Includes bibliographical references (pages 406-489) and index.

The emergence of Ravenna as the imperial capital of the West -- Part One 390-450. Galla Palacidia. Galla Placidia, Theodosian princess -- Honorius (395-423) and the development of Ravenna -- Galla Placidia at the western court (416-23) -- Galla Placidia, builder and empress mother -- Part Two 450-93. The rise of the bishops. Valentinian III and Bishop Neon -- Sidonius Apollinaris in Ravenna -- Romulus Augustulus and King Odoacer -- Part Three 493-540. Theoderic the Goth, Arian King of Ravenna. Theoderic the Ostrogoth -- Theoderic's kingdom -- Theoderic's diplomacy -- Theoderic the lawgiver -- Amalasuintha and the legacy of Theoderic -- Part Four 540-70. Justinian I and the campaigns in North Africa and Italy. Belisarius captures Ravenna -- San Vitale, epitome of Early Christendom -- Narses and the Pragmatic Sanction -- Archbishop Maximian, bulwark of the West -- Archbishop Agnellus and the seizure of the Arian churches -- Part Five 568-643. King Alboin and the Lombard conquest. Alboin invades -- The exarchate of Ravenna -- Gregory the Great and the control of Ravenna -- Isaac, the Armenian exarch -- Agnellus the doctor -- Part Six 610-700. The expansion of Islam. The Arab conquests -- Constans II in Sicily -- The Sixth Oecumenical Council -- The Anonumous Cosmographer of Ravenna -- Part Seven 685-725. The two reigns of Justinian II. The Council in Trullo -- The heroic Archbishop Damianus -- The tempestuous life of Archbishop Felix -- Part Eight 700-769. Ravenna returns to the margins. Leo III and the defeat of the Arabs -- The beginnings of Iconoclasm -- Pope Zacharias and the Lombard conquest of Ravenna -- Archbishop Sergius takes control -- Part Nine 756-813. Charlemagne and Ravenna. The long rule of King Desiderius -- Charles in Italy, 774-87 -- Charles claims the stones of Ravenna -- Conclusion: The glittering legacy of Ravenna.