| Subject: | 
	 Re: [novaroma] Re: more on Centuries | 
 
	| From: | 
	 "Maia Apollonia Pica" <mjarc@--------> | 
 
	| Date: | 
	 Fri, 17 Aug 2001 08:07:16 +0200 | 
 
 | 
 
Salvete! 
 
Proconsul Marcus Audens, I can only assure you I _am_ learning, even  
as I read everybody's posts here to the group. 
 
On 16 Aug 2001, at 11:01, T Labienus Fortunatus wrote: 
 
> I would recommend becoming a scriba especially to new cives who have 
> much to learn about Nova Roma.  It is an excellent way to be exposed 
> to the day-to-day running of the Respublica in a manner that allows 
> one to contribute in small but quite meaningful ways. 
>  
> Serving first as a rogator and second as a scriba censorialis gave me 
> a great deal of insight into Nova Roma's government; insight I don't 
> believe I could have developed half so easily or fully if I had not 
> volunteered for those jobs. 
 
I understand. And I cetainly intend to work for Nova Roma, but I will  
think of my province Venedia first. I am sure the Respublica will  
have a job for me here, locally. 
 
Valete 
 
Maia Apollonia Pica 
 
 
 
  
 
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 | 
	| Subject: | 
	 [novaroma] Friday, 17/8. Portunalia. | 
 
	| From: | 
	 "Daniel Place" <danat2000@--------> | 
 
	| Date: | 
	 Fri, 17 Aug 2001 17:49:46 +0930 | 
 
 | 
Salvete Quirites, 
 
Just a brief note to let you all know that today is the Portunalia, the day sacred to Portunus, the God of Ports and Harbours. As the Flamen Portunalis today I will burn incense and offer prayers to Portunus on behalf of Nova Roma and its people.  
 
Unfortunately very little is known of the rite traditionally performed on this date; however it seems to be accepted by many scholars that an offering of keys was possibly made to Portunus on this date, possibly harkening back to Portunus' word meaning as a god of doors and openings. Additionally the only recorded function of the Flamen Portunalis was the annointment of the arms of Quirinus, the priests exact role on the Portunalia is alas unknown. 
 
May Portunus guide and protect the people and Republic of Nova Roma. 
 
valete, 
 
Marcus Arcadius Pius 
Flamen Portunalis 
 
 
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] 
 
 
  
 
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 | 
	| Subject: | 
	 [novaroma] Out of Touch!! | 
 
	| From: | 
	 jmath669642reng@-------- | 
 
	| Date: | 
	 Fri, 17 Aug 2001 09:18:58 -0400 (EDT) | 
 
 | 
Citizens of Nova Roma; 
 
I will be out of touch this weekend from Friday through Sunday.  I have 
a Civil War Event at Fort Nathen Hale in New Haven, and on Sunday 
morning I will play the part of General Garth, Commanding the 3000 man 
British Raid on New Haven in 1778.  It is a memorial held on West Haven 
Green near the Courthouse at 10:00 A.M. this coming Sunday, to 
commemorate those Americans who died in the British Raid and to some 
particular heroes of the Revolution.  I don't expect that I will be too 
popular in this role (Grin). 
 
The event at Fort Nathen Hale is a special one for the fort in that it 
will be the first event where the bunker is being used as they were 
during the war, and we will be building some rough furniture for use in 
the bunker.  Eventually we hope to use all three bunkers in this way. 
As the Fort Engineer on the Restoration Committee, this is one of my 
specific tasks. 
 
I would invite any NR people in the area to attend and meet me in bunker 
#3 for a face-to-face.  Just look for the Engineering flags or ask any 
reenactor. 
 
Respectfully; 
Marcus Audens 
 
  
 
Fair Winds and Following Seas!!! 
 
 
http://community.webtv.net/jmath669642reng/NovaRomaMilitary 
 
 
  
 
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 | 
	| Subject: | 
	 Re: [novaroma] Century Allocation (was RE: Century Points) | 
 
	| From: | 
	 "Maia Apollonia Pica" <mjarc@--------> | 
 
	| Date: | 
	 Fri, 17 Aug 2001 09:26:14 +0200 | 
 
 | 
 
Salve Consul Flavi Vedi Germanice! 
 
