State Of Italy Under The Lombards.
Author: Gibbon, Edward
Date: 1782 (Written), 1845 (Revised)
History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire
Part I.
Reign Of The Younger Justin. - Embassy Of The Avars. - Their Settlement
On The Danube. - Conquest Of Italy By The Lombards. - Adoption And Reign Of
Tiberius. - Of Maurice. - State Of Italy Under The Lombards And The Exarchs. -
Of Ravenna. - Distress Of Rome. - Character And Pontificate Of Gregory The
First.
During the last years of Justinian, his infirm mind was devoted to
heavenly contemplation, and he neglected the business of the lower world. His
subjects were impatient of the long continuance of his life and reign: yet all
who were capable of reflection apprehended the moment of his death, which
might involve the capital in tumult, and the empire in civil war. Seven
nephews ^1 of the childless monarch, the sons or grandsons of his brother and
sister, had been educated in the splendor of a princely fortune; they had been
shown in high commands to the provinces and armies; their characters were
known, their followers were zealous, and, as the jealousy of age postponed the
declaration of a successor, they might expect with equal hopes the inheritance
of their uncle. He expired in his palace, after a reign of thirty-eight
years; and the decisive opportunity was embraced by the friends of Justin, the
son of Vigilantia. ^2 At the hour of midnight, his domestics were awakened by
an importunate crowd, who thundered at his door, and obtained admittance by
revealing themselves to be the principal members of the senate. These welcome
deputies announced the recent and momentous secret of the emperor's decease;
reported, or perhaps invented, his dying choice of the best beloved and most
deserving of his nephews, and conjured Justin to prevent the disorders of the
multitude, if they should perceive, with the return of light, that they were
left without a master. After composing his countenance to surprise, sorrow,
and decent modesty, Justin, by the advice of his wife Sophia, submitted to the
authority of the senate. He was conducted with speed and silence to the
palace; the guards saluted their new sovereign; and the martial and religious
rites of his coronation were diligently accomplished. By the hands of the
proper officers he was invested with the Imperial garments, the red buskins,
white tunic, and purple robe. A fortunate soldier, whom he instantly promoted
to the rank of tribune, encircled his neck with a military collar; four robust
youths exalted him on a shield; he stood firm and erect to receive the
adoration of his subjects; and their choice was sanctified by the benediction
of the patriarch, who imposed the diadem on the head of an orthodox prince.
The hippodrome was already filled with innumerable multitudes; and no sooner
did the emperor appear on his throne, than the voices of the blue and the
green factions were confounded in the same loyal acclamations. In the
speeches which Justin addressed to the senate and people, he promised to
correct the abuses which had disgraced the age of his predecessor, displayed
the maxims of a just and beneficent government, and declared that, on the
approaching calends of January, ^3 he would revive in his own person the name
and liberty of a Roman consul. The immediate discharge of his uncle's debts
exhibited a solid pledge of his faith and generosity: a train of porters,
laden with bags of gold, advanced into the midst of the hippodrome, and the
hopeless creditors of Justinian accepted this equitable payment as a voluntary
gift. Before the end of three years, his example was imitated and surpassed by
the empress Sophia, who delivered many indigent citizens from the weight of
debt and usury: an act of benevolence the best entitled to gratitude, since it
relieves the most intolerable distress; but in which the bounty of a prince is
the most liable to be abused by the claims of prodigality and fraud. ^4
[Footnote 1: See the family of Justin and Justinian in the Familiae Byzantine
of Ducange, p. 89 - 101. The devout civilians, Ludewig (in Vit. Justinian. p.
131) and Heineccius (Hist. Juris. Roman. p. 374) have since illustrated the
genealogy of their favorite prince.]
[Footnote 2: In the story of Justin's elevation I have translated into simple
and concise prose the eight hundred verses of the two first books of Corippus,
de Laudibus Justini Appendix Hist. Byzant. p. 401 - 416 Rome 1777.]
[Footnote 3: It is surprising how Pagi (Critica. in Annal. Baron. tom. ii. p
639) could be tempted by any chronicles to contradict the plain and decisive
text of Corippus, (vicina dona, l. ii. 354, vicina dies, l. iv. 1,) and to
postpone, till A.D. 567, the consulship of Justin.]
