No Roman citizen could be condemned unheard; by Valerian Law, he could not be bound; by Sempronian Law, it was forbidden to beat him with rods (sticks). At different times both of his parents had to be Roman citizens, at other times only his father.

The citizen was required to serve in the military, although prior to Gaius Marius, only if he owned sufficient property to buy his arms and support himself on campaigns beyond the little money he was paid by the State, which was usually at the end of a campaign.