PD 3.11 - 3.16
History of the Langobards by Paul the Deacon
Translation and footnotes by William Foulke
[The following posts are abridged excerpts. RR]

Chapter XI.
During' these times, as was stated above Justin the younger ruled at
Constantinople, a man given to every kind of avarice, a despiser of the poor, a
despoiler of senators.

During his time indeed were waged the wars which, as we before said in advance,
were carried on by Narses the patrician against the Goths and the Franks. [4]
...when Rome at the time of pope Benedict was suffering the privation of hunger,
while the Langobards were destroying everything on every side, he [5] sent many
thousand bushels of grain in ships straight from Egypt and relieved it by the
effort of his benevolence.

[4] Incorrect; these wars were waged under Justinian, although it was to Justin
that the complaints were afterwards made of Narses' administration.
[5] That is, Justin.

Chapter XII.
When Justin was dead [1] Tiberius Constantine, the fiftieth of the Roman
emperors, assumed the sovereignty.

Chapter XIII.
When Hilperic, king of the Franks, sent messengers to this sovereign, he
received from him many trinkets, and gold pieces too, of a pound each, having on
the one side the image of the emperor and the words written in a circle, "Of
Tiberius Constantine Universal Emperor," and having on the other side a quadriga
with a driver [1] and containing the inscription "The glory of the Romans."

Also at this time Faroald, first duke of the Spoletans, invaded Classis [5] with
an army of Langobards and left the rich city plundered of all its wealth. [6]

[1] 'Asensor', literally, one who went up in it.
[5] The harbor of Ravenna.
[6] While Paul has been narrating many events which took place in Gaul or at
Constantinople, he has been neglecting the transactions in Italy, to which he
now for a moment returns. Among the events of the interregnum, while the dukes
held sway over the Langobards, and Longinus, the prefect, governed the Roman
portion of Italy, was the first serious resistance offered to the Langobard
invasion. Alboin had encountered little opposition, for the inhabitants of the
open country fled to the cities which held out for a shorter or longer period,
the Romans hoping, no doubt, that this invasion, like others which had preceded
it, would soon be over and that the barbarians would retire. But in 575 or 576,
Baduarius, the son-in-law of the emperor Justin II, assembled in Ravenna a
considerable body of troops, and went forth and gave battle to the invaders. He
was overthrown and died. It is not known what part of the forces of the various
Langobard dukedoms were his antagonists. Probably it was those who were
advancing towards the south and who, not far from this time, established the
important dukedoms of Spoleto and Benevento under dukes Faroald and Zotto
respectively. The taking of Classis by Faroald mentioned in the text probably
occurred about 579, while Longinus was still prefect. The city was afterwards
retaken from the Langobards by Droctulft.

Chapter XVI.
But the Langobards indeed, when they had been under the power of dukes for ten
years, determined at length by common consent that Authari, the son of their
sovereign Cleph, above mentioned, should be their king. And they called him also
Flavius [1] on account of his high office. All those who were afterwards kings
of the Langobards auspiciously used this name. In his days, on account of the
re-establishment of the kingdom, those who were then dukes gave up half of their
possessions for royal uses that there might be the means from which the king
himself and those who should attend him and those devoted to his service
throughout the various offices might be supported. [2] The oppressed people,
however, were parcelled out among their Langobard guests.[3] There was indeed
this admirable thing in the kingdom of the Langobards. There was no violence, no
ambuscades were laid, no one constrained another unjustly, no one took spoils,
there were no thefts, no robberies, every one proceeded whither he pleased, safe
and without fear.[4]

[1] A title borrowed from the family name of Vespasian and Titus, afterwards
used by a number of their successors and by the emperors of the East and thence
transferred to other sovereigns, for example, to Odoacar and to the Visigothic
kings of Spain after Recared. It was used to signify that the Langobard king
had succeeded to the imperial dignity.
[2] The powers of the king are nowhere clearly defined. It should be noted that
he was king of the Langobard people (not king of Italy), and that the Romans,
who were not free subjects, were not taken into consideration. It would seem
that the laws were devised by him after consultation with the principal men and
nobles, and then accepted by the army, which formed the assembly of the people.
The king was the supreme judge, but was assisted by jurors in coming to his
conclusions. The highest criminal jurisdiction was exercised by him, sometimes
immediately in cases of great importance, but more frequently by means of his
officers. He had the highest police jurisdiction. Without his permission no free
man accompanied by his clan (farn) might change his residence.
[3] "Populi tamen adgravati per Langobardos hospites partiunter."
This is one of the most important passages in Paul's history, as it furnishes
almost the only existing statement of the condition of the Roman population
under the early Langobard kings. It has been considered very obscure, and
various interpretations have been given. Giansvero renders it: "And the people,
oppressed by their Langobard guests, are divided.'' Abel translates nearly as in
the text. Hodgkin renders it thus: "(In this division) the subject populations
who had been assigned to their several guests were included." This departs
widely from the Latin text, though it may well be the actual meaning.

It does not seem to me that the above passage is as difficult as it has been
considered. In the parcelling out of the people among their Langobard guests,
the king, through his representative, may well have been one of these
''guests,'' a word which, as we have seen, was the euphemistic name assumed by
the Langobards who settled upon the lands of the Romans and took a share of the
products. In that case the literal translation given in the text would be
entirely appropriate, and yet there would be no shifting of the population nor
any change in the system of dividing the products of the land.
[4] This description of the golden age is not borne out by the facts.