RegnumLangobardorumDCS Libre

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Byzantine influence on theRegnum Langobardorum

according Paul the Deacon

Nicola Bergamo

This essay is focused on a single source: theHistoria Langobardorum1by Paul the Deacon.The clear reason explaining this choice is that it is the only original source that dealt with theLombards.2Paul the Deacon as a source is not without fault. He wrote this important historiasome200 years after the arrival of Lombards3and he had access to other early sources such as historiola,no longer extant, written by Bishop Secundus of Trent.4Some parts of the Paul the Deacons workcontinues to be obscure, as the concept offara,5or the office of duke.6According C. Wickham,7the

Historiaof Paul the Deacon is not valid for the first period, especially for the sixth century, becauseof the hostile interference by Gregory of Tours and Gregory the Great. Besides, Paul the Deacon didnot describe the whole history of the Lombards because he stopped with Liutprand (712-744), whilethe last Lombards king was Desiderius (756-774). However, the Historia Langobardorum, is theonly one written source for this period and for this reason it is very important for the study of the

Regnum Langobardoum.

The migration from Scandinavia to Pannonia

According Paul the Deacon, the Lombards came from the north of Europe, more exactlyfrom Scandinavia, a sort of legendary land from where most Germanic peoples were usually saidto originate.8In the beginning they called themselves Winniliand they changed their name after amilitary victory against Vandals with the help of their god called Godan9. This pagan god, calledsometime Godan and other time Wotan, was very similar to Mercury of the Roman pantheon.According to Paul the Deacon:

Wotan sane, quem adiecta littera Godan dixerunt, ipse est qui apud Romanos Mercurius dicitur etab universis Germaniae gentibus ut deus adoratur10

1 Paul the Deacon, Historia Langobardorum[hereafter HL], The Northvegr Foundation, online resource,http://www.northvegr.org/main.phptranslated by Rick Riedlinger. (last accessed 19-01-2009).2C. Wickham,Early Medieval Italy. Central Power and Local Society 400-1000(London, 1981), 36.3J. Moorhead, Ostrogothic Italy and the Lombard invasions, The New Cambridge Medieval History, I, c.500-c700,edited by Paul Fouracre (Cambridge, 2005), 140-161, especially 153. P. Delogu, Longobardi e Romani:altrecongetture, in Il regno dei Longobardi in Italia, archeologia, societ e istituzioni, CISAM (Spoleto, 2004), 93-173,especially 94-95.4

Moorehead (2005), 1545For other close examination see Moorehead (2005), 154, and footnote 28.,6Moorehead (2005), 1547Wickham, (1981), 81.8Paul the Deacon,Historia Langobardorum, (HL) I, 1. In like manner also the race of Winnili, that is, of Langobards,which afterwards ruled prosperously in Italy, deducing its origin from the German peoples, came from the island whichis called Scandinavia, although other causes of their emigration are also alleged..9HL, I, 8, And when Godan saw them at sunrise he said: "Who are these long-beards?" And then Frea induced him togive the victory to those to whom he had given the name.[1] And thus Godan gave the victory to the Winnili. Thesethings are worthy of laughter and are to be held of no account10HL, I, 9. Wotan indeed, whom by adding a letter they called Godan is he who among the Romans is called Mercury,and he is worshiped by all the peoples of Germany as a god inverted commas


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The Lombards were known to the Romans merely as a wild and barbaric people completelyextraneous to the romanitas, given that Paterculus had written written about them :

Fracti Langobardi, gens etiam Germana feritate ferocior 11

According Tacitus, they were brave and great warriors:

Contra Langobardos paucitas nobilitat: plurimis ac valentissimis nationibus cincti non perobsequium, sed proeliis ac periclitando tuti sunt 12

In the beginning of their society, they did not have the concept of a permanent kingdom; the personof the king was elected when all the people felt they were in danger or when they preparedthemselves for migration. The Germanic tradition did not conceptualise a figure of a strong king; onthe contrary the king was primus inter pares, chosen because of his elite birth and his incrediblestrength. According to Tacitus :

Reges ex nobilitate, duces ex virtute sumunt. Nec regibus infinita aut libera potestas, et ducesexemplo potius quam imperio, si prompti, si conspicui, si ante aciem agant, admirationepraesunt.13

After several wars against other border people, the Lombards were started their Vlkerwanderung,until they arrived in the centre of Europe. They have been there more than forty years. In this periodthey had first contact with the Byzantine Empire, when the Emperor Justinian gave to their king,Audin, afoedus (a treaty of alliance). According to Procopius :

The Emperor (Justinian) donated to the Lombards, the city of Noricus, other strongholds inPannonia and other cities as well as a lot of richness.14

After that, some Lombards became part of the imperial army, according Procopius

Some of them were in service in the Roman army, they belong to thefoederati15

During the Gothic war, the Lombards were used to fight against the Goths, especially duringthe battle of Taginae (552) according Procopius, the Lombards fought in the first line after they haddismounted from their horses. After the victory against the Goths, Narses, leader in Italy of theByzantine Army, sent the Lombards out beyond the Italian border because of their attitudes theywere too rude with the Italic populations.

