Cicero‘s speech Pro Balbo was composed in 56 BCE to defend Lucius Cornelius Balbus from Gades from the accusation of having usurped the rights of a Roman citizen. Balbus had been conferred the Roman citizenship by Pompey for his services in the Sertorian War. In his speech, one of the most important sources on Roman citizenship laws and on the discussions surrounding the Roman citizenship in the 1st century BCE, Cicero develops important arguments about the right to change citizenship as well as on the Roman politics of conferring citizenship upon persons who had provided good services for Rome.

This workshop aims to provide a close reading of this fundamental text from different, interdisciplinary perspectives (classics, ancient history, legal history), situating it in its political and cultural context, as well as within Cicero‘s life, career and oeuvre.