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This is a consolidated page of all leges, both past and present, for Nova Roma. The pages is a useful means to search efficiently through all the leges for a particular element or subject of interest.

C: Lex Equitia de civitate eiuranda

I. The Lex Cornelia et Maria de civitate eiuranda is hereby amended as follows:

A. Section III is hereby annulled.

B. Section V is hereby altered to read as follows:

1. The ex-citizen, in the event that he desires to reacquire citizenship, must apply in the same fashion as any other person desirous of citizenship would, with the exception that he/she is directed to state in his/her application the reasons behind his/her resignation and decision to reverse the resignation and come back. His/her Roman name may be resumed if no other citizen of Nova Roma has taken it up in his/her absence.
2. As offices are de facto resigned when Citizenship is resigned, no public offices held at the time of resignation automatically carry over to the returning citizen, with the exception of any religious title and corresponding century points that may be specified by the Collegium Pontificum.
3. Any titles, honors and effects of past offices, or century points carry over to the returning citizen only after a period of six months, with the exception of any religious title and corresponding century points that may be specified by the Collegium Pontificum.
4. Senatorial status may be resumed at the discretion of the Censores collegially.
5. Gens affiliation in all instances remains at the discretion of the pater or materfamilias.

C. Section VI is hereby altered to read as follows:

1. If a citizen resigns, is subsequently reinstated, and resigns a second time, that ex-citizen is barred for two years from reinstatement.

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CI: Lex Equitia de vigintisexviris

Preamble

In Roma Antiqua, the Vigintisexviri--literally, 'the twenty-six men'--were minor magistrates who handled much of the routine administrative business of Rome. In Nova Roma, we preserve the title VIGINTISEXVIRI for minor magistracies, without requiring twenty-six, and without restricting these magistracies to men.

I. A. The leges Vedia vigintisexviri, Minucia de rogatoribus, and Equitia de mutandis appellationibus duorum magistratuum minorum, are hereby repealed.

B. All Nova Roman laws, decrees, and edicts which make reference to magistrates of the Vigintisexviri are revised to use the titles defined below.

II. In accordance with the Constitution of Nova Roma, the following minor magistracies are defined within the category of Vigintisexviri: ^[1]

A. Editor commentariorum (ed. of written news) ^[2]

1. The editor commentariorum shall be responsible for the production, publication, and distribution of the official publications sponsored by the State.

2. The editor commentariorum shall have the authority to appoint his own scribae, should he deem it necessary.

3. The editor commentariorum shall be appointed by a vote of the senate on the nomination of a consul.

4. The editor commentariorum shall serve for three years.

5. A deputy editor commentariorum shall also be appointed by a vote of the senate on the nomination of a consul. The deputy will serve as the chief assistant to the editor commentariorum. If during the three year term a vacancy occurs the deputy editor commentariorum shall assume the duties for remainder of that term as editor commentariorum.

B. Rogatores. Magistratus ad consignandos suffragium ferentes.

1.a. Until the Kalends of January MMDCCLVIII (1 January 2005), four rogatores shall be responsible for the administration of elections and the recording of votes among the curiae.

1.b. Each rogator shall have the authority to appoint his own scribae, should he deem it necessary.

1.c. The lack of a full complement of, or the active participation of, four rogatores shall not in and of itself be sufficient to invalidate or postpone a particular election.

1.d. The rogatores may divide their duties amongst themselves as they see fit and practical.

1.e. Since the rogatores are by definition privy to the details of the election process, they may not run for any elective office while they serve in office as rogatores.

2.a. Beginning on the Kalends of January MMDCCLVIII (1 January 2005), two rogatores shall be elected to act as subordinate magistrates to the censores, responsible for registering qualified voters, issuing voter codes, and administering the routine citizenship application process.

2.b. During intervals when no censors are serving in office, the rogatores may carry out the routine maintenance of the Album Civium and the Album Gentium in concert with the magister aranearius.

2.c. Each rogator shall have the authority to appoint his own scribae, should he deem it necessary.

C. Diribitores--Suffragiorum computatores

1. Beginning on the Kalends of January MMDCCLVIII (1 January 2005), up to four diribitores shall be responsible for the counting of votes among the curiae.

2. The lack of a full complement of, or the active participation of, four diribitores shall not in and of itself be sufficient to invalidate or postpone a particular election.

3. The diribitores may divide their duties among themselves as they see fit and practical with the approval of the custodes.

