>>17974492
>Roman Italy really only ended in the 8th century, when the Lombards (who never submitted to the Emperor) destroyed the exarchate and when the Donation of Pepin happened.
Yes, this is a good point, however I also lend credence to Eduardo Fabbro's view of the Lombards being a Byzantine breakaway army that basically did a mutiny because Narses was dismissed, I like this because it explains a lot of things, like how little resistance the Byzantines were able to respond to it. (pic rel)