 The legal definition and status of conscientious objection has varied over the years and from nation to nation.Religious beliefs were a starting point in many nations for legally granting conscientious objector status.The first recorded conscientious objector, Maximilianus, was conscripted into the Roman army in the year 295, but "told the Proconsul in Numidia that because of his religious convictions he could not serve in the military".