Read the following paragraph and answer the question below.
few could have predicted that ravenna, italy, which began as a small roman country town, isolated amidst
swamps and marshes and far from the sea, would become in its prime larger and more splendid than rome
itself. in its early days, ravenna saw caesar crossing the nearby rubicon on his way to founding the world's
greatest empire. in maturity, ravenna was the center of a three-way struggle between rome, constantinople,
and the northern gothic kingdoms for portions of the empire. in her declining years, ravenna witnessed
charlemagne entering as a conqueror, giotto painting murals, and dante writing the divine comedy
select the inference suggested by the facts of this paragraph.
ravenna, italy, is a cultural and political center
ravenna, italy, has become a less important cultural and political center than it was in the past
ravenna's swampy location led to its decline.