> > I have not been an enthusiast for the century-points system, as I 
> > think that it is one aspect of NR life close to the rôle-playing 
> > gaming that we claim to be above. 
>  
> It may seem odd that I would agree with Formosanus on this particular 
> point, but I too am not a great fan of the Century Point system 
> (despite the fact that it was my own idea); I see it as a compromise 
> of convenience. However, I am certain he would agree that assigning 
> centuries according to the ancient model (i.e., according to the 
> wealth of the individual) is unacceptable. Obviously some criteria for 
> assigning centuries must be adopted, and at the time the best 
> compromise seemed to be the current system, which encouraged 
> participation in public life. 
>  
> I would be eager to hear what alternative Formosanus (or anyone else 
> for that matter) may have to the current system for assigning 
> centuries. Some people seem disgruntled with the current system; 
> anyone have any better ideas? 
 
To be very blunt: why do we need centuries at all? They are historic  
of course, but then so are many other things which Nova Roma chooses  
not to revive, such as slavery. (I'm not saying the system of  
centuries and slavery are similar, only that historicity is not  
enough in itself to encourage us to revive things. And it's an honest  
question, not some lame atempt at provocation.) 
 
Century points give unequal rights to various citizens, right? The  
Constitution says that the criterion is "commitment to Nova Roma",  
but I don't think commitment can be measured, and, as Propraetor L.  
Sicinius Drusus noted, only some forms of commitment are rewarded  
anyway. Even if commitment could be measured precisely, I suppose I  
would still see a system based on it as undemocratic, unfair. As this  
is the 28th century AUC, shouldn't we see all basically undemocratic  
forms of government as obsolete? (Unless in a game, but NR is not a  
game. BTW, I have nothing against role-playing, being a gamer  
myself.) 
 
(If this post sounds impolite, that's because of my uncertainty with  
polite English. I am honestly trying to learn everybody's arguments.) 
 
Valete 
 
Maia Apollonia Pica 
 
 
  
 
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 | 
	| Subject: | 
	 [novaroma] Tribune's Announcement: Litteras Electronicas Meas Restituebam | 
 
	| From: | 
	 labienus@-------- | 
 
	| Date: | 
	 Fri, 17 Aug 2001 09:42:14 US/Central | 
 
 | 
Tribunus Plebis T Labienus Quiritibus SPD 
 
I have successfully fixed my communications problems.  It will probably take me  
a few days to respond to the various messages that were in my inbox prior to my  
partial e-mail outage.  If you are awaiting a response to some private e-mail  
from me, I will get to you eventually. 
 
Valete 
 
 
 
  
 
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 | 
	| Subject: | 
	 Re: [novaroma] Century Allocation (was RE: Century Points) | 
 
	| From: | 
	 Marcus Octavius Germanicus <haase@--------> | 
 
	| Date: | 
	 Fri, 17 Aug 2001 09:48:46 -0500 (CDT) | 
 
 | 
Salve Maia Apollonia, 
  
> To be very blunt: why do we need centuries at all? They are historic  
> of course, but then so are many other things which Nova Roma chooses  
> not to revive, such as slavery. (I'm not saying the system of  
> centuries and slavery are similar, only that historicity is not  
> enough in itself to encourage us to revive things. And it's an honest  
> question, not some lame atempt at provocation.) 
 
We should strive to be as historical as we can, except in extereme 
circumstances.  Slavery, racism and sexism are abhorrent to all  
civilized people, and thus there is an overwhelming need to  
stand against them.  The system of centuries is clearly not in 
the same category as those things. 
 
> Century points give unequal rights to various citizens, right? The  
> Constitution says that the criterion is "commitment to Nova Roma",  
> but I don't think commitment can be measured, and, as Propraetor L.  
> Sicinius Drusus noted, only some forms of commitment are rewarded  
> anyway. 
 
This can be best solved by further refining the Century system. 
 
