The toga was the characteristic garment of the Roman citizen. Roman women (who were not considered full citizens) and non-citizens were not allowed to wear one. Citizenship in ancient Rome was a privileged social status 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 and later in the Roman Empire, people resident within the Roman state could roughly be divided into several classes: A Roman citizen (described below) enjoyed a wide range of privileges and protections defined in detail by the Roman state. A citizen could, under certain exceptional circumstances, be deprived of his citizenship. Roman women had a limited form of citizenship. On the whole they were a class apart whose status and rights in Roman society varied over time. Though held in high regard, they were 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 and donate money for public projects. As with Roman men they were, per tradition, subject to the almost complete power of their paterfamilias. Marriages were used to cement political alliances in Republican high society, and controlled by the paterfamilias, who could force his daughter to divorce to later remarry her to someone else until the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Provincials, were the free people who lived in territories conquered or otherwise attained by Rome who were not full Roman citizens. Client state citizens and Allies of Rome could be given a limited form of Roman citizenship such as the Latin Right. This amounted essentially to a second-class citizenship within the Roman state bringing with it certain benefits and obligations. There were also other variations on the Latin right, differing in duties and benefits. Slaves were considered property and had only very limited rights as granted by statute given to them after the establishment of the Principate. They were essentially at the mercy of their owners. The killing of a slave was a matter of property and propriety rather than a crime against a human being, and a slave's life could vary dramatically. While most slaves were subjected to lives of extreme hardship working as field or mine labourers, others were valued by their owners and could be treated as family members. Slaves could become freedmen by the manumission of their owners or by the purchase of their freedom, by themselves or by others. Freedmen, freed slaves, were granted a limited form of Roman citizenship.1 All slaves freed by Roman owners automatically received this, thus any future children of them would be born free. Freedmen could later attain full Roman citizenship. Contents 1 Rights given 2 Classes of citizenship 2.1 Cives Romani 2.2 Latini 2.3 Socii 2.4 Provinciales 2.5 Peregrini 3 Citizenship as a tool of Romanization 4 The Edict of Caracalla 5 See also 6 References 7 External links 8 See also 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. Jus honorum: The right to stand for civil or public office. Jus commercii: The right to make legal contracts and to hold property as a Roman citizen. Jus gentium: The legal recognition, developed in the 3rd century BC, 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 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 with a Roman citizen, to have the legal rights of the paterfamilias 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 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, nor could he receive the death penalty, unless he was found guilty of treason. 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 on the cross.

Roman citizenship was required in order to enlist in the Roman legions, but this was sometimes ignored. Non-citizens joined the Auxilia and gained citizenship through service. 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 Latini were a class of citizens who held the Latin Rights (jus Latii), or the rights of jus commercii and ius migrationis, but not the jus connubii. The term Latini originally referred to the Latins, citizens of the Latin League who came under Roman control at the close of the Latin War, but eventually became a legal description rather than a nationalistic or ethnic one. Freedmen 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, Foederati, Social War, and Lex Julia Socii 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 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 in which the Italian allies revolted against Rome. 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 Italian Socii states following the conclusion of the war (with the exception of Gallia Cisalpina), 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 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. 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 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, but after his death this policy was largely ignored by his successors. The idea was to assimilate, 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 and the conquered Helots, Rome made the "known" (conquered) world Roman. The Edict of Caracalla The Edict of Caracalla (officially the Constitutio Antoniniana (Latin: "Constitution [or Edict] of Antoninus") was an edict issued in 212, by the Roman Emperor Caracalla which 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. Before 212, for the most part only inhabitants of Italia held full Roman citizenship. Colonies of Romans established in other provinces, Romans (or their descendants) living in provinces, the inhabitants of various cities throughout the Empire, and small numbers of local nobles (such as kings of client countries) held full citizenship also. Provincials, on the other hand, were usually non-citizens, although some held the Latin Right. See also Civis romanus sum References ^ Fagan, Garrett G. (Lecturer/Professor) (2003). History of Ancient Rome, "Lecture 38: Roman Slavery" [CD Lecture series] ^ "Roman Law". The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition.. New York: Columbia University Press. http://www.bartleby.com/65/ro/Romanlaw.html. Retrieved 2007-07-28.  ^ Catholic Resources External links Goldsworthy, Adrian (2003-10-27). The Complete Roman Army. Thames & Hudson. p. 224. ISBN 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. 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