THE BEGINNINGS OF THE TEMPORAL SOVEREIGNTY OF THE POPES

CHAPTER II

THE DUCHY OF ROME

St. Gregory the Great was, in modern parlance, an excellent patriot, in spite of the fact that he was the chief representative of the submissive policy which assented to the division of Italy between the Lombards and the empire. In theory his sorrow was as keen as the hopes of the Exarch Romanus, but in practice he was as much interested as anybody in the safety and prosperity of the empire. Fortunately for the imperial progress, his successors were animated with the same spirit. The Pope, indeed, was a mighty moral power which, had the boundary line between the spiritual and the temporal sphere been less jealously defined, would probably have become a powerful political factor. Over the frontiers he held communication with other races—the Franks, the Visigoths, the Anglo-Saxons, the Bavarians, and, in particular, with the Lombards, who heard him the more willingly as their converts increased in number. He held quite an exceptional situation in the interior of Byzantine Italy. It is a mere theological quibble to speak of the Bishop of Rome at any time as of an ordinary bishop. It is an historical quibble, in connection with a Pope of the sixth, seventh, or eighth century, to lay stress on his subordinate relation to the Emperor of Constantinople. Undoubtedly, from a theoretical point of view, he was a subject, for the emperor was supreme ruler of the empire. But in reality the Pope was elected by the Romans at Rome, and his appointment received the imperial sanction, merely as a matter of form. He was in this way distinguished from the highest dignitaries, particularly from the Exarch. His authority was independent of the emperor, and though his renown shone forth both within and without the empire, it was certainly with no reflection of Byzantine glory. Indeed he really owed his prestige and position to the influence of St. Peter. The succession of St. Peter, the See of St. Peter, the authority of St. Peter, the tomb of St. Peter — all these counted for much in the atmosphere of respect and admiration which surrounded the apostolic representative.

The Papal influence was by no means confined to the Church. The Popes experience, his moral authority, his sound financial position, and his powers of administration were a valuable help in the conduct of temporal affairs. We see him concerning himself, apparently in no meddlesome spirit, with war operations, the arrangement of treaties, the appoint-ment of officials, the management of the State exchequer, as well as with municipal enterprises, such as the repairing of ramparts and aqueducts and schemes for the public food supply.

But, in spite of the solicitude for the general welfare, the Pope’s influence was more particularly concentrated on his own immediate surroundings—above all on Rome. He certainly busied himself in both the political and military affairs of Ravenna and Naples, but it was the needs, temporal though they might be, of his spiritual flock which specially claimed his attention and sympathy. As might have been expected, the result of this condition of affairs was the creation around the apostolic sanctuary of a kind of holy ground, whose limits spread beyond the city, even to the boundary line of the duchy of Rome.

The extent of the duchy, which was the province of the duke and other military authorities who resided at Rome, had been defined by the limits of the Lombard invasion. In Liutprand’s day it included, between the Tiber and the coast, part of ancient Tuscia, called Roman Tuscia, to distinguish it from Lombard Tuscia, now Tuscany. The most northerly places on this side were Centumcellae (Civitá Vecchia) on the sea, and Orte on the Tiber, and, between the two, Blera (Bieda), Sutri, and Bomarzo. On the other side of the Tiber, not very far from Orte, on the line between Perugia and Rome, was the town of Amelia, which was under Roman jurisdiction. Except for this one place, the left bank of the Tiber, as far as the outskirts of Monte Rotondo, belonged to the duchy of Spoleto. The first Roman towns were Nomentum and Tilsur; then the frontier line followed the mountains behind Prenesto, Anagni, Alatri, and Veroli as far as the Liris, where it turned off to Terracina.

This ducatus Romanus had originally been merely a military province, like the duchies of Naples or Venetia. The duke was subject to the Exarch, and the exercitus Romani was a division of the Byzantine army commanded by the vice-emperor of Ravenna. But these relations did not last very long. There arose divisions, induced by the peculiar configuration of Byzantine Italy, the difficulties in the way of communication, and the differences of outlook fostered by such conditions. Matters were worse still when, about the year 727, in virtue of their resistance to the iconoclastic fíats of Leo the Isaurian, the commissioned officials were banished to Constantinople, and native dukes elected in their places. Henceforth each duchy was practically independent, though there was a kind of federation among them. This state of affairs was all the more unavoidable as the superior authority, the Exarch, had apparently freed himself from the imperial power, and was disporting himself, like an ordinary duke, in the province of Ravenna, which was visibly disappearing as the Lombard conquests increased.

