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The transition of
Italy from the Romans to the wealthy barbarian Gothic Empire,
and a look at their resplendent capital Ravenna
by James Mayfield (Chairman, European Heritage Library)
Print
this Article • About
the Author • Bibliography/Sources
This essay is twofold: firstly,
a historical walkthrough into the internal collapse and conquest
of the Roman empire by "barbarian" Germanic empires,
and an analysis of the magnificent (yet short-lived) Gothic
Empire of Theodoric the Great. Secondly, a first-hand look
at the ancient Roman and Gothic capital of Ravenna complete
with exclusive photos from my research trip to one of the
most archeologically and historically significant cities of
European history.
Decline and Conquest of
the Western Roman Empire by the Germanic peoples
From the 6th century BCE
until the 3rd century CE, the mighty Roman Empire progressively
expanded and contracted to dominate most of the known world.
After the early 3rd century, however, the Roman domain quickly
and irreparably tumbled into obsolescence, infighting, schism,
bankruptcy, and perfidity. The last several centuries of the
lifespan of the Western Roman Empire were arguably only a
tireless struggle to delay the inevitable loss of Roman prestige
and total collapse. Much of the periphery of the "Roman
Empire" did not even obey the infinite number of emperors
who replaced each other in quick succession due to assassinations.
Barbarians seized power in a coup to create the Gallic Empire
in France and Spain in the 3rd century at the same time as
the eastern marches broke off to form the Palmyrene Empire.
Later, unable to hold the empire together, Emperor Diocletian
of the 3rd century divided the empire into two halves: The
Western Roman Empire (ceremonially Italy, Spain, France, western
North Africa) and the Eastern Roman Empire, later called the
Greek Byzantine Empire. Whilst the eastern state briefly thrived
and flourished until it suffered its own centuries-long battle
with gradual collapse, the western state tumbled out of control
and into bankruptcy.

My photo of a wall-map in Rome of the historical expansion
of the Roman Empire. (click to enlarge)
Concomitantly, a series of
massive migrations and invasions pushed the already-breaking
[Western] Roman Empire towards its end. The invasion of the
Huns after the 4th century decimated and starved the many
related Germanic peoples and tribal confederations in Northern,
Central, and Eastern Europe. Struggling to survive, many migrating
ethnic Germans and polities voluntarily became tributaries
or vassals of the Roman state with the promise that their
starvation would be alleviated via subsidy and ration. The
Romans, desperate to quell infighting and repel the Huns with
their dissenting and broken armies, in many ways became under
the military and political domination of the barbarians against
whom they struggled to repel for so many centuries. The bankrupt
Romans failed to fulfill the bargain, pressuring an already-recalcitrant
invading Germanic population to revolt. The resultant Gothic
Wars (376–382) obliterated an already-faltering Roman
military capacity, presaging the end of the empire. The emperor
Valens was slain on the battlefield by the Goths at Adrianople
in 378. The reaches of the Roman Empire became populated by
contumacious Germanic tribal confederacies and small kingdoms,
such as the Gepids, the Franks, the Visigoths, the Vandals,
and the Ostrogoths.

A rough map of the Germanic migration age. (click
to enlarge)
With its illusory empire
overrun by powerful Germanic kingdoms and chiefdoms, the Roman
emperors moved their
capital from Rome (which had already been demolished multiple
times by the Goths under Alarik) to Milan, and finally to
Ravenna in 402CE. This was its last capital.
In 476, the Roman Empire was forever destroyed when the last
boy king, Romulus Augustus, was deposed by the Gothic sovereign
of Italy Odoacer (Audwakar). Italy (Ostrogothic
Kingdom), Spain (Visigothic Empire), Carthage (Vandalic Kingdom),
France (Frankish Empire), Germany, and the Balkans (Ostrogoths
and Gepids) were now ruled by Germanic kingdoms that quickly
evolved from barbarian confederacies into resplendent and
wealthy Christian kingdoms. Western Europe's civilizations
had shifted from Roman hegemony to that of the Germans. The
few remaining legions of Huns in Western Europe had been obliterated
by late joint military campaigns by the Romans and the Germanic
Franks. The Huns' descendents, the Turkic Avars, survived
in eastern Europe around Ukraine for several centuries.

