Natural and positive understanding of law in ancient philosophical thought

The paper emphasizes that an attempt at comprehensive understanding of law is productive when turning to its origins, namely to the ancient tradition, which made a huge contribution to the development of philosophical thought, culture, morality, law, etc. The fundamental sources of philosophical understanding of law are the teachings of ancient Greek and Roman thinkers, such as Pythagoras, the sophists, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Marcus Aurelius, and others. The analysis of their ideas allows us to distinguish between natural and positive approaches to understanding the essence of law and its origins. It is concluded that the formation of two levels of legal understanding is due to the duality of the concept of law, which, on the one hand, is interpreted as the essence of a person, on the other, as a socio-political phenomenon.