BETWEEN MARE CLAUSUM AND MARE NOSTRUM: ROMAN VIEWS ON LITUS MARIS IN THE CONTEXT OF INITIAL LEGAL FRAGMENTATION OF THE SEA
BETWEEN MARE CLAUSUM AND MARE NOSTRUM: ROMAN VIEWS ON LITUS MARIS IN THE CONTEXT OF INITIAL LEGAL FRAGMENTATION OF THE SEA

Summary/Abstract: Justinian’s Institutes viewed the coast in the same as the sea and provided its definition, which affected its legal regime as the edge of the sea. While the question of the authority over the sea was intensely debated in the 17th century, already Spanish scholastics had questioned the nature of their rulers’ authority over the acquisitions in the New World, with a particular emphasis on the authority over maritime routes, i.e., the extent of control at sea by those who governed the nearest coast. Grotius and his predecessors drew on the ideas of Roman jurists regarding the scope of state authority over the sea. The opposing demands for de facto control over the coast and the sea, versus other claims to authority such as discovery, directed the debate of Mare clausum versus Mare liberum towards questioning the very sources of law in terms of coherence of natural law with international law. The will of states eventually subdued the prolonged period of uncertainty marked by numerous armed conflicts through the increasing recognition of the separation of coastal waters under almost complete control of coastal states from other maritime expanses where the natural principles of freedom of navigation and trade were preserved.

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