Meet Diocletian

Meet Diocletian

Diocletian equals Split. No matter what we know about this Roman Emperor, no matter if we like or not his performance at the world's most powerful position of his age, it's an obvious fact that without Diocletian Split wouldn't exist. Or, to be more precise, it wouldn't be Split as we know it and love it. Celebrating this man, born probably in 244 AD as a peasant's son near Roman city of Salona (today's Solin) means celebrating Split and its history. Part of such celebration will be incoming event Nights of Diocletian, although researching Emperor's life is way more than just having fun at a tourist event. More probable it's a matter of lifelong learning.

In digital era it might look easy, type in Diocletian in Google, and endless sources will open in front of your eyes. As a guide, I'm trying to make story about that man as close as possible to today's guests, and one of the most common question is simple: what he did look like?

If walking through Diocletian's Palace's basements (or, more accurate, substructures), you will notice in its western wing a bust attributed as Diocletian. Most probably, it's not accurate. That statue shows him as a serious, lean statesman, but most other known images show him quite different. There are few statues which are believed or claimed to show Diocletian's image. One of problems is that none of them is a full figure, so we know nothing about his figure. Another difficulty is that most of those busts have attribution which are founded on not so reliable sources.

The most famous one is that from Archaeological Museum in Istanbul, and it origins from Diocletian's capital Nicomedia, today's Izmit in Turkey. Than there is another one, with origins unknown, today in one private collection in the USA. Very well known is also a bust owned by the John Paul Getty Villa Museum in Malibu, California. Or, how we can not mention a group statue of Diocletian and three his co-rulers in Venice, probably originally from Constantinople? We could go on and on, there are so many examples. Interesting are those from middle ages, usually showing him as a persecutor of Christian saints. Diocletian was also popular model in more romantic times, in 19th and early 20th century, like this highly stylized bust from Florence or even as retired in his Palace on one painting. This and other examples you can see here.

Few years ago, Split artist Đani Martinić collected all these images, and tried to give a definitive look. His statue od Diocletian was meant to be publicly displayed somewhere in the Palace, but still waiting.

Until then, probably the most accurate image - next to Nicomedia's bust - are those on coins found dated from Diocletian's era. Judge for yourself.

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