Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/809

Rh MEDIAEVAL REPUBLIC.] ROME 785 were issued senatus decreto, the learned Giesebrecht merely remarks that no important changes in the Roman con- stitution are to be attributed to the consuls and senate introduced by .Otho III. Thus for the next glimpse of the senate we must pass to the 12th century, when it was riot only reformed, as some writers believe, but entirely reconstituted. But in this case a serious difficulty remains to be dis- posed of. Gregorovius firmly asserts that the nobles acquired great power between the 7th and 10th centuries, not only filling the highest military, judicial, and ecclesias- tical offices, " but also directing the municipal government, presumably with the prefect at their head." He further adds : "Notwithstanding the disappearance of the senate, it is difficult to suppose that the city was without govern- ing magistrates, or without a council." Thus, after the 7th century, the optimates at the head of the army were also at the head of the citizens, and "formed a communal council in the same manner in which it was afterwards formed by the bander m." 1 Now, if the nobles were called senatores, and the nobility senatus, and if this body of nobles met in council to administer the affairs of the republic, there is no matter for dispute, inasmuch as all are agreed that the original senate must have had a different character from the senate of the Middle Ages. And, since the absence of all mention of a prefect after the 7th century is not accepted as a proof of his non-existence, and we find him reappear under another form in the 8th century, so the silence as to the senate after the year 579, the fresh mention of it in the 8th century, and its reappearance in the 12th as a firmly reconstituted body reasonably lead to the inference that, during that time, the ancient senate had been gradually transformed into the new council. Its meetings must have been held very irregularly, and probably only in emergencies when important affairs had to be discussed, previously to bringing them before the parliament or general assembly of the people. Historians are better agreed as to the sig- nificance of the term consul. At first this was simply a title of honour bestowed on superior magistrates, and retained that meaning from the 7th to the 1 1th century, but was then as in other Italian cities only given to the chief officer of the state. During this period the Roman constitution was very simple. The duke, commanding the army, and the prefect, presiding over the criminal court, were the chiefs of the republic ; the armed nobility constituted the forces, filled all superior offices, and occasionally met in a council called the senate, though it had no resemblance to the senate of older times. In moments of emergency a general parlia- ment of the people was convoked. This constitution differed little from that of the other Italian communes, where, in the same way, we find all the leading citizens under arms, a parliament, a council, and one or more chiefs at the head of the government. But Rome had an element that was lacking elsewhere. "We have already noted that, in the provinces, the admini- strators of church lands were important personages, and exercised during the Middle Ages, when there was no exact division of power, both judicial and political func- tions. It was very natural that the heads of this vast administration resident in Rome should have a still higher standing, and in fact, from the 6th century, their power increased to such an extent that in the times of the Franks they already formed a species of papal cabinet with .a share and sometimes a predominance in the affairs of the republic. There were seven principal administrators, but two of them held the chief power, the primicerius notariornm and the secundicerius, i.e., the first. and under 1 Gregorovius, Geschichte, vol. ii. p. 427-8 and note (2d ed.). secretaries of state. When, on the constitution of the new empire, these ministers were declared to be palatine or imperial as well as papal officials, the primicerius and the secundicerius were also in waiting on the emperor, who sat in council with them, when in Rome. Next came the arcarius, or treasurer; the sacellarius, or cashier; iheproto- scriniarius, who was at the head of the papal chancery; the primus defensor, who was the advocate of the church, and administered its possessions. Seventh and last came the nomenclator, or adminiculator, who pleaded the cause of widows, orphans, and paupers. There were also some other officials, such as the vestiarius, the vicedomimis or steward, the cubicularius or majordomo, but these were of inferior importance. They were ecclesiastics, but not bound to be in priest's orders. The first seven were those specially known as proceres clericorum and oftener still as judices de clero, since they speedily assumed judicial functions and ranked among the chief judges of Rome. But as ecclesiastics they did not give decisions in criminal cases. Thus Rome had two tribunals, that of the justices de clero, or ordinarii, presided over by the pope, and that of the judices de militia, leaders of the army, dukes and tribunes, also bearing the generic title of consuls. First appointed by the exarch and then frequently by the pope, these decided both civil and criminal cases. In the latter they were sole judges under the presidency of the prefect. The pope was thus at the head of a large administrative The pop body with judicial and civil powers that were continually am * the on the increase, and, in addition to his moral authority papa over Christendom, was possessed of enormous revenues. So in course of time he considered himself the real repre- sentative of the Roman republic. Gregory II. (715-731) accepted in the name of the republic the submission of other cities, and protested against the conquest by the Lombards of those already belonging to Rome. He seemed indeed to regard the territory of the duchy as the patri- mony of the church. The duke was always at the head of the army, and, officially, was always held to be an imperial magistrate. But the empire was now powerless in Italy. Meanwhile the advance of the Lombards was becoming more and more threatening ; they seized Ravenna in 751, thus putting an end to the exarchate, and next marched towards Rome, which had only its own forces and the aid of neighbouring cities to rely upon. To avoid being crushed by the brute force of a foreign nation unfit to rule, and only capable of oppression and pillage, it was necessary to make an energetic stand. Accordingly the reigning pope, Stephen II. (752-757), The pop appealed to Pippin, king of the Franks, and concluded a PP ea l with that monarch an alliance destined to inaugurate a ^ n jj new epoch of the world's history. The pope consecrated f or ^d. Pippin king of the Franks, and named him patridus Romanorum. This title, as introduced by Constantine, had no longer the ancient meaning, but now became a sign of lofty social rank. When, however, it was after- wards conferred on barbarian chieftains such as Odoacer and Theodoric, and then on the representative of the Byzantine empire in Italy, it acquired the meaning of a definite dignity or office. In fact the title was now given to Pippin as defender of the church, for the pope styled him at the same time patridus Romanorum and defensor or protector ecclesiae. And the king pledged himself not only to defend the church but also to wrest the exarchate and the Pentapolis from the Lombards and give them to Rome, or rather to the pope, which came to the same thing. This was considered as a restitution made to the head of the church, who was also the repre- sentative of the republic and the empire. And, to pre- serve the character of a restitution, the famous " donation of Constantine" was invented during this period (752- XX. 99