A distinction must be made between Roman colonies and Latin colonies. The citizens who went out to form a Roman colony retained all their civic rights, although Sigonius and some others pre tend that they lost the franchise (jus suffragii); and yet, in various passages of Livy and elsewhere, colonists are styled cives and Roma: censi. The members of Roman colonies which were called Latin (Colouite Latium), had not the Roman citizenship, and those Roman citizens who went out in such a colony thereby lost their suffrage; they voluntarily renounced part of their civic rights in consideration of a grant of lands. The practice was for those persons who were willing to join a colony, to give in their names at Rome, and as the consequence of joining a Latin colony was a loss of civic rights, Cicero c. 33) argues that the join such colony must be a voluntary act. There is also no reason for supposing that the joining of a Roman colony was com • pulsory ; and if it was, it follows from what has been said, that a Roman colonist retained his civic rights. These Latin colonies were Roman colonies, inasmuch as they were subject to the Roman state ; and hence they are sometimes called Roman colonies, which in one sense they were. But as opposed to Roman colonies which consisted of Roman citizens (Colonic: civium), they were called Latin colonies, by which term was denoted their political condition. Before the Social War (n.c. 90), the following was the classification of people in the Roman dominions : 1. Cives Romani, Roman citizens, that is, the inhabitants of Rome, the citizens of the Colonito Civium or proper Roman colonies, and the citizens of the Municipia without reference to the stock to they belonged.
2. Latin', or the citizens of the old towns of the Latin nation, with the ex ception of those towns which were raised to the rank of Municipia; and also the numerous and important adonite Latinte.
3. Socii (Allies), the free inhabitants of Italy who did not belong to the two classes first enumerated, and belonged to very various national stocks.
4. Provincials: the free subjects of the Romans beyond the limits of Italy.
This is the division of Savigny (Zeit schrift fiir Geschichtliche Rechtswissen schaft, xi. 6) ; and it appears to be con sistent with all the best ancient authori ties. He adds that as to the political con dition of the people included under these four heads, those included under the first head, Cives Romani, were alone Cives ; those included under the three other heads were Peregriui (aliens). According to this view, the members of Latin colonies before the Social War were simply sub jects of the Roman state : they had none of those political capacities which were the characteristics of Roman citizenship. As the term Peregrinus, however, was very comprehensive, and included all who were not Cives, it follows that, according to this view, the Latina: Colonize and foreigners not under Roman dominion were precisely on the same footing as to the privileges of Roman citizens ; but their condition differed in this, that foreigners (aliens, properly so called) were not Roman subjects, but the mem bers of Latin colonies were. This view
is perhaps on the whole right, yet the inhabitants of Latin colonies were in a sense Cives, as contrasted with foreigners not subject to Rome, though they were not Roman citizens, in the sense of those who had all the capacities of Roman citizenship.
The result of the Social War was, that the Roman citizenship (civitas) was given to all the inhabitants of Italy south of the Po: all became Romani Cives ; and the Latini—the inhabitants of Colonic: Latium —and the Socii were all merged in the class of Cives. The distinction of Ro mani Cives and Peregrini still subsisted ; but the class of Roman citizens had be come enlarged. A new class of persons was now established, and distinguished by the name of Latini. This term now did not denote a particular people, but a poli tical status—an imperfect citizenship, by virtue of which this new class had the right of acquiring property (commer cium) just like Roman citizens ; but they had not the connubium, or civic right of contracting such a marriage as would be a Roman marriage ; in other words, a Roman citizen who married a woman in the condition of a Latina, was not accord ing to Roman law the father of his chil dren, and the children consequently were not Roman citizens. But in certain cases, a Latins might acquire the Roman citi zenship, for instance, by holding the high offices in his city. This rule was first established for the people north of the Po, and then given to many towns, and to large tracts out of Italy. The privilege of thus acquiring the Roman citizenship was the Jus Latii (Appian, Civil Wars, ii. 26), or Latinitas (Cicero, Ad Atticum, xiv. 12); and it was given to some towns founded after the Social War, as Novum Comum, which was founded in Italy north of the Po, by C. Julius Caesar, B.C. 59. The privilege whicicthe Romans sometimes conferred on a town or district, under the name of Jus Italicum, was a different thing from the Jus Latii. " It had no reference to the status of indivi duals, but to the condition of many com munities. When a Provincial town re ceived as a special favour by a Privilegium those rights which were the peculiar privileges of the Italian towns, this favour was called Jus Italicum. It consisted of three things : a free constitution, with the choice of their own magistrates, such as are mentioned in the Italian Municipia and Colonies (Duumviri, Quatuorviri) ; exemption from land-tax and poll-tax ; the capacity of the land within the limits of the community to be held in Roman ownership (ex jure Quiritium), and the consequent application to such land of the Roman rules of law, as to Mancipation and Usucapion." (Savigny, Zeitschrift, &c., xi.) The correctness of this view of the nature of the Colonise Latinre, the La tinitas, and the Jus Italicum, will hardly be disputed now.