The Classic Concept of Natural Law And Its Postclassical Mutations

Abstract

The paper, after a critical analysis of selected legal texts of classical Roman lawyers, contained mainly in Justinian’s codification and the study of legal opinions of recognized legal Romanists, has the ambition to prove a different concept of natural law (ius naturale) in the classical period of Roman law and the Justinian period. Classical jurisprudence (i.e. from the end of the 1st century BC to the mid-3rd century AD), in terms of content, identified the category of natural law (ius naturale) with the law of nations (ius gentium). Under the influence of the Christian religion, the classical and Justinian lawyers not only separated ius naturale from ius gentium, but created a new concept of natural law, which is a law that: a) nature taught all animals, b) is always fair and
good, c) all nations preserve , d) was created by divine providence.