step forward in the continuing Romanization of
an empire about to reach its maximum bounds.
Subsequent emperors continued this process,
little by little bestowing citizenship across the
Roman world. In imperial times, any Roman citi-
zen from any part of the Empire facing trial could
express their desire to appeal directly to Caesar.
The most famous example of a citizen invok-
ing this right is the apostle Paul. Born a Jew in
4 B.C. in Tarsus in modern-day Turkey, Paul—a
Latinized form of his Hebrew name, Saul—was
a Roman citizen. Following his arrest by the Ro-
mans in A.D. 59, Paul used his status to dramati-
cally halt his trial before Porcius Festus, the gov-
ernor of Judaea: “Festus, when he had conferred
with the council, answered, ‘You have appealed
to Caesar? To Caesar you shall go!’ ”(Acts 25:12).
Paul was transferred to Rome, where he stayed
for several years before his martyrdom there.
The final step toward extending Roman citi-
zenship to nearly all the subject peoples of the
empire came with the Edict of Caracalla. Pro-
mulgated in A.D. 212, it granted citizenship to all
the free men of the Roman Empire.
Historians point out that this decidedly bold
move was not as enlightened as it may appear.
Caracalla was a spendthrift and unstable ruler,
and extending citizenship to the huge popu-
lations that inhabited his mighty realm was a
quick way to increase his tax base.
Even so, the concept that people from dif-
ferent ethnic backgrounds can share the same
rights, responsibilities, and sense of national
pride under the umbrella of citizenship, is as
stirring a notion now as it was for many Ro-
mans two millennia ago. The century before
Caracalla’s edict, the orator Aelius Aristides
made a speech in Rome sketching out this lofty
vision: “And neither does the sea nor a great
expanse of intervening land keep one from be-
ing a citizen; nor here are Asia and Europe dis-
tinguished. But all lies open to all men. No one
is a foreigner... and just as the earth’s ground
support all men, so Rome too receives men
from every land.”CLELIA MARTÍNEZ MAZA IS PROFESSOR OF ANCIENT HISTORY
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MALAGA, SPAIN.NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 53A CITIZENS’
CHARTER
T
his bronze tablet, one of four
found in 1870-71 at the site of the
Roman city of Urso (near Osuna
in southern Spain) is the founda-
tion charter of the city. Known as the Lex
Ursonensis or Law of Colonia Genetiva Julia,
it was drafted by Julius Caesar and came
into force under the rule of Mark Antony
following Caesar’s assassination in 44 b.c.
The charter includes regulations about life
in the city, from managing public works and
the election of magistrates to the payment
of taxes. One of the few colonies founded
in Hispania by Julius Caesar, Urso was also
known as Colonia Genetiva Julia, a name
that honored Venus Genetrix, believed to be
a divine ancestor and protector of the family
to which Caesar belonged. Urso was one of
only nine colonies of Roman citizens out of
around a total of 175 in southern Spain. Over
a century later, in a.d. 74, Vespasian would
extend citizenship across Hispania.LEX URSONENSISDEA/ALBUM