th the rest of
the Lombard constitution; and, consequently, some writers point to the
office of gastald as the connecting link between municipal life and
the new state life of the Teutonic system. This statement seems to me
to be true except in so far as it makes the gastald the only
connecting link. For we have already seen the _dux_ holding the same
relation, only in a less direct manner, owing to the intrusion of
other interests belonging to his position; and we shall shortly have
to consider the _scabinus_, another local officer, who, under
Carlovingian rule, accomplished even more in this direction than the
gastald. I do not wish to fail in appreciation of the important
influence of this office in the development of the slowly growing idea
of individuality in the cities of Lombardy, only to point out that it
was not the only "connecting link" between the municipal units and the
state as a whole.

In passing to a brief characterization of a few of the subordinate
officers, I must not omit to mention the fact that the gastald had
also certain military functions attached to his office. When called
upon by the king he took command in the army, together with the minor
officers who were under him in his jurisdiction, such as the
_sculdahis, saltarius_,[44] etc. We have confirmation of this in the
constitution "promotionis exercitus" of Lewis II.,[45] which says "ut
nullum ab expeditione aut Comes aut Gastald, vel Ministri eorum
excusatum habeant"; and in the life of Gregory II., Anastasius
Bibliotecharius[46] tells that at the overthrow of the _castrum_ of
Cumae with the help of that pope, "Langobardos pene trecentos cum
eorum Gastaldione interfecerunt." In military affairs the command held
by the gastald seems to have been lower than that of the _dux_, the
leader of all the troops furnished by the _civitas_. A right of appeal
to the _dux_ existed for the _exercitalis_ who was oppressed by the
gastald, as shown by the twenty-fourth law of Rhotaris,[47] which
says: "Si Gastaldius exercitalem suum contra rationem molestaverit,
_Dux_ eum soletur." In a case of oppression by the _dux_, the gastald,
on the other hand, could bring the matter before the king.

Before considering the changes introduced by the Carlovingian rule,
let us cast a hasty glance at a few of the minor officers who acted as
subordinates of the _judex_ in administering the affairs of the
_civitas_. As their relations to the urban portion of the Lombard