From Aristotle's perspective in the late fourth century, the question “who is a citizen (politēs)?” is one of the first questions that arise when thinking about the nature of the state. “The state,” he says at the opening of Book 3 of the Politics,

After considering and then rejecting various options, such as those who “live in a certain place” or those who have the “legal right to sue or be sued,” as too broad, Aristotle arrives at the conclusion: “he who has the power to take part in the deliberative or judicial administration of any state is said by us to be a citizen of that state” (1275b19-21). He then dismisses the “practical” definition that a citizen is the child of citizen parents as not in fact much of a definition - e.g., what about the founder of a new state - is he not a citizen (1275b23-33)?