It is a strange picture we have of this descendant of Clovis, this _Roi Faineant_ (Do-nothing King) in a royal procession on a state occasion.

Curled and perfumed, he emerges from the _Palais des Thermes_, attended in great pomp by Romans and Romanized Frankish warriors.

Then, in remembrance of the primitive simplicity of his ancestral line, sitting alone in a wagon drawn by bullocks, he leads the pageant through the narrow streets of old Paris.
But while masquerading as a simple barbarian he was only a poor imitator of the vices and dregs of a perishing civilization.

But in proof that virility was still a characteristic of the Frank in Gaul, we are told that while the Church and the offices of State were filled by Romans or Gallo-Romans, the army at this time was composed entirely of Franks.
With the degeneracy of these _Rois Faineants_ the kingdom of Clovis was gradually shrinking, and men were already waiting to seize the power as it fell from incompetent hands.

When Clovis made gifts of large estates to reward, or to purchase, followers, Roman or Gallic, he laid the foundations of a system which would prove fatal to his successors.
With these estates came titles and authority, multiplying and growing with each succeeding reign.