First "Civil War" of Nova Roma
From NovaRoma
(Redirected from Tumultus L. Equitio Dec. Iunio cos. (Nova Roma))
The following is a very brief summary of this event which was the most determining internal conflict of the early Nova Roma.
- The elections Fl. Vedio M. Cassio cos. ‡ MMDCCLI a.u.c. were not conducted by tribes and centuries because at that point the people had not been allocated to tribes and centuries.
- The lex constitutiva required elections to be conducted by tribes and centuries, and some people believed that the elections which had been held were legally invalid and thus the republic had no legitimate magistrates.
- Allocating the people to tribes and centuries was the responsibility of the censores.
- Some time in the first half of L. Equitio Dec. Iunio cos. ‡ MMDCCLII a.u.c. there was, or was perceived to be, a move to have the censores called to account in some way (the word "impeached" was used, at least in later accounts, despite the fact that impeachment was not legal under the Constitution at that time).
- In response to that move, or to the perception of such a move, another group temporarily shut down the website and declared an intercessio of the Republic, under the authority of the non-profit corporation.
- This resulted in the formation of one or more new groups which claimed to be continuations of the republic.
- After a few days the website &c. were restored and the alternative groups closed down, apparently by the agreement of all concerned.
- In due course the senate called on Fl. Vedius Germanicus to become dictator and to sort the situation out one way or another, which, arguably, he did.
This sequence of events is colorfully referred to as "the first civil war".