The Ancient City: A Study of the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (Illustrated)

The war that followed was called the social war; the allies of Rome took up arms that they might no longer be allies, but might become Romans.

Rome had withdrawn from them the title of citizens, or, rather, had done away with this falsehood, and had decided to restore to the different cities their municipal governments, their laws, and their magistracies. But by a skilful device Rome opened a door which, narrow as it was, permitted subjects to enter the Roman city. It granted to every Lat

Men thought themselves nothing if they were not Roman citizens.

There were distinguished, first, the allies, who had a government and laws of their own, and no legal bond with Roman citizens; second, the colonies, which enjoyed the civil rights of the Romans, without having political rights; third, the cities of the Italian right, — that is to say, those to whom, by the favor of Rome, the complete right of prop

If we are to trust him, the Latins obtained the right of Roman citizenship without including in the political privileges the right of suffrage, or in the civil the right of marriage.

Their city ( urbs) might remain standing, but the state ( civitas) had perished.

Rome sent one of her citizens into a country. She made that country the province of this man, — that is to say, his charge, his own care, his personal affair; this was the sense of the word provincia. At the same time she conferred upon this citizen the imperium; this signified that she gave up in his favor, for a determined time, the sovereignty w

Many men dreamed at last of establishing above the cities a sort of sovereign power, which should look to the maintenance of order, and compel those turbulent little societies to live in peace. It was thus that Phocion, a good citizen, advised his compatriots m accept the authority of Philip, and promised them, at this price, concord and security.

As to invoking the justice of Rome against his acts of violence or his crimes, the provincials could not do this unless they could find a Roman citizen who would act as their patron,631 for, as to themselves, they had no right to demand the protection of the laws of the city, or to appeal to its courts.