Annotated Bibliography

http://www.dl.ket.org/latin1/mores/law/citizenship.htm suffragium - the right to vote commercium - the right to make contracts conubium - the right to contract a legal marriage http://www.aboutroma.com/romans.html
The lowest class was the slaves, who, basically, were considered property and had no rights whatsoever. They could be sold, tortured, maimed, raped and killed at the whim of their owners. The allies of Rome and the natives who lived in territories conquered by Rome were given partial citizenship. Some had the Latin Right but there were many other "rights". The Roman citizen, Roman citizenship could be stripped by the state for several reasons (like debt) but this was only exceptionally done.

http://www.tribunesandtriumphs.org/roman-life/rights-of-roman-citizens.htm Foreigners might live in the city of Rome, but they enjoyed none of the rights of citizens; they were subject to a peculiar jurisdiction, and might be expelled from the city by a magistrate. They were not even permitted to wear the Roman dress. http://www.roman-empire.net/society/society.html Every five years, each male Roman citizen had to register in Rome for the census. In this he had to declare his family, wife, children, slaves and riches. Should he fail to do this, his possessions would be confiscated and he would be sold into slavery. http://www.ushistory.org/civ/6a.asp
The history of the Roman Senate goes as far back as the history of Rome itself. It was first created as a 100-member advisory group for the Roman kings. Later kings expanded the group to 300 members. When the kings were expelled from Rome and the Republic was formed, the Senate became the most powerful governing body. Instead of advising the head of state, it elected the chief executives, called consuls.

http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/slaves_freemen.html
All slaves and their families were the property of their owners, who could sell or rent them out at any time. Their lives were harsh. Slaves were often whipped, branded or cruelly mistreated. Their owners could also kill them for any reason, and would face no punishment.

http://www.ancient.eu.com/Roman_Law/
Roman law, as revealed through ancient legal texts, literature, papyri, wax tablets and inscriptions, covered such facets of everyday Roman life as crime and punishment, land and property ownership, commerce, the maritime and agricultural industries, citizenship, sexuality and prostitution, slavery and manumission, local and state politics, liability and damage to property, and the preservation of the peace.

http://www.quaqua.org/romanempire.htm During A.D. 529 to 534, Emperor Justinian of the Roman Empire organized commissions of legal scholars. These scholars were ordered to codify the legal opinions of Roman jurists, which had accumulated over the course of several centuries. The result of this monumental undertaking was the Corpus Iuris Civilis, otherwise known as the Roman Code of Civil Law http://www.crystalinks.com/romelaw.html

Historically, "Roman law" also denotes the legal system applied in most of Western Europe, until the end of the 18th century. In Germany, Roman law practice remained longer, having been the Holy Roman Empire (963-1806); thus the great influence upon the civil law systems in Europe. Moreover, the English and North American Common law also were influenced by Roman law, notably in the Latinate legal glossary - stare decisis, culpa in contrahendo, pacta sunt servanda. In contrast, Eastern Europe, though influenced by the Byzantine Empire, was not much influenced by the jurisprudence of the Corpus Juris Civilis; however, they did accept the Roman influence of the Farmer's Law.