La circolazione del marmo nell’Adriatico durante la tarda Antichità

The circulation of marble artefacts (primarily architectural elements and liturgical furnishings), produced in the quarries and workshops in the island of Prokonnesos, is one of the most distinctive phenomena in the 5th and 6th centuries. Apart from Constantinople, some of the richest collections of such materials have been found along the shores of the Adriatic Sea. So far, modern scholars believe that Ravenna acted as the redistribution centre of these materials. However, from the analysis of architectural and historical contexts of the period, it is apparent that the presence of prokonnesian marble at sites on the Adriatic coast marks the intervention of the imperial and Church authorities in sites of political, strategic and religious relevance. Seemingly marble was directly imported from Constantinople rather than passing through Ravenna, and the lay and ecclesiastic patrons were first engaged in its circulation.