The article examines the practical and ideological aspects of the spread of Roman citizenship, namely the tradition of awarding citizenship for merits and valor in the service of Rome. It is shown that the practice of such an award had ancient roots associated with the initial inclusiveness of the Roman civic community, and it was one of the significantmechanisms for strengthening the Roman state, in the late Republican period and under the Principate it became an important factor of imperial policy. Particular attention is paid to the ideological substantiation of this practice, which is given in the writings of Cicero, who most fully formulated the idea of citizenship as a reward for valor ( praemia virtutis ). Drawing on extensive epigraphic data and literary sources, the author considers specific mechanisms and precedents of granting Roman citizenship to peregrines and barbarians, primarily those who served in the imperial army and navy. It is concluded that in the Roman empire, despite various costs, the very fundamental relationship between service and activity for the benefit of Rome, military and other merits continued to exist, expressed by such concepts as virtus , pietas , fortitudo , industria , on the one hand, and the possibility to receive Roman citizenship as a reward, on the other.
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