A rough map of Europe 500CE, after Rome's obliteration. (click
to enlarge)
The wealthy Gothic Empire
of Theodoric the Great, sovereign of formerly-Roman Italy
By 451, Iberia (Spain and
Portugal) was ruled by the Visigothic Kingdom, North Africa
by the Vandals, and Gaul (France) was ruled by the German
tribe called the Franks. Italy and the western Balkans were
split between warring Ostrogothic tribes, with Odoacer (see
above) ruling Italy proper in a very unstable realm. In 451,
the Ostrogothic sovereign Thudimir had a son, Theodoric,
with a concubine. In 459, as many grandees in the
Ostrogothic domain were forging closer relations with the
Byzantine [Eastern Roman] Empire, Theodoric was sent to Constantinople
as a hostage to guarantee diplomatic agreements between the
two polities. At age 18, Theodoric returned to the Ostrogothic
territory where, as a powerful grandee in high station, he
was given control over several armies in the east.
The Byzantine Empire expressed
fervent claim to all of Italy, France, and Spain, believing
that it was their former territory as part of the original
Roman Empire of Constantine. As a result, the Byzantines officially
sponsored and supported the eastern Ostrogothic state of Theodoric
to reconquer Italy from the tribal Odoacer. As most of the
Goths were pagan (Odinists) whilst Theodoric was a Christian,
Theodoric enjoyed great international support. Theodoric's
armies were a step beyond the standard images of barbarian
hordes, mostly consisting of sword-bearing cavalry with a
military class hierarchy [1]. Theodoric sent his legions into
Italy (perhaps as many as 100,000 settlers [2]), where he
engaged in warfare with the rival Ostrogoths under Odoacer
for several years from until 493, when a diplomatic banquet
led to Odoacer's murder in a drunken bout.
With Odoacer slain, Theodoric
moved his huge armies into Ravenna with valiant success. Theodoric
the Great had become the sovereign of the Ostrogoths and king
of all Italy and the western Balkans. He was annointed as
king by his men with the sponsorship of the Byzantines by
497. Theodoric administered this large and wealthy empire
very pragmatically. The kingdom retained its barbarian Germanic
character that was meticulously combined with the achievements
of Roman architecture, statecraft, the church, and Roman imperial
regal traditions. Most of Theodoric's architecture is clearly
influenced by Roman designs. Whereas the majority of Goths,
Lombards, and most northern Germanic peoples still worshipped
the old Germanic gods of "Norse
mythology" (especially Odin, Thor, and Tyr), Theodoric's
Gothic Empire officially sponsored Arian Christianity,
an interpretation of the Christian trinity that considered
Jesus Christ to not be co-equal in essence or divinity with
God. This religion was eschewed as heterodox by the late Roman
Empire and Byzantium, and was opposed bitterly by the Pope.
Theodoric's religious dogma, as evident in the ancient Arian
churches of Ravenna (see photos below), would become a great
source of diplomatic conflict following Theodoric's death.
His empire included Odinists, Catholics, Orthodox, and Arians.
Initially, Theodoric subsidized and sponsored Arian Christendom
but allowed other Christian sects to operate. As Theodoric
encountered perfidity and revolt from Orthodox, Catholic,
and presumably Jewish minorities in his realm, his administrative
policy became more discriminatory.
Theodoric's realm became
tremendously wealthy and stable in comparison with the bankrupt
and broken Roman state that he sought to re-establish in his
name. Some sources show that Theodoric controlled an overflowing
treasury that was greater than 2x the total wealth
of the former Roman Empire in its declining years
[3]. He adorned the many ancient churches, relics, and wonders
of Roman Ravenna with jewels and gold, re-Christening them
in the Arian faith. Theodoric had stabilized Italy in a time
of a power vacuum of infighting and invasion, and contributed
significantly to the Christianization of the Germans in southern
Europe. His Spirito Santo church, Battistero Degli Ariani,
and Sant Apollinare Nuovo churches (shown below, which originally
probably had German names) are a testament to his achievements
and the wealth of his empire. Theodoric's characteristically
Gothic tomb -- built in Greco-Roman style -- is a testament
to his legacy and the fact that he never forgot his and his
empire's Germanic "barbarian" roots.
The fall of Theodoric's
Gothic Empire and the conquest of Italy by the Byzantines,
the Lombards, and the Germans
Theodoric the Great proved
that the Germanic tribes were far more than mere barbarians
(see our article on the ancient
Germanic Runic writing system for more examples). He had
