Page:Readings in European History Vol 1.djvu/339

The Hohenstaufen Emperors and tJie Popes 303 with extraordinary pleasure : we hope after the fatigues of war to refresh ourselves with it from time to time, and by means of the noble deeds of the emperors rouse our- selves to similar acts of virtue. As to what we have done since the opening of our reign, that we would gladly state briefly for your information were it not that in comparison with the deeds of earlier times wrought by the famous men of the past, ours seem but shadows of deeds. But since we are aware that your re- markable ability enables you to exalt humble things and to write much about unimportant matters, we consent to nar- rate in a few words the little that we have done in the Roman Empire during a period of five years. In so doing we rely more upon your flattering presentation than upon any merit of our own. 1 . . . The extraordinary account of the Italian cities as they existed in the middle of the twelfth century, which Otto of Freising gives, shows that they already exhibited many of the traits which distinguished them in later centuries. Of their bad habits none is more striking than their readiness to call in foreigners to aid them in settling their perpetual broils. Milan, it will be noted, had already begun the career of conquest, which was later to make her one of the most important states of Italy. [The Lombards after their arrival in Italy] gradually laid 121. The aside their fierce barbarian customs and intermarried with the natives. Thus their children have derived from the mothers' race, and from the character of the country and the Otto of climate, something of Roman culture and civilization, and p^ 1 "/' 8 retain the elegance and refinement of Latin speech and Frederick.) manner. In the government of the cities and in the management Democratic of civil affairs they also imitate the skill of the ancient in stitutions - 1 Then follows the emperor's dry summary, in four or five pages, of the previous five years. I