
Understanding Ravenna
Michael Starks(Author)
Fonthill Media Ltd (Publisher)
Published on 26. September 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
128 pages
978-1-78155-711-2 (ISBN)
Description
Ravenna has eight World Heritages sites--churches, baptisteries, chapels and monuments dating from the fifth and sixth centuries AD which are renowned especially for exquisite mosaics portraying biblical scenes and figures. They were designed, constructed and decorated over decades during the era of the fall of the western Roman empire, against a tide of invasion, regime change, conflict and a destructive Italian civil war. How did Ravenna achieve such architectural and artistic glory in this era? The book recounts the city's unique experience as the capital both of the late western Roman empire and of its successor Gothic kingdoms. It shows the central role played by its bishops as the early Christian Church detached itself from the crumbling imperial government. It brings out the important cultural contribution of the kingdom of Italy headed by Theodoric the Ostrogoth and the strong links between Ravenna and the emerging Byzantine empire of the eastern emperor Justinian.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Illustrations
96 colour photographs
Dimensions
Height: 251 mm
Width: 174 mm
Thickness: 9 mm
Weight
435 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78155-711-2 (9781781557112)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Michael Starks is a published writer and a keen traveller. A history graduate from Cambridge and a former television producer, he is the author of `The Traveller's History of the Hundred Years War in France' (Cassell, 2002). He takes a special interest in the ancient history of the countries around the Mediterranean, travelling to Greece, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Morocco and Iran as well as France. After a career at the BBC in London, he moved to Oxford, to become an associate of the University and a member of Lady Margaret Hall.
Content
Preface; Outline Chronology; 1 Beauty in the Twilight of the Roman Empire; 2 Three Strands of Continuity; 3 The Eclipse of Rome; 4 Imperial Ravenna and the Fall; 5 Ostrogoth Ravenna; 6 Byzantine Ravenna; 7 An Exceptional Case; Appendix I: Roman Emperors (From the Fourth Century); Appendix II: Other Principal Figures; Endnotes;
Further Reading.
Further Reading.