What is Roman citizenship?
{{wikify|date=December 2017}} People in [[Ancient Rome]] had certain rights depending on who they were. Some were citizens, and had rights that non-citizens did not have. The rights available to individual citizens 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 various combinations of legal rights that each class enjoyed. [[Client state]] citizens and allies (socii) of [[Rome]] could receive a limited form of Roman citizenship such as the Latin Right. Such citizens could not vote or be elected in Roman elections. [[Slavery|Slaves]] were considered [[property]], not legal persons and unable to be citizens. Over time, they acquired a few protections under Roman law. Rights available to citizens under Roman law addressed included: Ius suffragiorum: The right to vote in the Roman assemblies. Ius 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 ius gentium was therefore a Roman legal codification of the widely accepted [[international law]] of the time, and was based on the highly developed commercial law of the Greek city-states and of other maritime powers. The rights afforded by the ius gentium were considered to be held by all persons; it is thus a concept of human rights rather than rights attached to citizenship. Ius conubii: The right to have a lawful marriage with a Roman citizen according to Roman principles, to have the [[Rights|legal rights]] of the [[Pater familias|paterfamilias]] over the family, and for the children of any such marriage to be counted as Roman citizens. Ius 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) maintain