[Footnote 4: Theophan. Chronograph. p. 205. Whenever Cedrenus or Zonaras are
mere transcribers, it is superfluous to allege their testimony.]
On the seventh day of his reign, Justin gave audience to the ambassadors
of the Avars, and the scene was decorated to impress the Barbarians with
astonishment, veneration, and terror. From the palace gate, the spacious
courts and long porticos were lined with the lofty crests and gilt bucklers of
the guards, who presented their spears and axes with more confidence than they
would have shown in a field of battle. The officers who exercised the power,
or attended the person, of the prince, were attired in their richest habits,
and arranged according to the military and civil order of the hierarchy. When
the veil of the sanctuary was withdrawn, the ambassadors beheld the emperor of
the East on his throne, beneath a canopy, or dome, which was supported by four
columns, and crowned with a winged figure of Victory. In the first emotions
of surprise, they submitted to the servile adoration of the Byzantine court;
but as soon as they rose from the ground, Targetius, the chief of the embassy,
expressed the freedom and pride of a Barbarian. He extolled, by the tongue of
his interpreter, the greatness of the chagan, by whose clemency the kingdoms
of the South were permitted to exist, whose victorious subjects had traversed
the frozen rivers of Scythia, and who now covered the banks of the Danube with
innumerable tents. The late emperor had cultivated, with annual and costly
gifts, the friendship of a grateful monarch, and the enemies of Rome had
respected the allies of the Avars. The same prudence would instruct the
nephew of Justinian to imitate the liberality of his uncle, and to purchase
the blessings of peace from an invincible people, who delighted and excelled
in the exercise of war. The reply of the emperor was delivered in the same
strain of haughty defiance, and he derived his confidence from the God of the
Christians, the ancient glory of Rome, and the recent triumphs of Justinian.
"The empire," said he, "abounds with men and horses, and arms sufficient to
defend our frontiers, and to chastise the Barbarians. You offer aid, you
threaten hostilities: we despise your enmity and your aid. The conquerors of
the Avars solicit our alliance; shall we dread their fugitives and exiles? ^5
The bounty of our uncle was granted to your misery, to your humble prayers.
From us you shall receive a more important obligation, the knowledge of your
own weakness. Retire from our presence; the lives of ambassadors are safe;
and, if you return to implore our pardon, perhaps you will taste of our
benevolence." ^6 On the report of his ambassadors, the chagan was awed by the
apparent firmness of a Roman emperor of whose character and resources he was
ignorant. Instead of executing his threats against the Eastern empire, he
marched into the poor and savage countries of Germany, which were subject to
the dominion of the Franks. After two doubtful battles, he consented to
retire, and the Austrasian king relieve the distress of his camp with an
immediate supply of corn and cattle. ^7 Such repeated disappointments had
chilled the spirit of the Avars, and their power would have dissolved away in
the Sarmatian desert, if the alliance of Alboin, king of the Lombards, had not
given a new object to their arms, and a lasting settlement to their wearied
fortunes.
[Footnote 5: Corippus, l. iii. 390. The unquestionable sense relates to the
Turks, the conquerors of the Avars; but the word scultor has no apparent
meaning, and the sole Ms. of Corippus, from whence the first edition (1581,
apud Plantin) was printed, is no longer visible. The last editor, Foggini of
Rome, has inserted the conjectural emendation of soldan: but the proofs of
Ducange, (Joinville, Dissert. xvi. p. 238 - 240,) for the early use of this
title among the Turks and Persians, are weak or ambiguous. And I must incline
to the authority of D'Herbelot, (Bibliotheque Orient. p. 825,) who ascribes
the word to the Arabic and Chaldaean tongues, and the date to the beginning of
the xith century, when it was bestowed by the khalif of Bagdad on Mahmud,
prince of Gazna, and conqueror of India.]
[Footnote 6: For these characteristic speeches, compare the verse of Corippus
(l. iii. 251 - 401) with the prose of Menander, (Excerpt. Legation. p 102,
103.) Their diversity proves that they did not copy each other their
resemblance, that they drew from a common original.]
[Footnote 7: For the Austrasian war, see Menander (Excerpt. Legat. p. 110,)
Gregory of Tours, (Hist. Franc. l. iv. c 29,) and Paul the deacon, (de Gest.
Langobard. l. ii. c. 10.)]
