Sodalitas Latinitatis - regula (Nova Roma)

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The Charter Of The Sodalitas Latinitatis

The sodalitas Latinitatis was founded on the authority of the senate on prid. Kal. Quint. in the consulate of Q. Fabius Maximus and M. Minucius Audens by M. Apollonius Formosanus, C. Marius Merullus, C. Cordius Symmachus, and A. Arius Draco.

I. Purpose and functions

A. The sodalitas Latinitatis exists to promote the study and use of Latin in Nova Roma, and thus ultimately to bring about the use of Latin as the primary language of Nova Roma.

B. To further this goal the sodalitas shall:

i. Provide a forum for conversation in and about Latin.

ii. Assist and encourage members of the sodalitas to improve their Latin.

iii. Offer assistance with Latin to the magistrates and constitutional organs of Nova Roma.

iv. Create and manage projects to further the goal of the sodalitas.

v. Offer a point of contact between Nova Roma and other users, scholars, and students of Latin.

C. The consilium (see VI) shall see to it that these functions are performed.

II. Membership and decuriae

A. Membership of the sodalitas shall be free and open to all.

B. The means by which membership may be acquired shall be detailed in the praescripta (see III).

C. Members shall be divided into an odd number of decuriae according to the standard of their Latinity; the number and nature of the decuriae shall be detailed in the praescripta.

III. Votes of the whole sodalitas

A. By a vote of the whole sodalitas on the motion of the magistri this charter may be amended, praescripta supplementary to the charter may be created, and projects to further the goal of the sodalitas may be set up or terminated.

B. The members shall be given an opportunity to discuss any proposal before voting shall begin.

C. Each member shall have only one vote on each proposal, and each vote shall have equal value.

IV. Magistri

A. The sodalitas shall elect each year two of its members who are also Nova Roman citizens to serve as magistri (feminine magistrae).

B. The magistri shall take office on Id. Mar. and shall leave office on prid. Id. Mar. following.

C. The mechanism by which the magistri shall be elected shall be detailed in the praescripta.

D. They shall be responsible for the general administration of the sodalitas.

E. They shall maintain an up-to-date copy of this charter and of all the praescripta of the sodalitas.

F. They shall have the power to put proposals to the vote of the whole sodalitas, to moderate the official fora of the sodalitas, and to act on behalf of the sodalitas in relations with the constitutional organs of Nova Roma and other outside persons and groups.

G. They shall exercise their powers collegially.

H. They may divide their duties between themselves at their discretion.

V. Decuriones

A. Each decuria shall elect each year one of its members who is also a Nova Roman citizen to serve as its decurio.

B. The decuriones shall take office on Id. Mar. and shall leave office on prid. Id. Mar. following.

C. The mechanism by which the decuriones shall be elected shall be detailed in the praescripta.

D. Each decurio shall be responsible for maintaining a list of the members of his or her decuria.

E. Each decurio shall be responsible for representing the interests of his or her decuria in the sodalitas as whole.

F. Each decurio shall be responsible for giving particular assistance and encouragement to members of his or her decuria.

G. In the event of the unavailability, incapacity, or resignation of both magistri, the responsibilities and powers of the magistri shall pass to the decurio of the first decuria (or, in the case of his or her unavailability, incapacity, or resignation, to the decurio of the second decuria, and so on), who shall as quickly as possible organize elections to replace the magistri.

VI. Consilium

A. The magistri and the decuriones shall together form a consilium.

B. The consilium shall be responsible for the running of such projects to further the goals of the sodalitas as shall have been approved by a vote of the whole sodalitas.

C. The consilium shall have the power to appoint temporary officers to perform specified tasks for a specified term of office not to exceed sixty days.

Appendix: Founding members

This appendix contains the biographies of the founding members as they were included in the original charter.

Marcus Apollonius Formosanus, Native of Pennsylvania, now constantly residing in Poland, 51 years of age, Lecturer in the English Esperanto and Latin Languages in the Institute of Linguistics of Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Paterfamilias of the Gens Apollonia, Citizen of Nova Roma.

Gaius Marius Merullus, Bostonian now living in New Hampshire, thirty years old I work as administrator of a private training and management consulting company. I got a perfect score on the California Achievement Test in Latin in 1988. Censor Suffectus, consular accensus, rogator in the year of the dictatura of Germanicus and of the consulate of Palladius and Sulla, paterfamilias of the gens Maria.

I am Gaius Cordius Symmachus (aka Chad Michael Kieffer), an Arkansan (in the U.S.), and a computer programmer. I'm twenty-six years old. I have a bachelor of arts degree in three fields. Those fields are computer science, German, and classical studies. I'm studying comparative literature for a master's degree at the University of Arkansas.

Born in the Province of Quebec, Adrianus Arius Acadianus Draco first entered a seminary of the Society of Jesus and underwent theological studies and the life there; afterwards in the Christian Orthodox Monastery of the Holy Mountain (Hagios Oros) under the metochi (monastic dependency) of Saint Paul. After a few years, he with great joy renounced both the monastery andthe Christian faith, and completed philological and philosophical studies in the Universities of Montreal, Vermont and Alaska, and Harvard University. Now he lives in California, working in the field of family law.