The Roman world
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Ravenna
Ravenna is a city in marshy northeast Italy. Later western emperors stayed here.
More to know
Water made it harder to attack. Beautiful mosaics still shine in its churches. A building called Galla Placidia’s tomb might not really be hers.
What happened here
AD 402 onward
A safer capital
Western emperors began to rule from Ravenna more often than from Rome.
AD 476
A boy emperor falls
Romulus Augustulus was set aside here. Many people mark this as the end of the western emperors.