centralized Italy in a time of habitual instability. Near
the end of his reign, however, competing foreign empires began
to threaten the Gothic Empire's regional primacy. The empire
of the Germanic Franks in Germany and France under Chlodwig
(Clovis) had become one of the largest states in post-Roman
Europe. The Franks were bitter enemies of the Ostrogoths and
Theodoric. The Byzantines, hoping to re-establish Rome's hegemony
in Western Europe, allied with the Franks and annointed Chlodwig
as honorary consul of the Byzantine Empire. This greatly marginalized
Theodoric.
Theodoric the Great died
in 526. With the absence of a strong and popular sovereign,
and the growing supremacy of their Frankish rival, the Ostrogoths
almost immediately fell into decline. Rather than being an
ally of Byzantium, the Gothic Empire of Italy was now additionally
identified for his heretical Arian faith. The Byzantine Empire,
now ruled by the awesome Emperor Justinian
and his magnificent general Belisarius, sent the Byzantine
armies to Europe and was so successful that southern Visigothic
Spain, Vandalic North Africa, and the entire Italian peninsula
were conquered. The Gothic Empire was obliterated
in the Gothic War of 535-554. Ravenna became an exclave of
Byzantine rule called the Exarchate of Ravenna.
By the end of the 7th century,
the Byzantine armies in Italy were annihilated by a new incoming
"barbarian" power from southern Germany and the
Alps, the pagan Odinist Lombards. The Lombards conquered all
of Italy except the very southern marches, which the Byzantines
ruled until the Norman conquest in the 11th century. The Lombards
ruled Italy and Ravenna until the 8th century, when the new
continental superpower of Western Europe and the central defender
of Catholicism, the German Frankish Empire, conquered the
Lombards under Karl the Great (Charlemagne) and incorporated
all Italy, France, Germany, and eastern Spain into their dominion.
First-hand look at the Roman and Gothic capital of Ravenna,
with my photos
Although most people have
never even heard of the small and quiet town of Ravenna, it
is one of the most important cities in the history of Western
Europe that has some of the most ornate cathedrals, basilicas,
and churches of the world. Ravenna possesses near-mint condition
historical, architectural, and archeological gems from each
phase of its history: the Roman period, the Gothic, and the
Byzantine. It demonstrates the role of early divergent Christian
movements like Arianism that were subsumed under the dominant
Catholic doctrine. Further, it shows how a "barbarian"
power forged a civilzed and stable empire before quickly disintegrating
into oblivion.
This quiet, comfortable,
and clean city offers the chance to walk from a tomb built
1,000 years ago to a restaurant built yesterday, and then
to a church built 1,500 years ago. Its ancient heritage and
structures remain upright today with fantastic preservation.
The city officially administers all of its ancient relics.
Paying one expensive ticket gives a vistor the abilty to enter
a select number of ancient churches. Cars are not allowed
in some parts. A five-minute walk down a few blocks of the
city center reveal a horde of unique other churches, monasteries,
and tombs.
A walk down the street reveals
a very unique and large cathedral with an ancient brick structure
next to a large minaret-like spire tower whose appearance
is uncommon for Christian churches. This original church,
San Apollinare Nuovo (see photos below), was consecrated in
the early 5th century under the commission of Theodoric the
Great. It was probably originally referred to under an early
German name. It functioned as the central main church of the
Gothic Empire's capital, and is thus arguably the best-preserved
and most resplendent Arian church in history. Its interior
is unique and breathtaking, and was originally far more luminous
than it is now, with mosaic floors and celings. After the
Byzantine conquest, the church was forcibly taken from the
Arian heretics and given to the Catholics and the Orthodox.
The interior was redesigned to lionize the Byzantine state
and its iconography. The walls are decorated with Byzantine
mosaics displaying Emperor Justinian. Most of the original
included frescos with tales of the life of Jesus, who Theodoric
considered a man instead of God. New murals added by the Italian
Catholics much later can also be seen next to original 1,500-year-old
marble statues, paintings, and frescoes from the Greek and
Italian (non-Roman) periods. No photography or filming is
allowed therein to prevent the entropy and decay of this bizarrely-unnoticed
world monument. When Italy was conquered by the German Lombards
and Franks, and eventually merged into Catholic Italy, the
church has since become Catholic.

