How did people in the past prove their identity? How common was identity theft? Let's find out!
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In this history documentary we ask the question: how did people prove their identity in the past? The results of our research actually resulted in a far more sophisticated answer than I could have ever imagined and which sheds light on the true complexities of antiquity.

We began by quickly reviewing the reasons why you might even need to prove your identity in the first place. This involves things like property claims, inheritance, marriage, and more. But perhaps the most important use of ID was to prove your citizenship. This is such an important idea in the makeup of societies as it governed the rights and responsibilities of all individuals within a community. We therefore spend some time looking at citizenship in the Spartan government as well as in Athens, Carthage, and Rome. The discussion of Roman citizenship in particular is quite revealing.

We then move on the main topic of how to prove your identity. This involved all kinds of methods such as trust, testimony, seals, citizen rolls, birth certificates and more. We then finally conclude by discussing how to falsify your identity and if there were any cases of identity theft in antiquity.

Stay tuned for more episodes about daily life in the past including the history of Rome, the history of Carthage, the history of Sparta and more. These are all a part of our How They Did It series, so check it out.

Sources and Suggested Reading:
“Epochs of European Civilization: Antiquity to Renaissance” by Geoffrey Hosking
“The Attributes of Citizens: Virtue, Manners and the Activity of Citizenship” by David Burchell
"The Book of Acts and Paul in Roman Custody” by Brian M. Rapske
“The Roman Censors: A Study on Social Structure” by Suolahti, J.
“Being a Roman Citizen” by Jane F. Gardner
“The Roman Citizenship” by Sherwin-White
“Roman Registers of Births and Birth Certificates” by Schulz Fritz

#Rome
#History
#HowTheyDidIt