Page 27 - All About History - Issue 72-18

Q. WHAT’S THE GENESIS FOR YOUR NEW BOOK This mosaic in the Basilica
UNDERSTANDING RAVENNA?
A. I wrote the book out of curiosity. I had visited
Ravenna back in my student years and admired its
late Roman and Byzantine churches, monuments
and mosaics. Then, when I came back a few years
ago and looked at them again, I thought “This
beautiful art and architecture dates from the era
of the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the
conquest of Italy by the Ostrogoths. Work of this
scale and quality would have needed continuity of
commitment and stability. How was that achieved
in this turbulent era?” I started looking into the
subject and became even more intrigued. Ravenna
was the imperial capital of the Western Roman
Empire for half a century. Why was that? What
had happened to Rome? The eight UNESCO World
Heritage sites – the churches and monuments
which survive today – were constructed under
three different and opposed regimes – the Western
empire, the Ostrogoths, and the Eastern empire
underJustinian.Twoofthefinestchurcheswere
completed during a destructive civil war. How did
that come about? The book took shape as I found
answers to the questions.
Q. WHAT IS IT THAT FASCINATES YOU ABOUT
THHIS ANCIENT CITY?
A. Apartfromthemagnificent5thand6th
century churches, baptisteries, chapels and
mausoleums, with their glorious mosaic
decorations, you mean?
Well, another fascinating feature is that, although interest in the Romans – I hope my
today it is 12 kilometres from the sea, Ravenna
wasonthecoastbackinRomantimesandwasa
majorport.TheemperorAugustuschoseitasthe
headquarters for Rome’s Adriatic fleet.
Youcanstill visittheoldporttodaybecause
it is now an inland archaeological site. The
archaeologists have recreated a map of ancient
Ravenna which shows it surrounded by lagoons
andmarshes.Forthatreason,itwasanexcellent
defensive site – difficult to capture from inland and
easy to supply from the sea. This largely explains
whyitbecametheWesternempire’simperial
capital. The Western Roman emperor Honorius
(395-423 CE) was no soldier and his military
commander, Stilicho, wanted to keep him secure
from capture by the invading Goths. While Rome
and Milan were attacked and sacked, Ravenna was
a safe haven. The Ostrogoth king Theodoric and
Justinian’s general, Belisarius, only managed to
captureitbysubterfuge.
Q. WHY DO YOU THINK RAVENNA IS
OVERLOOKED IN COMPARISON TO SO MANY
OTHER ROMAN CITIES?
A. Its ancient monuments date from the tail-end
of the Western empire and importantly, from its
of San Vitale shows
Emperor Justinian I and
his attendants. Justinian I
briefly united the Western
Roman Empire and Eastern
Roman (Byzantine) Empire
in the 6th century
successor regimes so, if the heart of your interest
is the heyday of the Roman Republic and the
first century of the Roman Empire, you would go
elsewhere. However for the period we now call Late
Antiquity Ravenna is centre-stage.
Four of its eight UNESCO World Heritage sites
were actually built during the reign of Theodoric
the Ostrogoth (493-526 CE) and even
the two major churches consecrated
after Justinian’s reconquest of Italy THE
were started under the Ostrogoths. “ retained its hold on Ravenna
This historical period is less well- EASTERN
known among tourists with an
ROMAN
book will make it more familiar.
EMPIRE
Q. WHAT ROLE DID RAVENNA PLAY
IN THE RISE OF CHRISTIANITY IN RETAINED
THE WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE?
ITS HOLD ON
A. Like Roman cities elsewhere,
Ravenna experienced a blossoming RAVENNA
of church-building during the 5th
century now that Christianity had
become the official religion of
the empire. As paganism was suppressed, large
numbers of Romans converted and, as well as
new churches, this required new baptisteries –
with fonts big enough for adult immersion. As the
imperial capital of the Western empire, Ravenna’s
building programme enjoyed the support of the
imperial family, in particular of Galla Placidia, who
was the sister of Honorius and the mother of his
successor Valentinian III.
The Ostrogoths were Arian heretics who believed
that Christ was subordinate to God so they built
their own Arian churches, also with beautiful
mosaics, but allowed the orthodox bishops of
Ravenna to carry on building as well. Under
Justinian, Ravenna again enjoyed imperial favour
and its bishops became archbishops.
Q. HOW DID RAVENNA’S FORTUNES CHANGE
WHEN IT FELL UNDER THE AEGIS OF THE
EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE?
A. Essentially, there were three phases. The
first began in 540 CE when Belisarius
captured Ravenna from the
Ostrogoths by deceit.
The Eastern Roman Empire
and continued to hold it but the
Ostrogoths found a new leader
and fought the Eastern empire for
control of Italy for another decade,
recapturing Rome more than once.
During this period Ravenna was an
island of relative peace and stability
amid a deeply destructive Italian
civil war. Then, after the Ostrogoths
were finally expelled in 552, Ravenna
consolidated its role as the Eastern
empire’s provincial capital of Italy.
”
When Justinian died in 565, he
believed that he had reunited the old
Roman empire – as indeed he had,
briefly. However, three years later the Lombards
invaded Italy and steadily extended their power.
By the end of the 6th century they occupied
two-thirds of Italy.
Ravenna now became the capital of a shrinking
province which the Eastern empire no longer had
the resources to reconquer.
The emperors in Constantinople faced much
greater threats nearer home and Ravenna’s
governors were promoted to become exarchs,
with both military and civil authority to rule semi-
independently. The Eastern Roman Empire became
what we now know as the Byzantine Empire,
leaving Ravenna to have a quite different Medieval
history. But that wil be the subject for another book
– by someone else!
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