While Alboin served under his father's standard, he encountered in
battle, and transpierced with his lance, the rival prince of the Gepidae. The
Lombards, who applauded such early prowess, requested his father, with
unanimous acclamations, that the heroic youth, who had shared the dangers of
the field, might be admitted to the feast of victory. "You are not
unmindful," replied the inflexible Audoin, "of the wise customs of our
ancestors. Whatever may be his merit, a prince is incapable of sitting at
table with his father till he has received his arms from a foreign and royal
hand." Alboin bowed with reverence to the institutions of his country,
selected forty companions, and boldly visited the court of Turisund, king of
the Gepidae, who embraced and entertained, according to the laws of
hospitality, the murderer of his son. At the banquet, whilst Alboin occupied
the seat of the youth whom he had slain, a tender remembrance arose in the
mind of Turisund. "How dear is that place! how hateful is that person!" were
the words that escaped, with a sigh, from the indignant father. His grief
exasperated the national resentment of the Gepidae; and Cunimund, his
surviving son, was provoked by wine, or fraternal affection, to the desire of
vengeance. "The Lombards," said the rude Barbarian, "resemble, in figure and
in smell, the mares of our Sarmatian plains." And this insult was a coarse
allusion to the white bands which enveloped their legs. "Add another
resemblance," replied an audacious Lombard; "you have felt how strongly they
kick. Visit the plain of Asfield, and seek for the bones of thy brother: they
are mingled with those of the vilest animals." The Gepidae, a nation of
warriors, started from their seats, and the fearless Alboin, with his forty
companions, laid their hands on their swords. The tumult was appeased by the
venerable interposition of Turisund. He saved his own honor, and the life of
his guest; and, after the solemn rites of investiture, dismissed the stranger
in the bloody arms of his son; the gift of a weeping parent. Alboin returned
in triumph; and the Lombards, who celebrated his matchless intrepidity, were
compelled to praise the virtues of an enemy. ^8 In this extraordinary visit he
had probably seen the daughter of Cunimund, who soon after ascended the throne
of the Gepidae. Her name was Rosamond, an appellation expressive of female
beauty, and which our own history or romance has consecrated to amorous tales.
The king of the Lombards (the father of Alboin no longer lived) was contracted
to the granddaughter of Clovis; but the restraints of faith and policy soon
yielded to the hope of possessing the fair Rosamond, and of insulting her
family and nation. The arts of persuasion were tried without success; and the
impatient lover, by force and stratagem, obtained the object of his desires.
War was the consequence which he foresaw and solicited; but the Lombards could
not long withstand the furious assault of the Gepidae, who were sustained by a
Roman army. And, as the offer of marriage was rejected with contempt, Alboin
was compelled to relinquish his prey, and to partake of the disgrace which he
had inflicted on the house of Cunimund. ^9
[Footnote 8: Paul Warnefrid, the deacon of Friuli, de Gest. Langobard. l. i.
c. 23, 24. His pictures of national manners, though rudely sketched are more
lively and faithful than those of Bede, or Gregory of Tours]
[Footnote 9: The story is told by an impostor, (Theophylact. Simocat. l. vi.
c. 10;) but he had art enough to build his fictions on public and notorious
facts.]