> Even if commitment could be measured precisely, I suppose I  
> would still see a system based on it as undemocratic, unfair. As this  
> is the 28th century AUC, shouldn't we see all basically undemocratic  
> forms of government as obsolete?  
 
Many citizens of Nova Roma live in the United States, which is not  
a democracy.  Rather, it uses a system much like Roman tribes or  
centuries to elect its president, in which voters living in sparsely  
populated states have a disproportionate influence - the vote of  
a random citizen of Alaska or Montana counts for more than the vote  
of a random citizen of California or New York. 
 
Nova Roma is perhaps the only nation in which efforts are made to 
make a citizen's voting strength proportional to the work they have 
done for the nation.  I see this as a wonderful thing.   
 
We're doing something unique and different here.  Let us not throw it 
away in an effort to become just like everybody else. 
 
Vale, Octavius. 
 
-- 
M. Octavius Germanicus 
Propraetor, Lacus Magni 
Curator Araneum et Senator 
 
"...  one of the main causes of the fall of the Roman Empire was that, 
lacking zero, they had no way to indicate successful termination of 
their C programs."  -- Robert Firth 
 
 
  
 
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 | 
	| Subject: | 
	 [novaroma] Gladiator article in todays AP news wire... | 
 
	| From: | 
	 "Marcus Cassius Julianus" <cassius622@--------> | 
 
	| Date: | 
	 Fri, 17 Aug 2001 14:46:31 -0000 | 
 
 | 
Gladiator Schools Growing in Popularity 
But Leave Your Cell Phone at Home, Please 
 
By ROXANA M. POPESCU 
.c The Associated Press 
 
ROME (Aug. 17) - Their eyes were gleaming with fury, foreheads  
glittering with sweat, lips twisted into horrible grimaces as they  
circled each other. 
 
Just as one man struck his opponent with a sword, a squealing melody  
went off. 
 
''Nero! Your cell phone,'' someone shouted. 
 
Welcome to ancient Rome -- sort of. At this gladiator school,  
businessmen, musicians and college students become gladiators,  
legionnaires and Amazons twice a week, learning the history, theory  
and techniques of ancient fighters. 
 
Like their forerunners, these fighters wear armor and swing heavy  
metal gladi, or swords, at each other. But unlike 2000 years ago, the  
weapons are blunt and gladiators-in-training are in it as much for  
the culture and camaraderie as for the combat and glory. 
 
A 10-minute drive -- or 30-minute chariot ride -- from the Roman  
Coliseum, the Scuola Gladiatori Roma is tucked away at the edge of  
the city on the Appian Way, the ancient Roman highway to the south. 
 
Students pay $100 for a two-month course of twice-weekly lessons and  
fighting gear, said the school's president, Nero, who goes by Sergio  
Iacomoni in the outside world. 
 
Prices are low ''because we do it ourselves. We do it to have fun,''  
Iacomoni said. ''The payment is just to keep the structure on its  
feet, for rent, electricity.'' 
 
After training with a 13-pound shield and rudis, or wooden sword,  
experienced gladiators are allowed to use more elaborate equipment.  
And it does get elaborate. There are three types of helmets to choose  
from -- crested, smooth or hooked -- spears, axes and tridents of  
various shapes and sizes, armadillo-like armor, chain mail and capes. 
 
Iacomoni said he studied Roman art and mosaics to understand how  
people used to dress. 
 
The school is part of the Gruppo Storico Romano, a cultural  
association founded in 1994 which studies and recreates the lifestyle  
of Romans living in the first century A.D. 
 
Many of the gladiators are history buffs and avid readers of  
historical novels, said Leonardo Lorenzini, a 23-year-old student. 
 
''I personally love history, and role playing. Now I get to live on a  
Roman stage. Too bad I don't know Latin,'' Lorenzini said. 
 
Students assume ancient Roman names and listen to what passes for  
ancient Roman music - the soundtrack from the movie ''Gladiator.'' 
 
They also don't bother denying the pull the hit film from last summer  
had on them, even if there were a few stylistic inaccuracies. 
 
