Citizenship in ancient Rome Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world was a privileged social status In sociology or anthropology, social status is the honor or prestige attached to one's position in society . It may also refer to a rank or position that one holds in a group, for example son or daughter, playmate, pupil, etc afforded to certain individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance.
It is hard to offer meaningful generalities across the entire Roman period, as the nature and availability of citizenship was affected by legislation, for example, the Lex Iulia. In the Roman Republic The Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterised by a republican form of government. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, c. 509 BC, and lasted 482 years until its subversion, through a series of civil wars, into the Principate form of government and the Imperial period and later in the Roman Empire The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor, Augustus, people resident within the Roman state could roughly be divided into several classes:
- A Roman citizen (described below) enjoyed the full range of benefits that flowed from his status. A citizen could, under certain exceptional circumstances, be deprived of his citizenship.
- The native peoples who lived in territories conquered by Rome, citizens of Roman client states Client state is one of several terms used to describe the subordination of one state to a more powerful state in international affairs. It is the least specific of these terms and may be treated as a broad category which includes satellite state, associated state, puppet state, neo-colony, protectorate, vassal state and tributary state. The idea and Roman allies could be given a limited form of Roman citizenship such as the Latin Right The Latin Right was a civic status given by the Romans, intermediate between full Roman citizenship and non-citizen status (peregrines). The most important tenets of the Latin right were commercium, conubium, and ius migrationis. Commercium allowed Latins to own land in any of the Latin cities and to make legally enforceable contracts with their. This amounted essentially to a second-class citizenship within the Roman state. The Latin Right is the most widely known but there were many other such rights.
- Women were a class apart whose status and rights in Roman society varied over time. They were, however, never accorded all the rights of citizenship: they were not allowed to vote, or stand for civil or public office, although they did have the right to own property. Like men they were, at least in theory, subject to the almost complete power of their pater familias The paterfamilias was the head of a Roman family. The term is Latin for "father of the family" or the "owner of the family estate". The form is irregular and archaic in Latin, preserving the old genitive ending in -as (see Latin declension). The pater familias was always a Roman citizen, in many legal areas having rights barely more than those of slaves while under their fathers' power. In Republican high society, the marriages were used to cement political alliances and controlled by the pater familias. The pater familias could even force his daughter to divorce before the reign of Marcus Aurelius.
- Slaves The institution of slavery in ancient Rome reduced those held to a condition of less than persons under their legal system. Stripped of many rights, including the ability to marry, slaves were the property of their owners. Over time, the rights of slaves increased, to include the ability to file grievances against a master. Even after manumission, were considered property Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of persons. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property has the right to consume, sell, rent, mortgage, transfer, exchange or destroy their property, and/or to exclude others from doing these things. Important widely recognized types of and had only certain very limited rights as granted by statute. They could essentially be sold, tortured, maimed, raped and killed at the whim of their owners. The killing of a slave was a matter of property rather than a crime against a human being. Despite this, a freed slave, a freedman A freedman is a former slave who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves became freedmen either by manumission or emancipation, (granted freedom as part of a larger group), was granted a form of full Roman citizenship.[1] It was the exceptional feature of ancient Rome that all slaves freed by Roman owners automatically received a limited Roman citizenship.
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Methods to obtain Roman citizenship
- Roman citizenship was granted automatically to every male child born in a legal marriage of a Roman citizen.
- Freed slaves were given a limited form of Roman citizenship; they were still obliged in some aspects to their former owner who automatically became their patron.
- The sons of freed slaves became full citizens.
- Auxilia Auxiliaries formed the standing non-citizen corps of the Roman army of the Principate (30 BC–284 AD), alongside the citizen legions. By the 2nd century, the auxilia contained the same number of infantry as the legions and in addition provided almost all the Roman army's cavalry and more specialised troops (especially light cavalry and archers) were rewarded with Roman citizenship after their term of service. Their children also became citizens.
