The Laws on Citizenship in Italy in the First Century B.C.: Causes and Effects

The article examines the legislative measures enacted by Rome during the Social War and analyses their consequences for the political and legal organisation of Italy and Cisalpine Gaul. It argues that the lex Iulia de civitate of 90 BC and the law promoted by Pompeius Strabo in 89 BC did not constitute two stages of a single programme conceived from the outset, but rather represented distinct responses to different political and social circumstances. In Italy, Roman citizenship was granted to the Italic communities and to the whole universum Latium, while the newly enfranchised populations were integrated into the Roman civic body through the transformation of their communities into municipalities governed by Roman private law. In Cisalpine Gaul, by contrast, Rome adopted a more gradual strategy. The urban communities of the region were converted into Latin colonies sine novis colonis and endowed with ius Latii, which enabled local magistrates to acquire Roman citizenship through the exercise of office. The article shows how these different solutions reflected Rome’s attempt to reconcile military exigencies, local traditions and long-term strategies of integration, ultimately laying the foundations for the political and territorial unification of Italy.