305) his successor, Bishop Domnius, who came from Syria , lost his life during the persecution of Christians in 304. With him many other Christians were tortured and executed, including Anastasius, the priest Asterius and also four soldiers from Diocletian's bodyguard (Antiohan, Gaian, Telij and Paulinian) In 313, with the Milan Agreement , Emperor Constantine granted all Christians the right to practice their religion freely. One of his successors, Theodosius I , made Christianity the state religion at the end of the 4th century and passed laws against paganism and Christian heresy . These changes affected the development of the city. The center of Salona was relocated to the east, where an episcopal center arose in the 5th century , with a double basilica , a baptistery and a bishop's palace. At the beginning of the 5th century, the Salonite bishop became Metropolitan of Dalmatia. Two important ecclesiastical meetings of all Dalmatian bishops were held in Salona in 530 and 533. After the division of the empire in 395, the province of Dalmatia became part of the Western Roman Empire , and after its final collapse in 476, Dalmatia belonged to the kingdom of the Odoacer .

Remarks

  1. ↑ (Višić-Ljubić, Ema, Salona, ​​Colonia Martia, Ivlia Valeria, str. 5.)
  2. ↑ History of Salonitan Christianity - Eynar Dyggve
  3. ↑ Šušnjar, Bogdan, Sveti Dujam i salonitanski mučenici, str. 61.

literature

  • Buovac, Marin Buovac Amphitheatres in the Republic of Croatia, 13th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists. Sveučilište u Zadru, Zadar 2007.
  • Nenad Cambi: Antika . Naklada Ljevak, Zagreb 2002.
  • Bogdan Šušnjar: Sveti Dujam i salonitanski mučenici . Naklada Bošković, Split 2004, ISBN 953-7090-44-2 .
  • Ema Višić-Ljubić: Salona, ​​Colonia Martia, Ivlia Valeria - Arheološki muzej u Splitu, Solin 2010, ISBN 978-953-7633-04-2 .

Web links

Coordinates: 43 ° 32 ′ 23 "  N , 16 ° 28 ′ 59"  E