Roman citizenship was a privileged legal and political status for free people, giving rights to vote, own property, marry lawfully and get a fair trial. It spread slowly across Italy and the provinces until an edict in AD 212 gave it to nearly all free people.
Key takeaways
- Citizenship brought rights to vote, own property, make contracts, appeal and have a lawful trial, though women had limited citizenship [1].
- A non-citizen could earn it by serving in the auxiliary forces [1].
- In AD 212 the Constitutio Antoniniana gave full citizenship to all free men in the empire, with exceptions [1].
- Our map's AD 211 page records the death of Septimius Severus, whose son Caracalla issued the edict the next year.
How Roman citizenship worked
Roman citizenship was a privileged political and legal status for free people. Its exact meaning changed over time [1]. A male citizen could vote and, if he came from the right class, hold public office. A citizen had rights over property and contracts, could appeal and have a legal trial, and could make a lawful marriage whose children were also citizens [1].
Citizenship also protected the body. Under the Porcian Laws citizens could not be whipped or tortured, and could change a death sentence into exile. Treason trials were held in Rome, and a citizen could not be crucified [1]. That is why the apostle Paul, a citizen by birth according to the Book of Acts, could make use of his status [1]. Women had limited citizenship. They could not vote or hold office, but could own property, do business and divorce [1]. Citizens also had duties, called munera publica, and failing them could cost privileges [1].
There were several routes in. You could be born to free citizen parents. You could earn it through public service, such as serving in the auxiliary forces, which non-citizens could join [1]. Under Latin law, provincial city officials who were elected to office gained citizenship [1]. Freed slaves were not automatically citizens, though children born to them after freedom were born free citizens [1].
Italy was the first big step. The Italian allies revolted in the Social War (91 to 87 BC), partly over unequal rights and the demands of the army. The Lex Julia of 90 BC then granted citizenship to allies who had not revolted or agreed to stop fighting, and it was later extended to the rest, ending the old categories of allies and Latins [1].
An example from our data
The big change came in AD 212. The Constitutio Antoniniana, issued under Caracalla, extended full citizenship to all free men in the empire and gave free women the same rights as Roman women. It excluded people who had surrendered in war (dediticii) and freed slaves [1]. Before it, many provincials had held only Latin rights [1].
Our AD 211 page sits just before it. The date is AD 211, and its event is: Septimius Severus dies; his sons Caracalla and Geta succeed. The empire then covered 4.81 million km² across 43 provinces and 45 modern countries, so the edict reached people from Italia to the far provinces. The map does not draw citizens, only the land they lived on.
The thing people get wrong
Many people think that everyone in the Roman Empire was a Roman citizen. That was only close to true after AD 212, and even then slaves were excluded [1]. For most of Roman history citizens were a minority in the provinces, and the status was a prize. Soldiers who joined the auxiliary units earned it on discharge [2].
A second mix-up is that "civitas" always means a town. The word also means citizenship, as the entry on civitas explains.
Frequently asked questions
Who was a Roman citizen?
Free people born to citizen parents, those who earned it through service such as the auxiliary forces, and many provincials who were granted it. After AD 212 nearly all free people in the empire held it.
Were slaves Roman citizens?
No. Freed slaves were not automatically citizens, though children born to them after they were freed were born free citizens.
What was the Edict of Caracalla?
An edict of AD 212, officially the Constitutio Antoniniana, that extended full Roman citizenship to all free men in the empire and gave free women the same rights as Roman women.
Sources
- Roman citizenship, Wikipedia.
- Roman legion, Wikipedia.
- Every figure from our own map is worked out from the datasets on the data sources page (checked against Ancient World Mapping Center outlines and Pleiades).