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Roman Citizenship

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The Roman Republic became one of the most powerful and ruthless Empire 's on the face of the planet and to be a citizen was very appealing. This was such an admirable and highly sought after position; that it would cause envy throughout the people of that time. There were also 'pre-requisites ' recorded in the requirements of becoming a Roman citizen and keeping that role. Roman citizenship itself was originally difficult to obtain but once won, life as a citizen was easier and more refined than the 'lowly freemen '.

There was a complex set of rules to be taken into account when it came to granting Roman citizenship to the people. Even the birth of a child to a citizen was not always a guarantee of citizenship as the role of the father
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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). (Internet Wikipedia Encyclopaedia 'nod ').

Citizens would be referred to as Romans whereas non-citizens were referred to as slaves or babari, it was a ruthless time and the residents of the Empire were roughly divided into classes:Slaves were considered property and had only certain very limited rights as granted by stature. They could essentially be sold, tortured, maimed, raped and killed at the whim of their owners. It was the exceptional feature of ancient Rome that almost all slaves freed by Roman owners (freedman) automatically received Roman citizenship.

The natives who lived in territories conquered by Rome, citizens of Roman client states and Roman allies 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. The Latin Right is the most widely known but there were many other of such Rights.

A Roman citizen enjoyed the full range of benefits that flowed from his status. A citizen could, under certain exceptional circumstances, be deprived of his citizenship.

Women were a class apart whose status in Roman society varied tremendously over
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