Ravenna

As the Roman Empire unraveled in the 4th & 5th centuries AD, Ravenna became the effective capital of the western part of the Empire. Europe was overrun by Germans; Italy was settled by the Ostrogoths, then laid waste by the Byzantine-Ostrogothic Wars.

But Ravenna blossomed during these turbulent times, and came to boast of the finest mosaics of late antiquity. A lecture by Dr. William Neidinger.