In 56 BCE, Cicero defended Lucius Cornelius Balbus of Spain, one of the Pompey and Caesar Triumvirate’s protégés, who was to have his Roman citizenship revoked. Apart from his speech on behalf of the poet Archias, the Balbiana is Cicero’s only surviving speech and deals with issues of Roman citizenship, making it a significant witness to the theory and practice of awarding citizenship in the late Republican period.
