city. But his main strength was derived from the vast possessions The office of prefect becomes hereditary. of the Vico family, in which the office of prefect now became hereditary. Very soon, however, these prefects of Vico were chiefly regarded as the great feudal lords of Tuscia, and the independent municipal office lost its true character. Then the popes made a point of according great pomp and dignity to this nominal prefect, in order to overshadow the senator, who still represented the independence of the republic and had assumed many of the attributes wrested from the prefect.
But Innocent III., dissatisfied with this state of things, contrived by bribing the people to arrogate to himself the Innocent III. elects the senate. right of electing the senator, who had now to swear fealty and submission to the pope, and also that of nominating the provincial justitiarii, formerly chosen by the government of the Capitol. This was a deadly blow to the republic, for the principal rights of the people—i.e. the election of pope and emperor, prefect and senate—were now lost. The general discontent provoked fresh revolutions, and Innocent III. employed all his political dexterity to ward off their effects. But shortly afterwards the people made a loud outcry for a senate of fifty-six members; and the pope, again making a virtue of necessity, caused that number to be chosen by twelve mediani specially named by him for the purpose. Even this did not calm the popular discontent, which was also stirred by other disputes. The consequence was that when, six months later, the pope again elected a single senator the Romans rose to arms, and in 1204 formed a government of Buoni Uomini in opposition to that created by the pope. But an amicable arrangement being concluded, the pope once more nominated fifty-six senators; and when, soon after, he again reduced them to one, the people were too weary to resist (1205). Thus the Capitol was subdued, and Innocent III. spent his last years in tranquillity.
On the 22nd of November 1220 Honorius III. (1216-27) conferred the imperial crown on Frederick II., who confirmed to the church the possession of her former states, of those bequeathed to her by Countess Matilda, and even of the March of Ancona. But it was soon seen that he sought to dominate all Italy, and was therefore a foe to be dreaded. The The republic regains independence. successor of Honorius, Pope Gregory IX. (1227-41), was speedily insulted and put to flight by the Ghibelline nobles, whose courage had revived, and the republic began to subdue the Latian cities on its own account. Peace was several times made and unmade by pope and people; but no enduring harmony was possible between them, since the former wished to subject the entire state to the church, and the latter to escape from the rule of the church and hold sway over “the universal land from Ceprano to Radicofani” formerly belonging to the duchy. Accordingly, the Roman people now appointed judges, imposed taxes, issued coin, and made the clergy amenable to secular tribunals. In 1234 the senator Luca Savelli published an edict declaring Tuscia and Campania territories of the republic, and sent judges thither to exact an oath of obedience. He also despatched the militia to the coast, where it occupied several cities and erected fortresses; and columns were raised everywhere inscribed with the initials S. P. Q. R. The pope, unable to prevent but equally unable to tolerate these acts, fled from Rome, hurling his anathema against Savelli, “et omnes illos consiliarios urbis quorum consilio,” &c. The Romans sacked the Lateran and the houses of many cardinals, and marched The republic submits to the people. on Viterbo, but were driven back by the papal troops. When Savelli left office and Angelo Malabranca was elected in his stead, the people made peace and submission in 1235, and were obliged to give up their pretensions of subjecting the clergy to ordinary tribunals and the urban territory to the republic. Thus matters were virtually settled on the footing established by Innocent III., thanks to the aid given to the pope by Frederick II., who had been one of the promoters of the rebellion.
It may appear strange that, at this period of their history, the Romans, after showing such tenacious adherence to the republic and senate, should have accepted the rule of a single senator without rushing to arms, and passed and repassed from one form of government to another with such surprising indifference. But on closer examination it is plain that these changes were greater in appearance than reality. We have already seen, in treating of Carosomo, how the single senator Formation of the greater and lesser councils. convoked the people in parliament to pass sanction on the laws. But, whenever there is only one senator, we also continually meet with the expression “consilium vel consilia urbis.” It is evident that when, instead of laws to be approved in parliament by a simple placet or rejected by a non-placet, matters requiring consideration had to be discussed, the senator convoked a much smaller council, consisting only of the leaders of the people. These leaders were the heads of the twelve or thirteen regions of the guilds, now becoming organized and soon to be also thirteen in number, and of the militia. As in the other Italian republics, all these associations had been formed in Rome.
The senator therefore held consultation with the leading men of the city; and, although, especially at first, these meetings were rather loosely organized, it is clear that they took the form of two councils—one numerous (consiglio maggiore), the other limited (consiglio minore or speciale), co-operating with and forming part of the first. Such was the prevailing custom throughout Italy at the time when Roman institutions most nearly resembled those of the other republics. We already know that, from the date of Arnold's reforms, the senate, with its junta of counsellors, had been divided into two parts, forming when united a species of greater council. Therefore the transition from a senate divided into two parts to the greater and lesser councils must have been very easy and natural. And, seeing that later, when the nomination of a single senator had become a constant practice, the meetings of the two councils are frequently mentioned without the slightest remark or hint as to their origin, it is clear that they had been gradually formed and long established. Not long after the revolution of 1143 the grandees sought to re-enter the senate; and the popes themselves, partly from dread of the people and partly to aggrandize their own kindred, contributed to build up the power of a new and no less turbulent nobility. This class, arising between the 12th and 13th centuries, was composed of families newly created by the popes, together with remnants of the old aristocracy, such as the Frangipani, Colonna, &c. These nobles, regaining possession of the senate, so completely eliminated the popular element that, when the popes again opposed them, and, obtaining from the parliament the right of electing the senators, adopted the expedient of appointing one only, the senator was always chosen from the ranks of the nobles. And then the people, unable and unwilling to renounce republican forms, replaced their suppressed senate by a greater and a lesser council. This was an easy task—a natural consequence of the fact that the people now began to constitute the real strength of the republic. Later, with an increasing detestation for their nobility, the Romans decreed that the single senator should be of foreign birth, and, as we shall see, chose Brancaleone in the middle of the 13th century.
Thus, after a long series of frequent changes and revolutions, the Roman republic became a commonwealth, with an increasing resemblance to those of the other Italian cities. The people were organized and armed, the gilds almost established, the two councils gradually constituted, and the aristocracy, while retaining special local characteristics, assumed its The Roman statutes. definitive shape. It is not surprising to find that Rome, like other Italian cities, now possessed statutes of its own. There has been much controversy on this point. Certain writers had alluded to a statute of 1246. As no one, however, could discover any statute of that date, others decided that it had never existed. A statute of 1363
