The disorders of the preceding year in that city had culminated at Christmas in a riot in which General Duphot had been assassinated; this outrage furnished the pretext desired by the Directory for revolutionizing Central Italy.

Berthier was at once ordered to lead French troops against the Eternal City.

He entered without resistance (February 15th, 1798), declared the civil authority of the Pope at an end, and proclaimed the _restoration_ of the Roman Republic.

The practical side of the liberating policy was soon revealed.

A second time the treasures of Rome, both artistic and financial, were rifled; and, as Lucien Bonaparte caustically remarked in his "Memoirs," the chief duty of the newly-appointed consuls and quaestors was to superintend the packing up of pictures and statues designed for Paris.