The first consul of Gaeta, Constantine, who associated his son Marinus with him, was a Byzantine agent and a vassal of Andrew II of Naples.

He was removed, probably violently, by Docibilis I, who established a dynasty and made Gaeta de facto independent.

The Docibilian dynasts regularly worked to advance Gaetan interests through alliance with whatever power was most capable of such at the time.

The Gaetans remained nominally Byzantine in allegiance until the mid tenth century, fighting under their banner at the Battle of the Garigliano.

He gave Fondi to his second son Marinus with the equivalent title of duke and set a precedent for the partitioning of the Gaetan duchy and its encastellation, which corroded ducal authority over time.

A complete revolution had occurred since the assumption of the ducal title and the Western Emperor had replaced the Eastern as overlord.

Their power was set in Gaeta and Geoffrey Ridello ruled from Pontecorvo, but the Gaetans were not completely weaned from their independent past yet.

The probable origins of the Docibilan dynasty as Amalfitan merchants perhaps explains the interest they had in amassing movable as well as landed wealth.

[2] In the tenth century Gaetans, Amalfitans, and Salernitans were present cum magno negotio ("with great business") in Pavia.

Liutprand of Cremona even records that Constantine VII claimed the support of the "men of Caieta" and Amalfi against his brothers-in-law after the deposition of Romanos I Lekapenos.

[4] By 1129 the Jewish community at Gaeta was heavily involved in the industries of cloth-dyeing, salt extraction, and olive oil production.

[5] The replacement of the Docibilan dynasty in the mid-eleventh century caused a municipal power shift which had implications for trade and commerce.

The Crescentii, the traditional rivals of the Tusculani in Rome, had taken over Terracina, formerly Gaetan territory, and were establishing martial ties with the Docibilans still ruling at Fondi in the late eleventh century.

These two Roman families were soon vying for influence among the merchant clans of Gaeta; the Crescentii appeared to have had upper hand.

[7] The Gaetan–Genoese relationship had deteriorated by 1140, when, according to Caffaro di Rustico: In this same consulate two Gaetan ships came to plunder the province of Genoa.

So two Genoese ships were armed, and following them found them at Arzentarium (probably Monte Argentario), and captured one, taking its men and all its plunder back to Genoa.