The Constitutio Antoniniana was an edict of the Roman emperor Caracalla that granted Roman citizenship to nearly all free inhabitants of the empire. Until then, citizenship had been a privilege held by a minority, mainly in Italy and certain provincial cities, and most provincials were subjects without full rights. The text survives only in part, in a papyrus now kept in Giessen. Historians disagree about the motives: the historian Cassius Dio claimed that it was meant to raise taxes, since citizens paid certain duties, while others see a wish to unify the empire or to honor the gods. Some groups of people, such as certain freed slaves and those who surrendered to Rome, were excluded.
Before and after
- 2nd centuryConstruction of Aqueduct of Segovia
- 2nd centuryPublication of Book of Han
- c. 200sTeotihuacan becomes the largest city in the Americas
- 203 CEOrigins of Arch of Septimius Severus (Roman Forum)
- 212 CEConstitutio Antoniniana
- 216 CEConstruction of Baths of Caracalla
- from 220 CE to 280 CEThree Kingdoms
- from 220 CE to 638 CEGhassanids
- from 220 CE to 589 CEWei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties
More in Wars, politics & history
- c. 510 BCEThe Roman Republic is founded
- from 74 BCE to 72 BCEThe slave revolt of Spartacus
- from 73 BCE to 71 BCEThird Servile War
- 24 August 410 CEAlaric and the Visigoths sack Rome
- 451 CEAetius and Theodoric stop Attila at the Catalaunian Plains
- 476 CEFall of the western Roman Empire
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 3rd century.