Terms of service for late Roman foederati

[Alanus]

Thanks Robert,

In the later days, say the 4th century, everyone was a citizen when inside the Empire, and when federates began to form (semi-) independent groups I assume it did not matter much, because Roman law had only a limited grip on these people.

So citizenship came as part of the foedus? That is to say, the Visigoths who settled in the Balkans after the treaty in 382 were technically Roman citizens?

Hello Justin and Robert,

I don't believe an extant copy of the 382 treaty exists, but yes, they may have become formal citizens. I think the Goths who accompanied Biship Ulfilus into the Balkans much earlier were given citizenship. The group who arrived with Fritigern in 376 were probably not awarded citizenship. It probably depended on the specific treaty itself.

I believe, by the way, that Fritigern once served as a federate, giving him clout. He was very familiar to Junius Soranus, who probably helped him try to bring an end to Athanaric's persecution of Christians in the very early 370's. The date is nebulous, but was after 369.