induced the Venetians to make an act of submission-#though not upon oath. The terms of this pact resulted in the .first diploma conferred on Venice as a separate community (584). But it was inevitable that, when the barbarians, Lombard or Frank, were once established on the mainland of Italy, Venice should be brought first into trading and then into political relations with their near neighbours, who .as masters of Italy also put forward a claim to sovereignty -in -the. lagoons. .lt is between the two claims of east and west that Venice struggled for and achieved recognized independence.

Turning' to the other problem, that of .internal fusion and consolidation, fwe find that in 466, fourteen years after the fall of Aquileia, the population of the twelve lagoon townships met at Grado for the election of one tribune from each island for the better government of the separate communities, and above all to put an end to rivalries which had already begun to play a disintegrating part. But when the lagoon population was largely augmented in 568 as-t.he result of Alboin's invasion, these jealousies were accentuated, and in 584 it Was, found expedient to appoint twelve other tribunes, known as the Tribuui M ajores, who formed a kind of central committee to deal with all matters affecting the general weal of the lagoon communities. Butthe Tribuni M ajores were equally powerless to allay the jealousies of the growing townships which formed the lagoon community., Rivalry in fishing and in trading, coupled with ancient antipathies inherited from the various mainland cities of origin, were no doubt'the cause of these internecine feuds. A crisis was reached when Christopher, patriarch of Grado, convened' the people of the lagoon at Heraclea, and urged them to suppress the twelve tribunes and to choose a single head of the state. To this they agreed, and in 697 Venice elected her first doge, Paulo Lucio Anafesto.

The growing importance of the lagoon townships, owing to their maritime skill, their expanding trade, created' by their position between east and west, their monopoly of salt and salted fish, which gave, them a strong position in the mainland markets, rendered it inevitable that a clash must come over the question of independence, when either east or west should claim that Venice belonged to them.; and inside the lagoons the growing prosperity, coupled with the external threat to their liberties, concentrated the population intoj two Well-defined parties-what may be called the aristocratic ., party, because it leaned towards imperial Byzantium and also displayed a tendency to make the dogeship hereditary, and, the deU1QCIatic party, connected with the, original population of the Jagoons, aspiring to free institutions, and consequently leaning more towards the church and the Frankish kingdom which protected the church. The aristocratic party was captained by the township of Heraclea, which had- given the first doge, ,Anafesto, to the newly formed community. The democratic party was championed first by Jesolo and then by Malamocco., ,

The advent of the Franks determined the final solution. The emperor Leo, the Isaurian, came. to open rupture with Pope Gregory II. over the question of images. The pope appealed to Liutprand, the powerful king of the Lombards, to attack the imperial possessions in Ravenna. He did so, and expelled the exarch Paul, who took refuge in Venice and was restored to his post by the doge of the Heraclean or Byzantine party, Orso, who in return for this assistance feeeived the imperial title of hypatcs, and trading rights in Ravenna. The pope, however, soon had cause for alarm at the, spreadgof the Lombard, power which he had encouraged. Ifiutprand proceeded to occupy territory in the Ducato Romano. The pope, looking about for a saviour, cast his eyes on Charles Martel, whose victory at Tours had riveted the attention of, the world. Charles's son, Pippin, was crowned king of Italy, entered the peninsula at the head of the Franks, defeated the Lovmbards, took Ravenna and presented it to the pope, while retaining a feudal superiority. Desiderius, the last Lombard king, endeavoured to recover Ravenna. A Charlemagne, Pipp'in's son, descended upon Italy, broke up the Lombard kingdom (774), confirmed his father's donation to the pope, and in reprisals for»Venetian assistance to the exarch, ordered the pope to expel the Venetians from; the Pentapolis. Venice was 'now brought face. to. face with the Franks- under their power full sovereign, who soon showed that he intended to claim the lagoons as part of his, new kingdom. In .Venice the result of this, menace was a decided reaction towards Byzantium.:In opposition to the Frankish claim, Venice resolved toeatiirm her dependence on the Eastern empire. But the democratic party, the F rankish party in Venice, was powerful. Feeling ran high; A crisis was rapidly approaching. The Byzanti.ne. Doge-Giovanni Galbaio attacked Grado, the see of the Francophil Patriarch Giovanni, captured it, and flung the bishop from the tower of his palace. But the murdered patriarch was succeeded by;his no less Francophil nephew Fortunatus, a strong partisan, 9. restless and indomitable man, who along with Obelerio of Malamocco now assumed the lead of the democratic party. He and his .followers plotted the murder of fthe doge, were .discovered, and sought safety at the court of Charlemagnafwhere F ortunatus strongly urged the. Franks to attack, the lagoonsf-Meantime the internal politics of Venice had been steadily, preparing the way for the approaching fusion at Rialto. The period from the election of the first doge to the appearance of the Franks was characterized by .herce struggles between. Heraclea and Iesolo., At length the whole, population agreed” tohxltheir capital.at Malamocco, a compromise between the two incompatible parties, .marking an important step towards final fusion at Rialto., ,, , ., f

That central event of early Venetian history was reached when Pippin resolved to make good his title askingof Italy. He turned 'his attention to the lagoon of Venice, which had been steadily growing in commercial and maritime importance, and had, on the whole, V shown, a sympathy. for .Byzantium rather than for the Franks. Pippin determined to subdue the lagoons., He, gathered a fleet at Ravenna., captured3.Chioggia, and pushed on up the Lido towards the capital of the lagoons at .Malamocco. I But the Venetians, in face of the danger, once more removed .their capital, this time to Rialto, that groupof islands we now call Venice, lying in mid-lagoon betweeng the lidivand the ma.inland. This step was fatal to Pippin's designs, The intricate water-ways and the stubborn»Venetian defence bafiledgall his attempts to reach Rialto; the summer heats came on; the Lido was unhealthy. Pippin was forced toretire, , A treaty between, Charlemagne and Nicephorus (810) recognized the Venetians as subjects of the Eastern empire, while preserving to them the trading rights on the mainland of Italy which they had acquired under Liutprand. . ~,

The concentration at Rialto marks the beginning of, the history of Venice as a full-grown state. The .externalvrnenace to theirlindependence had weldedjtogether the place and, the people; the .same pressure had brought about the fusion. of the conflicting parties in the lagoon townships, into one homogeneous whole. There was for the future one Venice and one Venetian people dwelling at Rialto, the city of compromise. betweenvthe dangers from the mainland, exemplified by Attila, and Alboin, and the perils from the sea, illustrated by Pippin's attack., The position of Venice was now assured. ' The state was a vassal of a weak and distant empire, which would leave itvvirtually free to “pursue its own career; it was an independent tributary of a near and powerful kingdom with which it could trade, and trade between east and west became- henceforth the note of its development.

The first doge elected in Rialto was Angelo Particiaco, a Heraclean noble, with a strong bias towards, Byzantium, 'and his reign was signalized by the building of the first church of San Marco, and by the translation of the saint's body from Alexandria, as though to aliirm and to symbolize the creation of united Venicef g, i g

The historylof Venice during the next two hundred years is marked externally by:the growth of the city, thanks to, an ever-expanding trade, both down the Adriatic, which brought the republic into collision with the Dalmatian pirates-andfled

to their final conquest, in 1000, by the doge Pietro Orseolo II.,