Thomas Hodgkin, Thomas Ashby, and Charles Francis Atkinson

“ At the flow of the tide a large part of the sea comes sweeping into it; and thus, while all the muddy deposit of the rivers is swept away, the malaria is at the same time removed, and by this means the city enjoys so good a sanitary reputation that the government has fixed on it as a place for the reception and training of gladiators.” On the other hand, good water was proverbially difficult to obtain at Ravenna—dearer than wine, says Martial, who has two epigrams on the subject. Trajan, however, built an aqueduct nearly 20 miles long, which was restored by Theodoric in 503. ”

“ RAVENNA, a city and archiepiscopal see of Emilia, Italy, capital of the province of Ravenna, standing in a marshy plain 13 ft. above sea-level, 6 m. from the sea and 45 m. by rail east of Bologna. Pop. (1906) 35,543 (town) , 67,379 (commune) —a considerable increase, as the population of 1881 was only 34,270 (commune) . The industries are few, the growing of wine, breeding of silkworms, making of agricultural instruments, printing and the manufacture of laces being the chief. ”

“ Through all these changes Ravenna maintained its character as an impregnable “ city in the sea,” not easily to be attacked even by a naval power on account of the shallowness and devious nature of the channels by which it had to be approached. Odoacer, like the emperors who had gone before him, made Ravenna his chief place of residence, and here he shut himself up when Theodoric the Ostrogoth had invaded Italy and defeated him in two battles. Theodoric's siege of Ravenna lasted for three years (489–492) , and was marked by one bloody encounter in the pinewood on the east of it. ”

“ The great historical importance of Ravenna begins early in the 5th century, when Honorius, alarmed by the progress of Alaric in the north of Italy, transferred his court hither. From this date (404) to the fall of the Western Empire in 476 Ravenna was the chief residence of the Roman emperors. Here Stilicho was slain; here Honorius and his sister Placidia caressed and quarrelled; here Valentinian III. spent the greater part of his life ”

“ Of Roman Ravenna nothing remains above ground, though a little has been found by excavation, including a mosaic pavement at Classe near S. Severo (Ricci, op. cit. p. 50) . Among the tombs many of the poorer under the Empire were simply formed of amphorae, in which the body was placed. A prehistoric station was found in 1894 at S. Zaccaria near Ravenna, belonging to a Terramare (E. Brizio in Notizie degli Scavi, 1896, 85) . ”

“ Almost the only sacred building previous to the 5th century of which we have any record is unfortunately lost. The cathedral of Ravenna, built by S. Ursus in 370–390, which had a nave and four aisles, was destroyed in 1734–44, only the (inaccessible) crypt and the round campanile remaining from the earlier structure; there are fragments of reliefs from a pulpit erected by Archbishop Agnellus (556–569) in the interior. A rare work on the earlier church (Buonamici, La Metropolitana di Ravenna) gives details of its construction. ”

“ It arose out of the attempt of the Spanish and Italian forces to relieve Ravenna, besieged by Gaston de Foix, duke of Nemours. The most celebrated captains of these wars were present on either side—under Gaston de Foix were Bayard, Yves d'Allègre, La Palisse; and under Cardona the Spanish Viceroy of Naples, Pedro Navarro the great engineer, and Pescara the originator of the Spanish tactical system. After some preliminary manœuvres the two armies drew up face to face on the left bank of the Roneo, the Spanish left and the French right resting on this river. ”

“ Sheltered behind the entrenchments, the Spaniards scarcely suffered, for they were lithe active troops accustomed to lie down and spring up from the ground. But after three hours, Pescara's light horse having meantime been driven in by the superior light horse of the enemy, the artillery-loving duke of Ferrara conceived the brilliant plan of taking his mobile field-guns to the extreme right of the enemy. ”

“ S. Apollinare in Classe, erected at the same time outside the walls of Classis, and now standing by itself in the lonely marshes, is the largest basilica existing at Ravenna. It has a nave and aisles with a closed vestibule on the west, and a fine round campanile of the 9th (?) century. The exterior brick walls are divided by shallow arches and pilasters, as in other churches of Ravenna. It has twenty-four columns of Carystian (cipollino) marble, with capitals probably of Byzantine work with swelling acanthus leaves; but the rest of the church is due to native architects. ”

“ The marble screens of the altar are wonderfully finely carved. The marble mosaic pavement (11th century) is very effective. Remains of the original marble wall lining and stucco decoration also exist. The capitals are, in the lower order, the characteristic funnel-shaped rectangular Byzantine capitals, some of them with open work, bearing cushions; this is a type probably derived from the cushion itself, and developed in the East about the second half of the 5th century. ”

“ S. Agata was almost entirely rebuilt in 1476–94. The chapel of S. Pier Crisologo in the archiepiscopal palace preserves its original mosaics, and so also does the tomb of Galla Placidia (SS. Nazario e Celso) , a small structure in the form of a Latin cross with a dome (in which, as in the baptistery of Neon, the old cathedral, &c., the constructional use of amphorae is noteworthy) , with a plain brick exterior, and rich mosaics on a dark blue ground within. ”