Virtual Branch Lecture Recording

Ravenna was the capital of the Western Roman Empire from 402 CE until 751 CE, then later, the capital of the immense kingdom of Theoderic the Goth and finally the centre of Byzantine power in Italy. In this talk Professor Judith Herrin explores the history of the city, its peoples and its contributions to the world then and now. The talk is based on her award-winning book Ravenna. Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe (Penguin Books, 2020), which was awarded the Duff Cooper/Pol Roger Prize for History 2020, and shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize.

Judith Herrin is Professor Emerita and Constantine Leventis Senior Research Fellow attached to the Classics Department at King’s College London. Her major books include The Formation of Christendom (Princeton University Press, 1987), now reprinted as a Princeton Classic (2022); Byzantium. The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire (Penguin Books, 2007), translated into twelve languages, and Ravenna. Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe (Penguin Books, 2020). In 2002 she was awarded the Gold Cross of Honour by the Hellenic Republic; in 2011 she was made a Corresponding Fellow of the Centre for Byzantine Research at the Aristotle University of Thessalonike, and in 2016 she won the Heineken Prize for History.