From an early stage in the development of Roman society, the term ius (plural, iura) signified that which is due in human relations—the rightful power of a community member to act in a certain manner vis-a-vis his fellow citizens. It referred to a course of conduct that the community would take for granted and in that sense endorse. The community had a general awareness of the circumstances when acts would be construed as iura and these were established by custom. Originally, the exercise of ius had no connection with state organization and thus ius was defined as any instance of approved self-help. After the consolidation of the state and the establishment of a formal system of justice, ius denoted the rules or norms capable of enforcement with the consent of those responsible for safeguarding and maintaining the norms governing community life. Thus the holders of imperium had the essential functions of pronouncing the ius and assisting those with rights to obtain their entitlements through formal channels. The earliest form of legal procedure was the act whereby a person who possessed or claimed a ius against another requested a jurisdictional magistrate to both confirm his ius and enable its exercise by effectively suppressing an opponent’s resistance. Roman law developed primarily as a private law that was devised as a system of rights or claims bolstered by causes of action and specific procedural remedies.