matters relating to the collecting of taxes and dues, we are
confronted with the names of a large number of lesser officials and
subordinates of the _judex_, some of which are undoubtedly taken from
the like officers existing in the old Roman curial system. But this
survival of names, and in some instances of offices, need cause us no
alarm, for it coincides exactly with the theory presented, namely, a
continuance of many of the old _forms_ of administration controlled by
an entirely new _principle_ of government. There are certain minor
functions necessary for the support of the state which must be carried
on in much the same manner, whatever be the character of the governing
power--certain subordinate offices whose duties must be performed
under a republic or under a despotism. Taxes may be collected by
widely differing methods under the two systems, but there must always
be the tax collector and the tax assessor. We can, however, see at a
glance the weakness of any argument which contends that because the
name and even the general duties of the tax gatherer were the same in
each case, that the whole system of administration of the taxes or of
the community were necessarily identical or even closely allied in
character.

It is here we see the weakness of those writers who insist upon the
continuance of the Roman _curia_ in the municipalities of the Lombard
kingdom. They seize upon a few names, relics of Roman rule, and from
them generalize a complete system of taxation and administration. That
the existence of any such system is alike contrary to fact and to the
whole nature of the Lombard people, any critical and impartial study
of the sources of government revenues at this time will make clear. It
would be out of place to burden a paper of this character with the
results of a minute investigation into the fiscal relations of the
rulers and the people when this has no immediate connection with the