Early medieval Italy was the most densely urbanised part of Western Eurasia until the 11th century. This article seeks to examine how urbanism and the social and policial implication of living in cities shaped the ways of life and patterns of governance in Latin- and Greek-speaking areas of the Italian peninsula. Special consideration is paid to how the Carolingian conquest and Frankish control of parts of Italy might have challenged the roles played by cities in economic and political life in those areas.