''Honestly, the movie helped the school get started, because of the  
influence it had on public opinion,'' Lorenzini said. 
 
As the only school of its kind in modern Rome, Scuola Gladiatori has  
gained some notoriety. The gladiators recently staged fights at Villa  
Adriana, the ruins of the palace of Emperor Hadrian built outside  
Rome. 
 
This summer just seven people are taking classes - it's a down time,  
with half of Rome vacationing at the beach, the students said. But  
the school has trained scores of aspiring fighters, including many  
foreigners. 
 
Giuseppe Pecorelli, 51, began taking lessons shortly after Scuola  
Gladiatori opened last September. He said the figure of the gladiator  
is appreciated more by foreigners than Italians because the vestiges  
of fascism have left Italians a bit uneasy about the idea of empire. 
 
However, he added that Roman-style combat is not so different from  
practicing self-defense sports or capoeria, a martial arts-like beach  
dance from Brazil. 
 
If it weren't for the bearded men hanging out in tunics and the huge  
ballistic arrow tucked away in a corner, the Scuola Gladiatori could  
almost pass for an athletic club. 
 
Two men run around a track wearing Adidas shoes - the one fashion  
anachronism permitted, to prevent slipping. Someone sips sparkling  
water at a picnic table. People chat on their cell phones. A woman  
stretches her leg muscles, laughing with some friends. 
 
Still, the seven men and one woman who put on ancient garb and grunt  
on a grassy field as they lunge at each other admitted their hobby is  
a bit out of the ordinary. 
 
''Most normal people think it's crazy to be a gladiator in 2001,''  
said Guido Pecorelli, Giuseppe Pecorelli's 23-year-old son. 
 
AP-NY-08-17-01 0114EDT 
 
 
  
 
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 | 
	| Subject: | 
	 [novaroma] Re: Century Allocation (was RE: Century Points) | 
 
	| From: | 
	 ksterne@-------- | 
 
	| Date: | 
	 Fri, 17 Aug 2001 15:21:39 -0000 | 
 
 | 
Marcus Octavius Germanicus wrote: 
>>Nova Roma is perhaps the only nation in which efforts are made to 
make a citizen's voting strength proportional to the work they have 
done for the nation.  I see this as a wonderful thing.   
  
We're doing something unique and different here.  Let us not throw it 
away in an effort to become just like everybody else.<< 
 
Salvete, 
 
I completely agree.  The ancients believed the nobility and the  
wealthy were in fact superior to "regular" people.  A notion not so  
foreign even in more modern times.  Alexander Hamilton argued as the  
USA was forming that the vote should reserved to those qualifed to  
make important decisions. 
 
Here we believe that discrimination should be made based on service  
to the State which is a noble ideal and still adheres to ancient  
practice.  It's not perfect yet, but few new things are.  We can take  
the time to refine it. 
 
IMHO, the ideas of Lucius Sicinius Drusus about reducing points for  
length of tenure vs. points for active participation have much merit. 
 
Valete, 
Gaius Popillius Laenas 
 
 
  
 
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 | 
	| Subject: | 
	 [novaroma] Re: Century Allocation (was RE: Century Points) | 
 
	| From: | 
	 "Lucius Sicinius Drusus" <lsicinius@--------> | 
 
	| Date: | 
	 Fri, 17 Aug 2001 15:26:56 -0000 | 
 
 | 
--- In novaroma@--------, "Flavius Vedius Germanicus" <germanicus@n...> wrote: 
> Salvete; 
>  
> > -----Original Message----- 
> > From: M. Apollonius Formosanus [mailto:bvm3@--------] 
> > Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2001 3:59 PM 
> > 
> > I have not been an enthusiast for the century-points system, as I 
think 
> > that it is one aspect of NR life close to the rôle-playing gaming that 
> > we claim to be above. 
>  
> It may seem odd that I would agree with Formosanus on this 
particular point, 
> but I too am not a great fan of the Century Point system (despite 
the fact 
> that it was my own idea); I see it as a compromise of convenience. 
However, 
> I am certain he would agree that assigning centuries according to the 
> ancient model (i.e., according to the wealth of the individual) is 
> unacceptable. Obviously some criteria for assigning centuries must be 
> adopted, and at the time the best compromise seemed to be the current 
> system, which encouraged participation in public life. 
>  
> I would be eager to hear what alternative Formosanus (or anyone else for 
> that matter) may have to the current system for assigning centuries. 
Some 
> people seem disgruntled with the current system; anyone have any better 
> ideas? 
>  
> Valete; 
>  
> Flavius Vedius Germanicus, 
> Consul 
 
