Roman citizenship in 216 B.C., when it was offered.[167] This refusal Rome never forgot nor forgave.  No Praenestine families seem to have been taken into the Roman patriciate, as were some from Alba Longa,[168] nor did Praeneste ever send any citizens of note to Rome, who were honored as was Cato from Tusculum,[169] although one branch of the gens Anicia[170] did gain some reputation in imperial times.  Rome and Praeneste seemed destined to be ever at cross purposes, and their ancient rivalry grew to be a traditional dislike which remained mutual and lasting.

The continuance of the commercial and military rivalry because of Praeneste’s strategic position as key of Rome, and the religious rivalry due to the great fame of Fortuna Primigenia at Praeneste, are continuous and striking historical facts even down into the middle ages.  Once in 1297 and again in 1437 the forces of the Pope destroyed the town to crush the great Colonna family which had made Praeneste a stronghold against the power of Rome.

There are a great many reasons why Praeneste offers the best opportunity for a study of the municipal officers of a town of the Latin league.  She kept a practical autonomy longer than any other of the league towns with the exception of Tibur, but she has a much more varied history than Tibur.  The inscriptions of Praeneste offer especial advantages, because they are numerous and cover a wide range.  The great number of the old pigne inscriptions gives a better list of names of the citizens of the second century B.C. and earlier than can be found in any other Latin town.[171] Praeneste also has more municipal fasti preserved than any other city, and this fact alone is sufficient reason for a study of municipal officers.  In fact, the position which Praeneste held during the rise and fall of the Latin League has distinct differences from that of any other town in the confederation, and these differences are to be seen in every stage of her history, whether as an ally, a municipium, or a colonia.

As an ally of Rome, Praeneste did not have a curtailed treaty as did Alba Longa,[172] but one on equal terms (foedus aequum), such as was accorded to a sovereign state.  This is proved by the right of exile which both Praeneste and Tibur still retained until as late as 90 B.C.[173]

As a municipium, the rights of Praeneste were shared by only one other city in the league.  She was not a municipium which, like Lanuvium and Tusculum,[174] kept a separate state, but whose citizens, although called Roman citizens, were without right to vote, nor, on the other hand, was she in the class of municipia of which Aricia is a type, towns which had no vote in Rome, but were governed from there like a city ward.[175] Praeneste, on the contrary, belonged to yet a third class.  This was the most favored class of all; in fact, equality was implicit in the agreement with Rome, which was to the effect that when these cities joined the Roman state, the inhabitants were to be, first of all, citizens of their own states.[176] Praeneste shared this extraordinary agreement with Rome with but one other Latin city, Tibur.  The question whether or not Praeneste was ever a municipium in the technical and constitutional sense of the word is apart from the present discussion, and will be taken up later.[177]