After the Gothic war, Italy became part of the Byzantine Empire once more and Justinianenacted Pragmatica Sanctiowith the intention of helping the new Italic province, laid low by thelong war. The result of this new system of law could not be seen because of the Lombards invasion.According to Moorhead16, such security and prosperity as Italy enjoyed after the Byzantineconquest were destined to be short-lived.17The Lombards came to Italy from the East and in onlythree years they had conquered a huge part of northern Italy. According Paul the Deacon, it was

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, C. Velleivs PatercvlvsHistoriae Romanae, II, 106. Not all upper case12TacitusACITUS, Germania, 40. Not all upper case13Tacitus, Germania, 7. In the choice of kings they are determined by the splendour of their race, in that of generals bytheir bravery. Neither is the power of their kings unbounded or arbitrary: and their generals procure obedience not somuch by the force of their authority as by that of their example, when they appear enterprising and brave, when theysignalise themselves by courage and prowess; and if they surpass all in admiration and pre-eminence, if they surpass allat the head of an army14Procopius, Got, III, 3315Procopius, Got, III, 33. Foederati were a group or entire population allied with the Roman/Byzantine. They fought forthe Roman/Byzantine army and they got as reward, gold or lands from the Empire.16Moorhead, (2005), 151.17Moorhead, (2005), 151.


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Narses, from the city of Naples where he was living after his exile decreed by the new EmperorJustin II, who summoned the Lombards :

Itaque odio metuque exagitatus in Neapolim Campaniae civitatem secedens, legatos mox adLangobardorum gentem dirigit, mandans, ut paupertina Pannoniae rura desererent et ad Italiamcunctis refertam divitiis possidendam venirent18

There is no other evidence19of the Lombard summons as presented by Paul the Deacon.He probably wrote this statement after the real invasion to legitimize the invasion as being directlyendorsed by the viceroy of Italy in that time: Narses. According to Neil Christie20 the Lombardswere engaged by the Byzantine Empire against the growing nation of the Franks. The Lombards, inthis alliance, were settled in North of Italy like foederatiand not like an enemy people; the samehappened with the Goths in the East during the reign of Theodosius I (378-392). This theory,however, does not analyze either the figure of Justin II (certainly he was not a far-sightedEmperor), nor the writing of Corippus. There are no references to this strange alliance.

Probably Narses called the Lombards to North Italy against the Franks, but this plan wasnot agreed by Constantinople, as Christie points out but an action organized by Narses. Thenorthern regions of Italy were already claimed by the Merovingians during Justinians reign. 21This

theory could explain the reason of the weak defense by the Byzantine army, the quick Lombardconquest of the north of Italy, and the war against the king of Burgundy by the Lombards dukes.Further this theory, whilst lacking direct corroborating evidence, does try to explain the supposedLombard summon by Narses.

The constitution of the Lombards kingdom in Italy

The king Alboin(560-572)

Alboin was the king who conquered Italy and established the first Lombard kingdom in theItalic peninsula. He was known as a great leader and as a great warrior. When his father, Audin, wasalive, he fought against the Gepids and with his brave ability he was in able to kill the son of the

Gepids king. After these heroic deeds and after have been king of Lombards, he made war againstthe Gepids and led his people to victory. The Gepids were completely smashed22and Alboin killedtheir king called Cunimund:

In eo proelio Alboin Cunimundum occidit, caputque illius sublatum, ad bibendum ex eo poculumfecit. Quod genus poculi apud eos scala dicitur, lingua vero Latina patera vocitatur23

Alboin married Cunimunds daughter and then he marched into Italy: the new promised land. Hearrived at the Italian border, according Paul the Deacon, on Easter day of 568 A. D. He crossed theAlps with both his and with a multitude of different people:

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HL, II, 5, Therefore, greatly racked by hate and fear, he withdrew to Neapolis (Naples), a city of Campania, and soonsent messengers to the nation of the Langobards, urging them to abandon the barren fields of Pannonia and come andtake possession of Italy, teeming with every sort of riches19According P. D. II, 5, At the same time he sends many kinds of fruits and samples of other things with which Italy iswell supplied, whereby to attract their minds to come, this statement may prove that the summons of Narses was nottrue.20N. Christie, Invasion or Invitation? The Lombard Occupation of Northern Italy, in Romanobarbarica, 11, pp. 79-108.21W. Pohl,Le origini etniche dellEuropa, Viella, Roma 2000, 172.22HL, I, 27, but the race of the Gepidae were so diminished that from that time on they had no king23HL, I, 27, In this battle Alboin killed Cunimund, and made out of his head, which he carried off, a drinking goblet.This kind of a goblet is called among them "scala," [5] but in the Latin language "patera."


