Now, in the legal phraseology of the Law of Nations, the sea is called indifferently the property of no one (_res nullius_), or a common possession (_res communis_), or public property (_res publica_). It will be most convenient to explain the signification of these terms if we follow the practice of all the poets since Hesiod, of the philosophers and jurists of the past, and distinguish certain epochs, the divisions of which are marked off perhaps not so much by intervals of time as by obvious logic and essential character. And we ought not to be criticised if in our explanation of a law deriving from nature, we use the authority and definition of those whose natural judgment admittedly is held in the highest esteem. It is therefore necessary to explain that in the earliest stages of human existence both sovereignty and common possession had meanings other than those which they bear at the present time.[44] For nowadays sovereignty means a particular kind of proprietorship, such in fact that it absolutely excludes like possession by any one else. On the other hand, we call a thing ‘common’ when its ownership - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - quodam aut consensu collata est exclusis aliis. Linguarum paupertas coegit voces easdem in re non eadem usurpare. Et sic ista nostri moris nomina ad ius illud pristinum similitudine quadam et imagine referuntur. Commune igitur tunc non aliud fuit quam quod simpliciter proprio opponitur; dominium autem facultas non iniusta utendi re communi, quem usum Scholasticis[45a] visum est facti non iuris vocare, quia qui nunc in iure usus vocatur, proprium est quiddam, aut ut illorum more loquar, privative ad alios dicitur. Iure primo Gentium, quod et Naturale interdum dicitur, et quod poetae alibi aetate aurea, alibi Saturni aut Iustitiae regno depingunt, nihil proprium fuit; quod Cicero dixit: ‘Sunt autem privata nulla natura’. Et Horatius:[46a] _Nam PROPRIAE telluris ERVM NATVRA neque illum Nec me nec quemquam statuit._ Neque enim potuit natura dominos distinguere. Hoc igitur significatu res omnes eo tempore communes fuisse dicimus, idem innuentes quod poetae cum primos homines in medium quaesivisse, et Iustitiam casto foedere res medias tenuisse* dicunt; quod ut clarius explicent, negant eo tempore campos limite partitos, aut commercia fuisse ulla. * [in medium quaerebant, Vergil, Georgica I, 127; medias casto res more tenebas, Avienus, Aratus, 298 (W. P. Mustard)]. _promiscua rura per agros Praestiterant cunctis COMMVNIA cuncta VIDERI._[47a] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -