The metae were semicircular elements, usually columns, placed individually on each of the two ends of the spina in the Circus Maximus, around which the racers would turn during the race, which included seven counter-clockwise laps of the chariots....

The base is the part of classical architecture referring to the lower element of a structure, also called the basement, followed by the facing and the crowning. In the case of the column, the base is used to separate it from the floor and widen the area of support. The Attican base takes its name f...

Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus was born in 244 AD, in the Roman province of Dalmatia, into a family of humble origins. He began his military career as a young man, moving rapidly up the ranks, until he was appointed commander of the cavalry, and later general, during the period of Emperor Marc...

Fundamental element of the construction system, consisting of a single block of wood or stone, placed horizontally. Its function is to unload the weight of the brickwork above, on two lateral parts of the brickwork, creating an open area. In a similar way the architrave is placed on imposts or col...

It is a vertical architectural structure with a semicircular shape, covered by a brickwork vault, called a dome or semi-dome; in some cases the roof is made of wood with supporting beams placed like the rays of the sun. In the case of an aedicula, semi-open and/or delimited by walls, the apse is us...

This term indicates a support used for writing consisting of two symmetrical tablets, called leaves, held together by a hinge, originally made of wood or metal. Their inner surface was covered with wax, a material on which it was possible to write with a stylus. The diptych, which resembled a rudim...

The lampadarius was a master of the ceremony, or the person who carried the torch that preceded, in public functions, individuals of important rank, among them the Emperor. In the floor mosaic of the vestibule of the Villa del Casale, he has the face of an old man, with his head surrounded by a cro...

The nuncupatio votorum was a celebration still in use in the 4th century AD, an annual and solemn votive offering with prayers for the health of the emperor celebrated in the first three days of the year and included in the New Year celebrations....

Son of a Greek officer, Constantius Chlorus, appointed Augustus in place of Galerius in 305 AD, and Helena, he was probably born in 280 in Naissus, Moesia. After living at Diocletian’s court and moving to Britannia, following his father, he was acclaimed emperor by the army in 306 AD, in a histori...

The word tetrarchy literally means government of four; it was a form of power devised by Diocletian to facilitate control of the Empire in all its vast provinces. At first the system began with a diarchy, a government of two, when in 285 AD Diocletian called Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus to hi...