Dioklos the Dalmatian, son of Diokleja, born in 243, is a man of humble origin who rose to the imperial throne primarily thanks to his own knowledge, determination, skills and virtues. He was a warrior, builder, visionary and, after Augustus, the greatest reformer of the entire Roman Empire. Wisdom, patience, consistency, perseverance, self-reliance, boldness and courage led Diocles to the imperial throne, and preserved Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletian for history as the great Roman emperor from 285 to 305, and one of the most powerful people in Dalmatia in its long history. .

Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletian was the emperor who raised the fallen Empire from the ashes. He restored dignity to the empire and laid the foundations on which a completely new era in the history of Mediterranean (and European) civilization soon began. Diocletian's importance is also confirmed by his famous and true successor, Constantine the Great, who honors only three of his most exemplary predecessors, placing their sculptures in the most visible place in the hippodrome of his New Rome (Constantinople). They were Gaius Julius Caesar, Augustus and Diocletian.

After all the successes, economic, military and other achievements, after modernizing the concept of managing the Empire, and almost completely changing the idea of the Roman emperor, Diocletian, Jupiter's favorite and protégé, just like in the legend about the disappearance of the auspicious god Saturn, decided to leave the throne May 1, 305. Just like in the Saturn legend, the reasons for his departure are never fully clarified. Some sources say that he left the throne with tears in his eyes. It is possible to attribute them to many things and to many people, even to Diocletian's foresight. Namely, the events that will soon follow at the very top of the Empire, with a generation of rulers that already in 305 Diocletian knew with certainty was not capable of governing the Empire virtuously and without sick vanity, could have been the reason for the emperor's tears.

The emperor emeritus spent the rest of his life in his native Dalmatia, in a building remodeled for his retirement days. He got involved in the politics of the Empire only once more, in 308 participating in a meeting of rulers in Carnuntum (today's Austria). However, regardless of the fact that in retirement he could devote himself to his architectural passions and the decoration of his magnificent palace, and even, as he said, growing cabbage, even his old age was not spared from stormy events. The death of his brother-in-law Galerius in 311, a man of dubious moral values, marked the beginning of the "young lions" hunt for the prestigious trophy - Diocletian's daughter and Galerius' wife Valeria. Even today we do not know for sure whether he also experienced that tragedy - the death of his daughter in September 314 AD. And if it is, and if it is not, the story of Emperor Diocletian and his stormy life is truly worthy of the best Greek tragedies, and Diocletian of the greatest heroes from Greek mythology.

During his retirement, who were the faithful "guardians of the emperor's body" (corporiscustodes) and the emperor's omnipresent bodyguards in the palace?

At first, we would think that it was the Praetorian Guard, which had vowed to protect the emperor and the imperial family. However, as evidenced by the monuments, mosaics, frescoes and reliefs of the Tetrarchy era, the soldiers and officers in whom Diocletian had the most confidence were members of the elite cavalry corps; in Diocletian's time they were called Equites singulares domini nostri, and in previous centuries they were better known as Equites singulares Augusti. The name singulares refers to soldiers and officers who were singled out and chosen by the emperor, each one individually according to his character, physical and warrior virtues. All of these were people of great trust of the emperor, so many of them remained the emperor's confidants throughout the Empire even after military service, richly rewarded with estates and money. They were even buried in the Salonitan necropolis, and the testimony of their presence is still preserved in the very center of the city, built next to the side portal of the church of St. Duha in Split.

However, for the sake of a complete impression, it should be added that the equites singulares were not only bodyguards or decoration in the imperial entourage, but also a striking unit of the Roman army with a tradition that stretches all the way back to Gaius Julius Caesar. Unquestionable loyalty, in contrast to the praetorians attached to the city of Rome and dissolved in 312, singulars remained a synonym for loyalty, courage and devotion. Even today, we can imagine them as an integral part of court rituals with hanging long cavalry swords in richly decorated scabbards, in long ornamented cloaks and snow-white tunics with purple stripes, lined up on the Peristyle in front of the retired emperor or by his side during private audiences.

However, considering that the palace had other functions, it is quite certain that the maintenance of order in the palace was not taken care of by individuals, but by members of regular or auxiliary (cavalry) units. Although their duties were different from those of the singulars, their discipline militaris (military discipline) was no less than that of the singulars. Side by side with the singulars, but also with the imperial civil staff, participating in the same court religious ceremonies, they were an unavoidable part of life in the palace.

