A new insight into the iconography of the Civitas Classis mosaic at Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna

Abstract

Ravenna boasts a high number of mosaics dating from the Late Antique period. Scholars have often considered these artworks in isolation, often within historical and topographic studies, and only from a very limited symbolic and iconographic perspective. This paper provides a new interpretation on the iconography of the Civitas Classis mosaic at SantʼApollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, from the early 6th century AD. The first section of the paper explores the iconography of the mosaic by investigating both topographic and symbolic details represented in the port scene of the Civitas Classis mosaic. The second section examines the aspects of symbolism, identity and metaphors for power expressed by the iconography of the Civitas Classis mosaic. This paper also provides an entry point, written in English, into the study of the mosaics from the Adriatic region in antiquity.