Roger, leaving his sons to overcome pockets of resistance on the mainland, had returned to Palermo on November 5, 1139, to plan a great act of legislation: the Assizes of Ariano, an attempt to establish his dominions in southern Italy as a coherent state.
He returns to check up on his sons' progress in 1140 and then goes to Ariano, a town central to the peninsular possessions (and a center of rebellion under his predecessors).
Here he promulgates the great law regulating all Sicilian affairs.
It invests the king and his bureaucracy with absolute powers and reduces the authority of the often rebellious vassals.
While here, centralizing his kingdom, Roger declares a new standard coinage, named after the duchy of Apulia: the ducat.
Roger’s reforms in laws and administration not only aim to strengthen his rule but also to improve the economic standing of Sicily and southern Italy.
