How a 1700 year old palace is still being used today

The city of Split, Croatia hosts one of the most interesting Roman buildings: The Diocletian Palace was built by Roman emperor Diocletian (c.244-311) in 305 as a retirement home. Although it is called a palace, it used to be a heavily fortified military compound with half of it being used to house military personnel and the other half for Diocletian.

The Ampersand

The ampersand symbol (“&”) is a longtime favorite of designers and typographers. The odd, curvy symbol actually dates back to the first century.

Hadrian’s Wall

The Roman Emperor Hadrian (76-138) had a problem. His province Britannica (modern day Britain) was under constant threats from the Northern part. Barbarians would sometimes try to invade the North Roman borders or -if just interested in getting rich- make money with smuggling goods.

The deadly mooning of Jerusalem

Around 50 AD, many Jewish pilgrims were on their way to Jerusalem for passover celebrations. Since the city was under Rome’s control, soldiers were ordered to control the large crowds entering the city.