Preamble

Nova Roma is committed against any use of real violence with harmful intention, however, the ancient Roman martial arts of the gladiators encompasses, besides the negative aspects of violence, a historical value and a deeper meaning of noble ideas of fate, human virtues, honor, life and death, mythological motives and religious devotion. With the non-violent, playful, educational but serious reconstruction of the ancient Roman gladiatorial games, Nova Roma aims to invoke that nobler spirit and spiritual aspect in the martial arts of the gladiators, and strives to educate about their historical and cultural significance in order to promote the history of the Roman army and to spread Romanitas and the idea of Nova Roma in the modern world through educational activity, experimental archaeology and historical reenactment. For 20 years, the status of the gladiatorial groups of Nova Roma wasn’t regulated, however, as the expansion of our republic necessitates this, in the 20th Anniversary Year of Nova Roma, the Sacred Year of Concordia, as a tribute to our founding principles, the Nova Roman People enacts the following law:

I. ((Definition of a familia gladiatoria and ludus gladiatorius))

A gladiatorial reenactment group is officially termed as a familia gladiatoria or ludus gladiatorius; the designation is chosen at the discretion of the group, but the term “ludus” is recommended for those groups where education of children or training of gladiators is in the focus, while the term familia is recommended for a less school-like, veteran gladiatorial group where training is not in the focus but public performances fill most of the time of the group.

II. ((The autonomy of the gladiatorial groups of Nova Roma))

Nova Roma recognizes its own gladiatorial groups and allied gladiatorial groups as an Autonomous Gladiatorial Reenactment Group of Nova Roma or as Allied Gladiatorial Reenactment Groups. Each type works as an independent, autonomous, self-governing gladiatorial reenactment group with its own rules of operation, determined by the group. Their independence can be of varying degree according to their own decision about how much control they want to retain for themselves, but in the list of priority in the access to privileges within Nova Roma the principle must be observed that the more involved is the central management of Nova Roma in the management of the gladiatorial group, the more support shall be given to the reenactment group from the organization.

III. ((Establishment of an Autonomous Nova Roman Gladiatorial Reenactment Group of Nova Roma))

An Autonomous Gladiatorial Reenactment Group of Nova Roma can be established only by registration at the aedilician office, and the aediles (either central Nova Roman aediles or municipal, township level aediles) will grant this status if the applicant group meets the requirements. If a gladiatorial group wishes to be part of Nova Roma, or if a Nova Roman citizen or group of citizens wish to create a new gladiatorial reenactment group as part of Nova Roma, they shall obtain the consent of the aediles, who then shall issue an edict on the recognition of the reenactment group in question, specifying the unit as a Nova Roman Gladiatorial Reenactment Group. A gladiatorial group can be declared as a Nova Roman gladiatorial group only if its lanista is a Nova Roman citizen; the position of the lanista is selected and regulated by internal group rules. The gladiators of the group do not necessarily have to be Nova Roman citizens, but when a decision between groups about granting support, favor or privilege is made, the proportion of Nova Roman citizens in the group shall be taken into the weighing of the selection of the group to be favored.

IV. ((Establishment of an Allied Gladiatorial Reenactment Group))

An Allied Gladiatorial Group can be established by the same registration method as a fully Nova Roman gladiatorial group, and the aediles shall issue an edict on the recognition of the reenactment group in question, specifying the unit as an allied gladiatorial reenactment group of Nova Roma. A gladiatorial group can be declared as an allied gladiatorial group only if it has at least one Nova Roman citizen among its members who shall be the representative of Nova Roma within the group and for the public, and as liaison and coordinator between the leadership of Nova Roma and his group.

V. ((Rights and privileges of an Autonomous Nova Roman Gladiatorial Reenactment Group))

An Autonomous Gladiatorial Reenactment Group of Nova Roma shall have the following privileges granted by Nova Roma:

V.A. A Nova Roman Gladiatorial Reenactment Group shall have unlimited use of the website and online communication channels of Nova Roma for advertisement, recruitment and announcements of any kind, restricted only by reasonable forum moderation in case of disruptive or uncooperative behavior.

V.B. A Nova Roman Gladiatorial Reenactment Group shall have unlimited priority access to expert counsel and assistance regarding research and questions about Roman culture, religion, history, archaeology, Latin language or any questions requiring professional assistance for a Roman gladiatorial reenactment group.

V.C. A Nova Roman Gladiatorial Reenactment Group shall have priority entitlement to financial or other type of support depending on the state of the treasury.

