Quotations and Dialogue

Q. Are “ius gentium” and “jus gentium” equally correct, assuming I’m consistent throughout my essay? I’m used to using “jus,” but many of the sources I’m consulting use “ius”; if I quote a passage with this word, may I simply anglicize it to “jus” without comment?

A. The spellings “ius gentium” and “jus gentium” are equally correct, though we, too, would prefer the anglicized form (to follow Merriam-Webster, not to mention the OED and other standard English-language dictionaries). But do not change “ius” to “jus” in direct quotations; readers wishing to follow your work might be confused by such a change (or, worse, prevented from finding the term). At most, provide a parenthetical gloss at first mention:

jus gentium (or ius gentium)

If the first mention is within a quotation, use square brackets:

ius gentium [jus gentium]