4. Since the diribitores are by definition privy to the details of the election process, they may not run for any elective office while they serve in office as diribitores.

5. Diribitores shall only count votes, and shall not engage in any tie-breaking.

D. Custodes. Iudices Electionum.

1. Beginning on the Kalends of January MMDCCLVIII (1 January 2005), two custodes shall be esponsible for certifying the tally of votes in elections as reported to them by the diribitores, breaking any ties among the centuries and tribes, and providing the results of elections to the magistrates presiding over the elections.

2. Since by definition the custodes are privy to the details of the election process, they may not run for any elective office while they serve in office as custodes.

3. The lack of a full complement of, or the active participation of, both custodes shall not in and of itself be sufficient to invalidate or postpone a particular election.

4. Custodes may, if they choose, assist the diribitores in the vote-counting process.

5. In the event that there are no diribitores, the custodes shall assume the duties of diribitores until sufficient diribitores have been elected.

III. As minor magistrates, all vigintisexviri shall possess the Ius Edicendi, the right to publish edicta within the scope of their magisterial duties.

IV. A. All vigintisexviri shall be elected by the Comitia Populi Tributa during the annual elections.

B. The normal term of office for the vigintisexviri shall be one year.

C. Suffectus (replacement) vigintisexviri magistrates elected to replace magistrates who are unable to continue in office shall serve until the end of the year in which they are elected.

V. If any of the minor magistracies of the vigintisexviri become vacant after the Ides of September in a given year, the Senate may appoint a suffectus to fill that magistracy for the remainder of the year in lieu of holding an election in the Comitia Populi Tributa

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CII: Lex Equitia familiaris

I. Legal Status.

A. Every citizen is either sui iuris (in his own power) or alieni iuris (in another's power).

B. Any citizen who is a paterfamilias (father of the household) or a materfamilias (mother of the household) is sui iuris; any citizen who is sui iuris is a paterfamilias or materfamilias.

C. Any citizen who is a filiusfamilias (son in power) or a filiafamilias (daughter in power) is in the patria potestas (hereafter 'potestas') of his or her paterfamilias and / or materfamilias.

D. A wife who is married cum manu is in the manus of her husband; if her husband is a filiusfamilias she is also in the potestas of her husband's paterfamilias and / or materfamilias. If her husband is sui iuris, he is her paterfamilias; if her husband is alieni iuris, his paterfamilias and / or materfamilias is / are her paterfamilias and / or materfamilias.

E. Any citizen who is in potestas or in manus is alieni iuris.

II. Familiae.

A. A familia (household) consists of a paterfamilias and everyone who is in his potestas or manus; or a materfamilias and everyone who is in her potestas; or two heads of household together in a free marriage and everyone who is in their shared potestas.

B. Within this law, the phrase 'paterfamilias and / or materfamilias' means the paterfamilias where he has sole potestas over his familia, or the materfamilias where she has sole potestas over her familia, or both heads of household where they share potestas over their familia.

C. Within this law, the phrase 'paterfamilias or materfamilias' means the paterfamilias where he has sole potestas over his familia, or the materfamilias where she has sole potestas over her familia, or either one of the heads of household where they share potestas over their familia.

D. A paterfamilias and / or materfamilias hold(s) potestas over his, her, or their legal descendants (except those who have been emancipated, married cum manu into another familia, or adopted into another familia) and the wives cum manu of those legal descendants.

E. A male citizen who is sui iuris is the paterfamilias of all those in his potestas or manus; a female citizen who is sui iuris is the materfamilias of all those in her potestas.

F. Potestas cannot be shared except by two citizens who are married to one another in a free marriage and are both sui iuris. Where two or more citizens who are sui iuris but are not married to one another in a free marriage have a claim under this law to potestas over another citizen, the praetores may decide the matter, giving potestas to whichever party is best able to fulfill the duties and exercise the rights of a paterfamilias or materfamilias towards the person concerned.

G. For the purpose of family law, and with regard to their familia, a sui iuris citizen couple in a free marriage who share potestas are treated as a single legal person, and any action taken by one of them by virtue of their potestas is considered a joint action by both together. For all other purposes each remains individually answerable at law for his or her own actions.

III. Rights & Duties of Patria Potestas and Manus.

A. A paterfamilias or materfamilias may make legal contracts and transactions, and acquire, hold, and dispose of property and contractual rights, benefits, and obligations, on behalf of his or her familia or its individual members.

