At
the time of the Roman Stoic school (ca. 100 BCE to 100 CE) the idea of a natural equality of human beings found expression
in the works of Cicero, Seneca and Epictetus. They made it an integral part of their understanding of a universally valid
natural law (lex naturae).
For Roman citizens, this idea of equality was anchored in Roman jurisprudence. It is incorporated into the Corpus
Iuris Civilis, the normative collection of Roman law compiled under the Emperor Justinian I (527-565).
