THE EMERGENCE OF A NEW ORDER 27Thus the principal line of the legislation of the Visigothic kings
partakes rather of the character of a Russian doll: the Code of Euric
is inside that of Leovigild, which is inside that of Reccesuinth. In fact
the chain extends back one stage further: Euric in his Code makes a
number of references, in the surviving sections, to the laws of his
father Theoderic I (419-451).34 No attempt has yet been made to
isolate the elements of this 'Code of Theoderic' from that of Euric,
but it is important to note that these laws of Theoderic, whatever
form they took, represent the earliest known act of legislation by a
Germanic ruler inside the Roman Empire. This also invalidates the
current argument that the Code of Euric can only have been issued
after 476, when there was no longer an emperor in the West whose
monopolistic prerogative of legislating might be infringed.^35 Thus no
certain indication exists as to the date of the issue of Euric's Code and
therefore of the identity of those Roman advisers who, in all probabil-
ity, compiled it for the king.
What, then, was the purpose behind Euric's law-making, and to
whom was his Code intended to apply? The answers to these ques-
tions, if determinable, are likely equally to apply to the earlier laws of
Theoderic I and the later ones of Leovigild. Unfortunately, no real
agreement exists as to what these answers might be. One school of
thought would argue that the content of Euric's Code is essentially
Germanic, and that it represents the writing down under Roman
influence of elements of the oral customary law of the Visigoths. This
theory presupposes the answer to the second question. Such a code
was intended for use by the Goths and it gave them their own /ex,
distinct from that of the Romans, which was to be found in the
Theodosian Code, promulgated by the emperors Theodosius II and
Valentinian III in 438. Such a view may be supported by the state-
ment of Isidore in his History of the Goths that Euric was the first king
to put the Goths under written law.^36 This, of course, seems to ignore
the existence of the previous laws of Theoderic, and is the view of a
seventh-century commentator, rather than of an exact contemporary.
Another question arises. If an oral customary law existed amongst
the Goths, why would successive kings care to have parts of it put into
writing? That the Code of Euric was far from comprehensive is clear
enough, for, although it is believed to have contained thirty-one titles,
with about 360 separate enactments in them, only certain legal topics,
those previously mentioned, are considered, and these by no means
in full. So some have seen this royal legal activity as little more than