My photo of the exterior of the magnificent and ancient Church
of San Apollinare Nuovo. (click to enlarge)

My photo of the interior of his church (click to enlarge)

My photo of the interior walls with mosaics from 500CE, 1000CE,
1600CE, etc. (click to enlarge)

My photo of a wall in the corner. Statues, gold, marble adorn
this breath-taking cathedral.

My photo of the central ceiling of Theodoric's cathedral.
(click to enlarge)
Leaving the church around
the corner, one may find one of the world's sole standing
baptisteries of the Arian faith. It was the offiicial baptistry
of Theodoric's Gothic Empire, and was built under his commission
in the 6th century. This is one of the few baptistery buildings
that can be entered in the world from this expunged faith.
John the Baptist is praised as its central theme: a massive
ceiling mosaic of gold more than 1,500 years old covers this
small building in original mint condition. The ceiling decoration
shows a number of white-robed holy saints or disciples with
halos atop their heads watching John's baptism of Jesus of
Nazareth with a white dove atop to, signify the Holy Ghost's
presence in the man upon this "true birth" (baptism).
In this image, baptism of Jesus was done in the nude at an
adult age with the entire body. This may indicate that this
was the method of baptism in German Arian-faith tradition.
The surrounding room is at this point empty with several recesses
in the corners, perhaps to hold separate baptisms at the same
time, often to adult converts instead of infants. After the
internecine Byzantine conquest under Justinian and the later
Catholic authority of the native Italians as seen today, this
blasphemous baptistery was closed and converted into a Catholic
shrine. Fortunately, its original iconography survives.

My photo of the exterior of the exclusive Arian baptistery.

My photo of the ceiling mosaics from 500CE, with Jesus and
John the Baptist at center. Mint condition some 1,500 years
later. (click to enlarge)
A drive to the outskirts
of the city center reveals a bizarre, huge, and unique basilica
well isolated from the rest of Ravenna's treasures. Despite
the fact that few people have even heard of Ravenna or seen
this church, it is easily one of the most magnificent
wonders ever built. This is the Basilica di San Vitale
(see below). It is referred to by the official city pamphlet
of Ravenna as the "most glorious example of Byzantine
art in the west." It was initated by Bishop Ecclesio
in 525, a year before King Theodoric the Great's death. No
one knows for sure who San Vitale was, but it is officially
asserted that he was a Roman soldier who was martyred for
his Christian faith. Its exterior and architectural construction
are tremendously unique and archaic-looking. This massive
sunken semi-underground cathedral, more than 1,400 years old,
is breathtaking. Over 50 feet tall, nearly every inch of this
domed cathedral is covered in the most lumious original mosaic,
gold, gem, jewel, marble, fresco, or statue easily in mint
condition. There are endless depictions of saints, apostles,
biblical scenes, sacrificial animals (including a strange
lamb to symbolize Jesus of Nazareth), stories of the Crucifixion,
Revelations, the Great Flood, the revelation of the Ten Commandments
to Moses (with a Burning Bush shown), the Assumption of Mary
into heaven, the Nativity scene, the incomplete sacrifice
of Isaac (or as Muslims claim, Ishmail) by Abraham, etc. The
very dark and quiet aura of the ancient cathedral makes for
one of the most memorable experiences in European artwork
and Christian iconography. Staring at the church's interior
for hours would not reveal every depiction or intricate artistic
creation this church has to offer. It is sad that a building
whose majesty rivals any world wonder and (in my experience)
effortlessly surpasses St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican
or the Parthenon in Athens
is virtually unknown. The puissance and majesty of the basilica
did not reach its climax until after the Byzantine destruction
of the German empire here. As a result, its imagery has a
distinctly Byzantine feel. Justinian's face can be seen on
the mosaics on the wall.

My photo of the exterior of the main church of the pre-German
period. (click to enlarge)

My photo of the main interior domed hall. (click to
enlarge)

My photo of the main ceiling of the cathedral. (click
to enlarge)

My photo of the frontal wall of the cathedral with mosaics
galore. (click to enlarge)

The dark no-photo ceiling is is as stunning as the Vatican.