Salvete Consul Et Quirites, 
 
Do not undervalue the Currant system. Some adjustments are needed, but 
the basic plan is sound. 
 
King Servius Tullius is credited with the allocation of Electoral 
power based on wealth. In addition to Electoral power duties were also 
assigned to the Classes based on wealth. The Census not only 
determined your class, it also determined the amount of Tributum that 
you had to pay. 
 
The Roman Army Under the Kings and the Early Republic was a Militia. 
Citizens provided thier own armor and weapons. Citizens who were 
assigned to the First Class could afford the best Equipment, and were 
assigned the most dangerous roles in the Legion. As the Classes grew 
lower the equipment requirements lessened. The Lower classes were 
skirmishers who retreated behind the better equipped higher classes 
when the main part of the battle started. 
 
The early Comitia Centuriata's Allocation of power was therefore based 
on the service that citizens provided the state. Wealth's role in this 
was a Citizen's ability to provide the services (Weapons and Taxes) 
was based on a citizens wealth. 
 
I think that we should try to emulate King Servius Tullius in basing 
the Century Allocation on the services that a citizen provides to the 
nation. 
 
The first problem with the "Century Point" system is the name. Perhaps 
we could change this to "Citizenship Rating" or one of our Latin 
Scholars could come up with a better term. "Century Points" does sound 
like something you would earn in a RPG. 
 
Other problems are the points awarded for time are too high in 
relation to the points earned for service, and the number of points 
awarded to Patricians are excessive. As I understand it they were 
planed to offset the Plebs power to vote in the comitia  
plebis tributa, and to serve as Tribunes. The CPlT rarely meets, and 
given the present ratio of Plebs to Patricians, any attempts to pass 
Pleblacita would be so undemocratic that it would drive a wedge 
between the orders. The Intercessio is too restricted to be 
meaningful. The powers of the Plebs and the tribunes mainly exist  
in theory, and the extra 5 points given to the Patricians needs to be 
adjusted to reflect the current weakness of the CPlT and the powers of 
the Tribunes. 
 
WE also need to add points for working for Nova Roma at other levels 
than the national government. 
 
With some adjustments we can make the comitia centuriata into Nova 
Roma's meritocracy. 
 
Valete, 
L. Sicinius Drusus, 
Propraetor America Austrorientalis 
 
 
  
 
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 | 
	| Subject: | 
	 Re: [novaroma] Century Allocation (was RE: Century Points) | 
 
	| From: | 
	 "L. Sicinius Drusus" <lsicinius@--------> | 
 
	| Date: | 
	 Fri, 17 Aug 2001 11:18:32 -0700 (PDT) | 
 
 | 
--- Maia Apollonia Pica <mjarc@--------> 
wrote: 
SNIP 
>  
> Century points give unequal rights to various 
> citizens, right? The  
> Constitution says that the criterion is "commitment 
> to Nova Roma",  
> but I don't think commitment can be measured, and, 
> as Propraetor L.  
> Sicinius Drusus noted, only some forms of commitment 
> are rewarded  
> anyway. Even if commitment could be measured 
> precisely, I suppose I  
> would still see a system based on it as 
> undemocratic, unfair. As this  
> is the 28th century AUC, shouldn't we see all 
> basically undemocratic  
> forms of government as obsolete? (Unless in a game, 
> but NR is not a  
> game. BTW, I have nothing against role-playing, 
> being a gamer  
> myself.) 
>  
> (If this post sounds impolite, that's because of my 
> uncertainty with  
> polite English. I am honestly trying to learn 
> everybody's arguments.) 
>  
> Valete 
>  
> Maia Apollonia Pica 
>  
Salve Maia Apollonia, 
 
First of all I commend you on your English skills. You 
are doing an excellent job of making your views known 
in a second language. 
 