When a public quarrel is envenomed by private injuries, a blow that is
not mortal or decisive can be productive only of a short truce, which allows
the unsuccessful combatant to sharpen his arms for a new encounter. The
strength of Alboin had been found unequal to the gratification of his love,
ambition, and revenge: he condescended to implore the formidable aid of the
chagan; and the arguments that he employed are expressive of the art and
policy of the Barbarians. In the attack of the Gepidae, he had been prompted
by the just desire of extirpating a people whom their alliance with the Roman
empire had rendered the common enemies of the nations, and the personal
adversaries of the chagan. If the forces of the Avars and the Lombards should
unite in this glorious quarrel, the victory was secure, and the reward
inestimable: the Danube, the Hebrus, Italy, and Constantinople, would be
exposed, without a barrier, to their invincible arms. But, if they hesitated
or delayed to prevent the malice of the Romans, the same spirit which had
insulted would pursue the Avars to the extremity of the earth. These specious
reasons were heard by the chagan with coldness and disdain: he detained the
Lombard ambassadors in his camp, protracted the negotiation, and by turns
alleged his want of inclination, or his want of ability, to undertake this
important enterprise. At length he signified the ultimate price of his
alliance, that the Lombards should immediately present him with a tithe of
their cattle; that the spoils and captives should be equally divided; but that
the lands of the Gepidae should become the sole patrimony of the Avars. Such
hard conditions were eagerly accepted by the passions of Alboin; and, as the
Romans were dissatisfied with the ingratitude and perfidy of the Gepidae,
Justin abandoned that incorrigible people to their fate, and remained the
tranquil spectator of this unequal conflict. The despair of Cunimund was
active and dangerous. He was informed that the Avars had entered his
confines; but, on the strong assurance that, after the defeat of the Lombards,
these foreign invaders would easily be repelled, he rushed forwards to
encounter the implacable enemy of his name and family. But the courage of the
Gepidae could secure them no more than an honorable death. The bravest of the
nation fell in the field of battle; the king of the Lombards contemplated with
delight the head of Cunimund; and his skull was fashioned into a cup to
satiate the hatred of the conqueror, or, perhaps, to comply with the savage
custom of his country. ^10 After this victory, no further obstacle could
impede the progress of the confederates, and they faithfully executed the
terms of their agreement. ^11 The fair countries of Walachia, Moldavia,
Transylvania, and the other parts of Hungary beyond the Danube, were occupied,
without resistance, by a new colony of Scythians; and the Dacian empire of the
chagans subsisted with splendor above two hundred and thirty years. The
nation of the Gepidae was dissolved; but, in the distribution of the captives,
the slaves of the Avars were less fortunate than the companions of the
Lombards, whose generosity adopted a valiant foe, and whose freedom was
incompatible with cool and deliberate tyranny. One moiety of the spoil
introduced into the camp of Alboin more wealth than a Barbarian could readily
compute. The fair Rosamond was persuaded, or compelled, to acknowledge the
rights of her victorious lover; and the daughter of Cunimund appeared to
forgive those crimes which might be imputed to her own irresistible charms.
[Footnote 10: It appears from Strabo, Pliny, and Ammianus Marcellinus, that
the same practice was common among the Scythian tribes, (Muratori, Scriptores
Rer. Italic. tom. i. p. 424.) The scalps of North America are likewise
trophies of valor. The skull of Cunimund was preserved above two hundred
years among the Lombards; and Paul himself was one of the guests to whom Duke
Ratchis exhibited this cup on a high festival, (l. ii. c. 28.)]
[Footnote 11: Paul, l. i. c. 27. Menander, in Excerpt Legat. p. 110, 111.]
The destruction of a mighty kingdom established the fame of Alboin. In
the days of Charlemagne, the Bavarians, the Saxons, and the other tribes of
the Teutonic language, still repeated the songs which described the heroic
virtues, the valor, liberality, and fortune of the king of the Lombards. ^12
But his ambition was yet unsatisfied; and the conqueror of the Gepidae turned
his eyes from the Danube to the richer banks of the Po, and the Tyber. Fifteen
years had not elapsed, since his subjects, the confederates of Narses, had
visited the pleasant climate of Italy: the mountains, the rivers, the
highways, were familiar to their memory: the report of their success, perhaps
the view of their spoils, had kindled in the rising generation the flame of
emulation and enterprise. Their hopes were encouraged by the spirit and
eloquence of Alboin: and it is affirmed, that he spoke to their senses, by
producing at the royal feast, the fairest and most exquisite fruits that grew
spontaneously in the garden of the world. No sooner had he erected his
standard, than the native strength of the Lombard was multiplied by the
adventurous youth of Germany and Scythia. The robust peasantry of Noricum and
Pannonia had resumed the manners of Barbarians; and the names of the Gepidae,
Bulgarians, Sarmatians, and Bavarians, may be distinctly traced in the
provinces of Italy. ^13 Of the Saxons, the old allies of the Lombards, twenty
thousand warriors, with their wives and children, accepted the invitation of
Alboin. Their bravery contributed to his success; but the accession or the
absence of their numbers was not sensibly felt in the magnitude of his host.
