Classe , ancient port of Ravenna Classe was a military port located two and a half miles east south east from Ravenna , Italy . It was near the head of the Adriatic coast . For almost five hundred years it was an important strategic military port . When it was not being used as a military port , it was an important commercial port for the imperial capital of Ravenna in the Roman Empire . Classe comes from the Latin word " classis , " meaning fleet . Republican Period . There was a small port and harbor for commercial trade . The city of Ravenna , north of the harbor , was founded in the late 3rd or early 2nd century BC . Early Roman Imperial Period . Origins of Classe . Sometime between 35 and 12 BCE , Octavian ( later known as Augustus ) established Ravenna ' s harbor as one of the home ports for his new Roman navy . South of the harbor , the area was occupied mainly by cemeteries , but by the 2nd century AD a town , later known as Classe , had grown up . Augustus may have chosen this site because of its strategic position . The area in which Augustus wanted to construct Classe was in a lagoon . It was impregnable from land and surrounded by marshes . The base was artificially constructed in this lagoon . Unlike the ports of Portus or Ostia , Classe did not feature a hexagonal basin . Instead the base installations were built on stilts . Once those were in place the port was made of large oak beams . By the 1st century CE the builders had incorporated ceramic fragments . By the 2nd century , it was redone with bricks . Augustus designed the port for military purposes only . The town had only one weakness , access to fresh water . This obstacle was overcome by the Emperor Trajan who built a twenty mile long aqueduct to Ravenna , that might also have supplied Class After the fleet was built , the population of the soldiers and their families living there grew slowly but steadily . For the next three hundred years , Classe would be one of Rome ’ s most important naval bases , the home of the eastern Mediterranean fleet The 3rd - century historian Cassius Dio states that the fleet had two hundred and fifty ships . This is the only account that survived to this day and it is only because it was quoted by Jordanes , a 6th - century historian . Society . Before Augustus ' establishment of the fleet , there is no evidence of any habitation in the area that became Classe . As of today , archeologists have only found remains of cemeteries from this time period . It is unknown if these cemeteries were pagan or Christian . However , they were most likely pagan because archeologists do not find evidence of a population returning until the 2nd century . This coincides with the rise of Christianity in Classe . Later Roman Imperial Period . Due to the crisis of the third century , Ravenna and the port began to decline . The city of Ravenna was sacked at least twice in the 250s and 260s , and the harbor was no longer maintained ; it started drying out and began filling with silt . Despite this , as early as 306 , Roman emperors started staying at Ravenna in order to watch the harbor to see if any enemies were close . When Ravenna was chosen as an official western imperial capital in 402 , Classe became more prosperous then ever , and the residential area to the south of the harbor was surrounded by a wall in the late 4th century A vital part of the royal administration was its grain warehouse and distribution . Even after 476 , when Ravenna was no longer a Roman imperial capital , it and its port survived , and the town of Classe was restored under the Ostrogothic king Theodoric . Society . While Ravenna was an imperial capital some sailors and their families lived there . However , the majority of the sailors and their families lived in the vast barracks of the imperial fleet . Because there were no other large cities in the area , families stayed , putting down roots in Ravenna and Classe . ( note that sailors were not legally allowed to be married while enlisted in the fleet ) . As for the government of Classe , it was overruled by the imperial prefect of the imperial fleet . However , once Ravenna became the imperial capital in 402 , it appears Classe fell under its jurisdiction . Christian presence . Archeological remains show Christianity was an important part of life in Classe . “ It became a focus of the earliest Christian community . ” Cemeteries from the late 2nd century show the beginning of Christianity in Classe . Starting in the 4th century , Classe acquired several magnificent churches , as well as its own baptistery . “ The centerpiece of Christian worship in the Classe region both geographically and symbolically , was the church dedicated to the first bishop of Ravenna , Saint Apollinare ” , which was built in the 540s Sant ' Apollinare in Classe is the only church from Classe still standing today . Other churches near Sant ' Apollinare were dedicated to other early bishops who had been buried there , as this was the region in which cemeteries were located in the Roman period . There is no evidence of Classe ever having its own bishop . This was probably because Classe was so much smaller than Ravenna , there was no need for Classe to have its own bishop . Finally , the church of Sant ' Apollinare Nuovo in the city of Ravenna features a mosaics depicting the harbor of Classe in the 520s . The city of Classe is walled with an amphitheatre , basilica and the entrance of the harbor is flanked by two lighthouses . The remains of the lighthouses have never been found . Classe Fleet . Western . Classe could hold a fleet of two hundred and fifty ships and could accommodate arsenals , magazines and barracks . The fleet consisted of triremes , quadriremes and liburnians ( light vessels ) . These ships were named after gods , goddesses and rivers . The fleet employed ax makers , carpenters , doctors , flag bearers , horn players , officers , oarsmen , pilots , repair personnel , rhythm keepers for oarsmen , scribes , sailors , and weapons masters . There were as many as ten thousand men connected to the fleet in some way . The fleet was used primarily to keep the peace in the Mediterranean . The fleet ' s main focuses were the Adriatic Sea and Aegean Sea , though it patrolled the waters of the Mediterranean as far away as Spain . In 24 the fleet was used to put down a slave revolt in Brundisium . When the fleet was not being used for military purposes , it was used to protect merchant ships from pirates . Although little evidence exists , recent scholarly consensus rejects the assumption that there were no pirates in the Mediterranean during the early Empire , preferring to credit the fleet at Classe with their suppression . Tombstones from sailors of the fleet have been unearthed there . By 69 the Classe fleet had five thousand ships . By 324 the western “ Augustan navy ” was gone . This was