In ancient times, within the legal context, the Romans referred to public law as "Ius publicum"; which had the responsibility of controlling the relationship between the State and its citizens. In general, public law maintains a link with the management and operation of the state and is responsible for regulating different aspects, such as the demarcation of public powers, the organization of the courts, etc.
This area of law showed how the Roman people were organized, said organization was based on laws that regulated the relationship of the State with its individuals. Likewise, the Ius publicum was also responsible for ordinances of a religious nature. In addition to this, it includes certain important features that distinguish it, for example its inalterability, since it has mandatory legislation for all citizens.
Etymologically, the word "Ius" is derived from Latin and means "right", defining what represented good and fair. During antiquity a duality was handled between the terms "Ius" and "Fas", where Ius referred to the just and Fas was linked to the divine character of the lawfulness of a behavior. At that time these two terms were used as adjectives. Both were associated since by that time the laws and religion were united.
It was during the 1st century BC when these terms began to be distinguished, leaving Ius as a human right and fas as a divine right.
Se entiende entonces que el Ius publicum aplicado en la roma antigua consistía en un conjunto de leyes buenas y justas creadas por los hombres para un mejor ordenamiento de la sociedad.
