Ravenna, Exarchate of

a Byzantine province, formed during the reign of the emperor Maurice at the end of the sixth century (prior to A.D. 584) in northeastern Italy.

The administration of Ravenna was concentrated in the hands of a governor, known as the exarch. The ruling class was the military aristocracy, which included dukes and tribunes. The church, under the authority of the archbishop of Ravenna, owned extensive lands and rivaled the Roman Church in its influence. The population of Ravenna was very diverse and included Latins, Goths, Greeks, Syrians, Armenians, Avars, Slavs, and Proto-Bulgarians. As a result of the complex synthesis of Roman and Gothic traditions, a unique culture was formed in the exarchate, which by no means was an imitation of Byzantine culture, as late 19th-century researchers had considered it to be.