WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -If accused of treason, a Roman citizen had the right to be tried in Rome, and even if sentenced to death, no Roman citizen could be sentenced to crucifixion.

Detailed explanation-2: -Voting for most offices was open to all full Roman citizens, a group that excluded women, slaves and originally those living outside of Rome. In the early Republic, the electorate would have been small, but as Rome grew it expanded.

Detailed explanation-3: -Any male Roman citizen could accuse someone of a crime and seek to prosecute him or her before a jury court. To bring a case, the accuser had to take an oath that his prosecution was in good faith. The accused person remained free while each side prepared for the trial.

Detailed explanation-4: -Roman law, like other ancient systems, originally adopted the principle of personality-that is, that the law of the state applied only to its citizens. Foreigners had no rights and, unless protected by some treaty between their state and Rome, they could be seized like ownerless pieces of property by any Roman.

Detailed explanation-5: -Roman citizenship was acquired by birth if both parents were Roman citizens (cives), although one of them, usually the mother, might be a peregrinus (“alien”) with connubium (the right to contract a Roman marriage). Otherwise, citizenship could be granted by the people, later by generals and emperors.

Detailed explanation-6: -Initially limited to Romans living within Italy proper, the status of citizen was extended by the government to various peoples throughout the Roman Empire as it expanded.