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Igitur cum rex Alboin cum omni suo exercitu vulgique promiscui multitudine24

Alboin conquered the first Roman city known as Forum Julii (Cividale del Friuli) and he left hisnephew called Gisulf there as duke of that territory. Alboin gave, following Gisulfs request,numerousfaraeand horses for the government of that city:

Qui Gisulfs non prius se regimen eiusdem civitatis et populi suscepturum exidit, nisi ei quas ipseeligere evoluisse Langobardorum faras, hoc est generationes vel lineas, tribueret25

Paul the Deacon, with this statement, described Lombard society before the Romaninteraction. It is possible to read the existence of a fara, a sort of clan, as being very similar toothers proto-Germanic societies. This statement is also very important because it could show thenatuire of the Lombards administrative system before their arrival in Italy and how very differentthe two societies were. Alboin conquered most of the north-Italian regions apart from somestrategic cities that remained in Byzantine hands. He chose Pavia as the new capital of the Lombardkingdom according Paul the Deacon, just because it had resisted Alboins siege for three years.26There is no evidence that Pavia (Ticinum) was the only capital city of the kingdom, Verona andMilan were formal capitals as well.

Alboin was murdered by his wife and her lover. After the death of this important king, thekingdom fell into anarchy, well-known as anarchy of dukes this situation continued, according toPaul the Deacon, for ten years27.

The birth of the Lombard-Roman kingdom in Italy

The Byzantine Empire tried to stop the Lombard invasion in different ways: the first one was withthe expedition of Baduarius (576) but he failed; the second one with the alliance with the Franks.This kind of military alliance used to calculated the Franks army against the Lombardys tribessettled in the north of Italy. When the Lombardy dukes knew about this invasion by the Franks,paid for by the Byzantine, they decided, quoting Tacitus, to elect a king:

At vero Langobardi cum per annos decem sub potestate ducum fuissent, tandem communi consilioAuthari, Clephonis filium supra memorati principis, regem sibi statuerunt28

Authari (584-590), son of Cleph, became king of Lombard, the thirteenth one according theLombard genealogy. He was the first Lombard king to call himself Flavius:

Quem etiam ob dignitatem Flavium appellarunt29

This was not the first time that the name Flavius has been used in Italy, before Authari, Theodericalso called himself Flavius, but it was it s first use by a Lombard. This title, borrowed from thefamily name of Vespasian and Titus, afterwards was used by a number of their successors and bythe emperors of the East, and then transferred to other new barbaric king as Odoacar and Theodericin the west as a title. Thus Autaris choice was very important to prove the strength of the new

24HL, II, 8, Therefore, when king Alboin with his whole army and a multitude of people of all kinds 25HL, II, 9. This Gisulf announced that he would not first undertake the government of this city and people unlessAlboin would give him the "faras,26 HL, II, 27 The city of Ticinum indeed, after enduring the siege for three years and some months, at lengthsurrendered to Alboin and to the Langobards besieging it27HL, II, 32 After his death the Langobards had no king for ten years [1] but were under dukes, [2] and each one of thedukes held possession of his own city.28HL, III, 16 But the Langobards indeed, when they had been under the power of dukes for ten years, determined atlength by common consent that Authari, the son of their sovereign Cleph, above mentioned, should be their king29HL, III, 16 And they called him also Flavius on account of his high office


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Lombard kingdom to the Byzantine Empire. Autari was looking for some sort of recognition fromByzantium, the only empire on Earth and the most powerful political identity in Europe. The usageof this surname, now a quasi-title, that from now has been indicated to all following Lombard kings,was to prove Autharis power as the only king in Italy. His intentions were clear since of thebeginning of his reign when, according Paul the Deacon, he was crossing the entire Italic peninsulauntil he arrived in Calabria, where he threw down a lance and said:

Usque hic erunt Langobardorum fines30

This was a warning and a display of his purpose. Authari, the new king of Lombardy, wantedintended to rule all Italy.As well as the name of Flavius, Authari received a part of the ducal land and an amount of gold forthe maintenance of the new kingdom:

