seems to have been concluded between 678-681 at Constantinople, and from that time the Lombard bishops, when the pope confirmed their nomination at Rome, swore to provide that "peace, which God loves, be maintained in eternity between the Respublica and us, that is, the Lombard people."
Roman influence affected the Lombards in different ways. Intercourse with the half-free Roman subjects had always been a strong force since the beginning of the settlement; the schismatics coming from the Roman Empire had found reception even at a very early period, as had the merchants during the times of armistice, who maintained friendly relations and profited by the great Lombard market; but when definite peace had been made, lasting relations and safe intercourse with the new allies were possible, so that free Romans and above all Catholic clergy established themselves in the lands of their new friends and allies, who also acknowledged their right to be tried by Roman law. Intermarriage must have frequently happened at a very early period, and was furthered by Lombard laws, which considered the freedman and free as equal, so that marriages with freedmen or freedwomen were allowed and very common; after the definite peace even unions between Lombards and women of the Roman Empire were not a rare thing either. As the Lombards were in a small minority, even in their own territory, intermarriage naturally had a marked effect. The adaptation of the reigning people to the Roman culture they had found led the same way. Thus they came to the knowledge of new forms of culture and luxury, which could only be satisfied in the Roman manner, partly by the industry of Roman subjects, partly by booty made in war, and since the peace also by regular imports. Trade and art are of Roman stamp, although the workmanship is decayed and accommodates itself somewhat to barbarian taste. It was only in Italy that the Lombards learnt to erect stone buildings, to construct larger ships, and use weapons of metal; their clothing changed similarly and they gradually accepted the vulgar Latin language, especially because all the terms of their new culture belonged to that language, the only written language used, not only for written law, but all other documents which were drawn up by Roman ecclesiastics and notaries following Roman formulae. As their importance grew, the written word gained supremacy in all matters of law. The oldest stories of Lombard history and tradition are also written in Latin, and whatever there was of science, in connexion with the Roman Church, was of course Latin. So the lasting peace, and especially the peace with the Catholic Church, essentially accelerated the process of assimilation in this sphere as well as in all others.
Constitutional development, as well as culture, was conditioned by the fact and manner of settlement. The territorial State develops a centralising kingship in combat with centrifugal forces, and hides the original basis of German freedom. The sept or clan had already lost every economical foundation by the settlement, and we find no traces of the
