Roman Citizenship

Roman citizenship was the legal status of a person belonging to the Roman civic community. It provided legal protection, family and property rights, access to political procedures and a special place in Roman society. As the state expanded, citizenship changed from the status of inhabitants of the city of Rome into a tool for integrating Italy and the provinces.

In brief:

a citizen could contract a lawful marriage, own property and appeal to Roman courts;
in the Republic, citizenship was tied to voting, military service and the political community;
alongside citizens stood Latins, peregrini, allies, freedmen and slaves;
in 212 CE the Constitutio Antoniniana extended citizenship to almost all free inhabitants of the empire.

Latin peoples

What citizenship gave

The main elements of citizenship are described by Latin formulas. Ius conubii meant the right to a lawful Roman marriage, ius commercii the right to make transactions and hold property under Roman law, ius suffragii the right to vote, and ius honorum eligibility for magistracies. In practice, the set of rights depended on period, gender, status and place of residence.

Citizenship also protected against some forms of arbitrary power. A Roman citizen could appeal to the people or the emperor, and corporal punishment or execution without proper procedure was treated as a violation of status. For this reason the phrase civis Romanus sum, 'I am a Roman citizen', became a symbol of legal protection.

Who was a citizen

Originally citizens were members of the Roman community, but already in the Republic this circle expanded. After the Social War, most free inhabitants of Italy received citizenship. In the provinces it could be granted to veterans, local elites, individual communities, freedmen of citizens and people favoured by a magistrate or emperor.

Citizenship did not erase social distinctions. A wealthy senator, freeborn poor man and freedman could all be citizens, but their honour, career and everyday possibilities differed. Citizenship should therefore be considered together with Roman society, property qualifications, patronage and origin.

Latins, peregrini and Caracalla's edict

Between full citizenship and complete lack of rights stood intermediate statuses. Latins possessed part of the rights and held a special position in Italy and the colonial system. Peregrini were free inhabitants of the empire without Roman citizenship; they could live under local legal customs while also being subject to Roman power.

In 212 CE emperor Caracalla issued the Constitutio Antoniniana, extending citizenship to almost all free inhabitants of the empire. This did not make everyone equal, but it changed the legal map of the Roman world: distinctions between citizens and peregrini gave way to other divisions, especially property, administrative, military and fiscal status.

Topic navigation

I. Legal statuses

II. Society

III. State

Literature

1. Gaius. Institutes. 2. Digest of Justinian. 3. Cicero. Speeches. 4. A. N. Sherwin-White. The Roman Citizenship. 5. Jane F. Gardner. Being a Roman Citizen. 6. Clifford Ando. Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire.

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