The French may legislate to ban the all-enveloping burka/niqab worn by some Muslim women, but Claudius, Roman emperor ad 41-54, would no more have banned them than he did trouser-wearing Frenchman.
In ad 48, Gallic chieftains who had long-standing treaties with Rome and were of citizen status decided they wanted the right to enter the Roman Senate. Fierce debate ensued. Some Romans opposed it. They argued that there were enough properly bred Romans to fill the Senate, and enough non-Romans had been admitted anyway. The Gauls who came in would be descendants of people traditionally hostile to Rome, who had fought Julius Caesar and earlier still (390 bc) even sacked the city. Let them be citizens, but they must not cheapen Rome’s high office.
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