Tuesday May 16, 2017
Trying to discern Diocletian's 305AD retirement palace from the town of Split, growing in and out of it, was an exercise in adaptive reuse. Walls of the palace became walls of medieval shops, archs and arcades became the base for second story dwellings. Imagining Diocletian addressing his subjects in the Peristyle juxtaposed with the bustling everyday activities today, was quite an anachronism - old and new intertwined. Diocletian was especially know for executing Christians; so, in the 7th century, when his octagonal mausoleum was converted into a church, stories say his bones were thrown into the sea. Diocletian's successor, Constantine, made Christianity legal and the official religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th century.
The black sphinx is one of 13 that Diocletian looted from Egypt. Of the 4 remaining, this one the most intact.
For luck, Tom rubs the toe of Bishop Gregory of Nin, who tried to get the Vatican to allow the sermons during mass to be said in Croatian.
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