V.D. A Nova Roman Gladiatorial Reenactment Group shall have unlimited right to cooperation and networking with all other Nova Roman or allied gladiatorial groups, with priority granted regarding invitations to public appearances and business opportunities offered by other Nova Roman groups or by the central or provincial administrations of Nova Roma.

V.E. All these privileges are granted for free to an Autonomous Gladiatorial Reenactment Group of Nova Roma: there is no membership fee, there is no requirement regarding activity and it is not mandatory to appear at Nova Roma events or to do certain things; the groups can operate entirely according to its internal organization. The only requirement regarding activity remains that the group must recognize its programs, events as events of Nova Roma.

VI. ((Obligations of an Autonomous Nova Roman Gladiatorial Reenactment Group))

An Autonomous Gladiatorial Reenactment Group of Nova Roma shall fulfill, and once fulfilled, it shall maintain, the following requirements before being registered as a Nova Roman gladiatorial group:

VI.A. A Nova Roman Gladiatorial Reenactment Group shall possess, use, respect and honor a flag of Nova Roma as its most sacred national flag publicly besides its own unit standards and flags.

VI.B. A Nova Roman Gladiatorial Reenactment Group shall respect and honor the magistrates and other state officers of Nova Roma, and shall recognize these magistrates as their own state magistrates, but this remains a ceremonial requirement and the magistrates of Nova Roma don’t have any right to give orders to an Autonomous Gladiatorial Reenactment Group unless it is agreed upon otherwise by the leadership of the group.

VI.C. All programs and events of a Nova Roman gladiatorial group shall count as programs and events of Nova Roma, Nova Roma shall have the right to use the events, programs, photos or promotional materials of the group, and the group can also advertise all other programs of Nova Roma as its own programs within the extended organization. A reenactment group of Nova Roma shall state this fact on its main internet location (website or social media page), and shall post a link to the Nova Roma website on its main internet location.

VI.E. It is ethical requirement from the gladiator reenactors of a gladiatorial group of Nova Roma that they shall promote Roman culture and traditions, Roman virtues and values through their educational activities as reenactors. Reenactor gladiators of Nova Roma must keep the safety of their members and the safety of their audience as their highest priority during their performances, must abstain from any form of real violence of harmful intention, must maintain a high ethical standard of civilized and polite behavior, benevolence and spirit of brotherhood toward all reenactors, must avoid uncivilized conflicts with other groups, or if a conflict emerges, they must not let such conflicts be noticeable to the public in any form.

VII. ((Rights and privileges of an Allied Gladiatorial Reenactment Group))

An Allied Gladiatorial Reenactment Group of Nova Roma shall have the following privileges granted by Nova Roma:

VII.A. An Allied Gladiatorial Reenactment Group of Nova Roma unit shall have the right to use of the website and the online communication channels of Nova Roma for advertisement, recruitment and announcements of any kind, restricted by the priority rights of the fully Nova Roman gladiatorial groups to these tools.

VII.B. An Allied Gladiatorial Reenactment Group of Nova Roma shall have access to expert counsel and assistance regarding research and questions about Roman culture, religion, history, archaeology, military, Latin language or any questions requiring professional assistance for a Roman gladiatorial reenactment group. This right is restricted by the priority rights of the fully Nova Roman gladiatorial groups to these tools.

VII.C. An Allied Gladiatorial Reenactment Group shall have right to cooperation and networking with all other Nova Roman or allied gladiatorial groups.

VII.D. All these privileges are granted for free to an allied gladiatorial group of Nova Roma: there is no membership fee, there is no requirement regarding activity and it is not mandatory to appear at Nova Roma events or to do certain things; the group can operate entirely according to its internal organization.

VIII. ((Obligatiobs of an Allied Gladiatorial Reenactment Group))

An Allied Gladiatorial Reenactment Group of Nova Roma shall fulfill, and once fulfilled, it shall maintain, the following requirements before being recognized as an allied group of Nova Roma:

VIII.A. An Allied Gladiatorial Reenactment Group of Nova Roma shall respect and honor the flag of Nova Roma.

VIII.B. An Allied Gladiatorial Reenactment Group of Nova Roma shall respect and honor the magistrates and other state officers of Nova Roma, but this remains a ceremonial requirement and the magistrates of Nova Roma don’t have any right to give orders to the allied group unless it is agreed upon otherwise by the leadership of the group.

VIII.C. An Allied Gladiatorial Reenactment Group shall state the fact of alliance on its main internet location (website or social media page), and shall post a link to the Nova Roma website on its main internet location.