- Only Roman citizens could enlist in the Roman Legion The Roman legion is a term that can apply both as a translation of legio ("conscription" or "army") to the entire Roman army and also, more narrowly (and more commonly), to the heavy infantry that was the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army in the period of the late Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. In this latter. However an enlisted Roman legionary The Roman legionary was a professional soldier of the Roman army after the Marian reforms of 107 BC. Legionaries had to be Roman citizens under the age of 45. They enlisted in a legion for twenty-five years of service, a change from the early practice of enlisting only for a campaign. The last five years were on veteran lighter duties was deprived of many of his rights. He could not legally marry, and therefore all his children born during his military service were denied citizenship, unless and until he married their mother after his discharge.
- Some individuals received Roman citizenship as a reward for outstanding service to Rome.
- One could also buy citizenship, but at a very high price.
- People who were from the Latin states were gradually granted citizenship.
- Rome gradually granted citizenship to whole provinces; the third-century Constitutio Antoniniana The Constitutio Antoniniana (also called Edict of Caracalla) was an edict issued in 212, by the Roman Emperor Caracalla. The law declared that all free men in the Roman Empire were to be given full Roman citizenship and all free women in Empire were given the same rights as Roman women were granted it to all free male inhabitants of the Empire.
Rights given
The rights available to individual citizen of Rome varied over time, according to their place of origin, and their service to the state. They also varied under Roman law according to the classification of the individual within the state. Various legal classes were defined by the individual legal rights that they enjoyed. However, the possible rights available to citizens with whom Roman law addressed are:
- Jus suffragiorum: The right to vote in the Roman assemblies The Roman Assemblies were institutions in Ancient Rome. They functioned as the machinery of the Roman legislative branch, and thus passed all legislation. Since the assemblies operated on the basis of direct democracy, ordinary citizens, and not elected representatives, would cast all ballots. The assemblies were subject to strong checks on their.
- Jus honorum: The right to stand for civil or public office.
- Jus commercii: The right to make legal contracts In law, a contract is an agreement between two or more parties which, if it contains the elements of a valid legal agreement, is enforceable by law or by binding arbitration. That is to say, a contract is an exchange of promises with specific legal remedies for breach. These can include Compensatory remedy, whereby the defaulting party is required and to hold property as a Roman citizen.
- Jus gentium Jus gentium, Latin for "law of nations", was originally the part of Roman law that the Roman Empire applied to its dealings with foreigners, especially provincial subjects. In later times the Latin term came to refer to the natural or common law among nations[citation needed] considered as states within a larger human society, especially: The legal recognition, developed in the 3rd century BC The 3rd century BC started the first day of 300 BC and ended the last day of 201 BC. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period, of the growing international scope of Roman affairs, and the need for Roman law to deal with situations between Roman citizens and foreign persons. The jus gentium was therefore a Roman legal codification of the widely accepted international law International law is the term commonly used for referring to laws that govern the conduct of independent nations in their relationships with one another. It differs from other legal systems in that it primarily concerns provinces rather than private citizens. However, the term "international law" can refer to three distinct legal of the time, and was based on highly developed commercial law of the Greek city-states and of other maritime powers.[2] The rights afforded by the jus gentium were considered to be held by all persons, regardless of citizenship.
- Jus connubii: The right to have a lawful marriage Marriage is a social union or legal contract between individuals that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found. Such a union may also be called matrimony, while the ceremony that marks with a Roman citizen, to have the legal rights of the paterfamilias The pater familias was the head of a Roman family. The term is Latin for "father of the family" or the "owner of the family estate". The form is irregular and archaic in Latin, preserving the old genitive ending in -as (see Latin declension). The pater familias was always a Roman citizen over the family, and to have the children of any such marriage be counted as Roman citizens.
