Immediately after the fall of Salona in 639 the inhabitants sought refuge on some of the neighbouring islands; then, under the leadership of Severus, they descended upon Spalato and encamped within the walls of Diocletian’s palace, finally erecting buildings and more substantial dwellings, which accounts for the material change of the interior aspect of the palace. For the very good reason that nine and one-half acres was rather a small area to accommodate any great number of people, the town of Spalato soon spread outside of its original walls. It was visited by the great Venetian expedition under Pietro Orseola II in 998, and was compelled to take the oath of allegiance. Internal religious controversies occurred from this time on, until the murderous Tartars, in pursuit of King Bela in 1241, sacked the town and put to death all whom they found in their path. But Spalato arose bravely from the blight of her misfortunes, and in 1327 revolted against Venice, was absorbed by Hungary and, thirty years later, revolted against the latter. Notwithstanding the changes it has undergone, Diocletian’s palace has been handed down to us, and still holds its place as the most magnificent specimen of the domestic architecture of the Romans. And, strangely enough, its Temple of Jupiter has, for fourteen centuries, served as the Spalatine house of worship of the Christian religion, that religion which the builder of this same temple tried so hard to obliterate. [Illustration: ROMAN SARCOPHAGI, SALONA.] CHAPTER XVIII ZARA From Spalato to Zara—Chief Objects of Interest in the Capital of Dalmatia—The Story of St. Simeon—The Five Fountains—Fragments of Roman Occupation. It was twelve o’clock of a soft summer night when the sharp, hooded prow of the _Graf Wurmbrand_ backed away from the _molo_ at Spalato, swung around in the darkness and headed out into the black beyond, on her five hour run along the coast to Zara. Her cabins and after decks were ablaze with electric bulbs, but forward of the bridge all was inky darkness, for the pilot of this, the fastest boat of the Adriatic coast service, took the matter more seriously than the passengers and allowed no glare to dim the sharpness of his vision while his charge sped northward between the islands, responding gracefully to the twirl of the wheel.