isigothorum_. Although the document is but an adaptation of
the Roman law to the special needs of the country from the standpoint of
Christianity, it shows at the same time the strong influence of the
social traditions of the Goths, and especially with reference to its
treatment of women.

It is evident from a perusal of these laws that the Goths had high
ideals of family life, and that it was their most earnest endeavor to
maintain, by means of legal enactment, a rather unusual state of social
purity. Women were held in high esteem and occupied a most respected and
influential position, and Caesar's wife was their common model. The moral
condition of the Romanized Spaniards fell far short of the Gothic
standards, however, and it is evident that the new code endeavored to
correct the numerous social evils which then afflicted the country. The
loose habits of the Romans had been followed all too quickly, and the
custom of keeping many slaves in a household had led to a domestic
promiscuity which was appalling in some instances, so that the Gothic
desire for reform is easily explained. It is interesting to note in this
connection that the best account to be found of the moral status of the
whole people at this time is contained by implication in the list of
things which they are forbidden by law to do. So, the _Lex Visigothorum_
is not only a tribute to the moral sense of its promulgators, but at the
same time a storehouse of information with regard to a rather obscure
period in Spanish history.

All things considered, one of the most startling things in the new code
was a severe statute forbidding public prostitutes, for it is somewhat
difficult to believe that the moral tone of society at that time would
warrant so stringent a measure. A public flogging was prescribed as the
penalty which would be inflicted upon all who failed to obey the
statute, and it is altogether probable that the law was administered
with the same Puritanic rigor which had brought it into existence. Other
provisions there were, animated by this same spirit, which were levelled
at the social evils incident to the practice of holding slaves. A woman
who had intrigued with her own slave or who wished to marry him was
condemned to death in the most summary fashion; and even if the man were
a freedman, the penalty was just the same. What a glimpse this gives us
of the life of the time, when the slaves were often more charming and
more intelligent than