Roman identity : between ideal and performance

Recent years have seen a significant increase in migration and displacement. Due to economic, political, and climatic pressures, large numbers of individuals are leaving their countries of origin and settling in new environments and societies. As a result, national identity has increasingly come to the fore in public discourse. Shaping and reshaping national agendas, debates surrounding national identity are affecting policies and influencing voting behaviours. Discourse on this issue is often centred on the idea of autochthony and nativism. Yet we do not encounter such anxieties in ancient Rome, one of the longest-lasting political orders in history. Unlike among the Greeks, the idea of autochthony did not take root among the Romans. Instead, Rome's identity tended to be fluid, accommodating the development of highly variegated and multi-ethnic groups and societies.