Talk:Jus gentium

slavery and the ius gentium in antiquity
If someone's developing this article, please note that it is absolutely untrue to state that in antiquity any prohibition against slavery was part of the ius gentium. Selling the defeated into slavery was an expected consequence of a war. One aspect of the ius gentium (as it was understood in Greece and Rome) that is not covered here would be conditions pertaining to surrender. If a town was under siege, and surrendered before the enemy was able to breach and enter, the ius gentium dictated that the victor should not kill the inhabitants and should not sell them into slavery; other terms pertaining to handing over wealth or territory, or to future legal status, would be negotiated. If, however, the town did not surrender, and the enemy was able to storm the city and take it over, it was considered reasonable for the victor to do as he pleased. It was not considered an atrocity to kill all the men, and enslave the women and children, or to enslave the population en masse.

It also goes without saying that the ius gentium was violated regularly in practice, but was a theoretical framework within which wronged polities could later seek redress. Cynwolfe (talk) 14:03, 21 January 2010 (UTC)
 * It presumably referred to the modern ius gentium, which has apparently been expunged from this article despite it being the most common use of the term. --Tyrannus Mundi (talk) 20:01, 7 April 2012 (UTC)