Dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

CIVITAS.; CIVITAS 289
In the third book of the Politics, Aristotle cor- marriage; tYICTfO7aLs, the right of acquiring landed
mences his inquiry into the nature of states with property; &aTAera, immunity from taxation, espe.
the question, "What constitutes a citizen?" (ro- cially a&E'Aetia eeroucov, from the tax imposed on
MTIhS). He defines a citizen to be one who is a resident aliens. All these privileges were included
partner in the legislative and judicial power (/E'To- under the general term 1oorTE-'ea, or (oroyEro Gea
Xos KcplofewsE iL epXis). No definition will andcl the class who obtained them were called
equally apply to all the different states of Greece, io'oTreAes. They bore the same burthens with the
or to any single state at different times; the citizens, and could plead in the courts or transact
above seems to comprehend more or less properly business with the people, without the intervention
all those whom the common use of language en- of a 7rpoo-dTrr7S. (Bdckh, Public Econ. of Attens,
titled to the name. p. 540, 2nd ed.; NiebuhrHist. Roml. ii. p. 53; HerA state in the heroic ages was the government man, Lehrbuchl d. Griecl. Staatsaltl. ~ 116.) If the
of a prince; the citizens were his subjects, and right of citizenship was conferred for services done
derived all their privileges, civil as well as reli- to the state, the rank termed 7rpoepita or emepyeyoia
gious, from their nobles and princes. Nothing might be added. Naturalised citizens even of the
could have been further from the notions of those highest grade were not precisely in the same contimes, than the ideas respecting the natural dition with the citizen by birth, although it is not
equality of freemen which were considered self- agreed in what the difference consisted. Some
evident axioms in the democracies of an after. think that they were excluded from the assembly
period. In the early governments there were no (Niebuhr, 1. c.), others that they were only in.
formal stipulations; the kings were amenable to eligible to offices, or at any rate to the archonship.
the gods alone. The shadows of. a council and The candidate on whom the citizenship was to
assembly were already in existence, but their be conferred was proposed in two successive assem-.
business was to obey. Community of language, blies, at the second of which at least six thousand
of religion, and of legal rights, as far as they then citizens voted for him by ballot: even if he sucexisted, was the bond of union; and their pri- ceeded, his admission, like every other decree,
vileges, such as they were, were readily granted was liable during a whole year to a'epa)iJ
to naturalised strangers. Upon the whole, as 7rapamv0',4/u. He was registered in a phyle and
W5achsmuth has well observed, the notion of deme, but not enrolled in the phratria and genes;
citizenship in the heroic age only existed so far and hence it has been argued that he was ineligible
as the condition of aliens or of domestic slaves to the office of archon or priest, because unable to
was its negative. participate nll the sacred rites of'Aar0AAXcv Mhleprpos
The rise of a dominant class gradually over- or Zebs'EpIecos.
threw the monarchies of ancient Greece. Of such The object of the phratriae (which were retained
a class, the chief characteristics were good birth in the constitution of Cleisthenes, when their numand the hereditary transmission of privileges, her no longer corresponded to that of the tribes)
the possession of land, and the performance of was to preserve purity and legitimacy of descent
umilitary service. To these characters the names among the citizens. Aristotle says (Pol. iii. 2)
yc/opoeL, 7reris, EtrpLrap, La &c., severally corre- that for practical purposes it was sufficient to despond. Strictly speaking, these were the only fine a citizen as the son or grandson of a citizen,
citizens; yet the lower class was quite distinct and the register of the phratriae was kept chiefly
from bondmen or slaves. It commonly happened as a record of the citizenship of the parents. If
that the nobility occupied the fortified towns, any one's claim was disputed, this register was at
while the ~j/mos lived in the country and followed hand, and gave an answer to all doubts about the
agricultural pursuits: whenever the latter were rights of his parelts or his own identity. Every
gathered within the walls and became seamen or newly married woman, herself a citizen, was enhandicraftsmen, the difference of rank was soon rolled in the phratriae of her husband, and every
lost, and wealth made the only standard. The infant registered in the phratriae and genes of its
quarrels of the nobility among themselves, and the father. All who were thus registered must have
admixture of population arising from imnmigrations, been born in lawful wedlock, of parents who were
all tended to raise the lower orders from their themselves citizens; indeed, so far was this carpolitical subjection. It must be remembered, too, ried, that the omission of allny of the requisite
that the possession of domestic slaves, if it placed formalities in the marriage of the parents, if it
them in no new relation to the governing body, at did not wholly take away the rights of citizenany rate gave them leisure to attend to the higher ship, might place the offspring under serious disduties of a citizen, and thus served to increase their abilities. This, however, was only carried out in
political efficiency. its utmost rigour at the time when Athenian
During the convulsions which followed the citizenship was most valuable. In Solon's time, it
heroic ages, naturalisation was readily granted to is not certain that the offspring of a citizen and of
all who desired it; as the value of citizenship in- a foreign 1woman incurred any civil disadvantage;
creased, it was, of course, more sparingly bestowed. and evcn the law of Pericles (Plut. Peric. 37),.The ties of hospitality descended from the prince which exacted citizenship on the mother's side,
to the state, and the friendly relations of the appears to have become obsolete very'soon- afterIeomeric heroes were exchanged for theorposeva' wards, as we find it re-enacted by Aristophon in
of a later period. In political intercourse, the im- the archonship of Eudeides, B. c. 403. (Athen. xiii.
partance of these last soon began to be felt, and the p. 577.)
7rpJoeVos at Athens, in after times, obtained rights It is evident then, from the very object of the
only inferior to actual citizenship. [HosPITIur.] phratriae, why the newly-admitted citizen was not
The isopolite relation existed, however, on a much enrolled in them. As the same reason did not
more extended scale. Sometimes particular privi- apply to the children, these, if born of women who
leges were granted: as nlye. pla the right of inter- were citizens,.were enrolled in the phratiia of their
leffes were ranted: as "Yalt'a,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~m