OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 29 in the palace of Verona. At the end of one yeai', it was dissolved by the death of Autharis ; but the virtues of Theude- linda "" had endeared her to the nation, and she was permitted to bestow, with her hand, the sceptre of the Italian kingdom. fVom this fact, as well as from similar events, ^^ it is certain Government that the Lombards possessed freedom to elect their sovereign, and sense to decline the frequent use of that dangerous privilege. The public revenue arose from the produce of land and the profits of justice. WJien the independent dukes agreed that Autharis should ascend the throne of his father, they endowed the regal office with a fair moiety of their respective domains. The proudest nobles aspired to the honours of servitude near the person of their prince ; he rewarded the fidelity of his vassals by the precarious gift of pensions and benefices ; and atoned for the injin-ies of war by the rich foundation of monasteries and churches. In peace a judge, a leader in war, he never usurped the powers of a sole and absolute legislator. The king of Italy convened the national assemblies in the palace, or more probably in the fields, of Pavia ; his great council was composed of the persons most eminent by their birth and dignities ; but the validity, as well as the execution, of their decrees depended on the approbation of the faUliful people, the fortunate army of the Lombards. About fourscore years after the conquest of Italy, their Laws. a.d. traditional customs were transcribed in Teutonic Latin,- and ' ratified by the consent of the prince and people ; some new regulations were introduced, more suitable to their pi-esent condition ; the example of Rotharis was imitated by the wisest of his successors ; and the laws of the Lombards have been esteemed the least im})erfect of the barbaric codes. ■* Secure by their courage in the possession of liberty, these rude and hasty legislators were incapable of balancing the powers of the constitution or of discussing the nice theory of political govern- ""Giannone (Istoria Civile di Napoli, torn. i. p. 263) has justly censured the impertinence of Boccaccio (Gio. iii. Novel. 2), who, without right, or truth, or pretence, has given the picas queen Theudelinda to the arms of a muleteer. '^^ Paul, 1. iii. c. 16. The first dissertation of Muratori and the first volume of Giannone's history may be consulted for the state of the kingdom of Italy. "2 The most accurate edition of the laws of the Lombards is to be found in the Scriptores Rerum Italicaruni, torn. i. part ii. p. 1-181, collated from the most ancient Mss. and illustrated by the critical notes of Muratori. [I^d. V. Bluhme, in Pertz, Mon. l.egg. iv. 607 .i</i/. (1868) ; also small separate oct. ed. (1869).] •"■' Montesquieu, Esprit des I,oi, 1. xxviii. c. i. Les loix des Bourguignons sont assez judicieuses : celles de Rotharis et des autres princes Lombards le sont encore plus.
