Opposed to the centralising kingdom is the particular power of the dukes, their different positions varying of course from the summus dux gentis Langobardorum down to the duke of a small provincial town in North Italy. But on the whole the dukes endeavoured to found their power on inherited rights, and to exercise in their own territory the same authority which belonged to the king in the whole State, whereas the king claimed for himself the right of nominating the dukes and treated them as his officials. But the foundation of the king's royal domain was especially intended to counterbalance the power of the dukes; the larger this royal domain, the greater was the power of the State. Except those duchies which were in the hands of the royal family, this royal domain is said to have been partly formed by the half of all ducal property, which was given up to Cleph — though this cession can only relate to the dukes of a part of northern Italy — and partly by the conquest of new land, which was not left to the dukes. The whole royal domain has its own royal administration, lying in the hands of the gastaldi who are partly royal stewards, partly the king's representatives with competence in matters of arrière-ban and judgment, but being only the king's officials they have, in contrast to the dukes, no independent jurisdiction. In Benevento and Spoleto, where immediate royal power does not reach, the gastaldi are officials of the duke in the district of a civitas. Subordinated to these iudices, that is the dukes and gastaldi who generally reside in walled towns and whose office consists in a whole iudiciaria, stand the actores (sculdahis, centenarius, locopositus) out of town, and these are assisted by saltarii, decani, etc.
Change of social structure caused a change of power in the Lombard State. Although differences in distribution of the land had always been made in correspondence with a family's rank, and although the wergeld was not uniform but varied by habit and secundum qualitatem personae, every Lombard was not only warrior but also landlord and lord of the manor. This ruling nation stood in contrast only to those who had no political rights, the coloni and aldii and massarii (unfree farmers on holdings), as well as the likewise unfree ministeriales of the Sal-land and the unfree agricultural assistant labourers; the Lombards only were taken into account politically as well as economically. But this distribution having been made but once, gave no security whatever for a lasting condition; the natural increase of population and the accidental impoverishment of Lombard families, as well as manumissions to complete freedom, created a class of Lombards without land. Part of them worked as tenants, that is small tenants, who took holdings on lease for 29 years, remaining legally free, but losing in social standard (libellarii); another part may have become merchants, trade developing on account of the definite peace, and so commercial capital stood alongside of land rent. This new state of economic affairs expressed itself also in military service which was varied according to property as early as the eighth
