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The Constitutio Antoniniana (Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
: "Constitution [or Edict] of Antoninus") (aka Edict of Caracalla) was an edict issued in 212
212

EventsBy PlaceRoman Empire* Emperor Caracalla decrees that freemen throughout the Roman Empire are to become Roman citizenship ....
, by the Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
 Caracalla
Caracalla

Caracalla , born Lucius Septimius Bassianus and later called Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus, was the eldest son of Septimius Severus and Roman Emperor from 211 – 217....
. The law declared that all free men in the Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 were to be given full Roman citizenship and all free women in Empire were given the same rights as Roman women were.

Before 212, for the most part only inhabitants of Italia
Italia (Roman province)

Italia, under the Roman Republic and later Roman Empire, was the name of the Italian peninsula....
 held full Roman citizenship. Colonies of Romans established in other provinces, Romans (or their descendants) living in provinces, the inhabitants of various cities throughout the Empire, and small numbers of local nobles (such as kings of client countries) held full citizenship also.






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The Constitutio Antoniniana (Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
: "Constitution [or Edict] of Antoninus") (aka Edict of Caracalla) was an edict issued in 212
212

EventsBy PlaceRoman Empire* Emperor Caracalla decrees that freemen throughout the Roman Empire are to become Roman citizenship ....
, by the Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
 Caracalla
Caracalla

Caracalla , born Lucius Septimius Bassianus and later called Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus, was the eldest son of Septimius Severus and Roman Emperor from 211 – 217....
. The law declared that all free men in the Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 were to be given full Roman citizenship and all free women in Empire were given the same rights as Roman women were.

Before 212, for the most part only inhabitants of Italia
Italia (Roman province)

Italia, under the Roman Republic and later Roman Empire, was the name of the Italian peninsula....
 held full Roman citizenship. Colonies of Romans established in other provinces, Romans (or their descendants) living in provinces, the inhabitants of various cities throughout the Empire, and small numbers of local nobles (such as kings of client countries) held full citizenship also. Provincials, on the other hand, were usually non-citizens, although some held the Latin Right
Latin Right

The Latin Right was a civic status given by the Romans, intermediate between full Roman citizenship and non-citizen status . The most important tenets of the Latin right were commercium, conubium, and ius migrationis....
.

The reasons Caracalla passed this law were mainly to increase the number of people available to tax and to serve in the legions, as only full citizens could serve as legionaries in the Roman Army. This, however, came at the cost to the auxiliaries
Auxiliaries (Roman military)

Auxiliaries formed the standing non-citizen corps of the Roman army of the Principate , alongside the citizen Roman legion. By the 2nd century, the auxilia contained the same number of infantry as the legions and in addition provided almost all the Roman army's Roman cavalry and more specialised troops ....
, which primarily consisted of non-citizen men.

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