Understanding Citizenship: Ancient Roots to Modernity

1. Origin of the Concept of Citizenship

1.1. A Standard Definition

Citizen: An inhabitant of ancient cities and a modern political and legal subject involved in governing the country. Citizenship appears to have the following features:

• Membership in a political community that resides permanently in a territory.
• The enjoyment of rights that must be protected by the city, including the possibility of participating in the work of government.

1.2. Citizenship in Greco-Roman Antiquity

The term "citizen" comes from the Latin civis, a word that shares the same root as civitas (city-state). The term civis was reserved for those community members who met certain requirements. The rest of the population was not considered citizens.

In ancient Greece, the term polites was used to refer to citizens. In some Greek cities, citizens had a significant role, as they could participate in government through democracy.

The citizen was provided with a recognized body of law and duties, and stressed the duty to defend the city.

1.2.1. Citizenship in Greek Democracy: The Political Tradition

Ancient Greece was comprised of small states that strived to be independent and self-sufficient. Being a citizen meant participating in politics. Both rich and poor citizens had a responsibility to attend meetings and take part in discussions. Meetings were held in the agora (public square). To encourage the participation of poorer citizens, economic incentives were established.

For the Greeks of classical times, being a citizen meant, above all, dealing with public issues and doing so with deliberation. Voting was envisioned as a last resort. Three principles governed participation in the Assembly:

• Isonomia (equality before the law): Every citizen had equal rights and duties.
• Isegoria (equal right to speak): Every citizen had the same right to speak and express their opinion.
• Koinonia (cooperation): Aiming to achieve the public good, the good of all, rather than private gain. Distinguishing between the particular and the common.

1.2.2. Citizenship in Ancient Rome: The Legal Tradition

To the ancient Romans, citizenship consisted mainly of the legal recognition of some people as full members of the Republic and, later, the Empire. Citizens enjoyed legal protection. As defined by the jurist Gaius, the city is acting under the law and expects the protection of the law throughout the empire.

In Rome, we distinguish between the phase of the Republic, where citizens could freely elect their representatives, and the later stage of the Empire, in which participation rights became increasingly irrelevant.

1.3. Limitations of Ancient Citizenship

We may note three limitations:

• It was an exclusive citizenship: Citizens were adult males who met certain requirements.
• Only those with the condition of citizen were considered members of the political community, not every human being by virtue of their existence.
• The status of citizen in antiquity granted certain rights to political participation, but individual rights were not protected against possible abuses by the authorities.

1.4. The Dual Nature of Modern Citizenship

The notion of citizenship shows two traditions: The tradition of political participation through deliberation and the tradition of legal protection of the rights of the individual. The first stems from the modern republican idea of citizenship, which insists that citizens have to participate, while the second stems from the liberal version of citizenship, which emphasizes the priority of individual rights and downplays the issue of political participation.