Polybios was the first to point out that Roma's 
strength came from her mixed Constitution. 
Democracies, Monarchies, and Aristocracies all have 
advantages and disadvantages. Roma's mixed government 
included elements from all three, giving her many of 
the advantages of the three forms, while allowing her 
to avoid some of the disadvantages of each. If we were 
to follow the modern trend towards an over reliance on 
Democracy, we would lose the advantages of a mixed 
constitution. The Classes and the Centuries are an 
important part of the balance between the three forms 
of government that make of Nova Roma. 
 
We do need to revisit how the Centuries and the 
Classes are allocated. Our present system is the 
result of a Dictatorial decree having the force of 
law. It was implemented to handle an emergency that 
occurred two years ago. Consul Vedius did an excellent 
job of drafting this lex under very trying 
circumstances. At the time there was no system to set 
up the Centuries, so the Consul had no model to base 
his law on. 
 
Now that two years have passed it's time to look at 
how the allocation has worked in practice. Since our 
Consul doesn't have psychic powers, (that I'm aware 
of) it would be unfair to find fault with him for not 
foreseeing every possibility. We do need to make some 
adjustments to the law, but we don't need to replace 
what is basically a sound system. 
 
Vale, 
L. Sicinius Drusus 
Propraetor America Austrorientalis 
 
__________________________________________________ 
Do You Yahoo!? 
Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger 
http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ 
 
  
 
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 | 
	| Subject: | 
	 Re: [novaroma] Re: Century Allocation (was RE: Century Points) | 
 
	| From: | 
	 "Maia Apollonia Pica" <mjarc@--------> | 
 
	| Date: | 
	 Fri, 17 Aug 2001 18:32:49 +0200 | 
 
 | 
 
Salvete cives! 
 
(I'm putting several replies in one mail in the hope they will reach  
the list a little sooner.) 
 
On 17 Aug 2001, at 15:26, Lucius Sicinius Drusus wrote: 
 
> The first problem with the "Century Point" system is the name. Perhaps 
> we could change this to "Citizenship Rating" or one of our Latin 
> Scholars could come up with a better term. "Century Points" does sound 
> like something you would earn in a RPG. 
 
And "Citizenship Rating" sounds a little dystopian, don't you think? 
 
> As I understand it they were 
> planed to offset the Plebs power to vote in the comitia plebis 
> tributa, and to serve as Tribunes. The CPlT rarely meets, and given 
> the present ratio of Plebs to Patricians, any attempts to pass 
> Pleblacita would be so undemocratic that it would drive a wedge 
> between the orders. The Intercessio is too restricted to be 
> meaningful. The powers of the Plebs and the tribunes mainly exist in 
> theory, and the extra 5 points given to the Patricians needs to be 
> adjusted to reflect the current weakness of the CPlT and the powers of 
> the Tribunes. 
 
I definitely need to learn more on this. However, why is it so that  
attempts to pass plebiscita would be _too_ undemocratic, and the  
uneven distribution of power in the centuries is _appropriately_  
undemocratic? 
 
> With some adjustments we can make the comitia centuriata into Nova 
> Roma's meritocracy. 
 
I am not convinced (or not yet?) I just don't think we can make our  
adjustments fine enough. Points are discrete, our commitment,  
involvement and effort aren't. Not to mention the fact that right now  
there are some offices which should give points, but don't. 
 
On 17 Aug 2001, at 15:21, Gaius Popillius Laenas wrote: 
 
> The ancients believed the nobility and the  
> wealthy were in fact superior to "regular" people.  A notion not so 
> foreign even in more modern times.  Alexander Hamilton argued as  
the 
> USA was forming that the vote should reserved to those qualifed to 
> make important decisions. 
 
And he probably had some excellent criteria in mind? 
 
