Was Roman imperialism in the civilized East fierce and savage or aimed at assimilating people into Roman culture?
Initially Romans gave little away in citizenship privileges – in the early 1st Century BCE, a couple of centuries after Rome gained control of Italy, there was a major uprising of Latins, which resulted in the latter at last getting Roman citizenship. Thereafter the policy loosened – citizenship was liberally given in Gaul and Spain as these were tribal, and did not have any citizenship. On the other hand it was given very sparingly in the east, as the Greek cities already had their own citizenship. This policy was gradually relaxed in the 1st and 2nd Centuries CE, and in 212 CE the emperor Caracalla completed assimilation by extending citizenship throughout the empire.
