Emperor Diocletian came to power towards the end of the 3rd Century AD. His rule helped steady the empire after the Crisis of the Third Century. Around the start of the 4th Century, Diocletian commissioned a stunning palace near Salona, one of the largest cities of the Dalmatia province.
A native of Dalmatia, Diocletian was born into a lowly family but never forgot his roots. The palace complex was intended to be Diocletian's retirement home, although it also included a military barracks. Effectively, it was Diocletian's personal fortified town.
Construction began in 295 AD, but sources suggest that it still wasn't finished ten years later when Diocletian officially abdicated. It's possible that building work continued even while Diocletian lived there. The design of the sprawling complex is similar to Roman forts from the 3rd Century. Several materials used to build the grand palace came from the surrounding region. Marble was imported from Greece and Italy, and a series of sphinx statues came from Egypt.
Despite radically overhauling the bureaucracy of the Empire and introducing the Tetrarchy (rule of four emperors) system, Diocletian watched from his villa as disputes between rival successors destroyed much of his work. In 312 AD, Diocletian died, possibly from suicide.
When the Avar and Slavic tribes rampaged through Europe during the 7th Century, the residents of Salona took refuge in Diocletian's palace. Although much of the city was ransacked, the palace remained largely intact. The walls of the complex formed the center of the city that would become modern-day Split. The palace was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.