Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/710

 634 EAVENNA. residence : his example was followed by liis suc- cessors; and from the j-ear 404, when Honorius first established himEclf there, to the close of the Western Empire, Eavenna continued to be the permanent imperial residence and the place from whence all the laws and rescripts of the emperors were dated. (Jornand. Get. 29 ; Gibbon, c. 30.) Even before this period we are told that it was a very rich and populous city, as well as of prcat strengtli (Zosim. ii. 10): it was the capital of Picenum (as that name was then used) and the residence of the Consularis or governor of that province. (Orell. Inscr. 3649 ; Bockine, ad Xof. Dirjn. ii. pp. 359, 443.) But the establishment of the imperial court there naturally added greatly to its prosperity and splendour, while its inacce.ssible situation preserved it from the ca- lamities which at this period laid waste so many cities of Italy. Yet Eavenna as a place of residence must always have had great disadvantages. Sidonius Apollinaris, who visited it late in the fifth century, complains especially of the want of fresh water, as well as the muddiness of the canals, the swarms of gnats, and the croaking of frogs. (Sidon. Apoll. Ep. i. 5, 8.) Martial, at a much earlier period, also alludes to the scarcity of fresh water, which he jestingly asserts was so dear that a cistern was a more valuable property than a vineyard. (Martial, iii. 56, 57.) After the fall of the Western Empire Eavenna continued to be the capital of the Gothic kings. Odoacer, who had taken refuge there after repeated defeats by Theodoric, held out for near three years, but was at length compelled to surrender. (Jor- nand. Get. 57; Cassiod. Citron, p. 649.) Theodoric himself established his residence there, and his ex- ample was followed by his successors, until, in 5.39, Vitiges was after a long siege compelled by famine to surrender the city to Belisarius. (Procop. B. G. ii. 28 29.) It now became the residence of the governors who ruled a part of Italy in the name of the Byzantine emperors, with tlie title of exarchs, whence the whole of this province came to be known as the Exarchate of Eavenna. The Byzantine go- vernors were in a state of frequent hostility with the Lombard kings, and were gradually stripped of a large portion of their dominions; but Eavenna itself defied their arms for more than two centuries. It was besieged by Liutprand about 750, and its im- portant suburb of Classis totally destroyed (P. Diac. vi. 49) ; but it was not till the reign of his suc- cessor Astolphus that Eavenna itself fell into the hands of the Lombards. But the exact date, as well as the circum.stances of its final conquest, are uncertain. (Gibbon, e. 49.) The situation of Eavenna at the present day presents no resemblance to that described by ancient writers. Yet there is no doubt that the modern city occupies the same site with the ancient one, and that the change is wholly due to natural causes. The accumulation of alluvial deposits, brought down by the rivers and driven back by the waves and tides, has gradually filled up the lagunes that surrounded and canals that intersected the city; and the modern Eavenna stands in a flat and fertile plain, at a distance of 4 miles from the sea, from which it is .separated by a broad sandy tract, covered in great part with a beautiful forest of stone pines. Though Eavenna is one of the most interesting places in Italy for its mediaeval and early Chri-stian antiquities, it presents few remains of the Eoman period, and those for the most part belong to the EAUEACL declining years of the I^mpire. A triumphal arch, known by the name of Porta Aurea, was destroyed in 1585: it stood near the modern gate called Porta Adriana. Several of the ancient basilicas date from the Eoman period; as does also the sepul- chral chapel containing the tomb of Galla Placidia, the sister of Honorius, and mother of Valentinian III. A portion of the palace of Theodoric still remains in its original state, and the mausoleum of that monarch, just without the walls, is a monument of remarkable character, though stripped of its external ornaments. An ancient basilica, still called S. ApoUinare in Classe, about 3 miles from the southern gate of the city, preserves the memoiy and marks the site of the ancient port and suburb of Classis ; while another basilica, which subsisted down to the year 1553, bore the name of S. Lorenzo in Cesarea : and thus indicated the site of that important suburb. It stood about a quarter of a mile from the south gate of the city, between the walls and the bridge now called Ponte Niiovo. This bridge crosses the united streams of the Ronco and Mcntone, two small rivers which previously held separate courses to the sea, but were united into one and confined within an artificial channel by Clement XII. in 1736. The Ronco, which is the southernmost of the two, is probably the same with the Bedesis of Pliny; indeed Cluverius says that it was in his time still called Bedeso. Hence the Montone must be identified with the Vrns of the same author. The Anemo, which he places next in order, is clearly the same now called the Amone or Lamone, which flows under the walls of Faenza. (Plin. iii. 15. s. 20; Cluver. Hal. p. 300.) The natural causes which have produced these changes in the situation and environs of Eavcnn.i were undoubtedly in operation from an early period. Already in the fifth century the original port con- structed by Augustus was completely filled up, and occupied by orchards. (Jornand. Get. 29.) But Eavenna at that period had still a much frequented pert, where the fleets of Belisarius and Narses could ride at anchor. The port of Classis itself is now separated from the sea by a strip of sandy and marshy plain about 2 miles broad, the greater part of which is occupied by a forest of stone pines, which extends for many miles along the sea- coast both to the S. and N. of Eavenna. The existence of this reinarkable strip of forest is at- tested as early as the fifth century, the name of Pineta being already found in Jornandes, who tells us that Theodoric encamped there when he be- sieged Odoacer in Eavenna. (Jornand. 57.) But it is probable that it has extended its boundaries and shifted its position as the land has gradually gained upon the sea. Tlie territory of Eavenna was always fertile, ex- cept the sandy strip adjoining the .sea, and produced abundance of wine of good quality, but it was re- marked that the vines quickly decayed. (Strab. v. p. 214; Plin. xiv. 2. s. 4.) Its gardens also are noticed by Pliny a-s growing the finest asparagus, while the adjoining sea was noted for the excel- lence of its turbot. (Plin. ix. 54. s. 79, xix. 4. s. 19.) [E. H. B.] EAVIUS ('Paomos, Ptol. ii. 2. § 4), a river on the W. coast of Hibernia, according to Camden (p. 1385) the Trohis. Others identify it with the Guehara. [T. H. D.] KAURACI, or EAUEICI ('Pat^p./coQ. The form Eaurici appears in Ptolemy (ii. 9. § 18), in Pliny (iv.