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Ravenna

Q13364

Ravenna: port in northern Italy, residence of several Roman emperors, capital of the Ostrogoths and Byzantine exarchs.

Perhaps an Etruscan port on the Adriatic Sea
Occupied by the Celtic tribe of the Senones; according to Zosimus, quoting a history of the reign of Marcus Aurelius, the name is derived from Rhene, which is indeed a Celtic word for water.^note[Zosimus, New History 5.27.1-2.]
234 BCE: Conquered by the Romans
49 BCE: Site of Caesar's departure to the river Rubico (more)
Ravenna, Relief of a shipbuilder

The emperor Augustus creates the Ravenna Navy, which can bring troops from the Danube to everywhere in the Mediterranean
c.69: Marines from the Ravenna navy, who have sided with Vespasian during his war against the emperor Vitellius, are conscripted as the Second Legion Adiutrix
The emperor Trajan (r.98-117) builds an aqueduct
Captured by a group of Germanic POWs during the Marcomannic Wars of Marcus Aurelius
A citizen of Ravenna, Aspasius, raises to the rank of secretary of Greek letters of the emperor Caracalla (r.211-217)

Ravenna, Mausoleum of Theodoric

306 Civil war. After the death of Constantius I Chlorus, Severus II becomes emperor, but he is forced to recognize the late ruler's son Constantine I the Great as caesar and is faced with a rebellion in Rome, which is occupied by Maxentius, the son of Maximianus. Severus marches on Rome, but Maximianus, returned from retirement, forces him to return to Ravenna, where Severus surrenders and abdicates.^note[Zosimus, New History 2.10.1-2.]
Zosimus calls Ravenna in this age "a strong and populous city".^note[Zosimus, New History 2.10.1.] It is the capital of the province Flaminia.
402: The emperor Honorius (r.395-423) transfers his residence from Mediolanum to Ravenna, surrounded by marshes and easy to defend, his residence; his half-sister Galla Placidia and his successor Valentinian III (r.425-455) reside in Ravenna too
408: Execution of Stilicho

Ravenna, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Interior

Ravenna, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Mosaic of the Good Shepherd

Ravenna, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Dome

Ravenna, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Mosaic of St Lawrence

490-493: Last stand of Odoacer, who had deposed the last emperor of the Roman West (Romulus Augustulus), in his war against the Ostrogoths of Theodoric
Capital of the Ostrogoths
535: Start of the Byzantine conquest of Italy (Belisarius)
540: Ravenna captured
c.588: The emperor Maurice reorganizes the western provinces; Ravenna becomes the residence of the Byzantine exarch

Ravenna, Orthodox Baptistery, Exterior

Ravenna, Orthodox Baptistery, Ceiling with mosaic of the baptism of Christ

Ravenna, Arian Baptistery, Ceiling with mosaic of the baptism of Christ

Ravenna, San Michele, Apse, Mosaic

Ravenna is famous for its churches and mosaics, which are comparable to those at Porec in Istria, across the Adriatic

Fourth or early fifth century: Orthodox Baptistry ("Baptistry of Neon"; mosaics between 451 and 475)
425-450: Mausoleum of Galla Placidia (she is not buried there)
504: Sant'Apollinare Nuovo
c.510: Arian Baptistry
520: Mausoleum of Theodoric the Great
545: San Michele (dedicated 547)
548: San Vitale
549: Sant'Apollinare in Classe