d Istria as a base in the final operations against the
Goths till 555, when they were conquered. This was the period when so
many basilicas were built in that country, in gratitude for the securing
of freedom to the province from the yoke of the Arians, and for the
re-establishment of the "Holy Republic," the inaccurate term which the
Istrians used for the Byzantine Government. The exarchs ruled till 752.
During this period the bonds between Istria and Ravenna were close. It
was a military district under a provincial _magister militum_, directly
subordinate to the exarch of Ravenna, and appointed by him. He was also
charged with the civil administration, and lived at Pola, which was the
capital till the ninth century. Istrians rose to high ecclesiastical
honours in Ravenna, Grado, and Torcello. Justinian granted an appeal
from the provincial judge to the bishop, who had also jurisdiction over
secular and regular clergy, except in criminal cases. The archbishop of
Ravenna had the right of revising the decisions of the judges of Pola,
a right which continued till 1331, when Pola gave herself to Venice, and
probably commenced at the time of Maximian, who was appointed archbishop
by Justinian in 546.

He was a native of Vistro, now Porto Vestre, between Rovigno and Pola,
and must have been a man of resource and great personal influence. The
story runs that he found a treasure when cultivating his field. He sewed
together two skins of a goat into the form of boots, and filled them and
the skin of an ox from the treasure, deciding to take the rest to the
emperor at Constantinople, to whom treasure-trove legally belonged. When
he presented this remainder he was asked how much he had kept for
himself. He replied: "As much as a stomach and a pair of boots could
absorb." The Emperor Justinian interpreted this as meaning that he had
taken as much as he required for food and for the journey, and became
attached to him. Ambassadors arriving from Ravenna to announce the death
of Archbishop Vittore (546), and to ask for the pallium for his
successor, gave Justinian the opportunity of advancing Maximian, whom he
sent to Ravenna with many gifts, including much of the "feudo di S.
Apollinare," lands at Pola, and in its vicinity, which belonged to that
church for centuries. Pope Vigilius was at that time an exile in
Bithynia, and therefore the Ravennese at first refused Maximian, but
changed their minds on learning of his many virtues (amo