The Palace of Diocletian at Split A Thesis ----------------- Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School University of Missouri Columbia ----------------- In Partial Fulfilment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts ----------------- By Guy Dominic Robson Sanders Kathleen Warner Slane THESIS SUPERVISOR August 1989 i CONTENTS Page numbers List of figures.................. ii-iv Abbreviations .................. v-vi Chapter 1 Introduction............... 1-11 Chapter 2 Diocletian's Palace at Split 12-35 Chapter 3 Camps 36-63 Chapter 4 Palaces 64-95 Introduction............... 64 Antioch.................... 70 Thessalonika............... 74 Summary.................... 89 Chapter 5 Villas 93-120 Mogorjelo.................. 94 Gamzigrad.................. 97 Maxentius' Villa........... 106 Piazza Armerina............ 111 Chapter 6 Conclusions................. 117-130 Bibliography.......................... 131-142 Figures .......................... End plates ii LIST OF PLATES. 1.1 Jacob Spon's view of Split. Bulic, pl. I. 1.2 Hebrard and Zeiller's plan of Split. Hebrard -Zeiller, fig. 1. 1.3 Gerasa. MacDonald, Architecture II, fig 35. 1.4 Philippopolis. Butler, fig. 135. 1.5 Split - sectors of excavation 1968-1974. McNally et al. Drawing 1. 2.1 Modern town of Split showing area of Diocletian's Palace. Marasovic et al. Drawing 15. 2.2 Split - State plan of Diocletian's Palace Late Roman Walls. Marasovic et al. Drawing 28. 2.3 Split - Reconstructed plan of Diocletian's Palace. Marasovic et al. Drawing 28 and GDRS. 2.4 Split - East-West cross sections through mausoleum and temple (above), through gates (below). Niemann fig. 5. 2.5 Split - Isometric drawing of the peristyle and surrouding monuments. Niemann pl. 15. 2.6 Split - Elevation of Mausoleum and section through vestibule. Niemann pl. 7. 2.7 Split - Mosiac floor and walls in N.W. quadrant. Niemann fig. 114-115. 2.8 Split - State plan of mausoleum. Niemann pl. 9. 2.9 Split - Elevation of Vestibule facade and section through mausoleum. Niemann pl. 13. 2.10 Split - Plan of peristyle court east of the mausoleum. McNally et al. Drawing 2. 2.11 Split - Elevation of Vestibule facade. Niemann fig. 56. 2.12 Split - North-south longitudinal sections through mausoleum (above), through vestibule and hall (below). Niemann fig. 136, 137. iii 3.1 Traditional legionary fortress according to Polybius. Fabricius, fig. 1. 3.2 Housesteads, Yorkshire. 2nd cent. traditional castrum. Sear fig. 22. 3.3 Lambaesis. M. Janon, "Lambaesis," Antike Welt 8.2 (1977) fig. 1. 3.4 Porchester castle, Hants. Saxon Shore castrum of the late 3rd century. Cunliffe, AJ 52 (1972) pp. 70-83, fig. 1. 3.5 Drobeta. Left: phase 2 = 2/2 3rd. century, right: last phase = late 4th. century. Lander, figs. 155, 274. 3.6 el-Leggun, Syria. Castrum of c. 300 A.C. Brunnow and Domaszewski, pl. XLII. 3.7 Tamara. Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, p.1148. 3.8 Qasr Qarun. Carrie, MEFR 86, fig. 1. 3.9 Palmyra, Camp of Diocletian. Palmyre VIII, map 1. 3.10 Palmyra, Camp of Diocletian. Palmyre VIII, map 2. 3.11 Luxor, Temple of Ammon. I. Kalavrezou Maxeiner, fig. A. 4.1 Rome, Plan of central monuments. MacDonald, Architecture II, fig. 206. 4.2 Milan. Modern city showing Late Roman monuments. Enciclopedia dell' arte antichita, Vol. V, fig.2. 4.3 Trier. Plan of Late Roman city. MacDonald, Architecture II, fig. 34. 4.4 Aquileia. Plan of Late Roman city. Enciclopedia dell' arte antichita, Vol. I, fig. 692. 4.5 Sirmium. Modern city with location of Late Roman monuments. Sirmium I, fig. 3. 4.6 Nikomedeia. Modern Izmit with location of ancient monuments. Ozture, map 1. iv 4.7 Nikomedeia. Sketch plan of Late Roman city. GDRS. 4.8 Antioch. Reconstructed plan of Late Roman Monuments. GDRS. 4.9 Antioch. Late Roman city plan. Downey, History of Antioch, fig. 11. 4.10 Thessalonika. Plan of city with Late Roman monuments. Spieser, gatefold. 4.11 Thessalonika. Plan of Galerius' Palace. GDRS after Moutsopoulos, pl. 10. 4.12 Thessalonika. Arch of Galerius, phase 1 (above), phase 2 (below). Velenis, figs. 14 & 15. 4.13 Thessalonika. Octagon and central court. Moutsopoulos, pl. VIII. 5.1 Mogorjelo. Plan and elevation. Wilkes, fig. 10, after Dyggve. 5.2 Gamzigrad. Plan of monuments. Srejovic, Arch. Jug. 22-3, fig. 5. 5.3 Maxentius' Palace on the Via Appia. Villa, early 4th. century phase. Pisani Sartorio and Calza, pl. 48. 