^  On  the  first  of  March  of  each  year  during  fifteen  out  of  the
thirty-one  years  of  his  reign,  Uutprand,  by  the  advice  of  his
judges  (and  no  longer  under  the  sanction  of  a  popular  assembly),
issued  certain  laws  to  settle  matters  not  provided  for  by  his  prede-
cessors. He  claims  that  these  laws  were  framed  by  divine  inspi-
ration, "because  the  king's  heart  is  in  the  hand  of  God.**  The
laws  of  Liutprand  were  written  in  Latin  so  barbarous  as  to  be
^Jmost  incomprehensible. They  show  a  great  change  in  tbp


BOOK  vr. 307

took  very  many  fortresses  of  the  Bavarians. He  relied

social  life  of  the  Langobards. We  no  longer  find  provisions  in
regard  to  hunting  and  falconry,  but  instead,  there  are  enactments
providing  for  the  enforcement  of  contracts  and  the  foreclosure  of
mortgages. The  fine  paid  for  murder  is  superseded  by  absolute
confiscation  of  the  offender's  property,  and  if  that  property  is  in-
sufficient, the  murderer  is  handed  over  to  the  heirs  of  the  murdered
man  as  a  slave. Some  of  these  laws  mention  the  fact  that  they
refer  to  Langobards  only,  and  one  law  concerning  scribes  ordains
that  those  who  write  deeds,  whether  according  to  the  laws  of  the
Langobards  or  those  of  the  Romans ^  must  not  write  them  contrary
to  these  laws,  thus  indicating  that  at  least  a  part  of  the  population
was  governed  to  some  extent  by  Roman  law. (Hodgkin,  VI,
392-399). It  would  be  a  necessary  result  of  the  peace  made  at
different  times  between  Langobards  and  Romans  that  the  civil
rights  of  Romans  who  lived  in  the  Langobard  territory  should  be
recognized,  which  was  not  the  case  in  the  earlier  days  of  Lango-
bard domination  (Hartmann,  II,  2,  2-4). Under  Liutprand*s
laws  if  a  Roman  married  a  Langobard  woman  she  lost  her  status,
and  the  sons  bom  in  such  a  union  were  Romans  like  their  father
and  had  to  live  by  his  laws. There  were  many  laws  against
oppressions  by  the  king's  agents,  and  heavy  penalties  were  im-
posed upon  judges  who  delayed  judgment. 