his posterity with the honors
of patrician of Rome. The leaders of a powerful nation would have
disdained a servile title and subordinate office; but the reign of the
Greek emperors was suspended; and, in the vacancy of the empire, they
derived a more glorious commission from the pope and the republic. The
Roman ambassadors presented these patricians with the keys of the shrine
of St. Peter, as a pledge and symbol of sovereignty; with a holy banner
which it was their right and duty to unfurl in the defence of the
church and city. [59] In the time of Charles Martel and of Pepin, the
interposition of the Lombard kingdom covered the freedom, while it
threatened the safety, of Rome; and the patriciate represented only the
title, the service, the alliance, of these distant protectors. The power
and policy of Charlemagne annihilated an enemy, and imposed a master.
In his first visit to the capital, he was received with all the honors
which had formerly been paid to the exarch, the representative of the
emperor; and these honors obtained some new decorations from the joy and
gratitude of Pope Adrian the First. [60] No sooner was he informed of
the sudden approach of the monarch, than he despatched the magistrates
and nobles of Rome to meet him, with the banner, about thirty miles from
the city. At the distance of one mile, the Flaminian way was lined with
the schools, or national communities, of Greeks, Lombards, Saxons, &c.:
the Roman youth were under arms; and the children of a more tender age,
with palms and olive branches in their hands, chanted the praises of
their great deliverer. At the aspect of the holy crosses, and ensigns
of the saints, he dismounted from his horse, led the procession of his
nobles to the Vatican, and, as he ascended the stairs, devoutly kissed
each step of the threshold of the apostles. In the portico, Adrian
expected him at the head of his clergy: they embraced, as friends and
equals; but in their march to the altar, the king or patrician assumed
the right hand of the pope. Nor was the Frank content with these vain
and empty demonstrations of respect. In the twenty-six years that
elapsed between the conquest of Lombardy and his Imperial coronation,
Rome, which had been delivered by the sword, was subject, as his own,
to the sceptre of Charlemagne. The people swore allegiance to his person
and family: in his name money was coined, and justice was administered;
and the election of the popes was examin