Note 5 — BOOK II. CONCERNING THE CONDUCT OF CAUSES.
S. P. (Samuel Parsons) Scott translation
Considering that the crown was elective; that the monarch was only “Primus inter pares,” and that the subject had apparently the right to sometimes admonish his sovereign of his errors, a relic of the sturdy independence which characterized all northern barbarians; the doctrine of lesé-majesté seems to have early acquired great importance among the Visigoths, judging from the severe penalties visited upon those guilty of the offence.—[Ed.]