Citizenship

Roman Thinking

A distinctive form of defined citizenship stems from ancient Rome. Residents of the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire were divided into several categories: the most favored were the patricians, sometimes referred to as pater familias, or “family fathers.” The citizens of the time, civitas, enjoyed exclusive rights in their family and the larger society that could be taken from them only rarely. They were virtually untouchable by the state; were exempted from taxes and other obligations; and could not be subjected to torture, scourging, or the death penalty, except for treason (and then, never by crucifixion). In any case, they had the right to due process (to sue and be sued or to appeal a sentence) and, of course, enjoyed the rights to vote in the Republic, run for office, and make legal contracts, including having a lawful marriage.

Roman citizenship was exclusive in the Roman society; the toga was a garment reserved for citizens and therefore prohibited for noncitizens (e.g., women, slaves). Roman women, even if they belonged by birth and marriage to patrician families, were never awarded full-fledged citizenship, but enjoyed variable—yet always restricted—rights (e.g., no electoral rights, but the right to own property), and they were always subject to decisions of their pater familias. Natives of Roman colonies and allies could get a second-class, limited form of Roman citizenship, such as the Latin Right; slaves, barely considered human, were the property of their masters, who had absolute rights over them (of life and death, whatever form of maltreatment, or being sold as merchandise). However, a freed slave could be granted a form of citizenship.

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