Roman Citizenship

[frankq]

Anyone know how well protected Roman citizenship was? I was under the impression that no foreign court could try a Roman citizen. Or, at least, no foreign authority could sentence them to death. Yes? No?

[DanM]

Anyone know how well protected Roman citizenship was? I was under the impression that no foreign court could try a Roman citizen. Or, at least, no foreign authority could sentence them to death. Yes? No?

 

Maybe theoretically they couldn't kill them, but I recently saw something about Roman merchants being killed in the Red Sea cities along the African coast from time to time during the later Empire when a local state would have problems with the Empire. My guess is that they were killed in other places too for similar reasons.

[frankq]

I need to know the legal implications. A citizen had the right to appeal to Rome if he felt he was being unjustly tried. But were foreign courts entirely forbidden to try Romans, especially if they might issue capital punishment?

[Primus Pilus]

I need to know the legal implications. A citizen had the right to appeal to Rome if he felt he was being unjustly tried. But were foreign courts entirely forbidden to try Romans, especially if they might issue capital punishment?

 

Forbidden by whom? Rome might forbid all it wants, but it would only apply if the state who was 'forbidden' feared Roman punitive action. Would a client state government not try a citizen without approval from Rome? Probably not, but I can't see Parthia being overly concerned with a merchant who broke the law unless they used his life as a negotiating tool in some form of diplomatic gesture.

[frankq]

I need to know the legal implications. A citizen had the right to appeal to Rome if he felt he was being unjustly tried. But were foreign courts entirely forbidden to try Romans, especially if they might issue capital punishment?

 

Forbidden by whom? Rome might forbid all it wants, but it would only apply if the state who was 'forbidden' feared Roman punitive action. Would a client state government not try a citizen without approval from Rome? Probably not, but I can't see Parthia being overly concerned with a merchant who broke the law unless they used his life as a negotiating tool in some form of diplomatic gesture.

 

Good question, and good point, I should have been more explicit. The case in point I am stating is with a client state, Judea. The Sanhedrin was trying Herod, at that time governor of Galilee. He was also a Roman citizen. Herod had the right to appeal to Rome and Rome did step in. My question was that whether client states were forbidden all together from trying Roman citizens. Herod went before the courts because his political position as governor required him to do so.

[Favonius Cornelius]

I think you still had a Praetor who dealt with foreign affairs such as these with client states? Praetor Perigrinus? Bottom line was though, a Roman citizen theoretically can always appeal to the Emperor himself. Benefits of citizenship.

 

Theoretically. These are ancient times you know. Unless the man has a big name, probably no one would notice the disappearence of someone unknown in a distant land...

[frankq]

I think you still had a Praetor who dealt with foreign affairs such as these with client states? Praetor Perigrinus? Bottom line was though, a Roman citizen theoretically can always appeal to the Emperor himself. Benefits of citizenship.

 

Theoretically. These are ancient times you know. Unless the man has a big name, probably no one would notice the disappearence of someone unknown in a distant land...

 

Herod was a big name, even at that early time. The Sanhedrin knew they were taking a risk trying him, and Herod called their bluff.

[Tobias]

I understand that the back of a true roman citizen in the republic was inviolate- it could not be flogged, no matter what the circumstances. This is what caused such a stir with Caesar in the lead-up to his marching on Rome; a senator (can't remember his name) flogged one of the "citizens" in the colonies that Caesar had set up in italian Gaul. Caesar believed this to be a deliberate flouting of the law and a direct insult to his dignitas.