bennonus, for having killed a man, "medietas omnis illius
substantiae ad Publicum devoluta est." In consequence, in poetic
justice and for the good of his soul and the king's, Hildeprandus
quite arbitrarily presents "omnem praedictam illorum substantiam,
qualiter secundum legem juste et rationabiliter, ad Publicum devoluta
est," to the Monastery of Farfa "pro mercede Domnorum nostrorum Regum
et nostra." Here, as in many other cases, we see the _dux_ making
gifts of property belonging clearly to the _publicum_, to persons
favored by him and for his own benefit. Such a condition of affairs
would certainly never have existed had public property been
administered by authority other than that of the _dux_.

With regard to the revenues falling under the second of the rough
divisions we have indicated--taxes and privileges--it is easier to see
why differences of opinion should have arisen; for here, especially in
matters relating to the collecting of taxes and dues, we are
confronted with the names of a large number of lesser officials and
subordinates of the _judex_, some of which are undoubtedly taken from
the like officers existing in the old Roman curial system. But this
survival of names, and in some instances of offices, need cause us no
alarm, for it coincides exactly with the theory presented, namely, a
continuance of many of the old _forms_ of administration controlled by
an entirely new _principle_ of government. There are certain minor
functions necessary for the support of the state which must be carried
on in much the same manner, whatever be the character of the governing
power--certain subordinate offices whose duties must be performed
under a republic or under a despotism. Taxes may be collected by
widely differing methods under the two systems, but there must always
be the tax collector and the tax assessor. We can, however, see at a
glance the weakness of any argument which contends that because the
name and even the general duties of the tax gatherer were the same in
each case, that the whole system of administration of the taxes or of
the community were necessarily identical or even closely allied in
character.

It is here we see the weakness of those writers who insist upon the
continuance of the Roman _curia_ in the municipalities of the Lombard
kingdom. They seize upon a few names, relics of Roman rule, and from
them generalize a complete system of taxation and administration. That
the existence of any