> Here we believe that discrimination should be made based on service  
to 
> the State which is a noble ideal and still adheres to ancient 
> practice.  It's not perfect yet, but few new things are.  We can  
take 
> the time to refine it. 
 
And while we take our time, the Assembly of Centuries elects the most  
important magistrates? 
 
On 17 Aug 2001, at 9:48, Marcus Octavius Germanicus wrote: 
 
> We should strive to be as historical as we can, except in extereme 
> circumstances.  Slavery, racism and sexism are abhorrent to all 
> civilized people, and thus there is an overwhelming need to stand 
> against them.  The system of centuries is clearly not in the same 
> category as those things. 
 
Not in the same category, no, but this doesn't make it right. Of  
course we _may_ believe different things are right. You will never  
know what Eastern Europe was a few years back. 
 
> Many citizens of Nova Roma live in the United States, which is not  
a 
> democracy.  Rather, it uses a system much like Roman tribes or 
> centuries to elect its president, in which voters living in  
sparsely 
> populated states have a disproportionate influence - the vote of a 
> random citizen of Alaska or Montana counts for more than the vote  
of a 
> random citizen of California or New York. 
 
And I guess this is why their most recent elections looked like they  
did, with the majority of citizens cheated out of their votes? But  
macro politics is probably OT for this list, so I'm not going to ask  
any more questions in this direction. 
 
> We're doing something unique and different here.  Let us not throw  
it 
> away in an effort to become just like everybody else. 
 
No, let's not try to become just like everybody else (though it's not  
everybody; there's still China etc.) But let's not try to be  
different either. Both things would be beside the point. Let's try to  
do things right, regardless of what macronations do around us. 
 
I simply still find it hard to believe _New Rome_ could be anti- 
democratic in principle. It's mind-boggling. Rome has always seemed  
the ideal of humanism to me, the source of some of our most cherished  
values. 
 
Valete 
Maia Apollonia Pica 
 
 
 
  
 
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 | 
	| Subject: | 
	 [novaroma] Re: Century Allocation (was RE: Century Points) | 
 
	| From: | 
	 "Lucius Sicinius Drusus" <lsicinius@--------> | 
 
	| Date: | 
	 Fri, 17 Aug 2001 19:41:08 -0000 | 
 
 | 
--- In novaroma@--------, "Maia Apollonia Pica" <mjarc@l...> wrote: 
>  
> Salvete cives! 
 
SNIP 
 
> > As I understand it they were 
> > planed to offset the Plebs power to vote in the comitia plebis 
> > tributa, and to serve as Tribunes. The CPlT rarely meets, and given 
> > the present ratio of Plebs to Patricians, any attempts to pass 
> > Pleblacita would be so undemocratic that it would drive a wedge 
> > between the orders. The Intercessio is too restricted to be 
> > meaningful. The powers of the Plebs and the tribunes mainly exist in 
> > theory, and the extra 5 points given to the Patricians needs to be 
> > adjusted to reflect the current weakness of the CPlT and the powers of 
> > the Tribunes. 
>  
> I definitely need to learn more on this. However, why is it so that  
> attempts to pass plebiscita would be _too_ undemocratic, and the  
> uneven distribution of power in the centuries is _appropriately_  
> undemocratic? 
>  
 
The Centuries are part of the Aristocratic element in our mixed 
constitution. Making them more Democratic destroys the balance. 
 
The Tribal assemblies are the Democratic element of Our Constitution. 
In Antiquita the Patricians were a tiny minority, less tahn 1% of the 
population, and excluding them from the Plebian assembly was not a 
major break with the Democratic principal. It was rare to have a vote 
so close that the Patricians would have made a differance. In Nova 
Roma about 30% of the population is Patrician, and ineligable to vote 
in the Plebian assembly. 
 
This unhistoric ratio has resulted in one of the assemblies that 
represent the Democratic element of our government excluding allmost a 
third of our citizens. Right now the Plebian assembly is the most 
undemocratic assembly in Nova Roma. Passing Pleblacita through it 
would be a major violation of the Democratic element it is susposed to 
represent. Pleblacita would also destroy the balance between the 
elements of our government. 
 