Huius in diebus ob restaurationem regni duces qui tunc erant omnem substantiarum suarummedietatem regalibus usibus tribuunt, ut esse possit, unde rex ipse sive qui ei adhaererent eiusqueobsequiis per diversa officia dediti alerentur31

The influence, even if slow, of the Byzantine Empire here is very clear. Only ten years before, the

Lombard kingdom was a sort of mixture of farae and tribes. During the reign of Authari thekingdom changed completely and it transformed itself into a Roman-barbaric kingdom. Accordingto Gasparri32, the Lombard kingdom emerged because the Lombard social fabric was broken up byinteraction with the Italic social fabric. The success of the kingdom was not certain at the beginningof the migration, but thanks to the co-operation of the prime movers group, it became a strong andimportant geopolitical reality in Italy.

The stabilization of Lombard reign.

The long war between the Lombard Kingdom and the Byzantine Empire in Italy was stopped afteranother disastrous offensive by the Exarch33Romanus in the 590. Thanks to the mediation of thePope Gregorius I the two competitors made a truce for three years. Theodolinda, wife of the newking Agilulf, was Catholic34 and she was able to begin an alliance with the Pope and with theCatholic elite. She started to build churches into Pavia and in other city of the Lombard kingdom35.Theodolinda ordered to build a new church outside Milan, in Monza, where some artists painted ahistory of the Lombards. The Byzantine-Roman vogue changes the costume of theLombards:

In qua pictura manifeste ostenditur, quomodo Langobardi eo tempore comam capitis tondebant, velqualis illis vestitus qualisve habitus erat. Siquidem cervicem usque ad occipitium radentes nudabant,

30HL, III, 32 "The territories of the Langobards will be up to this place."31HL, III, 16 In his days on account of the re-establishment of the kingdom, those who were then dukes gave up half oftheir possessions for royal uses that there might be the means from which the king himself and those who should attendhim and those devoted to his service throughout the various offices might be supported32

S. Gasparri,Il regno dei Longobardi in Italia. Archeologia, societ e istituzioni, Cisam, Spoleto,2004, 3.33This new figure was a governor who hold the military and the administrative powers in his hands. For other details ofExarch, G, Ravegnani, I bizantini in Italia, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2006. C. Diehl, tudes sur ladministration byzantinedans lexarchat de Ravenne (568-751), Paris 1888, 16, L. M. Hartmann, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte derbyzantinischen Verwaltung in Italien (570-750), Leipzig 1889.34 HL, IV, 5, The aforesaid pope then sent these books to queen Theudelinda, whom he knew to be undoubtedlydevoted to the faith of Christ and conspicuous in good works35HL, IV, 6 By means of this queen too, the church of God obtained much that was serviceable. For the Langobards,when they were still held in the error of heathenism, seized nearly all the property of the churches, but the king, movedby her wholesome supplication, not only held the Catholic faith but also bestowed many possessions upon the church ofChrist and restored to the honor of their wonted dignity bishops who were in a reduced and abject condition. Paul theDeacon made a mistake. Agilulf were very tolerant and allowing his son to be baptized as a Catholic.


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capillos a facie usque ad os dimissos habentes, quos in utramque partem in frontis discriminedividebant. Vestimenta vero eis erant laxa et maxime linea, qualia Anglisaxones habere solent,ornata institis latioribus vario colore contextis. Calcei vero eis erant usque ad summum pollicempene aperti et alternatim laqueis corrigiarum retenti. Postea vero coeperunt osis uti, super quasequitantes tubrugos birreos mittebant. Sed hoc de Romanorum consuetudine traxerant.36

According to Paul the Deacon the Lombards changed their life style in favour of Roman customs .

This is the first and probably the only claim, made by Paul the Deacon, that proved how strong theByzantine influence was on Lombard society. It is not known how and when this alteration wasmade. The situation, however, was changing. The king Agilulf (591-616), probably, effected thecrucial sudden shift:

Igitur sequenti estate mense iulio levatus est Adaloaldus rex super Langobardos apud Mediolanumin circo, in praesentia patris sui Agilulfi regis, adstantibus legatis Teudeperti regis Francorum, etdisponsata est eidem regio puero filia regis Teudeperti, et firmata est pax perpetua cum Francis.37

This representation of power was the exact copy of the Byzantine coronation. AccordingRavegnani38:

