The Structural Features of Ravenna’s Socioeconomic History in Late Antiquity

This article discusses the structural elements of Ravenna’s society in Late Antiquity, through five key factors, namely: (1) environment and demography; (2) the long-lasting consequences of the establishment in the city of the imperial court; (3) its episcopate; (4) the transformations resulting from the Byzantine conquest of the city in 540; (5) the features, in Ravenna, of an economic organization that we could qualified as a late antique one. In the model of economic operation offered by Ravenna in Late Antiquity, the state played a key role. The city needed to turn to external sources of supply (Istria, Calabria, Sicily, Africa, Greece, Palestine, Syria, Egypt) due to the limited agricultural productivity of its neighbouring areas. Until the end of the 7th century, the port of Class acted as a connecting place of a productive hinterland much larger than Romagna and the Adriatic. In the 8th and 9th centuries the Ravennate episcopate inherited, for certain aspects, the role previously exercised by the state, ensuring wealth to the city thanks to its vast land patrimony. However, unlike Late Antiquity, in the early Middle Ages the economic circuit of Ravenna no longer relied on a large transmarine emporium like Class, but on small fluvial stopovers, inland waterways and land routes. This new reconfiguration formed a more restricted area of exchanges compared to Late Antiquity

L'articolo discute i caratteri strutturali della società e dell'economia di Ravenna attraverso cinque fattori chiave: 1) ambiente e demografia; 2) le conseguenze dello stanziamento in città della corte imperiale; 3) l'episcopato; 4) le trasformazioni derivanti dalla conquista bizantina; 5) i caratteri di una organizzazione economica che potremmo definire 'tardoantica'.