Editing Caracalla (section)

=== ''Constitutio Antoniniana'' ===
{{main|Constitutio Antoniniana}}
The ''[[Constitutio Antoniniana]]'' (lit. "Constitution of Antoninus", also called "Edict of Caracalla" or "Antonine Constitution") was an edict issued in 212 by Caracalla declaring that all free men in the Roman Empire were to be given full Roman citizenship,<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Edinburgh Companion to Ancient Greece and Rome: Late Antiquity|last=Lim|first=Richard|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=2010|pages=114}}</ref> with the exception of the ''dediticii'', people who had become subject to Rome through surrender in war, and freed slaves.{{sfn|Hekster|Zair|2008|p=47}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Levine|first1=Lee|title=Caesarea Under Roman Rule|date=1975|publisher=Brill Archive|isbn=90-04-04013-7|page=195}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Benario|first1=Herbert|title=The Dediticii of the Constitutio Antoniniana|journal=Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association|date=1954|volume=85|pages=188–196|doi=10.2307/283475|jstor=283475}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Cairns|first1=John|title=Beyond Dogmatics: Law and Society in the Roman World: Law and Society in the Roman World|date=2007|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=978-0-7486-3177-3|page=42}}</ref><ref>Giessen Papyrus, 40,7-9 "I grant to all the inhabitants of the Empire the Roman citizenship and no one remains outside a civitas, with the exception of the dediticii"</ref>

Before 212, the majority of Roman citizens had been inhabitants of Roman Italia, with about 4–7% of all peoples in the Roman Empire being Roman citizens at the time of the death of [[Augustus]] in AD 14. Outside Rome, citizenship was restricted to [[Roman colonia]]e{{efn|name=a|Coloniae were cities of Roman citizens founded in conquered provinces.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Whittock|first1=Martyn John |last2=Whittock|first2=Martyn |title=The Roman Empire |year = 1991 |publisher=Heinemann|isbn=0-435-31274-X|page=28 }}</ref>}}{{snd}}Romans, or their descendants, living in the provinces, the inhabitants of various cities throughout the Empire{{snd}}and small numbers of local nobles such as kings of client countries. Provincials, on the other hand, were usually non-citizens, although some magistrates and their families and relatives held the [[Latin Right]].{{efn|name=b|The Latin Rights or ''ius Latii'' were an intermediate or probationary stage for non-Romans obtaining full Roman citizenship. Aside from the right to vote, and ability to pursue a political office, the Latin Rights were just a limited Roman citizenship.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Johnson|first1=Allan|last2=Coleman-Norton|first2=Paul|last3=Bourne|first3=Frank|last4=Pharr|first4=Clyde|title=Ancient Roman Statutes: A Translation with Introduction, Commentary, Glossary, and Index|date=1961|publisher=The Lawbook Exchange|isbn=1-58477-291-3|page=266}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Zoch|first1=Paul|title=Ancient Rome: An Introductory History|date=2000|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=0-8061-3287-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/ancientrome00paul/page/91 91]|url=https://archive.org/details/ancientrome00paul/page/91}}</ref>}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lavan|first=Myles|date=2016|title=The Spread of Roman Citizenship, 14–212 CE: Quantification in the face of high uncertainty|url=https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/12646/1/Lavan_2016_PandP_SpreadRomanCitizenship_RevisedAAM.pdf|journal=Past and Present|issue=230|pages=3–46|doi=10.1093/pastj/gtv043|hdl=10023/12646|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

Dio maintains that one purpose for Caracalla issuing the edict was the desire to increase state revenue; at the time, Rome was in a difficult financial situation and needed to pay for the new pay raises and benefits that were being conferred on the military.{{sfn|Hekster|Zair|2008|pp=47–48}} The edict widened the obligation for public service and gave increased revenue through the inheritance and emancipation taxes that only had to be paid by Roman citizens.{{sfn|Dunstan|2011|p=406}} However, few of those that gained citizenship were wealthy, and while it is true that Rome was in a difficult financial situation, it is thought that this could not have been the sole purpose of the edict.{{sfn|Hekster|Zair|2008|pp=47–48}} The provincials also benefited from this edict because they were now able to think of themselves as equal partners to the Romans in the empire.{{sfn|Dunstan|2011|p=406}}

Another purpose for issuing the edict, as described within the papyrus upon which part of the edict was inscribed, was to appease the gods who had delivered Caracalla from conspiracy.{{sfn|Hekster|Zair|2008|p=48}} The conspiracy in question was in response to Caracalla's murder of Geta and the subsequent slaughter of his followers; fratricide would only have been condoned if his brother had been a tyrant.{{sfn|Hekster|Zair|2008|pp=48–49}} The ''damnatio memoriae'' against Geta and the large payments Caracalla had made to his own supporters were designed to protect himself from possible repercussions. After this had succeeded, Caracalla felt the need to repay the gods of Rome by returning the favour to the people of Rome through a similarly grand gesture. This was done through the granting of citizenship.{{sfn|Hekster|Zair|2008|pp=48–49}}{{sfn|Rowan|2012|p=127}}

Another purpose for issuing the edict might have been related to the fact that the periphery of the empire was now becoming central to its existence, and the granting of citizenship may have been simply a logical outcome of Rome's continued expansion of citizenship rights.{{sfn|Rowan|2012|p=127}}{{sfn|Hekster|Zair|2008|pp=49–50}}