The Greek presses of Aldus and the Italians were confined to the classics of a better age; and the first rude editions of Procopius, Agathias, Cedrenus, Zonaras, &c., were published by the learned diligence of the Germans. The whole Byzantine series (xxxvi. volumes in folio) has gradually issued (A. D. 1648, &c.) from the royal press of the Louvre, with some collateral aid from Rome and Leipsic; out the Venetian edition, (A. D. 1729,) though cheaper and more copious, is not less inferior in correctness than in magnificence to that of Paris. The merits of the French editors are various; but the value of Anna Comnena, Cinnamus, Villehardouin, &c., is enhanced by the historical notes of Charles de Fresne du Cange. His supplemental works, the Greek Glossary, the Constantinopolis Christiana, the Familiæ Byzantine, diffuse a steady light over the darkness of the Lower Empire.* ABW *The new edition of the Byzantines, projected by Niebuhr, and continued under the patronage of the Prussian government, is the most convenient in size, and contains some authors (Leo Diaconus, Johannes Lydus, Corippus, the new fragments of Dexippus, Eunapius, &c., discovered by Mai) which could not be comprised in the former collections; but the names of such editors as Bekker, the Dindorfs, &c., raised hopes of some thing more than the mere republication of the text, and the notes of former editors. Little, I regret to say, has been added of annotation, and in some cases, the old incorrect versions have been retained. — M. CHAPTER LXIX. STATE OF ROME FROM THE TWELFTH CENTURY. TEMPORAL DOMINION OF THE POPES. SEDITIONS OF THE CITY. -- POLITICAL HERESY OF Arnold OF BRESCIA. RESTORATION OF THE REPUBLIC. THE SENATORS. 11 PRIDE OF THE ROMANS THEY ARE DEPRIVED OF THE ELECTION THEIR WARS. ---- FEUD OF THE AND PRESENCE OF THE POPES, WHO RETIRE TO AVIGNON. →→ In the first ages of the decline and fall of the Roman em. pire, our eye is invariably fixed on the royal city, which had given laws to the fairest portion of the globe. We contem plate her fortunes, at first with admiration, at length with pity, always with attention; and when that attention is diverted from the capital to the provinces, they are considered as so many branches which have been successively severed from the Imperial trunk. The foundation of a second Rome, on the shores of the Bosphorus, has compelled the historian to follow the successors of Constantine; and our curiosity has been tempted to visit the most remote countries of Europe and Asia, to explore the causes and the authors of the long decay of the Byzantine monarchy. By the conquest of Justinian, we have been recalled to the banks of the Tyber, to the deliverance of the ancient metropolis; but that deliverance was a change, or perhaps an aggravation, of servitude. Rome had been already stripped of her trophies, her gods, and her Cæsars; nor was the Gothic dominion more inglori ous and oppressive than the tyranny of the Greeks. In the eighth century of the Christian æra, a religious quarrel, the worship of images, provoked the Romans to assert their independence their bishop became the temporal, as well as the spiritual, father of a free people; and of the Western empire, which was restored by Charlemagne, the title and image still decorate the singular constitution of modern Germany. The name of Rome must yet command our involuntary respect : the climate (whatsoever may be its influence) was no longer the same 1 the purity of blood had been contaminated through a thousand channels; but the venerable aspect of ner ruins, and the memory of past greatness, rekindled a spark of the national character. The darkness of the middle ages exhibits some scenes not unworthy of our notice. Nor shall I dismiss the present work till I have reviewed the state and revolutions of the ROMAN CITY, which acquiesced under the absolute dominion of the popes, about the same time that Constantinople was enslaved by the Turkish arms. In the beginning of the twelfth century, the æra of the first crusade, Rome was revered by the Latins, as the metropolis of the world, as the throne of the pope and the emperor, who, from the eternal city, derived their title, their honors, and the right or exercise of temporal dominion. After so long an interruption, it may not be useless to repeat that the successors of Charlemagne and the Othos were chosen beyond the Rhine in a national diet; but that these princes were content with the humble names of kings of Germany and Italy. till they had passed the Alps and the Apennine, to seek their Imperial crown on the banks of the Tyber. At some dis tance from the city, their approach was saluted by a long procession of the clergy and people with palms and crosses; and the terrific emblems of wolves and lions, of dragons and eagles, that floated in the military banners, represented the departed legions and cohorts of the republic. The royal The abbé Dubos, who, with less genius than his successor Mon tesquieu, has asserted and magnified the influence of climate, objects to himself the degeneracy of the Romans and Batavians. To the first of these examples he replies, 1. That the change is less real than apparent, and that the modern Romans prudently conceal in themselves the virtues of their ancestors. 2. That the air, the soil, and the climate of Rome have suffered a great and visible alteration, (Réflexions sur la Poësie et sur la Peinture, part ii. sect. 16.)* The reader has been so long absent from Rome, that I woula advise him to recollect or review the xlixth chapter of this History. 