THE LOMBARDS IN ITALY.--In the great "Wandering of the Nations," the German tribe of _Lombards_, or Langobards, had made their way into _Pannonia_. To the east of them, in _Dacia_, there had arisen the kingdom of the _Gepidae_, a people akin to the _Goths_. In that region, also, were the Turanian _Avars_, with whom the Lombards allied themselves, and overthrew the kingdom of the Gepidæ. After the conquest of Italy, _Narses_ had established there the Byzantine system of rule and of grinding taxation. Discontent was the natural result. The enemies of _Narses_ at Constantinople persuaded _Justin II._ and his queen _Sophia_, who had great influence over him, that prudence demanded the recall of the able, but avaricious and obnoxious, governor. The queen was reported to have said, that "he should leave to men the exercise of arms, and return to his proper station among the women of the palace, where a distaff should be placed in the eunuch's hand." "I will spin her such a thread," Narses is said to have replied, "as she shall not unravel her life long." He forthwith invited the _Lombards_ into Italy, an invitation which they were not both to accept. _Alboin_ was their leader, who had married the beautiful _Rosamond_, daughter of the _Gepid_ king whom he had slain. Narses repented of his rash proceeding, but he died before he could organize a resistance to the invaders. These founded the great Lombard kingdom in the north of Italy, and the smaller Lombard states of _Spoleto_ and _Beneventum_. Ravenna,--the residence of the _Exarchs_,--Rome, Naples, and the island city of Venice, were centers of districts still remaining subject to the Greek emperor, as were also the southern points of the two peninsulas of Southern Italy, and, for the time, the three main islands. _Alboin_ was killed in 574 at the instigation of _Rosamond_, to whom, it was said, at a revel he had sent wine to drink in the skull of _Cunimund_, her father. The Lombards were not like the Goths. They formed no treaties, but seized on whatever lands they wanted, reserving to themselves all political rights. The new-comers were _Arian_ in religion, and partly heathen. There was little intermixture by marriage between the two classes of inhabitants. _Lombard_ and _Roman_ was each governed by his own system of law. Later, especially under the kings _Liutprand_, _Rachis_, and _Aistulf_ (749-756), this antagonism was much lessened, and the Roman law gained a preponderating influence in the Lombard codes. Gradually the power of the independent Lombard duchies increased. The strength of the Lombard kingdom was thus reduced. The Lombards more and more learned the arts of civilized life from the Romans, and shared in the trading and industrial pursuits of the cities. Their gradual conversion to Catholic Christianity brought the two peoples still nearer together. It was within half a century of the Lombard conquest that _Gregory I._ (Gregory the Great) held the papal office (590-604).