Roman Citizenship

Created by Marion Wadowski for Ancient History Encyclopedia

This activity has been designed to fit a 20 minutes slot for your class. It is part of our Ancient Rome Society and Government pack where you can find:

• Complete lesson plans, with teachers’ instructions • Multiple choice quiz questions in an excel format • Glossary of keywords and concepts in an excel format • Open questions adaptable for debates, presentations and essays • Recommended resources to provide you and your students a comprehensive list of trustworthy references on the topic (includes all media types: videos, texts, primary resources, maps, podcasts, 3D models, etc.)

Ancient Rome Government and Society Pack covers the following topics: • Roman Society • Roman Citizenship – across the periods of Kingship, Republic and Empire • Roman Elections

• From Kingship to Republic • From Republic to Empire

Should you need it, check out our “cheat sheets” to give your students such as tips to write a great essay or tools to make your life easier, such as marking grids.

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www.ancient.eu – Ancient Rome – Government and Society

Worksheet Roman Citizenship

Name Date

Complete the following table answer the questions below after reading this article: https://www.ancient.eu/article/859/roman-citizenship/

Question Early Republic Empire

Who was a citizen?

What was a citizen’s most important right?

Who could not be a citizen?

a) What does SPQR stand for? What does it mean and show about the importance of voting to the Romans?

b) Even citizens could be considered second class. This was true during both the Republic and the Empire. Why is that?

c) Citizenship was more of a political status almost and represented a set of values. What was the most important thing an individual had to do or be in order to be a “true Roman”?

www.ancient.eu – Ancient Rome – Government and Society

Answer Keys Worksheet

Complete the following table answer the questions below after reading this article: https://www.ancient.eu/article/859/roman-citizenship/

Question Early Republic Empire

Who was a citizen? Roman patricians, Roman At first, only Roman individuals plebeians. Women were citizens After a while, provincials could but could not vote. become citizens too. Not all could vote.

What was a citizen’s Right to vote Right to vote most important right?

Who could not be a Slaves Slaves citizen?

a) What does SPQR stand for? What does it mean and show about the importance of voting to the Romans? SPQR or Senatus Populusque Romanus, the Senate and the Roman People.

It shows how important the right to vote was for Roman people.

b) Even citizens could be considered second class. This was true during both the Republic and the Empire. Why is that?

If you couldn’t vote, you would not be a “true Roman”.

c) Citizenship was more of a political status almost and represented a set of values. What was the most important thing an individual had to do or be in order to be a “true Roman”? He would have had to put aside the sense of the individual

and focus on the good of the community.