Lex Lucilia de censu (Nova Roma)

Preamble

The lustrum and the accompanying census was the cyclic renewal of the ancient Roman people, spiritually and materially. The Nova Roman people enacts the following law to regulate this vital and most Roman institution in Nova Roma according to the current needs of the republic, rescinding the lex Fabia de censu.

I. Conducting the census

A. The census of the Nova Roman People shall last for at least three months. The start and end of the census period shall be announced by the censors on the website and all official and public forums of Nova Roma. Once announced, the provincial governors shall publish the same announcements on all of their provincial websites and forums.

B. The census shall consist of the following: (1) the re-registration of all existing citizens, (2) classification and evaluation of citizens, and (3) the ceremony of lustrum

II. Definitions

A. Citizens who register themselves on the census are called cives censi (registered citizens, i.e. citizens registered on the actual census):

1. The following individuals are automatically registered for the census:

a. Citizens who obtained citizenship after the conclusion of the last census.

b. Citizens who have paid taxes for the current calendar year.

c. Magistrates of the current calendar year and any current officers or priests of Nova Roma, excepting senators.

2. All other individuals have to register for the census personally or by an official or by a personal representative:

a. Official representatives can ex officio assess the availability, responsiveness and attendance of a citizen regarding the census, and they can ex officio report the registration of a citizen. The following persons qualify as an official representative: the pater familias (or mater familias) of the individual, the provincial governor of the individual, or an officer of the Censorial Office.

b. Personal representatives are personally entrusted by the citizens. If a citizen knows of an extended period of unavailability that will coincide with the census, the citizen can entrust a personal representative to register him or her on the census: this type of personal representative is distinct from the official representative at II.A.2.a. The personal representative can be anyone the citizen selects, but this type of representative must produce evidence (for example an email) of being chosen as a citizen's representative for the census.

B. Citizens who fail to register for the census are called cives incensi (unregistered citizens, disappeared citizens). Failure to register on the census is considered a dereliction of the one and only obligatory civic duty, and it involves loss of certain rights and other consequences.

1. If a citizen fails to respond to the contact attempts within the defined period of the census, that person will be classified as a "civis incensus" (unregistered/disappeared citizen). They will formally retain their type of citizenship (civitas optimo iure, civitas sine suffragio, civitas Latina) or the type of their allied status (socius or amicus), but their exercise of the rights attendant thereto will be suspended, and they will not be counted among the active citizens or allies. Disappeared citizens may not exercise any of their rights in Nova Roma until they register themselves at the Censorial Office.

2. It shall be possible for disappeared citizens to register themselves between two censuses, at which time their rights shall be reinstated immediately, but this act will not constitute a "registration on the census", but only an extraordinary reinstatement to civic rights.

III. Registration of all existing citizens

A. At the beginning of the census, the censors shall publish their edictum de legibus censui censendo in which they set the all and any rules for the current census, deadlines and mechanisms of registration.

B. After the edictum is published, the censors shall advertise the census across all websites and forums of Nova Roma. They shall contact all citizens of Nova Roma with the call to registration on the census via email at least once.

C. The censors shall instruct the governors to repeat the announcements on the provincial level and to contact all provincial citizens by e-mail, traditional postal mail, or by telephone, regardless of any other contact from the central Census Office. Provincial governors can register those provincial citizens in their name on the census who answered their census call. In all procedures and matters of the census, the governors shall obey the orders of the censors.

D. All communicated information pertaining to the census (changes of home address, telephone number, e-mail address etc.) shall be updated and noted in the Censorial Database of the Album Civium.

E. Registration of allies

At the time of the census of Nova Roman citizens, the census of the cives Latini, socii and friends of Nova Roma shall also be conducted.

1. The censors shall contact the leaders of those communities where such associate citizens and partners of Nova Roma are registered and ask the leaders of those communities to report about the actual roll of members.

2. In case of those Latin or allied citizens, friends and allies who do not belong to a community which integrated into Nova Roma, the censors shall contact them individually, as part of the general process of the census of Nova Roman citizens.

F. Failure to register on the census will lead to the consequences discussed under II.B.

IV. Classification and evaluation of all citizens

As part of the census, the censors shall classify the citizens distributing them across the classes, they shall arrange the tribes, shall perform the recognitio et probatio equitum (the revision of the membership of the official, public Equestrian Order) and the lectio senatus (the revision of the membership of the senate), and shall publicly praise and reprimand citizens and current customs according to their function as guardians of public morals, good traditions and Roman virtues. Censorial awards shall be distributed at this time.

V. Lustrum

Upon the conclusion of the registration of the citizens, the recognitio equitum and the lectio senatus, the censors shall perform the lustrum to purify the Nova Roman people and Nova Roma. Only after the performance of the lustrum is the census completed.