Giustino I venne proclamato nel Kathisma dellippodromo in questa occasione vi si erano

radunati i soldati e il popolo cittadino per proclamare il nuovo imperatore39

After the coronation of Leo I (457-474), who was the first Byzantine Emperor to receive his crownfrom the Patriarch of Constantinople, the religious ceremony became more important every year.During the sixth century, in any case, when the Roman tradition was still alive, the coronation ofthe emperor, was essentially connoted with a military nature. Corripus40and the Constantine VII 41described the election of Justin (518-527) and Justinian (527-565) with the important presence ofthe army officers. Seeing thatLombard society was known for its military tradition, the coronationof Adaloaldus was indeed important. According Paul the Deacon, there were present some people atthat ceremony, as his father, that probably had the same kind of coronation, and the embassy of theFranks. In this case Paul was exclusively focused only on the new alliance between the Lombardsand the Franks and he was not interested in describing the coronation ceremony further. For thisreason is not possible to draw a direct comparison between Lombard and Byzantine coronations,but it is certain that in the whole history of the Lombards the election of the king was made by the

36HL, IV, 22 In this painting it is clearly shown in what way the Langobards at that time cut their hair, and what wastheir dress and what their appearance. They shaved the neck, and left it bare up to the back of the head, having their hairhanging down on the face as far as the mouth and parting it on either side by a part in the forehead. Their garments wereloose and mostly linen, such as the Anglo-Saxons are wont to wear, ornamented with broad borders woven in variouscolors. Their shoes, indeed, were open almost up to the tip of the great toe, and were held on by shoe latchets interlacingalternately. But later they began to wear trousers, over which they put leggins of shaggy woolen cloth when they rode.

But they had taken that from a custom of the Romans37HL, IV, 30 In the following summer then, in the month of July, Adaloald was raised as a king over the Langobards,in the circus at Mediolanum (Milan) in the presence of his father, king Agilulf, and while the ambassadors of Teudepert,king of the Franks were standing by; and the daughter of king Teudepert was betrothed to the same royal youth andperpetual peace was established with the Franks.38G. Ravegnani,La corte di Giustiniano, Jouvence, Roma, 1989, . 20-2539Ravegnani (1989), 22. Justin was proclaimed in the Hyppodromuss kathisma in that occasion, the soldiers andthe people of the city were assembled for proclaiming the new Emperor40Corippe (Flavius Cresconius Corippus), Eloge de lempereur Justin II, texte tabli et traduiti par S. ANTES, Paris1981.41 Costantini Porphyrogeniti, De cerimoniis aulae byzantinae (=DE CER.) libri duo graece et latine e recens. I.I.REISKII, I, Bonnae 1829.


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entire Lombard army42 and this fact could demonstrate Byzantine influence on Lombardcoronation.

This coronation is not important only for those reason since it is possible to see another interestinginfluence of Byzantium, that is the coronation of the kings son. According Ravegnani:

Giustino di divina sorte cre il nostro piisimo signore Giustiniano nel grande Triklinos Erapresente anche il vescovo che fece una preghier e lo incoron e tutto si svolse allo stesso modoma nel Delphax e non allippodromo43

In this case, there is not much similarity between Lombard and Byzantine coronations, because theson was crowned in the Circus of Milan, compared with Justinian, as co-Emperor, elected in theDelphax and not in the Hyppodrome. However the Byzantine influence is always very clear.

This fact could be very useful for demonstrate how much, in this particular moment, the regnumbecame strong, as well. During the kingdom of Agilulf there was not any kind of election for thesuccession but only a kings choice, and this choice was made by the king himself. Agilulf was thefirst Lombard king that could decide his succession without any interference from the dukes. This

was a tremendous knock for the dukes independence; indeed after Agilulf, the kingdom becamestronger and was in able to make proper decision without any dukes interference. Even if Agilulfwas probably not Christian, he decided, perhaps on the advice of his Bavarian wife Theodolinda, tohave his son baptized as a Catholic.There is another important fact to remember during the kingdom of Agilulf, that is the existence ofthe bureaucracy system in service of the king. According Paul the Deacon:

Hac etiam tempestate misit rex Agilulf Stablicianum notarium suum Constantinopolim ad Focatemimperatorem. Qui rediens cum legatis imperatoris, facta pace annuali, Agilulfo regi idem legatiimperialia munera optulere.44

In this passage, it is possible to read the existence of a notarium, probably a trusted personalsecretary of the king. This person went directly to Constantinople to discuss the peace between

Agilulf and the Emperor Phocas (602-610). The result was brilliant and the notariumcame backfrom Constantinople with many imperial gifts. The ethnic origin of this person is unknown, but,since the new Byzantine revival during the Agilulf reign, probably he was a Roman. The Lombardsusually did not practice the liberal arts, being more concerned with the army. The distinctionbetween free-people and not-free people was made specifically in their ability to use weapons, andonly a Lombard was permitted to use weapons. This distinction was emphasized during the reign ofRotari.