The central archway of the cathedral is divided into several
arch-set ceilings with separate mosaics (click to
enlarge)
A walk outside to a local
small church, designed in the traditional shape of a cross,
offers a small mausoleum to two figures important to the region.
It too was not built by Germans not Greeks. Built too in the
5th century, the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia was intended
to honor the assumption of the daughter of Theodosius the
Great into heaven (the Roman emperor who required Christendom
of all Romans for the first time). The building is 12.75 metres
long and 10.25 metres wide as a cross. The interior is small
but radiant; there are attractive non-Christian and Christian
mosaics all over the interior, though the artwork is more
faded than in the glorious Basilica di San Vitale. Entrants
may not use cameras and must leave after a few minutes. The
artistic design is interesting in that there is little Greek
influence here, but rather a pre-Christian Roman style. There
are depictions of the Evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
John) inside as well as a number of angels and artistic symbols.
The multiple tombs in the room apparently house no corpses,
but once did. The original blasphemous inscriptions of the
pre-Roman period were forbidden and etched away after the
Byzantine conquest of the city from the Goths of Theodoric.
No photos are allowed here.
Though the city offers several
more monuments dating to the same period more than 1,400 years
ago with equally fantastic glory, the most famous monument
of the city in its hinterlands is the Tomb of Theodoric
the Great, where his body was interned after his
death. It is built in a unique Roman architectural style,
although it has been associated with the German Goths. It
was erected here because of its location in a local German
cemetery before Christendom was established. Unfortunately,
this location was in a swamp, which caused the tomb to be
covered in water for more than 500 years. As a consequence,
the exterior is wondrously in great condition, but the interior
is literally vacant and empty. A massive dome atop the structure,
originally probably entirely covered in gold leaf, was added
miraculously as a 500-ton single piece atop the structure,
an architectural oddity that surpassed our assumptions of
a "barbarian" people. There is also a cross at the
peak. A long path to the tomb allows one to enter the lower
level and the top level; the lower level is literally empty.
None knows what was housed in the lower level originally:
perhaps a holy Bible, perhaps hordes of sacrificial treasures
for the afterlife, perhaps the bodies of his many slaves who
died with him, perhaps simply massive mosaics on the walls
that are now vacant. The tomb of Theodoric illustrates that
the Germans in Italy and Theodoric himself never forget their
"barbarian" and Germanic roots. Sadly, instead of
endless hordes of treasure one would expect from a wealthy
and powerful despotic king, there is nearly nothing but stone
walls and pigeons. There is, however, blatant evidence that
elaborate frescoes and mosaics of solid gold, gems, jewels,
and marble once adorned this important mausoleum. Faded text
can also be seen wrapping around the room in Latin (and likely
in German/Gothic). There is a large original cross made of
stone in the corner of the room in a strange recess in the
wall. The ceiling reveals a washed-away (by the waters of
the swamp) "X" shape that was probably actually
a cross or a halo to imply his ascent to heaven or divine
protection. The center of the room reveals Theodoric's massive
original sarcophagus. It is a bizarre and unique red marble
coffin with a very large and wide interior. The sides are
smashed and cracked; there is no top at this point. The interior
is also empty. His body was removed and likely desecrated
by the Byzantines after they destroyed his heretical empire.
The tomb survived American and British bombing during World
War II.

The tomb of Theodoric the Great himself (my photo). (click
to enlarge)

My photo of a romantic view of the tomb. (click to
enlarge)

A close-up of the tomb of this great king (my photo).

My photo of the main view of the tomb room.

My photo of the sarcophagus of Theodoric the Great.

My photo of the ceiling of Theodoric's tomb, once housing
a golden mosaic cross assumably.

My photo of the wall of the main tomb floor. Text can clearly
be seen later washed away or destroyed.
________________________________________
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR:
James Mayfield is a historian
and the Chairman of the European Heritage Library. I have
a Cum Laude BA in History with a Minor in Germanic Studies
(language and history), am presently working for my Masters
in History, and plan to immediately progress to my PhD Doctorate.
I have a special academic interest in Europe's diverse ethnic
identities, languages, and cultures, and the political struggles
of native European and immigrant minority identities. See
my staff entry for more information.
BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES
USED:
Personal observations and
photos.
When there is no EHL watermark
present on a photo, it is not our property. We were unable
to isolate the original owners of these images. If you find
that you are the owner of one, feel free to notify us.
Ravenna and its History.
The official city booklet that I purchased in Ravenna.
[1] Todd, Malcolm. The
Early Germans. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2004.
Page 42.
[2] The Early Germans,
165.
[3] Wolfram, H. Hstory
of the Goths. Berkeley, CA: 1988. Pages 286-90.
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