Ready for another religious war in stone? This colonnade-enwrapped octagon at center is 1700 years old and was built as the emperor Diocletian's tomb. This most vilified Roman emperor's mausoleum still stands because it was converted to a cathedral honoring an early bishop Domnius (or Duje) who was martyred in the Roman's last great campaign to stamp out Christianity. It's known as the Diocletianic or Great Persecution since it happened on his watch at the beginning of the 4th century. This man who tried to further deify the emperor ended up on the wrong side of history; his successor and adopted son Constantine would make Christianity the state religion a generation later. But the boxcutters of the September 11 terrorists killed nearly as many Christians as did Diocletian's swords: around 3,000. In Diocletian's day, Christians numbered about 6 million, about 10% of the population. A lot of lions went to bed hungry.The bell tower was built much later.
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