The return to ancient Lombard tradition: the reign of Rotari

A new king, Rotari (636-652) was elected after 50 years of Romanisation. This king blocked theprocess of the integration between Lombards and Italic peoples, and he enacted the famous Edictbearing his name on 22ndNovember, 643. This Edict was very important for the Lombard societybecause, for the first time, they had written laws. According Paul the Deacon:

42S. Gasparri, C. Azzara, Le leggi dei Longobardi, Storia, memoria e diritto di un popolo germanico, Viella, Roma,2005, p. XLI-XLII.43Ravegnani (1989), 23. Justin, of the divine fate, made our sacred lord Justinian in the big Triklinos The bishopwas present and he praied for him and he crowned him and everything was carry out in the same way but in the Delphaxe not in the Hyppodromus.. For other detail, De Cer., I, 95, pp. 432-33.44HL, IV, 35 Also at this time king Agilulf sent his secretary Stablicianus to Constantinople to the emperor Focas, andwhen he returned with the ambassadors of the emperor, peace was made for a year, and the ambassadors presented toking Agilulf imperial gifts.


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Langobardorum regnum Rothari genere Arodus suscepit45

Rotari belonged to the Arodus family, and he was duke of Brescia.46 He was chosen byGundepergh, the widow of the king Arioald (626-636). Rotari had to fight against other families forthe control of the kingdom, but in the end he was in able to control the rebel forces and he becamethe new king.Rotari codified the entire Lombardy legal estate into a body of laws, and, as he wrote in theprologue, he wanted it as the new social tool of peace and united policy.47Before this change, theLombards had had only an oral legal tradition, as other ancient Germanic peoples. Now, after theEdict of Rothari, the Lombard people were unable to use the written laws that permitted to be moresimilar to Roman law. Rothari made another important choice, he decided to abandon the originalGermanic language, for the Latin language, spoken by the Roman-Italic peoples. Composing theentire body of laws, Rothari was helped by a Latin native speaker, even through the originaldocument was signed by the kings notary, Ansoald.48The Edict is completely different from theRoman law. The central feature was based on the difference between free-people (person who canown a weapon) and not-free people (person who can not own a weapon). Rothari called himselfonly king of the Lombards and not king of Italy as his predecessors had done before him. 49The

Edict did not contemplate the religious profile of his subjects: in the prologue, the king declaredhimself in relation to God but the kingdom was not made by Gods commission.50However, the Edict, is not so important for its content, at least for the purposes of this essay, but itholds another function: that is, the change of the language. The Lombards preferred Latin overtheir own language. There are no reason for this choice, at least not in the secondary sources I haveexamined. Probably the Latin language was a sort of universal language and understandable byeveryone also outside of Italy. Latin was the language of the Roman law and maybe for this reason,Rothari decided to write his Edict in Latin. Anyway it is curious to see that while in Italy theLombards changed their language from the Germanic dialect to Latin, as the Byzantine Empire waschanging its language from Latin to Greek.After the death of Rothari, his son, Rodoald (652-653) became king. He decided to share hiskingdom with Gundiperga (daughter of Agilulf and Theodolinda). This is the only time that a

Lombard king shared his crown with his wife:

Rodoald igitur post funus patris Langobardorum regnum suscipiens, Gundipergam Agilulfi etTheudelindae sibi filiam sociavit51.

The debate is still open in this case, because some translation made Gundiperga only the Rodoaldswife added the word [in matrimonium] before sibi filiam and after sociavit. Other studies,otherwise, did not accept this choice and they preferred the system of the co-reign. In this case, Iagreed with the second hypothesis because was not possible for the Church accepted this kind ofmarriage and at the same time was impossible for the Rotaris law (art. 185). Probably, Rodoalddecided to keep Gundiperga as co-ruler only because of the descent of Gundiperga, she belonged tothe Bavarian dynasty, one of the most important and powerful family in the entireRegnum.52

45HL, IV, 42, and Rothari of the race of Arodus, received the kingdom of the Langobards46P. Delogu A. Guillou G. Ortalli, Il regno longobardo, in Longobardi e Bizantini (Storia dItalia diretta da G.Galasso, I), UTET, Torino 1980, pp. 3-216, p. 54.47Delogu (1980), 55.48Delogu (1980), 55.49Delogu (1980), 56..50Delogu (1980), 57., p. 57.51HL, IV, 47 Rodoald then received the kingdom of the Langobards after the death of his father, and united withhimself in (marriage or co-reign) Gundiperga the daughter of Agilulf and Theudelinda52Delogu (1980), 86-87.