Under these circumstances it is far from surprising that Rome should embark on a political career of her own. We see her concluding alliances, declaring war, and signing treaties. She it is and not the Exarch with whom Trasimund, Duke of Spoleto, negotiates at different times, and with whom King Liutprand arranges the Peace of Terni in 742. Ravenna is treated in quite a different manner. Without so much as asking permission the prince seizes upon her lands, towns, and even her capital. On the other hand, if he feels inclined to annex parts of the duchy of Rome, Sutri, Blera, Bomarzo, Orte, or Amelia, he restores them without much difficulty. This was, undoubtedly, an idiosyncrasy, for the Duke of Spoleto, who in his reign took possession of both Narni and Sabina, was by no means so easily prevailed upon to part with them. Still there is no doubt that Rome was treated very differently from Ravenna. The real reason for this favoritism was that Rome was under the protection of St. Peter and his vicar, and not that the Lombard king considered that they had any special claim upon his good will. Owing to the repeated solicitations of the Pope, who spared neither pains nor money in the cause, Sutri was restored, after an occupation of several months. The king intended it as a gift to the Apostles Peter and Paul. Gallesa, on which the Duke of Spoleto had long cast a covetous eye, was finally included again “in compage sanctae reipublicae atque corpore Christo dilecti exercitus Romani”. But this was really due to a money arrangement entered into by Pope Gregory III. It was Pope Zachary with whom Liutprand, on two different occasions, both directly and indirectly, settled the question of restoring the four towns by official charter. There is no mention of any military representatives accompanying the Pope to Terni. He and his clergy were alone, and, under these circumstances, a twenty years’ truce was concluded with the duchy of Rome. Again, it was with Pope Stephen II that Astolphus negotiated, before making war on the Romans.

In keeping with all this is the form by which the inhabitants of the duchy of Rome were introduced to the foreign princes, whose aid was sought. They were called the “peculiar people of St. Peter and the Church”. Apart from any rhetorical exaggeration, this expression seems to be typical of the relations between the Pope and his people. There was a very strong feeling among the Romans that they must look for help and sympathy in the approaching crisis to the Pope and St. Peter rather than to the distant empire of Constantinople.

Peaceable relations with the latter were now resumed. Following upon the iconoclastic quarrel, there had been a series of disagreements, one counterbalancing the other, the final effect of which had been to produce a kind of equilibrium. True, the emperor’s decision had been opposed, his representatives banished, and his authority reduced to a mere name. But to have no relations at all with the Romans was surely better than to have disagreeable ones. The emperor had been obliged to relinquish the Pope’s help in his plans for religious reform, but, on the other hand, the imperial treasury had been considerably augmented by the confiscation of the papal patrimonies in Sicily. The union, in brief, was not dissolved, but there was no longer any intimacy between the parties. The result made for peace.

There was even an exchange of amities. Pope Zachary sent envoys with letters to his contemporary, Constantine V, with intent as much personal as ecclesiastical. These letters, unlike the dispatches of Gregory III, arrived safely, but the messengers, on reaching Constantinople, found a revolution in full swing. This was brought about by the claims of one Artavasde to the imperial throne. Constantine, the legal heir of Leo the Iconoclast, was himself an iconoclast, while his rival held orthodox views. There ensued a sharp and exciting struggle, in which Constantine hastened to besiege Artavasde in his capital, and finally succeeded in gaining the upper hand, 2nd November 744. The envoys were treading on delicate ground, but as soon as Constantine was reinstated at Constantinople they appeared before him and were graciously received. He acceded to the Pope’s request that, to make up for the loss of his Sicilian estates, he should be granted at least the two domains of Norma and Nimfa, in the neighborhood of Rome. The envoys, after this satisfactory interview, returned home with a substantial present.

The effect of the iconoclastic struggle upon Italian affairs has been greatly exaggerated. Certainly there were at first a few critical years to be passed through, but, as the imperial power in the north and center of Italy was practically extinct, its interference in religious affairs was no longer to be dreaded. The necessary declarations had been made by the Popes Gregory II and Gregory III, and constant reiteration would have been futile. It was no longer an Italian but an Eastern question. The Holy See was particularly involved, not only because all religious matters, however distant, were her peculiar province, but also because the forfeiture of her Sicilian patrimonies and the dividing up of her ecclesiastical department which ensued affected her very deeply. Again, as was shown by the gift of Norma and Nimfa, certain mitigations might be hoped for. After the embittered attitude of the first few years, a new phase of a more or less diplomatic nature had been entered upon.

The Roman duchy, in brief, was about to become a self-governing state, nominally subject to the Greek empire, but really attached to it by very loose bonds. Venice and Naples were in the same position. In both places a local autonomy was being organized on the strength of their strong maritime positions. Naples could also rely upon efficient support from the Patrician of Sicily. That island was being organized under a military government, presided over by the local duke.

These three autonomies contrived to exist for many a long year. That of Naples received its death-blow at the hands of the Norman King Roger in 1139. The other two were much longer lived. As late as 1797 they were attacked by Buonaparte, and again in 1870 by General Cadorna. Indeed, these officers might almost be said to have fired on the Roman Empire.

Let us now turn our attention to the duchy of Rome, to its situation at the death of Zachary (752), and to the series of events which, while delivering it out of the hands of the Lombards, yet indirectly strengthened the opposition of the other two.