[585] That the Æneid was still the Italian Epos is proved by the many local legends which connected the foundation of cities with the Trojan wars.
[586] It is enough to mention a few names—Gregory the Great, Lanfranc, S. Anselm, Peter the Lombard, Hildebrand, S. Thomas Aquinas, Accursius, Bartolus—to prove how strong in construction, as opposed to criticism, were the Italian thinkers of the middle ages.
[587] "Roma, caput mundi," is a significant phrase. It marks the defect of Italian nationality as distinguished from cosmopolitan empire.