Origin of the right of burial of the dead

The burial of the dead also is an obligation which has its origin in the [volitional] law of nations; and this, in turn, has its origin in the will.…Because the ancients were accustomed to refer to the gods as authors of the rights which are common to civilised men, in order that these might seem more sacred, we see that this right, as well as that of legation, is generally ascribed to the gods.

Whence the right arose

All do not seem to hold the same opinion regarding the cause of the introduction of the custom that bodies should be covered with earth, whether first embalmed, as among the Egyptians, or cremated, as among most of the Greeks, or buried as they are now.…[The simplest] explanation is that, since man surpasses the other animate beings, it has seemed an unworthy fate that other animals should feed on his body; wherefore, that this might be so far as possible avoided, burial was invented.…[T]he dead should not be exposed to such injuries.…[I]t seems foreign to the dignity of man's nature that a human body should be trodden under foot and torn to pieces.…Hence is it that the office of burial is said to be performed not so much for the man, that is, for the person, as for mankind, that is for human nature.…A natural consequence of this is that burial ought not to be denied either to private or to public enemies.