extension of civitas (citizenship)
(ancient Rome)
.. Roman citizenship declined in the empire, however, because military service was no longer compulsory, and suffrage was invalidated by the abolition of republican government., In ad 212 the Edict of Caracalla granted citizenship to all free inhabitants of the empire.
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Interesting , goes to show that history does repeat itself, and that we're looking more like Ancient Rome every day
The importance of citizenship declined to the point where its special legal protections disappeared...however, Caracalla gained a million new taxpayers via a doubling of coverage and quantity the inheritance tax. From which, of course, the rich were immune.
Really good reading about this is in The Collapse of Complex Societies by Joseph A. Tainter.
It’s a really good book I read for grad school, and worth looking for.
You’ll be able to talk rings around your average half-educated Freeper.