Chapter XLIX: Conquest Of Italy By The Franks.--Part VI.

There is nothing perhaps more adverse to nature and reason than to hold
in obedience remote countries and foreign nations, in opposition to
their inclination and interest. A torrent of Barbarians may pass over
the earth, but an extensive empire must be supported by a refined system
of policy and oppression; in the centre, an absolute power, prompt in
action and rich in resources; a swift and easy communication with the
extreme parts; fortifications to check the first effort of rebellion;
a regular administration to protect and punish; and a well-disciplined
army to inspire fear, without provoking discontent and despair. Far
different was the situation of the German Caesars, who were ambitious to
enslave the kingdom of Italy. Their patrimonial estates were stretched
along the Rhine, or scattered in the provinces; but this ample domain
was alienated by the imprudence or distress of successive princes;
and their revenue, from minute and vexatious prerogative, was scarcely
sufficient for the maintenance of their household. Their troops were
formed by the legal or voluntary service of their feudal vassals, who
passed the Alps with reluctance, assumed the license of rapine and
disorder, and capriciously deserted before the end of the campaign.
Whole armies were swept away by the pestilential influence of the
climate: the survivors brought back the bones of their princes and
nobles, [142] and the effects of their own intemperance were often
imputed to the treachery and malice of the Italians, who rejoiced at
least in the calamities of the Barbarians. This irregular tyranny might
contend on equal terms with the petty tyrants of Italy; nor can the
people, or the reader, be much interested in the event of the quarrel.
But in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the Lombards rekindled the
flame of industry and freedom; and the generous example was at length
imitated by the republics of Tuscany. [1421] In the Italian cities a
municipal government had never been totally abolished; and their first
privileges were granted by the favor and policy of the emperors, who
were desirous of erecting a plebeian barrier against the independence of
the nobles. But their rapid progress, the daily extension of their power
and pretensions, were founded on the numbers and spirit of these rising
communities. [143] Each city filled the measure of her diocese or
district: the jurisdiction