Here in Western Canada, in the “frozen north”, we may not have the benefit of being born in the shadows of Rome itself, a Roman city or a Roman colonia and of strolling in our formative years amongst these ruins. We may be lacking in the great visual reminders of the Pax Romana but in our museums, libraries, art galleries, theatres, and bookshops, as well as in the architecture of some of our older buildings, we can find fragments of Ancient Rome. From these sources we can draw the inspiration necessary to build a Nova Roman community.

To be Nova Roman is to express one’s allegiance not to a nation but to the idea of Rome, and while nations may rise and fall this idea will endure. So what are we? We are individuals, we are (to name but a few) Britons, French, Germans, Americans, Canadians, Italians, Spaniards, Brazilians, and of course Italians.

The commonality that we all have inside us is the spirit of Ancient Rome, which transcends time, distance and nationality. We are the product of our nation and will ever remain so. We must always be ready to answer any call of duty made upon us, while at the same time, and without any contradiction, owe allegiance to the inner spirit of Romanitas that we have made our creed.

We are united as citizens of the mind and spirit, owing allegiance to the memory of the immemorial river of Roman culture that survived the fall of the Empire and transcended into the most unconquerable of all states of existence, an idea.

Nova Roma is our expression of that idea. It is less than a nation but its foundation, Ancient Rome, will survive longer than any nation. Nova Roma itself may yet fail and pass into the shadows, but the idea of Rome will continue to march through time, uniting at least some of the citizens of the nations that were born from its ruins, and even some of those from areas that never lived under the Pax Romana.

The Praetorium is the 'government' of our provincia. It consists of the Propraetor (governor) and his or her staff. The Propraetor is chosen by and is responsible to the Senate of Nova Roma (although some provinicae elect their own propraetores). The Propraetor then chooses their own staff. The composition of the Propraetorium can vary widely throughout Nova Roma. Some provincae are relatively small and unilingual, while others span several countries and languages. Governors are given the flexibility they need to ensure the continued growth and success of their provinces.

In terms of physical geography, Canada Occidentalis is vast. Covering a total area of over 6.83 million km², our provincia is almost a million km² larger than the Roman Empire at its height (5.9 million km²). The history of settlement in western Canada accounts for the concentration of most of the population in and around a relatively small number of cities. At present eight urban areas account for almost 60% of the population. A rough calculation gives an estimated population density of about 1.5 people per km².

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