The veteran was granted Roman citizenship, which carried important legal and fiscal advantages, including exemption from the poll tax ("tributum capitis") payable by all non-citizen subjects of the empire. Citizenship was also granted to the veteran's natural children, but not to his female partner. Until ca. 140, all children born to the veteran during his term of service were eligible. After that date, it appears that the grant was restricted to children born after the veteran's discharge (unless the veteran had registered children born before his enlistment). This seemingly retrogressive step has been doubted by some historians, and it is possible that the available evidence is garbled.