Ravenna, the Last Capital of the Western Roman Empire

At the time of the war between the Byzantines and the Goths, Ravenna was in its maximum monumental phase. Churches, aristocratic residences, bridges, roads and warehouses along the river ports were supplied with goods of all kinds, coming from any area of the Mediterranean Sea and from the most remote areas of the former Roman world. This extraordinary wealth distinguishes the city from other early medieval urban settlements in the Mediterranean area. Ravenna and its economy are growing in an astonishing way even compared to the many cities that saw a period of rebirth and growth during the Theoderician administration in Italy and in other ex-Roman territories. The absolute peak of investments within the Adriatic city is due not only to the Ostrogothic court but also to the Orthodox bishops of that period, Ecclesius among the first, who commissioned some of the most representative buildings of Ravenna: San Vitale and S. Mary the Virgin. In the same period were also built churches as Sant'Apollinare Nuovo and Sant'Apollinare in Classe, S. Michele in Africisco, just to name the most important. Recent archaeological excavations and several researches have shown many times how not only ecclesiastical buildings but also numerous other buildings can be referred to this moment of architectural prosperity. The reference model of these constructions is clearly Constantinople and the great eastern metropolises, even if the architects and workers in general were probably enrolled within the Adriatic Sea area. In this contribution I will try to show how Byzantine Ravenna is actually an Ostrogothic achievement and that the military conquest by Justinian's army and the Exarchal administration consolidated this cultural climate without however leaving an indelible trace in the Ravenna monuments and despite some commissions that must have been of extraordinary importance around the middle of the sixth century, but which have left no visible trace in the urban landscape