B. A paterfamilias or materfamilias may give or withhold specific or general consent for members of his or her familia to make legal contracts or transactions, or acquire or dispose of property or contractual rights, benefits, or obligations.

C. A paterfamilias or materfamilias may regulate the conduct of members of his or her familia by means of rewards and punishments. No officer or organ of the state shall interfere either to assist or to prevent the imposition of punishment by a paterfamilias or materfamilias upon a member of his or her familia.

D. A paterfamilias and / or materfamilias hold(s) responsibility for the upbringing, education, good conduct, and well-being of those in his, her, or their potestas or manus.

IV. Legal Capacity

A. A citizen who is alieni iuris has no legal capacity to make or witness any legal contract or transaction, or to acquire or dispose of property or contractual rights, benefits, or obligations, except with the explicit consent (whether specific or general) of his or her paterfamilias or materfamilias.

B. A citizen who is sui iuris but is below the age of 18 has no legal capacity to make or witness any legal contract or transaction, or to acquire or dispose of property or contractual rights, benefits, or obligations, except through his or her tutor or tutrix.

C. Anyone who, having entered into such a contract or transaction, later discovers that the other party was at the time alieni iuris and acting without the necessary consent, has sixty (60) days to petition the praetores for the restoration, as nearly as possible, of the status quo ante; if he or she does not, it is considered that he or she has reaffirmed that contract or transaction as between himself or herself and the paterfamilias and / or materfamilias of the original party.

D. Any paterfamilias or materfamilias who discovers that anyone in his or her potestas or manus has entered into such a contract or transaction without the necessary consent has sixty (60) days to petition the praetores for the restoration, as nearly as possible, of the status quo ante; if he or she does not, it is considered that he or she has reaffirmed the contract or transaction as between himself or herself and the other party.

E. Anyone who, having entered into such a contract or transaction, later discovers that the other party was at the time sui iuris but below the age of eighteen (18) and not acting through his or her tutor or tutrix, has sixty (60) days to petition the praetores for the restoration, as nearly as possible, of the status quo ante; if he or she does not, it is considered that he or she has reaffirmed that contract or transaction.

F. Any tutor or tutrix who discovers that his or her pupillus or pupilla has entered into such a contract or transaction without acting through him or her has sixty (60) days to petition the praetores for the restoration, as nearly as possible, of the status quo ante; if he or she does not, it is considered that he or she has reaffirmed the contract or transaction.

V. Legal Action.

A. A citizen who is alieni iuris may not be party to legal action except where explicitly provided by lex, decretum, edictum, or senatus consultum.

B. If a citizen who is alieni iuris commits an offence, his or her paterfamilias and / or materfamilias are liable for it; if, in such a case, the paterfamilias' and / or materfamilias' failure to prevent the commission of the offence was due to his or her unavoidable physical absence, the praetor may, at his or her discretion, include in the formula an exceptio (defence) or vis maior (insurmountable necessity).

C. If anyone commits an offence against or incurs a legal obligation to a citizen who is alieni iuris, the latter's paterfamilias or materfamilias may take legal action on his or her behalf.

D. A tutor or tutrix may represent and act on behalf of his or her pupillus or pupilla in legal matters, but is not personally liable for the offences of the pupillus or pupilla.

E. No one shall be held legally liable for any offence except one who was legally liable at the time.

VI. Changes In Legal Status

A. A filiusfamilias or filiafamilias becomes sui iuris if he or she is emancipated.

B. A filiusfamilias or filiafamilias becomes sui iuris if he or she has no legal ascendant who is a citizen.

C. A wife cum manu becomes sui iuris if her marriage is dissolved.

D. A wife cum manu becomes sui iuris if her husband dies or loses his citizenship.

E. A citizen who is alieni iuris becomes sui iuris if he or she is or becomes a flamen, rex sacrorum, a pontifex, or a civil magistrate.

F. A paterfamilias or materfamilias becomes alieni iuris if he or she is adopted by adrogatio.

G. A materfamilias becomes alieni iuris is she is married cum manu.

VII. Marriage

A. If two people live together with affectio maritalis (marital affection), i.e., regarding themselves as married to one another, their relationship is a free marriage.

B. If a male and a female citizen live together for a full year with affectio maritalis without the woman being absent from their home for three or more nights in a row, they may declare their relationship a marriage cum manu contracted by usus. Without such declaration their marriage remains a free marriage.

