Download CITIZENSHIP IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE (I

CITIZENSHIP IN THE
ROMAN EMPIRE (I-III C. AD)
Cliquez pour ajouter un texte
Case Study : Roman Britain
Augustus (63 BC-14 AD)
Introduction



By ‘Roman Empire’, historians mean 2
things:
- a form of government in which an emperor
holds all the powers in his hands
- a vast territory conquered by the Romans
The Emperor’s powers:
Political power:
-makes the laws
-presides over the senate
Religious power:
Pontiff, head of the religion
Military power:
-Imperator
- Controls the provinces
Judicial power



Between the 1rst century AD and the 3rd
century AD, the Romans expanded their
empire by conquest.
But, once conquered, few peoples rebelled.
How did the Romans maintain control of
such a huge empire for so long?
I) A progressive integration of the elite and an
open citizenship



A) The Roman conquest and integration of
Gaul and Britain.
Gaul was conquered by Julius Caesar during
the 1rst century BC; the same Caesar had
attempted to invade Britain as well but he had
failed.
Conquest was indeed a way to further a
politician’s career.
Claudius (10 -54)


In AD 43, Claudius sent 4 legions and
auxiliary troops (about 40,000 men in all) to
conquer the island. They met with stiff
resistance from the Celtic Britons.
However, the Britons were eventually
defeated and Claudius could enter the
Catuvellaunian capital of Colchester in
triumph.


By AD 47 the Claudian armies occupied
Britain as far as the Severn (= a river, South
of Britain) and the work of organizing Britain
as a regular roman province was now in
progress.
The Claudian intention seems to have been to
employ ‘client’ kings as far as possible,where
they were reliable.



Meanwhile, Claudius chose to extend the
Senate to be a body with members of the
entire empire (see Tacitus,Annals: speech
delivered by Claudius in AD 48).
He did so in Gaul.
In his speech, he said that the Romans had
always integrated the conquered peoples
either by granting them citizenship or by
making some of them senators.


He then explained that the ruin of Sparta and
Athens had happened because the citizen
body was a closed political elite.
If the Roman Empire was to last, the defeated
peoples it ruled had to become Romans.
Recap:
Two different citizenships in Ancient Times:

Athens (5 th c. BC)
Rome (1rst c.AD)

40,000 citizens

Direct democracy
Citizens involved in
political life
(assembly,council,courts)
Power to the people
6 Million citizens under
Claudius
Rights and duties
Privileges and honors: no
power





Athens:
Only adult male
citizens
Birth criterion of
double descent: from
an Athenian mother as
well as father.
Rome:
Anyone in theory could be
granted citizenship,
without regard to
- the place of residence
- language
- religion
- parentage

In admitting provincials in the Senate, Claudius
mentioned, though,certain conditions which had to
be fulfilled to become a senator:
- that the province was subjugated a long time ago
- that the province remained at peace
- that the province had adopted roman ways
- that aristocratic families had intermarried
- that the province was rich enough.
How did the Britons react to their state of subjection?



B) Collaboration or resistance?
(see Tacitus in Life of Agricola)
The native aristocrats were given power,
wealth, office and status on condition that
they kept the peace and adopted the Roman
ways; they became roman citizens because
citizenship was not defined by nationality.


However, in AD 60, a revolt broke out in
Britain: at his death, the client king of the
Iceni had left half his possessions to the
emperor (Nero), expecting that this would
protect his kingdom and family.
But the Romans confiscated the king’s
property, nobles were expelled from their
estates and taxation and conscription
enforced.




As the royal family resisted, Boudicca –the queen of
the Iceni- was flogged and her daughters were raped.
The Iceni, feeling humiliated,rose up in revolt.
The Ninth legion was massacred and Colchester,
London and Verulamium were razed to the ground.
When the Romans retaliated, Boudicca was defeated
and committed suicide afterwards.
Boudicca inflicting devastating defeats
on the Romans.

Later, during the 2nd century AD, walls were
built for fear of barbarian incursion from
outside: the emperor Hadrian marked out
the boundaries with the Northern tribes (Picts
and Scots) of what is now Scotland;
Antoninus Pius,his successor, invaded
southern Scotland but the Antonine Wall was
soon lost and little remains of it.
Hadrian’s Wall
Bath house of a fortress located on the Antonine wall
II/The founding of cities spread romanity too


A) The roman army and the founding of cities.
When a legion (5,000 men) settled somewhere, it built a fortress and soon
craftsmen and traders would settle nearby.

In northern Britain,there were few towns or villas but there were many
forts, especially along the line of Hadrian’s Wall: that’s where rich
residences, luwury bath-houses can be seen.

All those soldiers – from various countries: Batavians,Thracians,
Sarmatians..- spoke latin,lived in a roman way.
Exeter,legionary fortress



They were granted citizenship and a packet of
land after their 25 years service.
They settled all over Britain, becoming
naturalised british citizens of the Roman
empire.
They concentrated in the small number of
cities founded to take them: Colchester,
Lincoln and Gloucester.


B) Provincial cities as little Romes.
These cities had the same kind of monuments:
- bath-houses
- amphitheatres
- temples.
All this helped emerge a romanized society in
Britain.
Amphitheatre at St Albans
Bathhouse at Bath
Mosaic floor in a roman palace
Milestone
A paved road of the roman network
CCL:
Prior to the Romans, Britain was a disparate
set of peoples with no sense of national
identity beyond that of their local tribe.
Rome brought a unity to Britain and
throughout the centuries of its rule over the
island, managed to establish wide foundations
for its empire by granting citizenship and
spreading its way of life.
Sources:
Tacitus Annals, The Life of Agricola
excerpts from 2003 movie on Boudicca: Warrior
Queen