- Jus migrationis: The right to preserve one's level of citizenship upon relocation to a polis A polis , plural poleis (/ˈpɒleɪz/, πόλεις [póleːs]), is a city, a city-state and also citizenship and body of citizens. When used to describe Classical Athens and its contemporaries, polis is often translated as "city-state." of comparable status. For example, members of the cives romani (see below) maintained their full civitas when they migrated to a Roman colony with full rights under the law: a colonia civium Romanorum. Latins also had this right, and maintained their jus Latii if they relocated to a different Latin state or Latin colony (Latina colonia). This right did not preserve one's level of citizenship should one relocate to a colony of lesser legal status; full Roman citizens relocating to a Latina colonia were reduced to the level of the jus Latii, and such a migration and reduction in status had to be a voluntary act.
- The right of immunity from some taxes and other legal obligations, especially local rules and regulations.[3]
- The right to sue in the courts and the right to be sued.
- The right to have a legal trial (to appear before a proper court and to defend oneself).
- The right to appeal from the decisions of magistrates and to appeal the lower court decisions.
- A Roman citizen could not be tortured or whipped Flagellation or flogging is the act of methodically beating or whipping the human body. Specialised implements for it include rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails and the sjambok. Typically, flogging is imposed on an unwilling subject as a punishment; however, it can also be submitted to willingly, or performed on oneself, in religious or, nor could he receive the death penalty Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a person by judicial process as a punishment for an offense. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from Latin capitalis, literally "regarding the head" . Hence, a capital crime was originally one, unless he was found guilty of treason In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more serious acts of betrayal of one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife . A person who commits treason is known in law as a traitor.
- If accused of treason, a Roman citizen had the right to be tried in Rome, and even if sentenced to death, no Roman citizen could be sentenced to die at the cross Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead. The term comes from the Latin crucifixio ("fixed to a cross", from the prefix cruci-, "cross", + verb figere, "fix or bind fast".). (Despite being found guilty of the same crime, Paul of Tarsus Paul of Tarsus, also called Saint Paul, Paul the Apostle, or the Apostle Paul, (Ancient Greek: Σαούλ , Σαῦλος (Saulos), and Παῦλος (Paulos); Latin: Paulus or Paullus; Hebrew: שאול התרסי Šaʾul HaTarsi (Saul of Tarsus) (c. 5 - c. 67), was a Jew who called himself the "Apostle to the Gentiles". According to and Simon Peter Simon Peter , sometimes called Simon Cephas (Greek: Σιμων Κηφᾶς, Symōn Kēphas; Aramaic: Šimʕōn Kêfâ; Syriac: ܫܡܥܘܢ ܟܐܦܐ, Sëmʕān Kêfâ) after his name in Hellenized Aramaic, was a leader of the early Christian Church, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. Peter was faced different fates. Paul was beheaded, while Peter, not being a Roman citizen, was whipped and then crucified.)
Roman citizenship was required in order to enlist in the Roman legions, but this was sometimes ignored.
Classes of citizenship
The legal classes varied over time, however the following classes of legal status existed at various times within the Roman state:
Cives Romani
The Cives Romani were full Roman citizens, who enjoyed full legal protection under Roman law. Cives Romani were sub-divided into two classes: The non optimo jure who held the rights of jus commercii and jus connubii (rights of property and marriage), and the optimo jure, who also held these rights as well as the additional rights of jus suffragiorum and jus honorum (the rights to vote and to hold office).
