Creature of the Temple

The ancient Romans (actually not that ancient if you think about it, they lived at the beginning of the last millenium and a few hundred years before that time), worshipped many gods and one such god was Jupiter, otherwise known as Zeus, King of the Gods. In a town called Split, on the coast of the Adriatic sea in Croatia, one such 'god' was also known as the Roman Emperor, and in this case he was Diocletian, Roman Emperor at the time. And he had his 'summer' palace, not his main palace, but summer palace in Split. And of course where there is a Roman Emperor, you have to have a Roman Temple. The quite intact remnants of one such temple still exists in the heart of the city center of Split. Guarding that temple is a lion/dragon-like creature at the entrance of the temple. It's quite interesting really and I'm sure a lot of discussion could crop up around the subject, such as analyzing what the creature really symbolizes perhaps... if you notice, there is a group of somewhat perturbed or at least excitable looking people behind the creature. It makes one wonder what it is all really about... anyway, take a look at the picture for yourself...