In a small book printed at _Paris_ A.C. 1689, entitled, _An historical dissertation upon some coins of _Charles_ the great, _Ludovicus Pius_, _Lotharius_, and their successors stamped at _Rome__, it is recorded, that in the days of Pope _Leo_ X, there was remaining in the _Vatican_, and till those days exposed to public view, an inscription in honour of _Pipin_ the father of _Charles_ the great, in these words: _Pipinum pium, primum fuisse qui amplificandae Ecclesiae Romanae viam aperuerit, Exarchatu Ravennate, & plurimis aliis oblatis_; "That _Pipin_ the pious was the first who opened a way to the grandeur of the Church of _Rome_, conferring upon her the Exarchate of _Ravenna_ and many other oblations." In and before the reign of the Emperors _Gratian_ and _Theodosius_, the Bishop of _Rome_ lived splendidly; but this was by the oblations of the _Roman_ Ladies, as _Ammianus_ describes. After those reigns _Italy_ was invaded by foreign nations, and did not get rid of her troubles before the fall of the kingdom of _Lombardy_. It was certainly by the victory of the see of _Rome_ over the _Greek_ Emperor, the King of _Lombardy_, and the Senate of _Rome_, that she acquired _Peter_'s Patrimony, and rose up to her greatness. The donation of _Constantine_ the Great is a fiction, and so is the donation of the _Alpes Cottiae_ to the Pope by _Aripert_ King of the _Lombards_: for the _Alpes Cottiae_ were a part of the Exarchate, and in the days of _Aripert_ belonged to the _Greek_ Emperor.