Latini
Further information: Latin League and Latin Right The Latin Right was a civic status given by the Romans, intermediate between full Roman citizenship and non-citizen status (peregrines). The most important tenets of the Latin right were commercium, conubium, and ius migrationis. Commercium allowed Latins to own land in any of the Latin cities and to make legally enforceable contracts with theirThe Latini were a class of citizens who held the Latin Rights The Latin Right was a civic status given by the Romans, intermediate between full Roman citizenship and non-citizen status (peregrines). The most important tenets of the Latin right were commercium, conubium, and ius migrationis. Commercium allowed Latins to own land in any of the Latin cities and to make legally enforceable contracts with their (jus Latii), or the rights of jus commercii and ius migrationis, but not the jus connubii. The term Latini originally referred to the Latins The Latins were an ancient Italic people of the Latium region in central Italy, . Although they lived in independent city-states, the Latins had a common language (Latin), common religious beliefs, and a close sense of kinship, expressed in the myth that they were all descendants of Latinus. Latinus was worshiped on Mons Albanus (Monte Cavo), citizens of the Latin League who came under Roman control at the close of the Latin War The Latin War was a conflict between the Roman Republic and its neighbors the Latin peoples of ancient Italy. It ended in the dissolution of the Latin League, and incorporation of its territory into the Roman sphere of influence, with the Latins gaining partial rights and varying levels of citizenship, but eventually became a legal description rather than a nationalistic or ethnic one. Freedmen A freedman is a former slave who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves became freedmen either by manumission or emancipation, (granted freedom as part of a larger group) slaves, those of the Cives Romani convicted of crimes, or citizens settling Latin colonies could be given this status under the law.
Socii
Further information: Socii The Socii were the tribes and city-states of the Italian peninsula allied (though not legally subject) to Rome prior to the Social War of 91-88 BC, at the end of which all Rome's Italian allies were awarded Roman citizenship. The Romans themselves referred to their confederates as the socii Latini ("Latin allies"), although most were not, Foederati Foederatus is a Latin term whose definition and usage drifted in the time between the early Roman Republic and the end of the Western Roman Empire. Early in the history of the Roman Republic, a foederatus identified one of the tribes bound by treaty (foedus), who were neither Roman colonies nor had they been granted Roman citizenship (civitas) but, Social War, and Lex JuliaSocii or Foederati were citizens of states which had treaty obligations with Rome, typically agreements under which certain legal rights of the state's citizens under Roman law were exchanged for agreed upon levels of military service, i.e. the Roman magistrates had the right to levy soldiers for the Roman legions The Roman legion is a term that can apply both as a translation of legio ("conscription" or "army") to the entire Roman army and also, more narrowly (and more commonly), to the heavy infantry that was the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army in the period of the late Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. In this latter from those states. However, Foederati states that had at one time been conquered by Rome were exempt from payment of tribute to Rome due to their treaty status.
Growing dissatisfaction with the rights afforded to the Socii, and with the growing manpower demands of the legions (due to the protracted Jugurthine War and the Cimbrian War) led eventually to the Social War of 91–88 BC. The passing of the Lex Julia (more specifically the Lex Iulia de Civitate Latinis Danda) in 90 BC granted the rights of the cives romani to all latini and socii states that had not participated in the Social War, or who were willing to cease hostilities immediately. This was eventually extended to all of the Socii states following the conclusion of the war, effectively eliminating socii and latini as legal and citizenship definitions.
Provinciales
Provinciales were those persons who fell under Roman influence, or control, but who lacked even the rights of the Foederati, essentially having only the rights of the jus gentium.
Peregrini
A Peregrinus (plural Peregrini) was originally the term used to describe any person who was not a full Roman citizen, that is someone who was not a member of the Cives Romani. With the expansion of Roman law to include more gradations of legal status, this term became less used, but the term peregrini included the those of the latini, socii, and provinciales, as well as those subjects of foreign states.
Citizenship as a tool of Romanization
Roman citizenship was also used as a tool of foreign policy and control. Colonies and political allies would be granted a "minor" form of Roman citizenship, there being several graduated levels of citizenship and legal rights (the Latin Right The Latin Right was a civic status given by the Romans, intermediate between full Roman citizenship and non-citizen status (peregrines). The most important tenets of the Latin right were commercium, conubium, and ius migrationis. Commercium allowed Latins to own land in any of the Latin cities and to make legally enforceable contracts with their was one of them). The promise of improved standing within the Roman "sphere of influence", and the rivalry for standing with one's neighbours, kept the focus of many of Rome's neighbours and allies centered on the status quo of Roman culture, rather than trying to subvert or overthrow Rome's influence.
