212

Events in 212 1

• 212 Edict of Caracalla — citizenship extended In 212 AD, Emperor Caracalla issues the Constitutio Antoniniana, extending Roman citizenship to virtually all free inhabitants of the empire — an estimated 30–35 million people. The motive is likely fiscal: citizens paid inheritance tax. The effect is profound: the distinction between Roman and provincial is abolished; every free man in the empire is now a Roman. A Syrian, a Gaul, an Egyptian and a Spaniard are legally identical. Roman law becomes universal law.