3 The coronation of the German emperors at Rome, more especially in the xith century, is best represented from the original monuments by Muratori (Antiquitat. Italiæ Medii Ævi, tom. i. dissertat. i. p. 99, &c.) and Cenni, (Monument. Domin. Pontif. tom. ii. diss. vi. p. 261,) the e latter of whom I only know from the copious extract of Schmidt, des Allemands, tom. iii. p. 255–266.) This question is discussed at considerable length in Dr. Arnold's History of Rome, ch. xxiii. See likewise Bunsen's Dissertation on the Aria Cattiva. Roms Beschreibung, pp. 82, 108. — M. But oath to maintain the liberties of Rome was thrice reiterated at the bridge, the gate, and on the stairs of the Vatican; and the distribution of a customary donative feebly imitated the magnificence of the first Cæsars. In the church of St. Peter, the coronation was performed by his successor the voice of God was confounded with that of the people; and the public consent was declared in the acclamations of "Long life and victory to our lord the pope! long life and victory to our lord the emperor! long life and victory to the Roman and Teutonic armies ! " 4 The names of Cæsar and Augustus, the laws of Constantine and Justinian, the example of Charlemagne and Otho, established the supreme dominion of the emperors: their title and image was engraved on the papal coins 5 and their jurisdiction was marked by the sword of justice, which they delivered to the præfect of the city every Roman prejudice was awakened by the name, the language, and the manners, of a Barbarian lord. The Cæsars of Saxony or Franconia were the chiefs of a feudal aristocracy; nor could they exercise the discipline of civil and military power, which alone secures the obedience of a distant people, impatient of servitude, though perhaps incapable of freedon.. Once, and once only, in his life, each emperor, with an army of Teutonic vassals, descended from the Alps. I have described the peaceful order of his entry and coronation; but that order was commonly disturbed by the clamor and sedition of the Romans, who encountered their sovereign as a foreign invader his departure was always speedy, and often shameful; and, in the absence of a long reign, his authority was insulted, and his name was forgotten.d The progress of independence in Germany and Italy undermined the foundations of the Imperial sovereignty, and the triumph of the popes was the deliverance of Rome. aom ed) lo goory Isagereg Of her two sovereigns, the emperor had precariously reigned by the right of conquest; but the authority of the pope was founded on the soft, though more solid, basis of Exercitui Romano et Teutonico! The latter was both seen and felt; but the former was no more than magni nominis umbra. beteb 5 Muratori has given the series of the papal coins, (Antiquitat. tom. ii. diss. xxvii. p. 548–554.) He finds only two more early than the year 800 fifty are still extant from Leo III. to Leo IX., with the addition of the reigning emperor; none remain of Gregory VII., or Urban II.; but in those of Paschal II. he seems to have renounced this badge of dependence. opinion and habit. The removal of a foreign influence re. stored and endeared the shepherd to his flock. Instead of the arbitrary or venal nomination of a German court, the vicar of Christ was freely chosen by the college of cardinals, most of whom were either natives or inhabitants of the city. The applause of the magistrates and people confirmed his elec tion, and the ecclesiastical power that was obeyed in Sweden and Britain had been ultimately derived from the suffrage of the Romans. The same suffrage gave a prince, as well as a pontiff, to the capital. It was universally believed, that Constantine had invested the popes with the temporal dominion of Rome; and the boldest civilians, the most profane sceptics, were satisfied with disputing the right of the emperor and the validity of his gift. The truth of the fact, the authenticity of his donation, was deeply rooted in the ignorance and tradition of four centuries; and the fabulous origin was lost in the real and permanent effects. The name of Dominus or Lord was inscribed on the coin of the bishops: their title was acknowledged by acclamations and oaths of allegiance, and with the free, or reluctant, consent of the German Cæsars, they hau long exercised a supreme or subordinate jurisdiction over the city and patrimony of St. Peter. The reign of the popes, which gratified the prejudices, was not incompatible with the liberties, of Rome; and a more critical inquiry would have revealed a still nobler source of their power; the gratitude of a nation, whom they had rescued from the heresy and oppression of the Greek tyrant. In an age of superstition, it should seem that the union of the royal and sacerdotal characters would mutually fortify each other; and that the keys of Paradise would be the surest pledge of earthly obedience. The sanctity of the office might indeed be degraded by the personal vices of the man. But the scandals of the tenth century were obliterated by the austere and more dangerous virtues of Gregory the Seventh and his successors; and in the ambitious contests which they maintained for the rights of the church, their sufferings or their success must equally tend to increase the popular veneration. They sometimes wan dered in poverty and exile, the victims of persecution; and the apostolic zeal with which they offered themselves to mar. tyrdom must engage the favor and sympathy of every Catho lic breast. And sometimes, thundering from the Vatican, They created, judged, and deposed the kings of the world; nor could the proudest Roman be disgraced by submitting to a |