C. If a male and a female citizen undergo the ceremony of coemptio in the presence of five witnesses who have the capacity to witness legal transactions, their relationship is a marriage cum manu contracted by coemptio.

D. If a male and a female citizen of whom one is a patrician or a member of the collegium pontificium undergo the ceremony of confarreatio in the presence of the pontifex maximus, their relationship is a marriage cum manu contracted by confarreatio.

E. If two people are married to one another under the law of the state in which they live but meet none of the criteria set out in VII. A., B., C., or D., their relationship is a free marriage.

F. If a materfamilias marries cum manu, those in her potestas are transferred to the potestas of her husband.

VIII. Dissolution Of Marriage.

A. If a person in a free marriage notifies his or her spouse in writing that he or she wishes the marriage to end, that marriage is dissolved. If, however, both spouses regain affectio maritalis within a year of the dissolution, the marriage resumes as if there had been no dissolution.

B. If a person in a free marriage contracts a new marriage in any of the ways set out in VII, the former marriage is dissolved. If, however, the original spouses regain affectio maritalis within a year of the dissolution, the marriage resumes as if there had been no dissolution.

C. If a husband married cum manu by coemptio or by usus emancipates his wife, the marriage is dissolved. If, however, the spouses retain affectio maritalis or regain affectio maritalis within a year of the dissolution, the marriage resumes as a free marriage.

D. If a couple married cum manu by confarreatio undergoes the ceremony of diffareatio, the marriage is dissolved. If, however, the spouses retain affectio maritalis or regain affectio maritalis within a year of the dissolution, the marriage resumes as a free marriage.

IX. Prohibited Marriages.

A. No marriage may exist if either party is younger than 18 years.

B. No marriage may exist between a citizen and his or her legal or biological ascendant or descendant.

C. No marriage may exist between a citizen and his or her legal or biological collateral relative if either party is fewer than two degrees removed from their common ascendant; except that a marriage between adoptive collateral relatives may exist if at least one party is sui iuris.

D. No marriage may exist between a citizen and the former spouse of his or her legal or biological ascendant or descendant, or between a citizen and the legal or biological ascendant or descendant of his or her former spouse.

X. Emancipation

A. A paterfamilias and / or materfamilias may emancipate a person, thus releasing him or her from potestas or manus, provided that he, she, or they notify the praetores of the emancipation, and provided that five witnesses who have the capacity to witness legal transactions also notify the praetores that they bear witness.

B. A citizen who is alieni iuris and whose paterfamilias and / or materfamilias refuses(s) to emancipate him or her may petition the praetores; if the praetores, after consulting with the paterfamilias and / or materfamilias, consider the refusal unreasonable, they may declare the petitioner sui iuris.

XI. Adoption.

A. A paterfamilias and / or materfamilias may adopt by adrogatio another citizen who is sui iuris provided that the adoptive parent(s) is / are at least 18 years older than the adopted child, and provided that the adoptive parents(s) and the adopted child all notify the pontifex maximus of their consent, and provided that the pontifex maximus consents, and provided that the comitia curiata bears witness (without right of refusal).

B. A paterfamilias and / or materfamilias may adopt by adoptio another citizen who is alieni iuris provided that the adoptive parent(s) is / are at least 18 years older than the adopted child, and provided that the adoptive paterfamilias and / or materfamilias and the former paterfamilias and / or materfamilias all notify the praetores of their consent, and provided that five witnesses who have the capacity to witness legal transactions also notify the praetores that they bear witness.

C. A citizen adopted by adrogatio becomes the legal child of the adoptive parent(s) and passes into his, her, or their potestas, and ceases to be the legal child relative of his or her former relatives except those in his or her potestas or manus; anyone in the potestas or manus of the adopted child becomes the legal descendant of the adoptive parent(s) in whatever relationship is appropriate to the new relationship between the adopted child and the adoptive parent(s), and passes into the potestas of the adoptive parent(s).

D. A citizen adopted by adoptio becomes the legal child of the adoptive parent(s) and ceases to be the legal relative of his or her former relatives, and passes from the potestas of his or her former paterfamilias and / or materfamilias into the potestas of the adoptive parent(s).