most likely because the western half of the empire was preoccupied with civil war . Emperor Constantine was engaged in fighting civil wars with his fellow tetrarch emperors Maxentius and Licinius for sole control of the empire . The empire did not have the means or resources to have a navy at Classe . For further information , there is a detailed article on the Roman navy . Eastern . The eastern part of the Roman Empire understood how important Classe was as a military port . Scholars are unclear as to when the transition between the western focused navy and the eastern focused navy took place ; estimates are between 324 and 383 . This new eastern navy was a permanent fleet in Classe . The fleet was used to control the Aegean Sea and the eastern part of the Mediterranean . Later it was used to help reclaim the lost Roman territory in the west , such as Italy . However , between 383 and 450 the standing fleet disappeared . Ostrogothic Period . Roman imperial rule came to an end when in 476 , Odoacer , a Germanic magister militum , deposed the Western emperor Romulus Augustulus and declared himself king of Italy . By the 480s , the emperor in the east , Zeno , was determined to put an end to Odoacer and his kingdom . Zeno encouraged Theodoric to invade Italy and rule it as a viceroy . Theodoric was successful in destroying Odoacer ’ s kingdom , but he subsequently declared himself king of Italy , and established his capital at Ravenna . The Ostrogothic Kingdom of Theodoric the Great lasted between 490 and 540 . The Classe that Theodoric inherited was no longer a first class military port . Part of the harbor was completely dried up ; however , Theodoric worked to repair the harbor and port . Despite this renovation , the port was no longer an important military naval outpost . In fact Classe was taken off of the formal army register . Instead , the port became an important commercial port for all of northern Italy . Exarchate of Ravenna . The eastern half of the empire had been connected to Classe since 324 through the navy . By the first half of the 6th century , the empire had its sights on claiming the port city for its own . Emperor Justinian I opposed the Ostrogothic rule of Italy on the grounds that the Arian sect constituted a heresy . He sent his general Belisarius to recapture Italy , including Ravenna and Classe , for the eastern half of the empire . In 540 Classe was reconquered by Belisarius in the Gothic Wars ( 535 - 554 ) . It stayed under eastern control until 751 . This time is known as the Exarchate of Ravenna . Justinian , understanding the strategic importance of Classe , once again refurbished the harbor . Classe became the second most important port after Constantinople . Classe in the early 6th century became a prosperous cosmopolitan naval and trading center . Because of this , there was an increase in population . New churches and basilicas were built for the new population , including Sant ' Apollinare in Classe , mentioned above . Another major church of this time was the San Severo . Construction on it began in 570 by Archbishop Peter III and was completed Archbishop John II in 582 . Upon completion it was dedicated to Ravenna ’ s 4th - century bishop , Saint Severus . Lombard War . During the late 6th century , the barbarian group known as the Lombards invaded Ravenna and plundered Classe in 579 . The raid was led by Faroald , the Duke of Spoleto , who controlled the cities for a short time . However , Drocdulf , a Sueve who fought for the eastern Empire regained Classe and forced the Lombards to give the cities back to the Eastern Empire . In 717 - 8 the Lombard duke Faroald captured Classe , but was ordered to withdraw by King Liutprand , who himself captured Classe a few years later and again returned it to the Byzantines . In 751 , another king , Aistulf , succeeded in conquering Ravenna . This ended the Exarchate of Ravenna . During the Lombard Wars , while Ravenna was spared for the most part , Classe seems to have been completely destroyed . By this time the harbor had completely dried up . Because of the Lombard Wars and the decay of the harbor , the city of Classe dramatically shrank . After this event , Classe was never again an important port militarily or commercially . Middle Ages . The Frankish king Pepin the Short drove the Lombards out of Ravenna and Classe in 756 ; following this , the territory was briefly ruled by the archbishops of Ravenna . Pepin ' s son Charlemagne ' s conquest of the Lombard kingdom in 774 saw the two cities turned over to the Pope and they became part of the newly formed Papal States . In the mid - 9th century , Classe was raided and sacked by Muslims . Also , sometime in the Middle Ages , the Po River completely destroyed the port . Because of this , archeologists are forced to use other evidence to reconstruct how the port may have looked . Modern Era . Today Classe is an archaeological site . The main excavation sites are : Podere Chiavichetta , San Severo , Podere Marabina and Saint Probus . The ground under Ravenna and Classe has been sinking for centuries . In fact , it sinks about 6 to 9 inches every century . This makes excavating extremely difficult . When archeologists dig they find artifacts at various levels . From 4 to 20 feet below the surface there is material dating from Imperial rule ; from 7 to 13 feet , material from the Ostrogothic Kingdom ; and from 13 to 26 feet , material from the Republic . Due to the accumulation of silt , the coastline has moved five and a half miles to the east . If visiting Classe , one has to climb to the top of the last watch tower to see the ocean . Main Sites . Basilica of Sant ' Apollinare in Classe San Severo References . Ancient sources . Because of the tumultuous times , few firsthand accounts survive to this day . There are two main sources : Appian , the historian who in 39 BCE stated that : Augustus ordered new buildings at Classe . There is also Cassius Dio who is referenced by Jordanes . This means that archeologists are forced to rely on epigraphic evidence such as wall carvings , mosaics and tombstones when trying to reconstruct what life was like in Classe . Modern sources . Finding scholarly information on Classe in English is extremely challenging . The most comprehensive book is " Ravenna in Late Antiquity " by Deborah Mauskopf Deliyannis . In it , she discusses the various stages of the port and also gives the most up to date archeological information as of January 2010 . Another book in English is Edward Hutton ’ s The Story of Ravenna , published in 1926 . Most of the latest information on Ravenna and Classe can be found in Italian academic journals . and the Gildonic War " In " The Classical Journal " Volume 100 , Number 3 ( February / March , 2005 ) Bibliography . Pages 275 - 299 , published by : The Classical Association of the Middle West and South .