Like many cities throughout the Empire, Salona was built following the model of Rome itself.  The oldest part of the town was in the central section where the original E Town Gate was found. In many ways, this resembled the wall that surrounded much of ancient Rome.  In 170 A.D., the Roman army built new walls to protect the City of Salona during the Marcomannic wars and these walls were reinforced with several towers during the 6th century.  Salona had an Roman-style amphitheater which was built during the 2nd century and and served as a defense structure in the Northwest corner of the city.  The amphitheater was made of stone and could over 15,000 people.  Only remains of the amphitheater exist today because it was used as a quarry for the building of modern-day Split.  To the West of the amphitheater is a necropolis called Hortus Metrodori.  Salona also had a forum located in the central and oldest part of the city.  Althouh it is known that the forum connected with a theater, very little of either structure has been preserved.  The foundations of two temples, the curia, have been found.  Several baths existed in Salona and part of the baths on the East side of the city have been preserved.  The baths were built in the second century A.D. and the heating installations can still be seen to this day.  Roman aquaducts can also be observed which are still responsible for providing water to parts of the city.  Perhaps the most important archaeological features of Salona are the early Christian basilicas and cemeteries.  It is these features that made Salona, after Rome and Carthage, the most important place for studying the beginnings and developments of the Christian cult.  An enormous episcopal center developed between the 4th and 6th centuries.  Its completed form consisted of two basilicas.  The interiors of the churches were decorated with amazing mosaics.  Inside the city walls, the remains of 8 other basilicas can be found as well.  Many of the structures in Salona were destroyed in the Avaro-Slavic attacks which occurred around 600 A.D.  Many of the archaeological findings from Salona can be found in
the Archaeological Museum at Split.

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