page_title: Roman citizenship
section_title: Classes of citizenship
hierarchical_section_title: Roman citizenship / Classes of citizenship
caption_attribution_description: English: Bronze sculpture of The Orator
context_page_description: Citizenship in ancient Rome was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance.
  A male Roman citizen enjoyed a wide range of privileges and protections defined in detail by the Roman state. A citizen could, under certain exceptional circumstances, be deprived of his citizenship.
  Roman women had a limited form of citizenship. They were not allowed to vote or stand for civil or public office. The rich might participate in public life by funding building projects or sponsoring religious ceremonies and other events. Women had the right to own property, to engage in business, and to obtain a divorce, but their legal rights varied over time. Marriages were an important form of political alliance during the Republic.
  Client state citizens and allies of Rome could receive a limited form of Roman citizenship such as the Latin Right. Such citizens could not vote or be elected in Roman elections.
  Freedmen were former slaves who had gained their freedom. They were not automatically given citizenship and lacked some privileges such as running for executive magistracies.
context_section_description: The legal classes varied over time, however the following classes of legal status existed at various times within the Roman state:
caption: The Orator, c. 100 BC, an Etrusco-Roman bronze sculpture depicting Aule Metele (Latin: Aulus Metellus), an Etruscan man wearing a Roman toga while engaged in rhetoric; the statue features an inscription in the Etruscan alphabet
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