Every mode of religion was freely practised by its respective votaries. The
king of the Lombards had been educated in the Arian heresy; but the Catholics,
in their public worship, were allowed to pray for his conversion; while the
more stubborn Barbarians sacrificed a she-goat, or perhaps a captive, to the
gods of their fathers. ^14 The Lombards, and their confederates, were united
by their common attachment to a chief, who excelled in all the virtues and
vices of a savage hero; and the vigilance of Alboin provided an ample magazine
of offensive and defensive arms for the use of the expedition. The portable
wealth of the Lombards attended the march: their lands they cheerfully
relinquished to the Avars, on the solemn promise, which was made and accepted
without a smile, that if they failed in the conquest of Italy, these voluntary
exiles should be reinstated in their former possessions.
[Footnote 12: Ut hactenus etiam tam apud Bajoarior um gentem, quam et Saxmum,
sed et alios ejusdem linguae homines .... . in eorum carmini bus
celebretur. Paul, l. i. c. 27. He died A.D. 799, (Muratori, in Praefat. tom.
i. p. 397.) These German songs, some of which might be as old as Tacitus, (de
Moribus Germ. c. 2,) were compiled and transcribed by Charlemagne. Barbara et
antiquissima carmina, quibus veterum regum actus et bella canebantur scripsit
memoriaeque mandavit, (Eginard, in Vit. Carol. Magn. c. 29, p. 130, 131.) The
poems, which Goldast commends, (Animadvers. ad Eginard. p. 207,) appear to be
recent and contemptible romances.]
[Footnote 13: The other nations are rehearsed by Paul, (l. ii. c. 6, 26,)
Muratori (Antichita Italiane, tom. i. dissert. i. p. 4) has discovered the
village of the Bavarians, three miles from Modena.]
[Footnote 14: Gregory the Roman (Dialog. l. i. iii. c. 27, 28, apud Baron.
Annal Eccles. A.D. 579, No. 10) supposes that they likewise adored this she-
goat. I know but of one religion in which the god and the victim are the
same.]
They might have failed, if Narses had been the antagonist of the
Lombards; and the veteran warriors, the associates of his Gothic victory,
would have encountered with reluctance an enemy whom they dreaded and
esteemed. But the weakness of the Byzantine court was subservient to the
Barbarian cause; and it was for the ruin of Italy, that the emperor once
listened to the complaints of his subjects. The virtues of Narses were
stained with avarice; and, in his provincial reign of fifteen years, he
accumulated a treasure of gold and silver which surpassed the modesty of a
private fortune. His government was oppressive or unpopular, and the general
discontent was expressed with freedom by the deputies of Rome. Before the
throne of Justinian they boldly declared, that their Gothic servitude had been
more tolerable than the despotism of a Greek eunuch; and that, unless their
tyrant were instantly removed, they would consult their own happiness in the
choice of a master. The apprehension of a revolt was urged by the voice of
envy and detraction, which had so recently triumphed over the merit of
Belisarius. A new exarch, Longinus, was appointed to supersede the conqueror
of Italy, and the base motives of his recall were revealed in the insulting
mandate of the empress Sophia, "that he should leave to men the exercise of
arms, and return to his proper station among the maidens of the palace, where
a distaff should be again placed in the hand of the eunuch." "I will spin her
such a thread as she shall not easily unravel!" is said to have been the reply
which indignation and conscious virtue extorted from the hero. Instead of
attending, a slave and a victim, at the gate of the Byzantine palace, he
retired to Naples, from whence (if any credit is due to the belief of the
times) Narses invited the Lombards to chastise the ingratitude of the prince
and people. ^15 But the passions of the people are furious and changeable, and
the Romans soon recollected the merits, or dreaded the resentment, of their
victorious general. By the mediation of the pope, who undertook a special
pilgrimage to Naples, their repentance was accepted; and Narses, assuming a
milder aspect and a more dutiful language, consented to fix his residence in
the Capitol. His death, ^16 though in the extreme period of old age, was
unseasonable and premature, since his genius alone could have repaired the
last and fatal error of his life. The reality, or the suspicion, of a
conspiracy disarmed and disunited the Italians. The soldiers resented the
disgrace, and bewailed the loss, of their general. They were ignorant of their
new exarch; and Longinus was himself ignorant of the state of the army and the
province. In the preceding years Italy had been desolated by pestilence and
famine, and a disaffected people ascribed the calamities of nature to the
guilt or folly of their rulers. ^17
[Footnote 15: The charge of the deacon against Narses (l. ii. c. 5) may be
groundless; but the weak apology of the Cardinal (Baron. Annal Eccles. A.D.
