tories, was able to hold his dominions as an independent prince. Our present concern is with Rome at the close of the sixth century, when it was still part of the Eastern Empire.

The Roman province extended along the coast from Civita Vecchia to Terracina, and inland to Ameria and Narni. During the period which we have reached. -the close of the sixth century-the Duchy of Rome was in this condition: it was a dependency of the Exarchate of Ravenna, isolated amidst the Lombard conquests; ruled by the Exarch and his representative in Rome, but left to defend itself by its own diplomacy and force, in face of the hostile attitude of the Lombard Duke of Beneventum on the south. In 570-582, the clergy and Senate collected the remains of their ancient opulence, and sent an embassy to the Emperor Tiberius II., asking aid, and offering three thousand pounds of gold as their contribution to the cost of the expedition. The Emperor declared his inability to help them, and returned the money, advising the Romans either to buy peace from the Lombards with it, or to spend it in hiring the aid of the Franks. Rome had reached the lowest point of its depression. The influx of wealth from the revenues of the provinces had ceased; strangers no longer resorted to it for business or curiosity; large parts of the city were in ruins; the Campagna was falling into the condition of an unwholesome waste, from which it has never recovered. So great were the miseries of the time, as to produce in many minds the belief that the end of the world was at hand.

The Church of Rome had shared in the misfortunes