Hommage à Ejnar et Ingrid Dyggve : la théorie du palais du Bas-Empire et les fouilles de Thessalonique

H. Torp’s publication here of papers, drawings and pictures from E. Dyggve’s 1939 dig in Thessalonica, interrupted by the war, allows the author to look at the genesis of Dyggve’s theory on the late antique imperial palace. This theory, mainly based on Dyggve’s familiarity with Diocletian’s palace in Split and his research on the ‘basilica discoperta’ in Marusinac, is somewhat fragile and incomplete, but it remains a great contribution. The author reviews here the whole dossier of what is presently known of he building complex attributed to Galerius in Thessalonica. He analyzes the historical circumstances that drew Galerius to choose Thessalonica as his capital around 299, and the homogeneity and contemporaneity of the different architectural elements, as well as their relation to the defensive wall and to the hippodrome. This is the first critical analysis of all the visible remains. [Author]