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This new system could be very similar at the byzantine in coronation of the Princess in Byzantium.According Ravegnani: lower case

Limperatrice bizantina aveva lo stesso titolo del marito al femminile: nel tardo antico augusta(inGreco sebast) e nella terminologia greca, basils, baslissa o autokratorissa53

According Ravegnani:

Il sovrano in carica, inoltre, aveva il diritto di incoronare una donna che non fosse sua moglie54

This sentence could be very helpfully for this research because it makes a sort of relation betweenthe Lombard king and the Byzantine Empire, regarding only the choice of the woman that used tosit close the king. Gundiperga was the only woman to be crowned during the Lombard reign,otherwise in the Byzantine Empire the Vasilissas coronation was much common.Gundiperga built a new church where she express the intention to be interred there after her death:

aec Gundiperga regina ad instar suae genetricis, sicut illa in Modicia, sic et ista intra Ticinensemcivitatem basilicam in honorem beati Iohannis baptistae construxit, quam mire ex auro et argentopeplisque decoravit rebusque singulis opime ditavit; in qua et eius corpus tumulatum quiescit55

The Bavarian dynasty and the rise of Catholicism

The return of the Bavarian dynasty, after the brief interlude of the Arodus, kept with it the return ofthe Catholicism in the whole kingdom. Aripert (653-661) become the Lombard king and like hisfamily he was Catholic. This return of Catholicism permitted to the Lombard kingdom to be moreopen with the Pope and with the ecclesiastical elite. Aripert subsistuted Arianism for Catholicism,especially after the decision of Byzantium to choose the new doctrine called monotheletism.56Arianism in Italy was never support by the Lombard king, expect probably only by Rotari; on theother hand the Catholicism flourished. The peaceful conversion of the last Arian bishop of Pavia,Anastasius, proved the event.57Aripert built a new church consecrated to Christ the Saviour, and so

he was proving his Catholic creed. According Paul the Deacon:

Hic condidit apud Ticinum oraculum domini Salvatoris, quod extra portam occidentalem, quaedicitur Marenca, situm est; quod et ornamentis variis decoravit et substantiis sufficienter ditavit58

At the same time, Aripert did his best for restoring some churches in Milan, in Monza and in Pavia.This was the first expression of the dignity and the Catholic royalty59by a Lombard king. The newneed of devout place, permitted a new architectural and religious building revival in the entirekingdom. Aripert was one of the first Lombard king to be buried in a churhc he built. This traditionwas begun by Aripert and it was used by all others Lombard kings.

53

G. Ravegnani, Imperatori di Bisanzio, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2008, 85. The Byzantine Empress had the same title asher husband: in the late antiquity her name was Augusta (in greek sebast) in the greek terminology, basils,baslissa or autokratorissa.54Ravegnani (2008),85. The Emperor was in able to crown any woman that he prefered, even if she was not his wife55HL, IV, 47 This Gundiperga in imitation of her mother, just as the latter had done in Modicia (Monza), so the formerwithin the city of Ticinum (Pavia) built a church in honor of St. John the Baptist, which she decorated wonderfully withgold and silver and draperies and enriched bountifully with particular articles, and in it her body lies buried56Delogu (1980), 87.57Delogu (1980), 88.58HL, IV, 48 He established at Ticinum a sanctuary of our Lord and Saviour, which lay outside the western gate thatis called Marenca and he decorated it with various ornaments and enriched it sufficiently with possessions.59Delogu (1980), 87.


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This change probably was decided by Aripert himself, in fact there was not the cooperation with thePope and his ecclesiastical group, but it was, however, very important for the kingdom in Italy,especially for the relationship with Byzantium. The Byzantine Empire, in that moment, wasengaged with a Christological problem bound with the monotheletism, but the empire was alwaysthe centre of Christianity and probably the Lombard kingdom tried to be in conformity with it.Ariperts choice to be buried in a Church was very similar to a Byzantine tradition. The emperors

in Byzantium used to be buried into the Church of the Holy Apostles. According Ravegnani:La chiesa dei Santi Apostoli a Costantinopoli fu per secoli il principale sepolcreto imperiale cometale venne utilizzato fino allXI secolo (lultimo ad esservi sepolto fu Costantino VIII nel 1028)60

The Bavarian dynasty was interrupted by Grimuald of Benevento (662-671) who took advantage ofthe quarrel between Ariperts sons. According Paul the Deacon the new king detested the Romansand he was the incarnation of the old Lombard. He was king for nine years. He was a great warriorseeing that he won against the Byzantine Emperor61Constans II , and he married Ariperts daughterto unite himself to the Bavarian dynasty. For this essay, it is more interesting to see how his courtfunctioned. According Paul the Deacon:

Eumque mox inter suos vestiarios esse praecepit, ammonens eum, ut sibi eandem fidem quam

Perctarit habuerat servaret62

This sentence proves the existence of the vestiarii,that is a loyal people very closed to the king.The loyalty of the Pertcatits vestioriuswas so clear that Grimoald decided to keep him for the kinghimself. This important figure was very common in the Byzantine Empire and for this reason theyhad to be eunuch.63 In the west we have no prove of this Byzantine custom but of course thevestiariiheld very important assignments.Grimoald, before dying, built a big church called Blessed Ambrogio and after his death he wasinterred in it64, as other Lombard kings before him.

