Complex sentence: When Padway arrives, Italy is ruled by the Ostrogoths, a Germanic tribe which has recently overthrown the Western Roman Empire, but which rules with benevolence, allowing freedom of religion and maintaining the urban Roman society they had conquered.
Split into simpler sentences: When Padway arrives, Italy is ruled by the Ostrogoths, a Germanic tribe which has recently overthrown the Western Roman Empire. The novel depicts their rule as a benevolent despotism, allowing freedom of religion and maintaining the urban Roman society they had conquered.