5.4 Piazza Armerina. Wilson, fig. 1. v ABBREVIATIONS. Abbreviations follow those listed in AJA 82 (1978) 3-10 with addenda and corrigenda in AJA 84 (1980) 3-4. Other frequently cited works are listed below. Brunnow and Domaszewski: Brunnow, R.E. and Domaszewski, A. V. Die provincia Arabia. vol. 2, Strassburg, 1905. Bulic: Bulic, F. Kaiser Diokletians Palast in Split. Translated by L. Karaman. Zagreb, 1929. Downey, Antioch: Downey, G. A History of Antioch in Syria. Princeton, 1961. Downey, "Libanius": Downey, G., "Libanius' Oration in Praise of Antioch (Oration XI)," ProcPhilAs 103 (1959) 652-86. Downey, "Palace": Downey, G. "The Palace of Diocletian at Antioch," Les annales archeologiques de Syrie 3 (1953) 106-16. Fellmann, Die Principia: Fellmann, R. Die Principia des Legionslagers Vindonissa und das Zentralgebaude der romischen Lager und Kastelle. Vindonissamuseum, 1958, pp. 75-92. Fellmann, Diokletianspalast: Fellmann, R. "Der Diokletianspalast von Split im rahmen der spatromischen Militararchitektur," Antike Welt 10 (1979) 47-55. Fellmann, "le Camp,": Fellmann, R., "Le `Camp de Diocletien' a Palmyre et l'architcture militaire du Bas Empire," in Melanges d'histoire anciennes et d'archeologie offerts a Paul Collart. (Cahiers d'archeologie romande. no.5). Lausanne, 1976, pp. 173-91. Lander: Lander, J. Roman Stone Fortifications. Oxford, 1984. Marasovic et al.: Marasovic, J., Marasovic, T., MacNally, S. and Wilkes, J.J. Diocletians Palace: Report on Joint Excavations in Southeast quarter. Part 1. Split, 1972. Niemann: Niemann, G. Der Palast Diokletians in Spalato. Vienna, 1910. vi RIA: Ward-Perkins, J.B. Roman Imperial Architecture. Harmondsworth, 1981. Vickers, "Hellenistic Thessalonike,": Vickers, M. "Hellenistic Thessaloniki," JHS 92 (1972) 156-70. Vickers, "Hippodrome,": Vickers, M. "The Hippodrome at Thessaloniki," JRS 62 (1972) 25-32. Vickers, "Octagon,": Vickers, M. "Observations on the Octogon at Thessaloniki," JRS 63 (1973) 111-20. 1 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION. Recent research accepts the view that the plan of Diocletian's residence at Split was derived from the design of Roman castra.1 This assumption stems from the visual resemblance between the plan of Split and that of a traditional Roman camp such as Lampasas or the city of Timgad. In such a camp the principal streets, the via praetorian and via principalis, met at right angles in the form of the letter T in front of the praetorium. The praetorium has been understood by most scholars to be the residence of the garrison commander. At Split, however, the decumanus and cardo were designed to meet at right angles in the form of a Latin cross in front of what is thought to be the residence of the former emperor. Parallels drawn between the “T” plan of castra and Latin cross arrangement at Split on the one hand, and the location of the praetorium of camps and Diocletian's private apartments at Split on the other, seem to indicate a close affinity between the two designs.2 The idea that Diocletian's residence was derived from the military camp is firmly established in literature. 1 RIA 454-56; F. Sear, Roman Architecture. Ithaca, 1982, p. 265. 2 Various reconstructions of the street plan attempt to demonstrate the similarity of Split and the traditional castra plan. These follow the basic scheme outlined above. F. Weilbach, "Zur Rekonstruktion des Diocletians Palast," in Strena Buliciana , pp. 123-125. Edited by E. Wiegand. Zagreb-Split, 1924, proposed that a via quintana bisected the northern part of Split and that the plan thus paralleled that of the Polybian more closely than formerly thought. 2 The earliest academic reference to the plan of Split seems to be that of Serlio (b.1475) who sketched a walled Polybian castra in Dalmatia described to him by Marco Grimani, the patriarch of Aquileia. According to Dinsmoor this illustration is an early representation of the residence at Split.3 Late in the 16th century Palladio made detailed drawings of parts of the residence.4 Spon and Wheler, who visited Split in 1677, were the first to provide eyewitness accounts of the remains. Both outlined the major visible remains and drew sketches of Split (fig. 1.1). Although there are notable differences in their plans, each describes the peristyle, the vestibule, the mausoleum, the temple and the colonnaded gallery on the south wall. There is some evidence in their accounts that they understood the residence to have been a development of a military camp plan.5 3 W.B. Dinsmoor, "The Literary Remains of Sebastiano Serlio," ArtB 24 (1942) 55-91. Dinsmoor refers to Munich MS. cod. iconogr. 190, fol.1, dated to ca.1558. Dinsmoor may have assumed that the Trajanic camp was Split because of its castra like plan and its location in Dalmatia rather than for objective reasons. In other words, he may have identified Serlio's drawing as Split because of the plan and concluded that Serlio thought that the residence appeared to be a castra. 4 D. Keckemet, "Louis Francois Cassas i njegove slike Istre i Dalmacije 1782," RAD. Jugoslavenskie Akademije Znanosti i Umjetnosti 379 (1979) 7-200. 5 Spon drew the site as a square with square corner towers, four gates with the main gate to the west, and the colonnaded gallery running between the west gate and the south-west tower. Inside he drew the peristyle, with the mausoleum, the vestibule and the temple, all described as temples, disposed around it; for this plan see Bulic, pl.6. Wheler drew a rectangular site oriented east to west with square angle towers and three gates with the main gate at the north.