As Frederick I (“Barbarossa”) approached Rome for the first time in 1155, on his way to be crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Hadrian IV, he was met by Roman envoys at Sutri, a day’s journey north of the city. Nothing in the young German king’s prior experience, even among the recalcitrant city communes of northern Italy, had prepared him for the blithe insolence of his visitors, who proclaimed themselves representatives of something called the Roman Senate. From the parchments they read aloud upon entering Frederick’s presence, the majestically condescending voice of Rome personified rang out. Lady Roma spoke to the king as a mistress to a suppliant come to beg from her and the Senate the favor of an imperial coronation. The city, via the Senate that – this particular personified Rome suggested – embodied her will and incarnated her ancient glories, would deign to grant Frederick the imperial crown provided he obediently satisfy a long list of conditions, all punctually enumerated.