E. A citizen adopted by adrogatio or by adoptio takes the name of his or her adoptive father (or, if there is no adoptive father, the name of his or her adoptive mother), adjusted to his or her gender as appropriate, and adds an agnomen formed from his or her former nomen with the ending -ianus or -iana (e.g., Salix becomes Salicianus, Equitia becomes Equitiana). Any other relatives transferred from one familia to another by adrogatio also change their names in the same way.

XII. Tutela.

A. Any citizen who is sui iuris but is below the age of 18 must have a tutor or tutrix (guardian); a citizen who has a tutor is referred to as a pupillus or pupilla.

B. If a citizen is emancipated by his or her paterfamilias and / or materfamilias, his or her former paterfamilas and / or materfamilias is / are his or her tutor, tutrix, or tutores, unless during the emancipation process it is explicitly stated in the notification to the praetores and explicitly witnessed by all the witnesses that one of the witnesses it to be tutor instead.

C. If a citizen is emancipated by the praetores, the praetores must appoint a tutor or tutrix.

D. If a citizen becomes sui iuris on the death of his or her paterfamilias or materfamilias, and if in a valid will the deceased has nominated an eligible citizen as tutor or tutrix, the nominated citizen has thirty (30) days from the time when the will takes effect to accept the nomination; if he or she does not, he or she is considered to have refused.

E. If a citizen who is sui iuris but is below the age of eighteen (18) has no tutor under XII. B., XII. C., or XII. D., his or her nearest eligible legal relative is tutor or tutrix, without right of refusal; if several eligible legal relatives are equally closely related, they are joint tutores.

F. If a citizen who is sui iuris but is below the age of eighteen (18) has no tutor under XII. B., XII. C., XII. D., or XII. E., the praetores may appoint a consenting eligible citizen to be tutor or tutrix.

G. If a citizen who is sui iuris but is below the age of 18 has need of a temporary tutor or tutrix (for instance while waiting for a tutor nominated in a will to accept, or to take legal action on behalf of the pupillus or pupilla against the latter's regular tutor or tutrix), the praetores may appoint a consenting eligible citizen to be tutor or tutrix for a specified period or until a specified condition be fulfilled.

H. To be eligible to be a tutor or tutrix a person must be a full citizen over the age of eighteen (18), sui iuris, and not prohibited from doing so by a court judgement of the ruling of a magistrate with imperium.

I. A tutor or tutrix may make legal contracts or transactions, and acquire, hold, and dispose of property and contractual rights, benefits, and obligations, on behalf of his or her pupillus or pupilla, but only in such a way as to conserve or increase the property and contractual rights and benefits of his or her pupillus or pupilla.

K. A tutor or tutrix must make arrangements and, if necessary, financial provision for his or her pupillus' or pupilla's education and upbringing.

L. When a pupillus or pupilla reaches the age of eighteen (18) his or her tutor or tutrix is relieved or his or her duties and must surrender to the pupillus or pupilla any property or contractual rights, benefits, or obligations acquired or held on his or her behalf.

M. If a pupillus or pupilla enters the potestas of another citizen, his or her tutor is relieved of his or her duties and must surrender to the new paterfamilias and / or materfamilias any property or contractual rights, benefits, or obligations acquired or held on behalf of the pupillus or pupilla.

XIII. Succession.

A. Any citizen who is sui iuris and aged eighteen (18) or above, and who is not prohibited from doing so by a court judgement or the ruling of a magistrate with imperium, may make a legal will.

B. A will is invalid unless witnessed by five citizens who have the capacity to witness legal transactions, and unless the testator was of sound mind at the time when the will was written, and unless the will clearly names as heir at least one citizen who is sui iuris (or becomes sui iuris on the testator's death) and not prohibited from acting as heir by a court judgement or the ruling of a magistrate with imperium.

C. A citizen named as heir in a valid will may refuse up to thirty (30) days after discovering that he or she has been named as heir. The will may name another eligible citizen as secondary heir in case the primary heir refuses, and so on indefinitely. If no heir so named accepts, the will is invalid. A citizen who becomes sui iuris as a result of the death of the deceased may not refuse the inheritance.

D. If a paterfamilias or materfamilias dies without leaving a valid will, any citizens who become sui iuris as a result of the death become heirs without right of refusal; if no citizens become sui iuris as a result of the death, the nearest eligible legal relative(s) become(s) heir(s), each having the right to refuse up to thirty (30) days after discovering that he or she is heir; if there are no eligible legal relatives prepared to accept the inheritance, the inheritance passes to the gens of the deceased and may be disposed of by agreement of the patresfamiliarum and matresfamiliarum of the gens.

