Category:Gens Martiania (Nova Roma)

Revision as of 21:56, 2 September 2007

Gens Martiania is one of the early gentes of Nova Roma. It was formed when Marcus Martianius Gangalius became the 173rd citizen in MMDCCLVI.

The Roman name Martiania unites two of the gens' primary interests, the study of classical Roman civilization, and the exploration of space in general but particularly the exploration of the planet Mars. It is a name which simultaneously recalls the past and summons the future. Symbolic of these twin influences is Martianus Minneus Felix Capella, a Roman writer of the early 5th century, who espoused the heliocentric theory of the universe a thousand years before Nicholas Copernicus revived the idea.

The motto of the gens, CONTENDERE, EXPLORARE, INVENIRE, ET NON CEDERE, is a Latin translation of "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield," a line from Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "Ulysses." This line is inscribed on a monument in Antarctica to Robert Scott's tragic expedition to the South Pole, men who made the ultimate sacrifice to expand human knowledge.

The gens Martiania encourages its members to be active in building social, civil, and religious institutions that existed in the classical Roman world. Additionally, its encourages membership and active participation in space advocacy organizations to further the goals of exploring and eventually colonizing the planet Mars.

Marcus Martianius Gangalius was appointed Aedilis Curulis and webmaster of Nova Roma in the year MMDCCLII; however, he opposed the dictator Flavius Vedius Germanicus and was removed from his positions. He served as Legatus of California Superior from MMDCCLIII to MMDCCLVIII, and he has been a Soldalus Palatini since MMDCCLVII.

External link

• Gens Martiana