Salona [key], Latin Salonae, ancient city of Dalmatia, 3 mi (5 km) NE of modern Split, Croatia. A port on the Adriatic, it was used as a base for Roman conquest and was made a Roman colony and the capital of Illyricum in the 1st cent. b.c. The busy commercial city gained prestige when Diocletian, after retiring in a.d. 305, built a magnificent palace nearby. Salona became an episcopal see in the 4th cent., but in the 7th cent. the people fled before invaders to Diocletian's palace, which they transformed into the city of Spalato (now Split, Croatia). Salona was destroyed. Salona is also called Solin.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Ancient History, Rome