E. If more than one person is heir and the will, if there is one, does not state in what proportions they are to share the inheritance, the inheritance is shared equally; except that if there is no valid will and the heirs are those who have become sui iuris as a result of the death, stirpitial representation applies as in ancient law. If one person who is named co-heir in a will refuses the inheritance, his or her share goes to the other heirs in proportion to their existing shares.

F. The heir(s) inherit(s) any property and contractual rights, benefits, and obligations which were held by the deceased and within the jurisdiction of Nova Roma, and must put into effect the instructions given by the deceased in any valid will except any instructions which are illegal, immoral, or impossible; and must assume responsibility for the familial sacra of the deceased.

XIV. Remedies.

A. Any citizen who has the legal capacity to take legal action may bring an action under the Lex Salicia Iudiciaria, or whatever lex shall supersede it, against a paterfamilias and / or materfamilias for seriously and consistently failing in his, her, or their duties to his, her, or their familia or a particular member of it. The praetor shall direct in his or her formula that if the reus, rea, or rei be found guilty his, her, or their familia or a particular member of it be removed from his, her, or their potestas or manus and, if necessary, placed under the tutela of a tutor or tutrix. The praetor may include other penalties at his or her discretion.

B. Any citizen who who has the legal capacity to take legal action may bring an action under the Lex Salicia Iudiciaria, or whatever lex shall supersede it, against a tutor or tutrix for failing in his or her duties to his or her pupillus or pupilla. A pupillus or pupilla may petition the praetores to appoint a temporary tutor or tutrix to bring such an action on his or her behalf. The praetor shall direct in his or her formula that if the reus be found guilty his pupillus or pupilla be removed from his or her tutela and placed under the tutela of another tutor or tutrix. The praetor may require the reus or rea to make restitution for any avoidable diminution of the property or contractual rights or benefits of the pupillus or pupilla and to meet personally any contractual obligations incurred by the tutor or tutrix on behalf of the pupillus or pupilla, and may include other penalties at his or her discretion.

XV. New Citizens.

A. A new citizen entering Nova Roma as the legal child of another citizen takes that citizen's nomen and cognomen, and may choose a praenomen and agnomina subject to the approval of his or her new legal parent and of the magistrates tasked with citizen registration. A new citizen entering Nova Roma as the legal child of a married citizen couple takes the nomen and cognomen of his or her legal father, and may choose a praenomen and agnomina subject to the approval of his or her new legal parents and of the magistrates tasked with citizen registration.

B. A person who is the biological child of a citizen or of a married citizen couple, or who is the legally adopted child of a citizen or of a married citizen couple according to the law of the state in which he or she lives, shall have the right to become a citizen as the legal child of that citizen or married citizen couple.

C. A new citizen entering Nova Roma as a paterfamilias or materfamilias takes the nomen appropriate to his or her gens and a cognomen not already held by any member of that gens.

XVI. Miscellaneous Provisions.

A. To have capacity to witness a legal transaction a person must be a citizen, sui iuris, aged eighteen (18) years or above, and not prohibited from doing so by a court judgement of the ruling of a magistrate with imperium.

B. All citizens retain those rights guaranteed in the Constitution of Nova Roma. The rights of alieni iuris citizens may be exercised on their behalf by their paterfamilias, materfamilias, tutor, or tutrix, except where an alieni iuris citizen is petitioning a praetor directly.

C. No citizen may vote in comitia for another citizen, regardless of familial status, unless a proxy statement has been filed by the citizen granting a voting proxy. This proxy statement must be filed with the presiding magistrate of the comitia during the contio period prior to the vote.

D. The praetores may clarify, supplement, and interpret this law with reference to the relevant provisions and practices of republican Roman law, and with reference to the principles of justice and equity, as was done by the praetores of antiquity.

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CIII: Lex Equitia de iurisdictione

This law is enacted in order to further define the term "competence" as used in the Lex Salicia Iudiciaria

I.

The praetores shall have competence to grant trial in any matter between citizens (or in any matter between a citizen and a peregrinus or between peregrini provided that the conditions set in the Lex Salicia Poenalis, Article VII. B are observed), with the following exceptions:

A.The praetores shall not grant trial against a reus who is a sitting magistrate.

