Ravenna : Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe

A riveting history of the city that led the West out of the ruins of the Roman Empire At the end of the fourth century, as the power of Rome faded and Constantinople became the seat of empire, a new capital city was rising in the West. Here, in Ravenna on the coast of Italy, Arian Goths and Catholic Romans competed to produce an unrivaled concentration of buildings and astonishing mosaics. For three centuries, the city attracted scholars, lawyers, craftsmen, and religious luminaries, becoming a true cultural and political capital. Bringing this extraordinary history marvelously to life, Judith Herrin rewrites the history of East and West in the Mediterranean world before the rise of Islam and shows how, thanks to Byzantine influence, Ravenna played a crucial role in the development of medieval Christendom. Drawing on deep, original research, Herrin tells the personal stories of Ravenna while setting them in a sweeping synthesis of Mediterranean and Christian history. She narrates the lives of the Empress Galla Placidia and the Gothic king Theoderic and describes the achievements of an amazing cosmographer and a doctor who revived Greek medical knowledge in Italy, demolishing the idea that the West just descended into the medieval "Dark Ages." Beautifully illustrated and drawing on the latest archaeological findings, this monumental book provides a bold new interpretation of Ravenna's lasting influence on the culture of Europe and the West. Cover 1 Contents 10 List of illustrations 14 A note on spellings 18 Maps 19 Table of competing powers in Ravenna 24 Introduction 30 1. The emergence of Ravenna as the imperial capital of the West 40 Part One. 390–450 Galla Placidia 54 2. Galla Placidia, Theodosian princess 56 3. Honorius (395–423) and the development of Ravenna 63 4. Galla Placidia at the western court (416–23) 72 5. Galla Placidia, builder and empress mother 85 Part Two. 450–93 The Rise of the Bishops 100 6. Valentinian III and Bishop Neon 102 7. Sidonius Apollinaris in Ravenna 111 8. Romulus Augustulus and King Odoacer 116 Part Three. 493–540 Theoderic the Goth, Arian King of Ravenna 126 9. Theoderic the Ostrogoth 128 10. Theoderic’s kingdom 140 11. Theoderic’s diplomacy 155 Color Plates 1 162 12. Theoderic the lawgiver 172 13. Amalasuintha and the legacy of Theoderic 184 Part Four. 540–70 Justinian I and the campaigns in North Africa and Italy 196 14. Belisarius captures Ravenna 198 15. San Vitale, epitome of Early Christendom 207 16. Narses and the Pragmatic Sanction 221 17. Archbishop Maximian, bulwark of the West 231 18. Archbishop Agnellus and the seizure of the Arian churches 238 Part Five. 568–643 King Alboin and the Lombard conquest 248 19. Alboin invades 250 20. The exarchate of Ravenna 261 Color Plates 2 266 21. Gregory the Great and the control of Ravenna 278 22. Isaac, the Armenian exarch 285 23. Agnellus the doctor 294 Part Six. 610–700 The expansion of Islam 300 24. The Arab conquests 302 25. Constans II in Sicily 311 26. The Sixth Oecumenical Council 323 27. The Anonymous Cosmographer of Ravenna 331 Color Plates 3 338 Part Seven. 685–725 The two reigns of Justinian II 348 28. The Council in Trullo 350 29. The heroic Archbishop Damianus 360 30. The tempestuous life of Archbishop Felix 369 Part Eight. 700–769 Ravenna returns to the margins 378 31. Leo III and the defeat of the Arabs 380 32. The beginnings of Iconoclasm 389 33. Pope Zacharias and the Lombard conquest of Ravenna 398 34. Archbishop Sergius takes control 404 Part Nine. 756–813 Charlemagne and Ravenna 414 35. The long rule of King Desiderius 416 36. Charles in Italy, 774–87 426 37. Charles claims the stones of Ravenna 438 Color Plates 4 442 Conclusion: The glittering legacy of Ravenna 458 Notes 472 Acknowledgements 562 Index 564 Ravenna; Capital of Empire,Crucible of Europe; Judith Herrin; History; Princeton University Press In 402 AD, after invading tribes broke through the Alpine frontiers of Italy and threatened the imperial government in Milan, the young Emperor Honorius made the momentous decision to move his capital to a small, easy defendable city in the Po estuary: Ravenna. From then until 751 AD, Ravenna was first the capital of the Western Roman Empire, then that of the immense kingdom of Theoderic the Goth, and finally the centre of Byzantine power in Italy. In this engrossing account Judith Herrin explains how scholars, lawyers, doctors, craftsmen, cosmologists and religious luminaries were drawn to Ravenna where they created a cultural and political capital that dominated northern Italy and the Adriatic. As she traces the lives of Ravenna's rulers, chroniclers and inhabitants, Herrin shows how the city became the meeting place of Greek, Latin, Christian and barbarian cultures and the pivot between East and West. The book offers a fresh account of the waning of Rome, the Gothic and Lombard invasions, the rise of Islam and the devastating divisions within Christianity. It argues that the fifth to eighth centuries should not be perceived as a time of decline from antiquity but rather, thanks to Byzantium, as one of great creativity: the period of 'Early Christendom'. These were the formative centuries of Europe. While Ravenna's palaces have crumbled, its churches have survived. In them, Catholic Romans and Arian Goths competed to produce an unrivalled concentration of spectacular mosaics, many of which still astonish visitors today. Beautifully illustrated with specially commissioned photographs, and drawing on the latest archaeological and documentary discoveries, Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe brings the early Middle Ages to life through the history of this dazzling city A riveting history of the city that led the West out of the ruins of the Roman EmpireAt the end of the fourth century, as the power of Rome faded and Constantinople became the seat of empire, a new capital city was rising in the West. Here, in Ravenna on the coast of Italy, Arian Goths and Catholic Romans competed to produce an unrivaled concentration of buildings and astonishing mosaics. For three centuries, the city attracted scholars, lawyers, craftsmen, and religious luminaries, becoming a true cultural and political capital. Bringing this extraordinary history marvelously to life, Judith Herrin rewrites the history of East and West in the Mediterranean world before the rise of Islam and shows how, thanks to Byzantine influence, Ravenna played a crucial role in the development of medieval Christendom.Drawing on deep, original research, Herrin tells the personal stories of Ravenna while setting them in a sweeping synthesis of Mediterranean and Christian history. From the Empress Galla Placidia and Theoderic the Gothic king, who both experienced being taken as hostages, to the amazing cosmographer of Ravenna and the doctor who strengthened expert Greek medical knowledge in Italy, Herrin demolishes the idea that the West just descended into the medieval "Dark Ages."Beautifully illustrated and drawing on the latest archaeological findings, this monumental book provides a bold new interpretation of Ravenna's lasting influence on the culture of Europe and the West