Emperor Diocletian was the first to voluntarily retire. He did so after spending 10-15 years constructing the villa depicted as the trapezoid at the right -- about 8.5 acres in all. At left is the map of the "preserved" palace after 1400 years of being a town center. It's filled with hundreds of buildings added later, but this representation shows what's left of the original. Diocletian loved his retirement. When the Senate asked him to return to power as the empire was collapsing, he told them he preferred to stay here and grow cabbages with his own hands.This fortress-villa served as a prototype for Roman residences in the territories where Rome wrestled with invaders. Its DNA is that of a military fort (castrum) -- a rectangle further subdivided into fourths by two cross streets and protective walls, here about 6-8 feet thick. Except for the twin hexagons that protect each land gate, the towers were squares -- somewhat unusual as square towers were more easily destroyed by enemy assault weaponry.
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