Ravenna

• Ravenna is an inland Port city, today connected to the Adriatic by the Candiano Canal, located in the Emilia Romagna Region of northern Italy. It is famed for its Byzantine Mosaics and Architecture.
• It was the Fleet Base for the Roman Navy, the Classis Ravennas (35BCE-383 CE), before becoming the capital of the Late Roman Empire (402-476 CE), then of the Ostrogothic Kingdom (476-540 CE) and finally of the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna (540-751 CE).

History

• Ravenna was originally a small town built on wooden piles in a lagoon on the river Po, where Julius Caesar camped before Crossing the Rubicon.

• Classis Ravennas
  • Augustus built his second naval fleet base here at Classe.
  • The Classis Ravennas was the second Home Fleet of the Roman Navy based at Classe, Ravenna and established sometime between 35-12 BCE. The other Home Fleet was the Classis Misenensis near Naples. The Ravenna Fleet appears to have survived up until at least 383 CE.
• The Naval Harbour at Classe
  • The naval harbour was connected to the River Po by a Canal, the Fossa Augusta.
  • Classe had 250 naval ships with 10,000 sailors and soldiers based in the Harbour during the third century CE, according to Dio Cassius (155-235 CE) and Jordanes (6th century CE historian).
• Capital of the Late Roman Empire (402-476 CE)
  • Ravenna was surrounded by marshes which made it difficult to besiege, and so in 402 CE, was chosen as the new Capital of the Late Roman Empire under Honorius (395-423 CE), replacing Milan.
• Capital of the Ostrogothic Empire (476-540 CE)
  • After the Fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE, it continued to be used by Theodoric as the Capital of the Kingdom of Italy also known as the Ostrogothic Kingdom.
  • Ravenna and the Ostrogothic Kingdom fell to the Byzantine Empire in 540 CE.
• Capital of the Exarchate of Ravenna (540-751 CE)
  • Between 540-751 CE, Ravenna was the Capital of the Exarchate of Ravenna, a Province of the Byzantine Empire.
  • During the Exarchate, many Byzantine churches and monuments were built which have survived today.
• Ravenna Cosmography
  • This is a Book which lists Place Names across the Roman Empire from Ireland as far as India. It was compiled in Ravenna by a clergyman around 700 CE, who appears to have used Roman maps as the source for his listing.
  • The Cosmography contains more entries than the earlier Roman documents such as the Antonine Itinerary, Ptolemy's Geographia and the Peutinger Table.

Roman Sites

• • Classe Archeological Park
  • Orthodox Baptistry (c.430 CE)
  • Mausoleum of Galla Placidia (c.430 CE)

Ostrogothic and Byzantine Sites

• Buildings and Mosaics are preserved from the Byzantine Period:
• • Arian Baptistry (c.500 CE)
  • Archiepiscopal (c.500 CE)
  • Basilica of Sant’ Apollinare Nuovo (c.500 CE)
  • Mausoleum of Theodoric (He built it in 520 CE and died in 526 CE)
    • Located in Teodorico Park, Ravenna.
  • Basilica of San Vitale (548 CE)
  • Basilica of Sant’ Apollinare in Classe (549 CE)

Museums

• Ravenna National Museum
  • Via Classense 29, 48124, Ravenna.
  • The museum holds Artefacts from the Roman period.

Ravenna