A Note on the Date of the Fall of Ravenna (540) in Agnellus’ Liber pontificalis ecclesiae Ravennatis

Agnellus’ Liber pontificalis ecclesiae Ravennatis reports that Belisarius took Ravenna “mense Madio” (540), an expression which has been usually translated as “in the month of May”, yet the most recent edition of Agnellus (CCCM 199, p. 232) introduces the emendation ‘Martio’. However, ‘Madius’ was a quite widespread orthographic variant of ‘Maius’ (May) during the Middle Ages, so there is no reason to change Agnellus’ text and challenge the traditional chronology of the fall of Ravenna, which took place in May (and not in March) according to this source.