Vale, 
L. Sicinius Drusus 
 
 
 
  
 
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	| Subject: | 
	 [novaroma] Century Points | 
 
	| From: | 
	 "S. Apollonius Draco" <hendrik.meuleman@--------> | 
 
	| Date: | 
	 Fri, 17 Aug 2001 22:49:14 +0200 | 
 
 | 
Salvete Quirites, 
 
I must say that the issue of the century points all of a sudden surprised me 
a little, but just a little. 
 
I don't think we can hold the Censores, nor the webmaster, responsible for 
what happened as if they did it on purpose. However, since we are ploughing 
through the swamp of NR's rich history, it is also hard to tell what really 
°did° happen. The explanation given to us can be interpreted as a random 
distribution of century points, or that some things were simply forgotten. 
 
The key issue is, of course, if this makes all previous votes with those 
wrongly assigned century points invalid. I would really not like to go 
through the hassle again since April last year (and I doubt anyone would), 
but it makes me think. If the century points would have been distributed 
correctly, would the voting outcomes have been different? In most cases, 
probably not. In some cases, perhaps. 
 
I'm not crying "scandal!" but I think this is a painful error, that may have 
occurrred due to difficult circumstances, but must be rectified as soon as 
possible, and should have been rectified a long time ago. 
 
Valete bene! 
S. Apollonius Draco 
 
 
  
 
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 | 
	| Subject: | 
	 Re: [novaroma] Century Points | 
 
	| From: | 
	 Marcus Octavius Germanicus <haase@--------> | 
 
	| Date: | 
	 Fri, 17 Aug 2001 16:04:44 -0500 (CDT) | 
 
 | 
Salve Sexte Apolloni, 
 
> The key issue is, of course, if this makes all previous votes with those 
> wrongly assigned century points invalid.  
 
THERE WERE NO VOTES WITH WRONGLY ASSIGNED CENTURY POINTS! 
 
-- 
M. Octavius Germanicus 
Propraetor, Lacus Magni 
Curator Araneum et Senator 
 
"...  one of the main causes of the fall of the Roman Empire was that, 
lacking zero, they had no way to indicate successful termination of 
their C programs."  -- Robert Firth 
 
 
  
 
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 | 
	| Subject: | 
	 Re: [novaroma] Century Points | 
 
	| From: | 
	 "S. Apollonius Draco" <hendrik.meuleman@--------> | 
 
	| Date: | 
	 Fri, 17 Aug 2001 23:09:10 +0200 | 
 
 | 
Salve Marce Octavi, 
 
> > The key issue is, of course, if this makes all previous votes with those 
> > wrongly assigned century points invalid. 
> 
> THERE WERE NO VOTES WITH WRONGLY ASSIGNED CENTURY POINTS! 
> 
 
*rubs his ears* So ok. When did the Comitia Centuriata last vote? 
 
Vale bene, 
Draco 
 
 
  
 
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 | 
	| Subject: | 
	 Re: [novaroma] Century Points | 
 
	| From: | 
	 Marcus Octavius Germanicus <haase@--------> | 
 
	| Date: | 
	 Fri, 17 Aug 2001 16:22:28 -0500 (CDT) | 
 
 | 
 
> > THERE WERE NO VOTES WITH WRONGLY ASSIGNED CENTURY POINTS! 
>  
> *rubs his ears* So ok. When did the Comitia Centuriata last vote? 
 
There is an election taking place in that Comitia right now.  The last 
one was in December.  Citizens were placed in centuries in April 2000. 
Citizens who joined after that were placed in classes 3 through 5.   
There is no requirement that any adjustments be made to citizens'  
century assignements before November, thus none of the assignments 
were incorrect. 
 
 
-- 
M. Octavius Germanicus 
Propraetor, Lacus Magni 
Curator Araneum et Senator 
 
"...  one of the main causes of the fall of the Roman Empire was that, 
lacking zero, they had no way to indicate successful termination of 
their C programs."  -- Robert Firth 
 
 
  
 
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