B.The praetores shall not grant trial against a reus who is a former dictator regarding any action taken by that person in the course of his duties as dictator.

II.

Whenever a praetor shall receive a petitio actionis regarding which he is forbidden by this lex from granting trial, he shall dismiss the petitio actionis under the Lex Salicia Iudiciaria article II. A.

III.

The governor of a provincia shall have competence to grant trial in any matter between citizens who live in that provincia (or in any matter between a citizen and a peregrinus who both live in that provincia or between peregrini who both live in that provincia provided that the conditions set in the Lex Salicia Poenalis, Article VII. B are observed).

A.In such cases, all laws concerning the administration of justice shall apply as usual, any reference to the praetor or the praetores being construed as referring to the governor.

B.Should the praetores receive any petitio actionis concerning a matter which is between two citizens who live in the same provincia, or between a citizen and a peregrinus who live in the same provincia, or between two peregrini who live in the same provincia, they shall pass the petitio to the governor of that provincia.

C.Should a petitio submitted to a governor be dismissed by that governor, or should the governor fail to respond to such a petitio within 120 hours (5 days) of its submission, the petitioner may submit the same petitio to the praetores, and the praetores may deal with the petitio as under the lex Salicia iudiciaria and all other relevant laws.

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CIV: Lex Equitia de constitutione corrigenda

Preamble

We, the Senate and People of Nova Roma, as an independent and sovereign nation, herewith set forth this Constitution as the foundation and structure of our governing institutions and common society. We hereby declare our Nation to stand as a beacon for those who would recreate the best of ancient Rome. As a nation, Nova Roma shall be the temporal homeland and worldly focus for the Religio Romana. The primary function of Nova Roma shall be to promote the study and practice of pagan Roman civilization, defined as the period from the founding of the City of Rome in 753 BCE to the removal of the altar of Victory from the Senate in 394 CE and encompassing such fields as religion, culture, politics, art, literature, language, and philosophy.

As the spiritual heir to the ancient Roman Republic and Empire, Nova Roma shall endeavor to exist, in all manners practical and acceptable, as the modern restoration of the ancient Roman Republic. The culture, religion, and society of Nova Roma shall be patterned upon those of ancient Rome.

I. Constitutional Basis

A. This Constitution shall be the basic authority for all decision-making within Nova Roma and shall limit the authority of all magistrates and bodies, and all leges (laws) passed by the comitia, decreta (decrees) of the priestly collegia, magisterial edicta (edicts) and Senatus consulta shall be subject to it except as provided by the following two provisos:

1. The edicta (edicts) of a dictator appointed under this Constitution may override its provisions, insofar as he is empowered to do so by the Senatus consultum enabling his appointment;

2. This Constitution may be amended by a Lex passed by the comitia centuriata and approved by a vote of two-thirds of the Senate.

3. No one shall suffer:

a. a penalty for an action which was not subject to a penalty when the action was performed. If an action was subject to a penalty when the action was performed but is no longer subject to any penalty, no penalty shall be applied for that action.

b. a greater penalty for an action than the penalty which was applicable when the action was taken. If an action was subject to a penalty when the action was performed but is now subject to a lesser penalty, the lesser penalty shall be applicable for that action.

B. Legal precedence. This Constitution shall be the highest legal authority within Nova Roma, apart from edicts issued by a legally appointed dictator. It shall thereafter be followed in legal authority by edicta issued by consuls acting under the Senatus consulta ultima, laws properly voted and passed by one of the comitia, decreta passed by the collegium pontificum, decreta passed by the collegium augurum, Senatus consulta, and magisterial edicta (in order of descending authority as described in section IV of this Constitution), in that order. Should a lower authority conflict with a higher authority, the higher authority shall take precedence. Should a law passed by one of the comitia contradict one passed by another or the same comitia without explicitly superseding that law, the most recent law shall take precedence.

C. This Constitution shall serve as the bylaws for Nova Roma, a legally incorporated entity in the state of Maine, USA (hereafter referred to as "the corporation"). The conduct and procedures of the Board of Directors and the officers of the corporation shall be according to the guidelines and strictures set forth in this Constitution. The Board of Directors of the corporation shall be composed of the Senate of Nova Roma (as described in Section V of this Constitution), and the officers of the corporation shall be composed of the magistrates of Nova Roma (as described in Section IV of this Constitution), as follows:

1. The co-presidents of the corporation shall be the consuls of Nova Roma;

2. The co-vice-presidents of the corporation shall be the praetors of Nova Roma;

3. The co-treasurers of the corporation shall be the quaestors of Nova Roma;

4. The co-secretaries of the corporation shall be the censors of Nova Roma.

D. This Constitution may be altered by law passed by the comitia centuriata; such alterations to this Constitution must be ratified by a vote of two-thirds of the entire Senate before they shall take effect. The edicta of an appointed Dictator may also alter this Constitution, subject to ratification by the Senate.

