According to ancient tradition, St. Apollinare was the first Bishop of Ravenna, consecrated and sent to evangelize the region by St. Peter himself.

The first church erected in his honor within Rome was built between the second half of the VII and beginning of the VIII century, during the full Byzantine domination. The first religious order to occupy the church were most likely Basilian monks who had fled to Rome because of the iconoclastic persecution. They are attributed with transferring martyrs in the underground of the primitive church.