The Citizenship And The Identity Of Roman

Roman citizenship is the main way of defining Roman.Rome was originally a small city of the Latium plain in the northern Italy and then developed to a great empire across the Asian,African and European continents.To a certain extent,it was achieved by expanding the citizen collectivity continuously.The "granting of Roman citizenship" as a political means,have promoted Rome's outward expansion continued to be successful.The "granting of Roman citizenship" was reflected in the historical writing of the founding legends of Rome,and was deeply reflected in the three large-scale practices of the Roman citizenship policy.The Roman citizenship policy have been first applied to the Latins.By granting Roman citizenship to the Latin Allies communities,establishing"municipiae(municipalities)" and "coloniae(colonies)",Roman citizenship have been accepted by a mass of the Latins.The second large-scale practice was towards all Italians except for Latins.After Rome have ruled the whole Italian peninsula,the value of Roman citizenship was increasingly reflected.The Italian Allies launched an alliance war for Roman citizenship,and after that all Italians have become Roman citizens.The third large-scale practice was to the residents of the provinces among the Mediterranean world.Rome granted Roman citizenship to the provincial elites of upper class,while ordinary residents obtained it by participating in overseas colonies or serving in the auxiliary armies of Rome.As a result of their acquisition of Roman citizenship,the Latins have become the rulers of the Rome State as the same status as the Romans,the Italians have felt the love and loyalty for the "two homelands",particularly the "Rome homeland",and the residents of the provinces have been both urban and Roman.People of different nations have became a common community--the Romans,and they each had a strong identity with this new status.The citizenship as a means of Roman identity,has played an important role in the development process of Rome State.Having obtained the Roman citizenship means having accessed to the political rights and privileges of the Romans,having become a Roman in political sense,and under the protection of the law.While its connotation has changed in the late empire,the citizenship was always the first condition of becoming the Romans,was always the basic means of the Roman identity.