The peace with Byzantium

The two-years period from 678 to 680 was so important for the Lombard king and for Byzantium aswell. In 679 was allowed to the bishops resident in the regnum, to participate at a Roman synodagainst the Monotheletism, in preparation for the Ecumenical council. This occasion was used tosend some emissary to make the peace with the Empire. For the first time the Byzantine Empirerecognized the Lombard kingdom, and its sovereignty over the occupied territory in Italy.65Thispact permitted a new relationship between Constantinople and Pavia.Thanks to this new relationships, the Byzantine Empire could be seen by the Lombards as akingdom to be imitated. The Lombard kingdom became a strong reality in Italy, with a proper court,proper judges, proper laws and with a proper king dynasty.66The Byzantine influence in this periodwas so present, according Paul the Deacon:

60Ravegnani (2008), 160 The Church of Holy Apostles in Constantinople has been until the 11 th century a principallittle sepulchre where the Emperors were buried into. (the last Emperor was Constantine 8 thin 1028)61HL, V, 10.62HL, V, 3 And presently, he ordered that he should be among his own valets enjoining him to observe toward himselfthe same fidelity he had kept to Perctarit and promising to bestow upon him many advantages63Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (hereafter ODB), 1123.64HL, V, 33.65Delogu (1980), 100. L. M. Hartmann, Geschicte Italiens im Mittelalter, II/1, p. 279, nota 2366Delogu (1980), 105.


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Exindeque ad patriam tendens, cum ad claustra Italiae venniset, iam ibi omnia obsequia palatinaomnequeregiam dignitatem cum magna Langobardorum moltitudine praeparatam, se repperitexpectari67.

Pavia became the capital of the kingdom. The kings from Perctarit (671-688) to the last one 68,Liutprand (712-744) continued to build churches and other buildings in Pavia. In less than a centurythe Lombard society was completely changed. From Pertctarit they became an important kingdom

in Europe, especially during the reign of Liutrprand, who is considered as the apogee of the entireLombard history.

Conclusion

Byzantine influence was very important for the existence of the Lombard kingdom. Clearly theByzantine Empire wanted to stop Lombard expansion in Italy but they were not able to do that. Theinfluence of Byzantium was very clear in some part of the oeuvre by Paul the Deacon and it hasbeen explained in this modest essay.The Lombards changed their life style completely, from the Scandinavian migration until thecollapsed against Charlemagne (768-814). Lombard society was represented by the clans, called byPaul the Deaconfarae, without a strong figure of the king and without any kingdom in mind. Aftertheir arrival in Italy the situation changed completely. Alboin became the first Italic king and hewas in able to build a sort of kingdom only thanks of his strength and his reputation. After his death,probably related with Byzantine interference, the anarchy of dukes showed how the situation of theLombard kingdom really was, and they invested ten years to be ready having a king. Authari was, infact, the first Lombard king that called himself Flavius, a sort of ancient Roman remembrance thatwas meaning to be the only king in the entire italic peninsula. After Authari all the others kingscalled themselves Flavius as a surname. Agiluf made another step to reinforce the kingdomassociating his son as king in a typical byzantine representation of power in the circus of Milan.Well then the conversion to the Catholicism permitted to Lombardy to be inserted into the bigpolitical European puzzle as new and Catholic kingdom.In all this period Byzantium fought against Lombardy and they tried every way for winning against

this Germanic people, but without luck. The Byzantine influence was so important for thecontinuous contacts between the two political identities in Italy. At least, especially after the peaceof 680, the border was quite indistinguishable between the Lombard and Byzantine territories.Byzantium transformed, probably against its will, the wild Lombard tribes into a new Roman-barbaric kingdom.

67HL, V, 34. And then directing his course to his own country, when he had come to the confines of Italy he foundalready there awaiting him all the retinue of the palace, and all the royal officials in readiness together with a greatmultitude of the Langobards68Liutprand was the last Lombard king described by Paul the Deacon.

Documents

RegnumLangobardorumDCS Libre