Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe, by Judith Herrin

Abstract

This monograph is an ambitious, rewarding and detailed history of the city of Ravenna, spanning the period from its designation as imperial capital in the early fifth century to its Carolingian spoliations in the ninth. It is not so much an urban history as a comprehensive account of the political and religious forces operating in Europe and the Mediterranean in these centuries and shaping the context in which Ravenna can best be analysed. While Ravenna’s history has been the subject of a vast scholarship, including at least three significant recent monographs, Judith Herrin’s approach is based on a fundamental shift of perspective: she rejects the label of ‘Late Antiquity’ as a useful periodisation, choosing to speak of ‘Early Christendom’ instead. Christianity, Herrin argues, was the defining characteristic of the era; the pervasive element in the construction of authority, economy, built environment and social structures. This is not just a semantic...