 In the shifting Italian borders of the following centuries, Venice benefited from remaining under the control of the Roman Empire - increasingly as the furthest Northwestern outpost of the now Constantinople centered power.During Justinian I's reconquest of Italy from the Visigoths, Venice was an increasingly important stronghold for the Empire's Exarchate of Ravenna.The political centre of the exarchate, and the most senior military officials of the Empire, were situated in Ravenna.