beginning of the seventh century the Empire had accepted the inevitable, it made no further attempt to gain the remote border-lands, but saw its task in trying to secure what remained of the Roman possessions. It had been customary so far for the various army corps, of which some were recruited from the East, to fight in different parts of Italy, led by their magistri militum under the superior command of the exarch. The primus exercitus was stationed at Ravenna at the immediate disposal of the commander-in-chief. But gradually, and especially when by the repeated truces a certain state of equilibrium had been attained, there were no more reinforcements from the East, except perhaps the regiment of guards for the exarch, and the legions in Italy were stationed at those points which seemed most important for the defence. In the interior of Italy also ducatus sprang up in all directions with duces or magistri militum at their head; everywhere forts were erected and put under the command of a tribune.
By the conquests of Rothari, who seized Liguria, and of Grimoald in the seventh century, as also by those of Liutprand and Aistulf in the eighth century, the frontiers were still further displaced, but as early as the first half of the seventh century the following ducatus can be distinguished: Istria and Venetia, both confined to the coast-land and the islands; the exarchate proper (in the narrower sense), the provincia Ravennatium, the borders of which lay between Bologna and Modena in the west, along the Po in the north, and from which the ducatus of Ferrara was detached in the eighth century; the Pentapolis, i.e. the remains of Picenum, with its dux residing at Ariminum; the ducatus of Perusia, which with its numerous and strong forts covered the most important passes of the Apennines and the Via Flaminia, the only connexion between the remains of the Byzantine possessions in the north, and in particular Ravenna, with Rome; Tuscia to the north of the lower course of the Tiber; Rome and her immediate surroundings, with the forts in partibus Campaniae to the south, as far as the valley of the Liris; the ducatus of Naples, i.e. the coast-towns from Cumae to Amalfi with a part of Liburia (Terra di Lavoro); the ducatus of Calabria, consisting of the remains of Apulia and Calabria, Lucania and Bruttium. This division supplanted the old division into provinces, and, when about the middle of the seventh century not only the praefect of Italy, but also the provincial praesides disappeared completely, the names of the old provinces continued to be used in ordinary conversation only to define certain parts of Italy. The functions of the duces and praesides were completely absorbed by the magistri militum in the same way as those of the praefectus praetorio were absorbed by the exarch. The whole administration had been militarised, and the same status established which in the East under similar conditions appears as the "theme" system.
The civil administration of the State, however, was not only threatened
