offices the Papacy had acquired in the Duchy of Rome. The pope's letter to Probatus of 22 April 772, referring to the abbot's allegations of "many evils" (plura mala) committed against Farfa by some Romans, admits that the infractors hailed from "our Roman republic" (nostra Romanorum reipublica, lit. “republic of the Romans”) and is dated by the joint reign of the Byzantine emperors Constantine V and Leo IV. In 777–78 Probatus was able to construct a three-kilometre aqueduct for the abbey by convincing landowners to make pro anima gifts (for the sake of the soul) of the requisite land. Notes Abbots of Farfa 781 deaths Year of birth unknown