Who Belongs?
1In ancient Athens and Rome, being a citizen meant much more than living in the city. Citizens had rights that other residents did not have, and they owed the city duties in return. But who counted as a citizen differed from place to place and changed over time.
2In Athens, a law of 451 BCE said a person was a citizen only if both parents were Athenian. Citizen men aged 18 and older could speak and vote in the Assembly, and citizen men aged 30 and older could also serve on juries chosen by lot and hold most offices. Only citizens could own land in Attica, the farmland around Athens. Citizen men were expected to fight in the army or row in the navy in wartime. Women of citizen families could not vote or hold office. Foreign residents, called metics, paid a special tax and served in the army, but they could not vote or own land, even if their families had lived in Athens for generations. A freed slave usually became a metic, not a citizen.
3Roman citizenship spread much more widely. Children of a citizen father were citizens, and slaves freed by Roman citizens usually became citizens too. Citizen men could vote in Rome's assemblies, and they owed military service. At first most of Rome's Italian allies were not citizens. After a war with those allies from about 91 to 88 BCE, Rome granted citizenship to most free people in Italy. Before 212 CE, most free people in Rome's provinces outside Italy were not citizens unless they had been granted it. That year, Emperor Caracalla gave citizenship to nearly all free people in the empire.
4Every few years, Roman officials called censors counted citizen men and their property. Ancient writers reported some of the totals, shown in the table below. Historians debate the jump after 70 BCE: some think officials under Emperor Augustus began counting women and children, while others think they still counted only men.
5In the United States today, the Fourteenth Amendment (1868) says that all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens. Immigrants can become citizens through naturalization, which includes a test on U.S. history and government and an oath. Citizens 18 and older may vote, run for office and serve on juries. Their duties include obeying laws, paying taxes and serving on a jury when called.