Il problema della libertà naturale in diritto romano

The paper is concerned with clarifying the legal meaning of the statement by the Roman jurist Ulpian (c. 170 AD-228 AD), in a society in which slavery was recognized and widely practiced, according to which utpote cum iure naturale omnes libera nascerentur nec esset note manumissio, cum servitus esset incognita (Ulp.1.1 Inst. D. 1. 1. 4). The investigation focused on the juridical problems in which the syntagma libertas naturalis occurs before Ulpian, analyzing some texts of Gaius (2nd century AD) from his works Institutiones and res cottidianae. This has revealed a relevance of natural freedom both in terms of the loss of domination over captured wild animals and in terms of ways of extinction of war slavery. This implies a consideration of the statement of Ulpiano in a debate among the Roman jurists in which the particular position taken by this jurist stands out with respect to the value to be recognized to the libertas naturalis of all human beings on the level of the natural law, as way of extinction of war slavery.