The codes of law, especially the Codex Theodosianus (A.D. 438) and the code of Justinian, as well as the army list of the early 5th century, known as the Notitia Dignitatum, possess great historical value. For the inscriptions of the empire, which are of incalculable importance as showing the working of the imperial system in its details, see INSCRIPTIONS ; the coins (q.v.) also throw much light on the dark places of history in the lack of other authorities. Egyptian papyri are not only instructive as to legal, economic and administra tive history, but also contribute to our general knowledge of events. (See especially Mitteis-Wilcken, Chrestomatie, 1912, and bibliography in Rostovtzeff, Social and Economic History of Rome, 1926.) The Zeitschrift fur Papyrusforschung, ed. by U. Wilcken, gives an account of progress in this branch of study.
The history of the city of Rome during the middle ages was overshadowed by the history of the papacy. The latter has left many documents; for the city there are very few, especially for the period before the 13th century. As the foundations were so ill-defined there was opportunity for historians to theorize on what the superstructure had been; and the theories were in fluenced by the ideas, patriotic or otherwise biased, held in the 19th century. One favourite theory was the existence of an aristo cratic republic contending against the popes until overthrown by the popular revolution in 1143, when the commune arose. Of this aristocratic republic the consuls were thought to have been the heads, and the existence and functions of the senate were much discussed. This theory was held by some of the leading historians : Hegel, Gregorovius and Villari.
These views are no longer held. Some important documents have been discovered and made accessible by publication. Halphen and others whose works are cited in the bibliography have done much to elucidate the early history. Much still remains to be done, but it is probable that the analogies drawn in the past between the history of Rome and that of the other cities in Italy are misleading. The deserted Campagna surrounding the city checked any notable increase of trade or industry and prevented the establishment of gilds on the footing that elsewhere made them the basis and support of a commune. Moreover, the Cam pagna was unhealthy and ill-fitted for agriculture. The population of the city was very small. There was no strong middle class among its citizens, whose leaders were usually rude, illiterate nobles. Only slowly did the forces which were at work elsewhere in Italy penetrate into the city and cause the rise of a belated commune. What part was played by the memory of the tra ditions of republican Rome is a mooted question. The city was styled respublica; the titles senator, consul, prefect, occur re peatedly; but it is necessary to be on one's guard against drawing inferences from the long-continued or revived use of old terms.
The Gothic rule merely superimposed upon the Roman social order a Teutonic stratum that never penetrated beneath its sur face. The senate, the principal magistrates, both provincial and municipal, the prefect of the city, and the Roman judges enforc ing the enactments of the Roman law, were all preserved. Hence there was no visible change in the constitution of the city. The wars of Belisarius and Narses against the Goths (A.D. 535-555) caused terrible slaughter and devastation in Italy, and finally subjected her to Constantinople. In place of a Gothic king she was ruled at first by a pretorian prefect and later by an exarch (first mentioned in 584), who had his seat of government at Ravenna. The pragmatic sanction (554), promulgating the Justinian code, separated the civil from the military power, and, by conferring on the bishops the authority over the provincial and municipal government, soon led to the increase of the power of the Church.
Roman institutions were altered; but their original features were still to be traced, and no heterogeneous element had been introduced. The dawn of a new epoch can be dated from the invasion of the Lombards (568-572). Their conquest of a large portion of Italy reduced the inhabitants almost to slavery. But, in the unsubdued parts of the country—namely, in Ravenna, Rome and the maritime cities—a very different state of things prevailed. The necessity for self-defence and the distance of the empire, now too weak to render any assistance, compelled the in habitants to depend solely on their own strength. In Rome we behold the rapid growth of the papal power and the continual increase of its political influence. Not only the superintendence but often the nomination of public functionaries and judges was in the hands of the popes. And the accession to St. Peter's chair of a man of real genius in the person of Gregory I., surnamed the Great, marked the beginning of a new era. By force of individual character this pope was the true representative of the city, the born defender of Church and State. His ecclesiastical authority, already great throughout Italy, was specially great in the Roman diocese and in southern Italy. The offerings of the faithful had endowed the Church with enormous possessions in the province of Rome, in Sicily, Sardinia, and other parts. The administration of this property assumed the shape of a small government council in Rome. The use made by the pope of his revenues greatly contrib uted to the increase of his moral and political authority. When the city was besieged by the Lombards and the emperor left his army unpaid, Gregory supplied the required funds and thus made resistance possible. And when the defence could be no longer maintained he alone, by the weight of his personal influence and the payment of large sums, induced the Lombards to raise the siege. He negotiated in person with Agilult and was recognized by him as the true representative of the city.