567, No. 8 - 12) is rejected by the best critics - Pagi (tom. ii. p. 639,
640,) Muratori, (Annali d' Italia, tom. v. p. 160 - 163,) and the last
editors, Horatius Blancus, (Script. Rerum Italic. tom. i. p. 427, 428,) and
Philip Argelatus, (Sigon. Opera, tom. ii. p. 11, 12.) The Narses who assisted
at the coronation of Justin (Corippus, l. iii. 221) is clearly understood to
be a different person.]
[Footnote 16: The death of Narses is mentioned by Paul, l. ii. c. 11. Anastas.
in Vit. Johan. iii. p. 43. Agnellus, Liber Pontifical. Raven. in Script. Rer.
Italicarum, tom. ii. part i. p. 114, 124. Yet I cannot believe with Agnellus
that Narses was ninety-five years of age. Is it probable that all his
exploits were performed at fourscore?]
[Footnote 17: The designs of Narses and of the Lombards for the invasion of
Italy are exposed in the last chapter of the first book, and the seven last
chapters of the second book, of Paul the deacon.]
Whatever might be the grounds of his security, Alboin neither expected
nor encountered a Roman army in the field. He ascended the Julian Alps, and
looked down with contempt and desire on the fruitful plains to which his
victory communicated the perpetual appellation of Lombardy. A faithful
chieftain, and a select band, were stationed at Forum Julii, the modern
Friuli, to guard the passes of the mountains. The Lombards respected the
strength of Pavia, and listened to the prayers of the Trevisans: their slow
and heavy multitudes proceeded to occupy the palace and city of Verona; and
Milan, now rising from her ashes, was invested by the powers of Alboin five
months after his departure from Pannonia. Terror preceded his march: he found
every where, or he left, a dreary solitude; and the pusillanimous Italians
presumed, without a trial, that the stranger was invincible. Escaping to
lakes, or rocks, or morasses, the affrighted crowds concealed some fragments
of their wealth, and delayed the moment of their servitude. Paulinus, the
patriarch of Aquileia, removed his treasures, sacred and profane, to the Isle
of Grado, ^18 and his successors were adopted by the infant republic of
Venice, which was continually enriched by the public calamities. Honoratus,
who filled the chair of St. Ambrose, had credulously accepted the faithless
offers of a capitulation; and the archbishop, with the clergy and nobles of
Milan, were driven by the perfidy of Alboin to seek a refuge in the less
accessible ramparts of Genoa. Along the maritime coast, the courage of the
inhabitants was supported by the facility of supply, the hopes of relief, and
the power of escape; but from the Trentine hills to the gates of Ravenna and
Rome the inland regions of Italy became, without a battle or a siege, the
lasting patrimony of the Lombards. The submission of the people invited the
Barbarian to assume the character of a lawful sovereign, and the helpless
exarch was confined to the office of announcing to the emperor Justin the
rapid and irretrievable loss of his provinces and cities. ^19 One city, which
had been diligently fortified by the Goths, resisted the arms of a new
invader; and while Italy was subdued by the flying detachments of the
Lombards, the royal camp was fixed above three years before the western gate
of Ticinum, or Pavia. The same courage which obtains the esteem of a
civilized enemy provokes the fury of a savage, and the impatient besieger had
bound himself by a tremendous oath, that age, and sex, and dignity, should be
confounded in a general massacre. The aid of famine at length enabled him to
execute his bloody vow; but, as Alboin entered the gate, his horse stumbled,
fell, and could not be raised from the ground. One of his attendants was
prompted by compassion, or piety, to interpret this miraculous sign of the
wrath of Heaven: the conqueror paused and relented; he sheathed his sword, and
peacefully reposing himself in the palace of Theodoric, proclaimed to the
trembling multitude that they should live and obey. Delighted with the
situation of a city which was endeared to his pride by the difficulty of the
purchase, the prince of the Lombards disdained the ancient glories of Milan;
and Pavia, during some ages, was respected as the capital of the kingdom of
Italy. ^20
[Footnote 18: Which from this translation was called New Aquileia, (Chron.