Thanks to the renovation of the central part of the Split Riva in 2006/2007. year and archaeological research carried out in front of the southern facade of Diocletian's palace, today we know that there was a port in front of the palace, perhaps smaller in size but very similar to other ports around the Empire. In Diocletian's time, the port was equipped with a central platform directly in front of the entrance to the cellars, a slipway for ships and dry stone cleats, a cryptoportico along the southern facade from which transshipment could be monitored, very similar to the ports in Marina di San Nicola, Civitavecchia, and Porto near Rome . It was a well-designed and equipped, functional port, just like the previously mentioned ones. Even symbolically, with its corner towers and facade with loggias, the port had a striking imperial appearance that was already recognizable to ship captains from afar.

With a high degree of confidence, we can talk about at least three uses of the Port of Split. The first, of course, was the delivery of stone and stone architectural elements from the Brac quarries of Plata, Rasoha and Stražišće. These quarries were brought back under the direct management of imperial officials, and Brac stone-cutting and stone-masonry workshops, coordinated from the palace/castle in Mirj on Brač, at the latest in the period between 308 and 316 (and probably more than a decade earlier). Sawn timber was apparently shipped from the ports of Brac for the (addition) construction of Diocletian's last residence, as well as relatively processed architectural and decorative elements carved for the same purpose. Moreover, the stone from the same quarries will soon, according to the order of Licinius (one of the rulers of the next generation of tetrarchs), be used for the construction of the spacious Licinius baths in the imperial palace (also Diocletian's) in Roman Sirmi, today's Srijemska Mitrovica. The redirection of the removal of stone, primarily stone capitals, from Brač to Sirmi could be the reason for the incompleteness of the construction project in Split.

The port of Split was the intersection of a lively traffic of cargo ships for the transport of heavy cargo over short distances, for example, like the ship found in Trstenik. We are talking about ships of small dimensions, but designed and used precisely for the transport of heavy loads since the first centuries of the Empire; such were, for example, ships of the type Dramont E or Fiumicino 1. Their hulls were shallow, and the bottom of the hull was flat in order to distribute the weight of the cargo as evenly as possible over the sea surface. They were extremely suitable for transporting stone materials, sarcophagi and similar loads.

At the same time, given that the palace was decorated with porphyry columns and sphinxes delivered from the "Alley of Sphinxes" that connected the temples (Karnak and Luxor) in Thebes, Egypt, the port of Split must have witnessed the landing of one, and perhaps more, so-called navis lapidaria. They were ships of an unusual but extremely practical design, of exceptional dimensions (from 35-40 meters and even up to 128 meters long), intended for the transportation of the heaviest stone loads, primarily expensive marble needed for construction throughout the Empire.

The second purpose, considering the specific shape of the port of Split with a central platform, was most likely the transshipment of various expensive goods. First of all, fine textiles washed in the crystal clear water of the Jadra and purple-dyed fabric that left the imperial production plants, but also other precious goods that arrived from the imperial estates in Dalmatia towards Split. It is necessary to keep in mind the specific way of collecting and monitoring the flow of goods brought about by Diocletian's reforms, as well as the fact that they were then loaded onto transport ships once a year and shipped to their final destinations, primarily Rome. It is quite certain that the transports of such imperial cargoes were well planned, coordinated and protected by warships. As for the warships that docked in the port of Split, late antique pictorial and written sources say that the most common type of military ship was with one mast and one sail, less often with two masts, and with one row of oarsmen (a total of 50 oarsmen, i.e. soldiers per ship, 25 on each side). It is difficult to say which subtype of ship from the family of naves onerariae (standard transport ships for the transport of heavy cargo over long distances), accompanied by a military escort, shipped the valuable cargo from the port.

And finally, the goods did not just leave the port of Split, but had to be received in the port, especially what arrived from the island and was necessary for production. Certainly, not only stone arrived from Brač to the port of Split, but also the famous Brač honey, necessary in the process of dyeing textiles, then wool from Brač and other islands, timber, above all extremely high-quality cypress from Mljet and Korčula, etc. But the port of Split was never was a commercial port, because Salonitan's piers served for these needs. The port of Split was what its appearance confirms - the imperial port.

In any case, it is quite certain that it was an extremely lively place. A place where soldiers and sailors mingled with the civilian imperial staff of the port, from the lowest officials to the highest officials, rationalists, procurators and provosts. Various ships were swaying in front of all of them, waiting for their turn to disembark and sail.