Many conjectures
have been made about them; they look as if they were means of approach
to the upper part of the building; but it is wisest not to be positive.
But the main peculiarity of this amphitheater is that it lies on the
slope of a hill, which thus supplied a natural basement for the seats on
one side only. But this same position swallowed up the lower arcade on
this side, and it hindered the usual works underneath the seats from
being carried into this part of the building.
SPALATO[11]
BY EDWARD A. FREEMAN
The main object and center of all historical and architectural inquiries
on the Dalmatian coast is, of course, the home of Diocletian, the still
abiding palace of Spalato. From a local point of view, it is the spot
which the greatest of the long line of renowned Illyrian Emperors chose
as his resting-place from the toils of warfare and government, and
where he reared the vastest and noblest dwelling that ever arose at the
bidding of a single man. From an ecumenical point of view, Spalato is
yet more. If it does not rank with Rome, Old and New, with Ravenna and
with Trier, it is because it never was, like them, an actual seat of
empire. But it not the less marks a stage, and one of the greatest
stages, in the history of the Empire.
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