How did the Romans Prove Their Identity?

Before IDs, full government records, or efficient communication, how did the ancient Romans prove their identity?

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Chapters:
0:00 The Three False Neros
1:36 The stakes of establishing identity
3:10 Kamikoto
4:24 Birth certificates and census records
5:40 Military records
6:33 Proving identity
7:28 Petronia Iusta
8:01 Archias
8:35 Titus Flavius Longus
8:58 Civis Romanus sum

[vasaclarke]

The note about distinguishing slaves from citizens reminded me of an anecdote -- Seneca mentioned in De Clementia (Book I, Chapter 24) that the Senate had briefly considered a plan to mandate that slaves all wear some distinguishing mark of clothing, but quickly abandoned it once they realized that it might inspire rebellion, as the slaves would then realize their own superior numbers. (An interesting corollary of that anecdote -- evidently, it was very difficult to tell the difference between slaves and citizens by appearance alone.)

[anthonybar]

Just as a heads-up, both Kamikoto and Established Titles (the two most recent sponsors) are owned by the same people and are both scams.

Kamikoto knives aren’t manufactured in Japan and aren’t premium knives but rather made with cheap steel. Established Titles can’t sell you these tiny pieces of land in Scotland (selling land this small and without possible use is explicitly illegal there) and even if they did, owning land does not grant you the title of Lord. They also don’t plant trees themselves but just donate a portion of the money, something that could be done directly without the middleman.

[Mostlyonoff]

The False Nero was able to convince everybody with his Established Titles documentation and the fact he carried a Kamikito Knife lent him an air of legitimacy.

[arthurdowney]

"Identity Fraud in Ancient Rome" would be a great way to revisit this topic in the future.

[spyterpig]

you might want to look into the established titles scam. kamikoto is owned by the same people and the factory were these are made are believed to be in china not japan. as a knife maker, welder and woodworker i don't appreciate companies lying about how or where there product is made and i do not believe these are made by any "traditional" method. the only thing the might do is have there flat sheets of steel fold a few times. love the videos!
(edit) it is made of a type of japanese steal but it is the cheapest stainless steal you can get with very little carbon to keep a sharp edge. it is 420j2

[FEWFWEF-zx]

Kamikoto knives are a scam essentially, the knives are cheaply massproduced in china and you'll get ones of similar quality for less than 10 dollars anywhere.

[TetsuShima]

*Fun fact:* the Steven Saylor's novel "Empire" deals at one point with the proof of identity of a free citizen raised as a slave. In this book, a patrician discovers that a buried alive Vestal with whom he had relations had a son of his, who was abandoned and rescued by a craftsman to serve him as his helper. After finding his son, the patrician brings him into Trajan's presence and convinces the emperor to restore the boy's patrician status without granting him the title of freedman...Years later, that boy would become the builder of Trajan's Column, Hadrian's Mauselum and other ancient architectural wonders of the roman world

[Mattdewit]

The Polish did something similar to the Nero situation. They sent two false Dimitri's to Russia after the original had passed away. The mind boggeling thing is that it worked the first time and he was put on the throne.

[PopeLando]

8:58 These realistic portraits from the era of Antiquity never cease to blow me away. They are clearly accurate representations of the actual faces, painted with light and shade, and with real attainment of the illusion of three-dimensionality. These skills were utterly lost in Europe during the Middle Ages.

[zachfakename]

Dr. Ryan, could you elaborate more on ancient pretenders and share any intriguing stories of pretenders who (almost) succeeded? Additionally, how might a hypothetical time traveler pose as a Roman Emperor or even an incarnate deity?

- A man who certainly does NOT own a time machine

[jansenart]

Back in the day, everyone knew who you were because you basically grew up in a settlement of 150 people you're distantly related to, and you knew all of them personally. In ancient cities, there were stratified classes that, in terms of society, acted like small settlements, layered atop one another in relatively the same space. When the population was too dense in place and class, gangs would form. Without mass transit, most people were physically restricted from traveling very far from their homes, and most wouldn't anyway, lest they be seen as a drifter, someone without a society, and murdered when they approached one alien to them (North Sentinel Island is a good example of what could happen).

In short, most people never had to prove their identity because almost everyone was known to everyone else.

For everyone else who would travel, for peaceful purposes such as trade or government business, they still had connections known to them and they would travel with an entourage, never alone, with artifacts representing their status, such as seals and letters of introduction.

Finally, in terms of justice and the courts, let's just say that they weren't necessarily as fair as we in the modern west would want. Indeed, many systems of justice today aren't beholden to anything more than superstition and whim, including the American one (eyewitness testimony is nowhere near as good as our justice system insists it is).

[Lofize]

Hey there Toldinstone, im a big fan of your videos! However, i recently saw a video discussing the sponsor of this video and their affiliation with established titles. You might want to look in to the legitimacy of these companies. Besides that keep up the good work :)

[automaticmattywhack]

I love this minutiae! It's what make ancient history so interesting, showing how things have and haven't changed in 2000 years. Excellent work again, sir!

[Mayankgupta]

Somewhere in this video is a meta af lesson that "we are who we are because of our friends and family"

[filipcamerman]

Ooh been waiting for this one, thanks!

[alex_zetsu]

One of the Roman chroniclers mentioned that all 3 false Neros looked pretty much like the real deal. His father knew Nero and lived long enough to heard of the impostors, but I'm not sure how he would know the impersonators were good resemblances. Christian chroniclers much later all write about how cruel Nero was and all the evil things he did, but if he was universally hated, why would so many people want to see him back? The idea he fiddled while Rome burned came generations later, one contemporary who lived during the time of the fire mentioned the Emperor was away and lead the relief efforts once he came back. I'll admit he was eccentric and could be cruel if you personally crossed him and probably wasn't a good ruler, but probably not as terrible as his modern reputation among pop historians if so many people tried to fake his identity.

[eduardoktg]

Neat that you talked about St. Paul. What happened with the centurion was what sparked the curiosity on me about the theme.

[bobartsmith]

Learn something new every time I watch one of these, never knew about all the fake Nero's after his death.

[Kneenibble]

You always have the most unique topics, questions like this that make sense to ask even though I never thought of them before the video.

[westerntanager]

I love your Roman citizen identity card! And the fake Neros, who were real. I just finished another book by Margaret George, "The Confessions of Young Nero, " in which she paints him as a sensitive young artist and romantic who it seems, only killed others who were trying to kill him, at least in the beginning. It's the first of two books, and I am not sure I want to read the second, about the "mature" Nero. That might be a bit scary.