When did the concept of Nationality or Citizenship arise?

Question

I believe, a couple of centuries ago, there were no strict concepts of a nationality or a citizenship as there are right now.

When did the concept of a nationality or a citizenship arise?

I mean, when did people begin to think "I am Canadian."or "I am a French citizen." stuff?

When did people begin to carry passports to travel abroad?

Answer 1

Go back a lot farther than a couple hundred years. Greece, Babylonia, China, Egypt, all had strong nationalistic concepts. 2 to 5 thousand years ago. Greece may be one of the early states to have a more formal citizen class. Passports are a much newer concept, because until a few centuries ago, travel was much too difficult except for the very few explores and traders

Answer 2

The ancient Greeks had citizenship:  citizenship in city-states (Athens, Sparta, etc.) was a treasured and meaningful privilege.  Ditto for ancient Rome.  So we know the concept of citizenship has been around for at least 2500 years.  Passports are the decendents of safe-passage documents signed by the king/head of state for his emissaries and citizens requesting safe passage from his counterpart in another country.