ABSTRACT
The roots of natural justice, as well as the value and limits of political institutions in realizing it, begins in the ancient world. The prevailing reading of Grotius identifies a modern thinker whose development of depersonalized natural rights eliminates the need for classical political virtue. Grotius' recognition of the limits of natural law also opens up the possibility of imperfect rights and duties. His introduction of the concept of perfect and imperfect rights and duties may help to overcome existing difficulties in rights discourse. Grotius's treatment of equity well illustrates the relationship and directionality between the natural classical virtues and supernatural Christian ones. He shows that while equity requires the classical intellectual virtue of prudence, pardon goes even further, calling for the Christian moral virtue of giving up one's honour. Grotius' Christianity helps to explain several elements of his thought that superficially appear as modern repudiations of classical politics.
