Salona

Salona

Σάλωνα
The ruins of Salona
Shown within Croatia
Alternate name	Salon
Location	Near Solin, Croatia
Region	Dalmatia
Coordinates	43°32′18″N 16°28′28″E / 43.538438°N 16.474342°E / 43.538438; 16.474342Coordinates: 43°32′18″N 16°28′28″E / 43.538438°N 16.474342°E / 43.538438; 16.474342
Type	Settlement
History
Abandoned	7th century
Cultures	Greek, Roman
Site notes
Condition	In ruins

Salona (Ancient Greek: Σάλωνα) was an ancient city and the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia. The name Salona preserves the language of the early inhabitants of this area whom the Romans called Dalmatae, and considered to be part of a larger group called Illyrians. Salona (or Salon) is situated in today's town of Solin, right next to Split, in modern-day Croatia.

In the first millennium BC the Greeks set up an emporion (marketplace) there. After the conquest by the Romans, Salona became the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia. Colonia Martia Iulia Salona (the full name of the ancient city) was founded probably after the Roman civil wars under Julius Caesar. The early Roman city encompassed the area around the Forum and Theatre, with an entrance, the Porta Caesarea, on the north-east side, The walls were fortified with towers during the reign of Augustus. The early trapezoidal shape of the city was transformed by eastern and western expansion of the city. The city quickly acquired Roman characteristics: walls; a forum; a theatre; an amphitheatre – the most conspicuous above-ground remains today; public baths; and an aqueduct. Many inscriptions in both Latin and Greek have been found both inside the walls and in the cemeteries outside, since Romans forbade burials inside the city boundaries. A number of fine marble sarcophagi from those cemeteries are now in the Archaeological Museum of Split. All this archaeological evidence attests to the city's prosperity and integration into the Roman Empire.