n Liutprand,
the old historian of the tenth century, recognized this. In the first
book of his "Historia" he says: "The Italians wish always to serve two
masters, in order to restrain one by means of the terror with which
the other inspires him."[57] By means of holding in their hands the
balance of power they hoped to rule their rulers; and to attain this
object was the only reason which ever prompted the cities to unite
with any degree of harmony. Local independence was what they aimed at,
and their shrewdness showed them the only possible means in that age
of securing it.

These results could hardly have been attained if society had remained
such that the prominence of the local divisions was dependent on the
prominence of the respective heads of these divisions; but the
character of their local rulers once changed, and their powers in a
great measure absorbed by the act of a strong central power, when that
power fell to pieces it was much easier for the local divisions, as
such, to increase their independence, and to utilize the advance they
had made, by means of their more direct relation to the central power,
to gain a position which they would enjoy in spite of the efforts
alike of that power and of their old rulers. Such a position would not
be reached except by means of great struggles and by passing through a
period of great disintegration and of fierce internal strife between
opposing factions, such as in the history of the Italian communes is
represented by the dark period between the fall of the last of the
Carlovingians and the election of the first German emperor as king of
Italy; but once attained, the character of the people who accomplished
it would ensure its permanence, as long as they retained those
principles of independence which had made them victorious in the
struggle. After this short discussion, in which we have traced the
ultimate effects of the action of Charlemagne in changing the dukes
into counts, let us look at another feature in the field of city
government introduced by him, the new office of the _scabinus_ or city
judge.

According to the theory of judicial procedure among the Teutonic
nations, judgment in criminal cases was given in the open court or
_placitum_, where, besides the regular judges, all or any of the
freemen within its jurisdiction were supposed to concur in the
judgment and sentence. How far this method of arriving at judicial
decisions was carried out in practice d