Page:Bury J B The Cambridge Medieval History Vol 2 1913.djvu/249

Rh diminished as the Lombard element drew nearer to the Roman. On the other hand, the assimilation with the inhabitants of Italy in race and culture had been rapidly carried out just on account of the smallness of the conquering tribe and the necessary adaptations resulting; and it was not the cultural and racial difference, but rather a difference of organisation, resulting from the land's history and settlement, which separated the three parts of Italy — the kingdom, the ecclesiastical State, and Benevento — through more than a thousand years.