Ravenna
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Ravenna. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a city of northeastern Italy. Venice and Ravenna occupy similar positions-the former north of the mouth of the Po, the latter south-save that the lagoons of Ravenna have filled with silt, leaving the city five miles inland. The ancient walls still bear iron rings to which ships were once moored. Communication with the Adriatic is maintained by a canal. The city has manufactures of lace, wine, and implements; but interest centers chiefly in its history. In the fifth century the Emperor Honorius, being alarmed by the inroads of Alaric, thought it well to take up his residence here within the protection of the lagoons. Ravenna was the chief seat of the Roman emperors for three quarters of a century. "Here Stilicho was slain; here Honorius and his sister caressed and quarreled; here Valentinian spent the greater part of his useless life; here Marjorian was proclaimed; here the little Romulus donned his purple robe, and here, in the pine wood outside of the city, Pontus received his decisive defeat from Odoacer." The last named ruler surrendered the city to Theodoric the Ostrogoth. Ravenna was the last spot to which the Ostrogoths clung in Italy. Ravenna is a city of ancient churches. There are no less than thirteen dating between 370 and 535. They are built on the basilica pattern. Beautiful rows of marble pillars, long series of arches, fresco paintings undimmed by the centuries, and mosaics testify to the former wealth of the city and its devotion to Christian art. Charlemagne got the plan of his cathedral at Aix-la-Chapelle here. Dante died and was buried here. Byron, who lingered here in 1820-1, when he should have been elsewhere, wrote of the great poet's marble urn as a "cupola more neat than solemn."
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
an important city and province of central Italy, 43 miles E. S. E. of Bologna, and 4½ miles from the Adriatic. It is situated in the midst of a well-watered, fertile, and finely wooded plain, and is surrounded by old ican piant Eryngium virginicum, used bastions, and by walls where may still be seen the iron rings to which the cables of ships were formerly fastened; the sea is now at the distance of about 4 miles from the city. The streets are wide; the squares are adorned with the statues of the Popes. The cathedral, built in the 4th century, was almost wholly rebuilt in 1734. Of the other 14 churches and other architectural antiquities sev eral date from the 5th and 6th centuries. San Francesco possesses the tomb of Dante, erected in the 15th century. The library of Ravenna contains 50,000 volumes. It has an archæological museum, and many educational institutions. Ravenna has manufactures of silk, and its trade is facilitated by a canal to the sea. The city was probably of Umbrian origin. Augustus made it a first-class seaport and naval station; 400 years later the Emperor Honorius took refuge there, and made it the capital of the empire. In 1218 it became a republic. In 1275 Guido da Polenta conducted it, and there established his court, where he received Dante. Ravenna was afterward taken by the Venetians, who kept it till 1509. Under Charles V. it passed into the hands of the Popes. Under its walls a great battle was fought in 1512 between the French and the Spaniards , in which Gaston de Foix purchased victory with his life. Pop., city, about 75,000 ; province, about 260,000.