''Ius naturale'' is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for natural right, the laws common to all beings. Roman jurists wondered why the ''

ius gentium The ''ius gentium'' or ''jus gentium'' (Latin for "law of nations") is a concept of international law within the ancient Roman legal system and Western law traditions based on or influenced by it. The ''ius gentium'' is not a body of statute law n ...

'' (the laws which applied to foreigners and citizens alike) was in general accepted by all people living in the Empire. Their conclusion was that these laws made sense to a reasonable person and thus were followed. All laws which would make sense to a normal person were called ''ius naturale''.

Slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

, for example, was part of the empire-wide ''ius gentium'' because slavery was known and accepted as a normal social institution in all parts of the known world. Nevertheless, as forcing people to work for others was a human-produced condition, it was not considered natural and, hence, was part of the ''ius gentium'' but not the ''ius naturale''. The ''ius naturale'' of the Roman jurists is not the same as implied by the modern sense of

natural law Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacte ...

as something derived from pure reason. As Sir

Henry James Sumner Maine Sir Henry James Sumner Maine, (15 August 1822 – 3 February 1888), was a British Whig comparative jurist and historian. He is famous for the thesis outlined in his book '' Ancient Law'' that law and society developed "from status to contract. ...

puts it, "it was never thought of as founded on quite untested principles. The notion was that it underlay existing law and must be looked for through it".Sir Henry Sumner Maine, ''Ancient Law'', 10th ed., p. 67 Romans gave to Natural law a great importance in their daily lives . They mentioned once "ius naturale est quod natura omnia animalia docuit", which means the right that nature gave to all living things.

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Roman law Latin legal terminology {{AncientRome-law-stub

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