Judith Herrin Ravenna : Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe Paperback Book

Magisterial an outstanding book that shines a bright light one of the most important, interesting and understudied cities in European history. A masterpiece. Peter FrankopanA wonderful new history of the Mediterranean from the fifth to eighth centuries through a lens focussed on Ravenna, gracefully and clearly written, which reconceptualises what was East and what was West. Caroline GoodsonA masterwork by one of our greatest historians of Byzantium and early Christianity. Judith Herrin tells a story that is at once gripping and authoritative and full of wonderful detail about every element in the life of Ravenna. Impossible to put down. David FreedbergIn 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 Ravennas rulers, chroniclers and inhabitants, Herrin shows how the city became the pivot between East... | Judith Herrin Ravenna : Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe Paperback Book