Chapter 9
Section 9 of History of Rome and the Popes in the Middle Ages, Volume 3, by Hartman Grisar. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Part 4. Rome under Narsis and in the early period of the Exarchate. Chapter 1. The Popes and the Government of Italy and Rome. Part 1. A Glance at Events. The three popes who occupied the Roman chair in the interval between Pelagius I and Gregory the Great,
in spite of Byzantine victories and the hopes founded on them, reigned in a time of great hardship. John III, who was pope for nearly 13 years, saw the advent of the Lombards in Italy in 568 and the dawn of a fresh reign of terror. Speaking of the death of Benedict I, a Roman son of Boniface, who followed John as Pope after an interval of 10 months, the Liber Pontificalis says, Overwhelmed with troubles and afflictions, Benedict departed this life. Benedict, when he died in 579,
had been in office barely four years. Pelagius II, the son of Winnegild, a goth, was the next to be raised to the uneasy throne of Peter. His choice is a happy sign that the Church of Rome was beginning to overcome the antagonism of nations which so lately had been engaged in a murderous struggle. Pelagius II was an excellent priest, though not a peer in talent and political gifts to the first bearer of the name. After a pontificate full of afflictions and anxiety,
principally owing to the near approach of the Lombards, he was carried off by the terrible pestilence, which in the beginning of 590 ravaged the city and its neighborhood. To compare this enumeration of the immediate predecessors of Gregory I with the names of the contemporary monarchs, Justinian I, the conqueror and lawgiver, closed his eyes in death in 565. He was a sovereign of great enterprise, a successful but unscrupulous reviver of the outward power and splendor of the
empire of East Rome. A contemporary diptych, once preserved in Rome, represents him very characteristically prancing on horseback over the figure of Gaia, that is, over the earth subdued by him, while his devoted servants bring him the tokens of victory and the conquered nations the tribute of their countries. Above him we see Christ in youthful form, blessing the emperor and holding in his hand the scepter of divine government over the world. To tell the truth,
this scepter in Christ's hand was not always remembered by Justinian, and in doctrinal disputes, not infrequently had to yield to the scepter of the worldly autocrat. A milder man by far was Justin II. We may even feel tempted to rank this cultured, peace-loving, and pious monarch higher than the domineering Justinian, with his excessive fondness for outward display. But Justin II proved weak. He was too old and showed the faults of an old man in his government.
The farsightedness and the kingly character of his predecessor were not his. The next emperor, Tiberius, who came to the throne in 578, had more determination and energy. Finally, Mauritius, who in the year 582 succeeded the latter, was above all a soldier and displayed many of a ruler's qualities. He spoiled, however, the good he did by petty efforts to enrich the exchequer by little acts of meanness, and not less by disfavor shown to the free action of
certain elements, which helped to support the state among which the church holds the first place. Partly from piety, partly from policy, the Emperor Mauritius was an admirer of his court patriarch, John the Faster. The latter was trying to increase his own dignity to some extent at the expense of the Pope of Old Rome, and his action found warm approval and support at the court of Constantinople. When, however, John the Faster, at a synod in Constantinople in 588, gave himself
dishonorous title of ecumenical patriarch, Pope Pelagius II raised his voice in protest and declared the decrees of the council invalid. The history of the relations between popes and emperors throughout this period is, however, only imperfectly known. Documents which have thrown light on it are unfortunately missing. The letters of the papal chancery, of which some have survived belonging to the time of Pelagius I furnish no information. One document only has
been saved from the long pontificate of John III, and that only because it was included in Gregory the Great's register of letters. We do not know the wording of a single letter of Benedict I, though we hear of his injunctions. Even in Japheth's Regista, we find only 11 documents belonging to Pelagius II. Hence, any detailed history of the popes of this period is unfortunately impossible. We are better informed about ecclesiastical life in Rome and about many
details belonging to the domain of religious and profane literature and art. Even certain questions regarding the administration of Italy and the Roman district can be settled with tolerable clearness, especially owing to the light thrown on the then state of things by the voluminous correspondence of Gregory the Great. Hence, in sketching this portion of the history of Rome, we shall devote our attention to its internal condition. The Byzantine government, the last
stage of that once so finely organized and powerful Roman rule, is the first thing to be considered. The series of exarchs in Italy, to give a glance here at its beginnings, do not commence with the famous general Narcissus. It is true that even after the close of the Gothic War, he held the highest military command over the Byzantine portion of Italy, and also that he stood at the head of the civil government. He ruled the entire country from his residence on the Palatine in Rome.
For all this, he did not bear the title of Exarch. His position was rather a personal one, and the office of Exarch had not yet been called into being. When Narcissus had been disgraced circa 568, dying soon after, Italy had bitterly to feel his loss. The East Roman general, Badawarius, made a transitory appearance in the campaign against the Lombards, but he too was not yet described as Exarch. The standing army and a fixed military command did not then exist.
This alone makes it possible to understand how the Lombards, soon after their eruption into Italy in 568, saw their efforts crowned with success. Under their onslaught, Badawarius, the son-in-law of Justin, sustained a sanguinary defeat at some date between 575 and 577. After him, the needs of the times compelled the appointment of a commander-in-chief in Italy, on whom the title of Exarch was bestowed. This soldier, Decius by name, in 584, occupied the stronghold of Ravina,
the bulwark of Byzantine power, which had been threatened by the capture of his port classes by the Lombards. Smaragdas, the successor of Decius, probably arrived in Italy the next year. The nomination of this Exarch was an excellent choice. As a soldier, Smaragdas is extolled by Pope Pelagius II for his victories, whilst Gregory I describes him as a good churchman who was ready to stand by the popes. In 589, however, a new exarch already ruled Italy,
to wit, Julian, whose name de Rossi has shown to occur upon the fragments of a Greek inscription in Rome. Until Gregory's time in 596, the general invested with the title of exarch was Romanus. He was scarcely equal to the exceptionally difficult military tasks which devolved on him, and preferred to let things go their own way. On the other hand, in his dealings with the Church, he was nonetheless zealous and despotic. The Exarchs, from Decius onwards,
resided in Ravenna. Those who succeeded Romanus to the middle of the 7th century were Callinicus and Abel Viceroy, then much to the satisfaction of Gregory I. Smaragdus again assumed the government, though for how long we do not know. He was followed by John, who in turn was succeeded by Eleutherius, who ruled until 619. From 625 to 643, the exarch was Isachius, succeeded in 643 by Calliopas. About 645 we find Platon and from 649 until 651 Olympias.