Venet. p. 3.) The patriarch of Grado soon became the first citizen of the
republic, (p. 9, &c.,) but his seat was not removed to Venice till the year
1450. He is now decorated with titles and honors; but the genius of the
church has bowed to that of the state, and the government of a Catholic city
is strictly Presbyterian. Thomassin, Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. i. p. 156,
157, 161 - 165. Amelot de la Houssaye, Gouvernement de Venise, tom. i. p. 256
- 261.]
[Footnote 19: Paul has given a description of Italy, as it was then divided
into eighteen regions, (l. ii. c. 14 - 24.) The Dissertatio Chorographica de
Italia Medii Aevi, by Father Beretti, a Benedictine monk, and regius professor
at Pavia, has been usefully consulted.]
[Footnote 20: For the conquest of Italy, see the original materials of Paul,
(l. p. 7 - 10, 12, 14, 25, 26, 27,) the eloquent narrative of Sigonius, tom.
il. de Regno Italiae, l. i. p. 13 - 19,) and the correct and critical review
el Muratori, (Annali d' Italia, tom. v. p. 164 - 180.)]
The reign of the founder was splendid and transient; and, before he could
regulate his new conquests, Alboin fell a sacrifice to domestic treason and
female revenge. In a palace near Verona, which had not been erected for the
Barbarians, he feasted the companions of his arms; intoxication was the reward
of valor, and the king himself was tempted by appetite, or vanity, to exceed
the ordinary measure of his intemperance. After draining many capacious bowls
of Rhaetian or Falernian wine, he called for the skull of Cunimund, the
noblest and most precious ornament of his sideboard. The cup of victory was
accepted with horrid applause by the circle of the Lombard chiefs. "Fill it
again with wine," exclaimed the inhuman conqueror, "fill it to the brim: carry
this goblet to the queen, and request in my name that she would rejoice with
her father." In an agony of grief and rage, Rosamond had strength to utter,
"Let the will of my lord be obeyed!" and, touching it with her lips,
pronounced a silent imprecation, that the insult should be washed away in the
blood of Alboin. Some indulgence might be due to the resentment of a
daughter, if she had not already violated the duties of a wife. Implacable in
her enmity, or inconstant in her love, the queen of Italy had stooped from the
throne to the arms of a subject, and Helmichis, the king's armor-bearer, was
the secret minister of her pleasure and revenge. Against the proposal of the
murder, he could no longer urge the scruples of fidelity or gratitude; but
Helmichis trembled when he revolved the danger as well as the guilt, when he
recollected the matchless strength and intrepidity of a warrior whom he had so
often attended in the field of battle. He pressed and obtained, that one of
the bravest champions of the Lombards should be associated to the enterprise;
but no more than a promise of secrecy could be drawn from the gallant
Peredeus, and the mode of seduction employed by Rosamond betrays her shameless
insensibility both to honor and love. She supplied the place of one of her
female attendants who was beloved by Peredeus, and contrived some excuse for
darkness and silence, till she could inform her companion that he had enjoyed
the queen of the Lombards, and that his own death, or the death of Alboin,
must be the consequence of such treasonable adultery. In this alternative he
chose rather to be the accomplice than the victim of Rosamond, ^21 whose
undaunted spirit was incapable of fear or remorse. She expected and soon
found a favorable moment, when the king, oppressed with wine, had retired from
the table to his afternoon slumbers. His faithless spouse was anxious for his
health and repose: the gates of the palace were shut, the arms removed, the
attendants dismissed, and Rosamond, after lulling him to rest by her tender
caresses, unbolted the chamber door, and urged the reluctant conspirators to
the instant execution of the deed. On the first alarm, the warrior started
from his couch: his sword, which he attempted to draw, had been fastened to
the scabbard by the hand of Rosamond; and a small stool, his only weapon,
could not long protect him from the spears of the assassins. The daughter of
Cunimund smiled in his fall: his body was buried under the staircase of the
palace; and the grateful posterity of the Lombards revered the tomb and the
memory of their victorious leader.
[Footnote 21: The classical reader will recollect the wife and murder of
Candaules, so agreeably told in the first book of Herodotus. The choice of
Gyges, may serve as the excuse of Peredeus; and this soft insinuation of an
odious idea has been imitated by the best writers of antiquity, (Graevius, ad
Ciceron. Orat. pro Miloue c. 10)]
