Note 583 — Chapter XVII · GOVERNMENT IN THE HEROIC AGE.

It is important to notice that the tendency appears to have been by no means so far developed as in the Teutonic Heroic Age. We cannot tell, it is true, how far the various dependent cities and districts remained in the hands of native royal families and how far they were governed by officials. In the latter category we may include such a person as Phoinix (Il. IX 483 f.). But it is clear that the royal families form a much larger proportion of the population than was the case among the Teutonic peoples of the fifth century.