The granting of citizenship to allies and the conquered was a vital step in the process of Romanization Romanization or latinization indicate different historical processes, such as acculturation, integration and assimilation of newly incorcorporated and peripheral populations by the Roman republic and the later Roman empire. Ancient Roman historiography and Italian historiography until the fascist period used to call these various processes the &. This step was one of the most effective political tools and (at that point in history) original political ideas (perhaps one of the most important reasons for the success of Rome).
As a precursor to this, Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon , popularly known as Alexander the Great (Greek: Μέγας Ἀλέξανδρος, Mégas Aléxandros), was a Greeki[›] king (basileus) of Macedon. He is the most celebrated member of the Argead Dynasty and created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Born in Pella in 356 BC, Alexander received a classical had tried to "mingle" his Macedonians and other Greeks with the Persians, Egyptians, Syrians, etc in order to assimilate the people of the conquered Persian Empire The Achaemenid Empire , also known as the Persian Empire, was the successor state of the Median Empire, ruling over significant portions of what would become Greater Iran. The Persian and the Median Empire taken together are also known as the Medo-Persian Empire, which encompassed the combined territories of several earlier empires, but after his death this policy was largely ignored by his successors. The idea was to assimilate Cultural assimilation is a political response to the demographic fact of multi-ethnicity which encourages absorption of the minority into the dominant culture. It is opposed to affirmative philosophy which recognizes and seeks to maintain differences, to turn a defeated and potentially rebellious enemy (or his sons) into a Roman citizen. Instead of having to wait for the unavoidable revolt of a conquered people (a tribe or a city-state) like Sparta Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c. 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military land- and the conquered Helots The helots were an unfree population group that formed the main population of Laconia and the whole of Messenia (areas of Sparta). Their exact status was already disputed in antiquity: according to Critias, they were "especially slaves" whereas to Pollux, they occupied a status "between free men and slaves". Tied to the land,, Rome made the "known" (conquered) world Roman.
The Social War (in which the Italian allies revolted against Rome) ended gradually as Rome granted citizenship to all Italian freemen (with the exception of Gallia Cisalpina). After AD 212, all freemen in the Empire were granted citizenship by an imperial edict (the Constitutio Antoniniana The Constitutio Antoniniana (also called Edict of Caracalla) was an edict issued in 212, by the Roman Emperor Caracalla. The law declared that all free men in the Roman Empire were to be given full Roman citizenship and all free women in Empire were given the same rights as Roman women were) of Emperor Caracalla Caracalla , born Lucius Septimius Bassianus and later called Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus, was the eldest son of Septimius Severus and Roman Emperor from 211 to 217. He was one of the most nefarious of Roman emperors. Caracalla's reign was notable for:.
References
- ^ Fagan, Garrett G. (Lecturer/Professor) (2003). History of Ancient Rome, "Lecture 38: Roman Slavery" [CD Lecture series].
- ^ "Roman Law" (in English) (HTML). The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition.. New York: Columbia University Press. http://www.bartleby.com/65/ro/Romanlaw.html. Retrieved 2007-07-28.
- ^ Catholic Resources
See also
External links
- Goldsworthy, Adrian (2003-10-27). The Complete Roman Army. Thames & Hudson. p. 224. ISBN The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering (SBN) code created by Gordon Foster, now Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin, for the booksellers and stationers W.H. Smith and others in 1966 0500051240.
- Jahnige, Joan (2002-05). "Roman Citizenship". Kentucky Educational Television Distance Learning. http://www.dl.ket.org/latin1/mores/law/citizenship.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
- Lassard, Yves; Alexandr Koptev. "The Roman Law Library" (Library). http://web.upmf-grenoble.fr/Haiti/Cours/Ak/. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
- Just, Felix. "Social Aspects of Pauline World". Catholic Resources for Bible, Liturgy, Art, and Theology. http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Social_Aspects.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
See also
Categories: Roman law | Ancient Roman society | Nationality law | History of nationality
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