SC 2763 Nov. 2-4 (Nova Roma)

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This senatus consultum was proposed a.d. IV Non. Nov. ‡, P. Memmio K. Buteone (II) cos. ‡ MMDCCLXIII a.u.c..

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P. Memmius Albucius
censor, prev. cos.

Item IV - Ordo equester - Annual contribution (rejected text)

The information by Cos. Memmius

Nova Roma aims, since several years, to welcome and encourage traders in our community. The interested people may trade Roman items, but not exclusively. The main idea is to allow those of us who want to use our community as a relay or a part of their business to use NR interesting network, that represents several hundreds of citizens.

We called these traders, in our Constitution, “equites”, which thus belong to an “Ordo equester”. To be an eques, the concerned citizen - so (s)he needs being first a citizen – must apply our censors to be granted this status. Once this status is granted, the eques is supervised by the aediles who must follow her/his activity and bring the attention of the censors of every modification in the concerned trader's status.

Currently, two obstacles prevent that the ordo equester works as it should do : our constitution considers that a person may trade inside Nova Roma, but that, as long as (s)he does not claim for the equestrian status, (s)he has no obligations towards Nova Roma (!) ; we also interpret our constitution, which says that the equites “are expected to contribute a portion of the revenue derived from Nova Roma back to the State” in a way that improves our difficulties to collect most of equestrian taxes : we have set this contribution to “minimum = 5% gross or 10% from profit margin”. This way we put ourselves in the difficult situation, both material and legal, to need the sending, by the concerned person, of her/his revenue or fiscal documents.

So, the current situation is the following one:

• very few traders are recorded as equites ;
• there is no interest, for them, at least as long our rules do not change, to be recorded as equites ;
• we do not receive the Equites' revenue we should collect ;
• our system therefore does not work, currently, send back our cives a bad image and, in addition, is not fair for the very rare ones who pay their equestrian revenue.

What is proposed here to you is a double action :

• first on the constitutional text ;
• second to define a simple fixed tax.

As our Constitution (II.C.2) says that “The equestrian order shall consist of citizens who are engaged in the conduct of commerce (preferably with a Roman theme) who request and are granted entry into the equestrian order by the censors.”, we propose an action in two steps :

• first to suspend by senatus consultum ultimum our constitution on the second part of this sentence ;
• second to modify this article afterwards and naturally as soon as possible.

In parallel, we would set the tax for every person trading in Nova Roma to 100 U.S. dollars for a citizen, and 200 for a non-yet-citizen, sum which would be reviewed every year by the Senate. This sum, specially the first one, is neither too important for a modest trader and comfortable for a merchant who has sold since several years. If the seller is a citizen, her/his annual citizen fee (for ex. for the U.S.A. 16 usd), would be deducted from this sum : a U.S. Trader would pay in fact to our Treasury 100-16 = 84 usd.

This way, we encourage transparency, equity between our traders, contribution instead of dissimulation, and we put in place capacities to develop our Equestrian revenues.

This double measure would be taken by the two separate senatus consulta below, in order that the “fall of the scu”, once the constitutional modification done, the tax fixing become not lapsed.

A last word, Senators : a few ones among us will, maybe, consider that our traders should not be equites, and that the ordo equester should be... something else. Still, two years ago, the consuls have intended introducing such an idea whose contents was yet to define. They finally did not and our simple problem remains the same one.

Even if we may think that this idea would be interesting to work upon, the current item proposes, in our Roman pragmatic way, to better up what may be, and to reserve the future. Nothing will prevent us, if ever we wish reviewing our different ordines, to insert our traders in it. It will be, imho, far better than to say that the Senate is satisfied keeping a system that does not work and being fully aware of it.

The texts

The two proposed SC :

Item IV-A - Ordo equester – definition – senatus consultum ultimum

Article 1 : In the first sentence of the paragraph II.C.2 of the Constitution of Nova Roma, the expression “ who request and are granted entry into the equestrian order by the censors” is deleted during the time of application of the present text.

Article 2 : The censors keep on, in consultation with the curule aediles, granting the qualification of “eques” to every citizen of Nova Roma engaged in a trade inside Nova Roma. This qualification is granted either on the request of the concerned person, or automatically, from the moment that this person has sold to one or several other citizens any goods for a value equal or higher than 150 usd. In this second case, the trading activity and the reach of this sum will be proved by any legal evidences.

Article 3 : A simple senatus consultum, reviewable every year if and as the Senate deems necessary, sets the contribution of every eques for the coming civil year.

Article 4 : The present senatus consultum ultimum will be lapsed on Kal. Nov. 2764 auc.

Article 5 : The magistrates of Nova Roma, and specially its censors consuls and aediles, are charged of the good execution of the present senatus consultum, which shall be applicable from its publication on, and be included in the Tabularium Nova Romae (Senate section).

Item IV-B - Ordo equester – annual contribution – tax 2764 auc

Article 1 : In application of the article 3 of the senatus consultum ultimum of this day, or of any constitutional rule which would replace it, the annual tax due for the civil year 2764 auc (2010 cc) by the persons trading inside Nova Roma is the following one : yet citizens : 100 usd ; not yet citizens : 200 usd.

Article 2 : The sums which would have been paid as a citizen annual contribution, by the concerned person, or to be due by him/her, will be deducted from the above equestrian contribution, at any appropriate moment, as this citizen sees fit.

Article 3 : The amounts set in the article 1 are actualized, as and if the Senate sees fit, every year and no later than the Kalends of November.

Article 4 : The magistrates and officers of Nova Roma, and specially its consuls and financial quaestors, are charged of the good execution of the present senatus consultum, which shall be applicable from its publication on, and be included in the Tabularium Nova Romae (Senate section).

Votes and opinions

• 9 UR : xxxx
• 2 ABS
• 1 ANT.