Jus Civitatis

Jus civitatis, Roman citizenship, including (1) public rights; suffragium et honores and jus provocationis, the right of appeal in capital cases from the tribunal to the assemblies of the public; and (2) private rights; connubium et commercium. Originally, the full enjoyment was restricted to the patricians. In the course of centuries of development plebeians obtained all these rights and they were conferred by law on aliens, not by right of naturalization but either as individuals or as members of the same community. Cf. Fustel de Coulanges, 'Le Cite Antique,' Hunter's Rom. Law.