"Rome was not by any means unique in fostering this concept of legal and social privilege – there were citizens in ancient Greece, Carthage and numerous other Mediterranean states of the era. But Rome was unique in the way it developed and extended the concept of citizenship over its long history to help sustain its own imperial dominion. The root purpose of the empire was to funnel wealth to be spent in Rome: in that sense it was a racket based on rampant exploitation. Yet through the promise of citizenship – a share in the plunder – conquered aristocrats could usually be brought alongside. Accordingly, during the first two centuries of empire, as the imperial provinces expanded, citizenship was gradually rewarded to high-status groups outside Italy. Noblemen and magistrates, auxiliaries who had completed their service in the army, retired officials and their freed slaves could all acquire citizenship – either full-status or one of the numerous qualified forms which came with a limited but still desirable slew of rights. Finally, in AD 212, the emperor Caracalla finished what Claudius started and decreed that all free people across the provinces could claim citizenship in some form. The entire populace, announced Caracalla, ‘should share in the victory. This edict will enhance the majest of the Roman people."