E. The use of male pronouns and technical terms within this Constitution is done solely for clarity, and shall not be construed to imply any disparity between genders before the law.

II. Citizens and Gentes

A. Citizenship

1. Any person 18 years old or older may apply for Citizenship.

2. Citizens may apply for Citizenship on behalf of their children or legal wards (as defined by relevant macronational law) under the age of 18. Such Citizens shall be known as impuberes.

3. Citizenship is open to anyone regardless of ethnic heritage, gender, religious affiliation, or sexual orientation.

4. Citizenship may be involuntarily revoked by those means that shall be established by law, or may be voluntarily relinquished by notification of the censors or by public statement before three or more witnesses.

5. Impuberes may have their Citizenship relinquished on their behalf by their parent or legal guardian (as defined by relevant macronational law) by notification of the censors or by public statement before three or more witnesses.

B. The following rights of the Citizens who have reached the age of 18 shall be guaranteed, but this enumeration shall not be taken to exclude other rights that citizens may possess:

1. Complete authority over their own personal and household rites, rituals, and beliefs, pagan or otherwise; except where this Constitution mandates participation in the rites of the Religio Romana, such as the case of magistrates and Senators;

2. The right and obligation to remain subject to the civil rights and laws of the countries in which they reside and/or hold citizenship, regardless of their status as dual citizens of Nova Roma;

3. The right to vote in elections as members of their various comitia on matters brought before the People in such manner as described in this Constitution;

4. The right to participate in all public fora and discussions, and the right to reasonably expect such fora to be supported by the State. Such communications, regardless of their content, may not be restricted by the State, except where they represent an imminent and clear danger to the Republic. Such officially sponsored fora may be expected to be reasonably moderated in the interests of maintaining order and civility;

5. The right of provocatio; to appeal a decision of a magistrate that has a direct negative impact upon that citizen to the comitia populi tributa;

6. The right to privacy; security in one's home, person, and property; and authority over one's home, person, and property. Homes may not be searched, persons may not be detained, and property may not be seized, except by judicial ruling or by a special provision of law;

7. The right to seek and receive assistance and advice from the State in matters of religious and social disputes occurring both within and outside the direct jurisdiction of Nova Roma; and,

8. The right to pursue business enterprises within Nova Roma through the institution of the ordo equester (equestrian order), and the right to receive reasonable encouragement to build a strong economy through Roman-oriented commerce; the only restrictions being those informational and other materials copyrighted by the State, which shall remain the property of the State.

C. The Orders. Even though members of the three orders are equal under the eyes of the law, the institution of the orders is significant enough that it is perpetuated in Nova Roma. There are three orders into which all Citizens fall:

1. Ordo Patricius (patrician order)

a. The Ordo Patricius shall consist of a minimum of 30 families.

b. Should there be fewer than 30 patrician families the Senate shall have the power to nominate a plebeian family to the Comitia Curiata for elevation to patrician status.

c. The Senate shall have the power to nominate additional families to the Comitia Curiata for elevation to patrician status if this elevation does not cause the Ordo Patricius to exceed 5% of the population of Nova Roma.

d. A patrician family may allow its members to form new patrician families.

2. Ordo equester (equestrian order). The Equestrian Order shall consist of high standing citizens who excel in their service to the Res Publica. Equestrians shall be enrolled into the Ordo Equester as specified by laws approved by the Comitia. (1)

3. Ordo plebeius (plebeian order). The plebeian order shall consist of individuals who do not belong to either the patrician or equestrian orders.

D. Gentes, Domus, and Familiae. Familiae (households) being the backbone of Roman society, the prerogatives and responsibilities of the familia are of primary importance to Nova Roma. Except where specifically dealt with in this constitution and the law, each familia shall have the right to determine its own course of action and parents shall have the undisputed right and responsibility to see to the education and raising of their children.

1. Each gens (clan) shall be registered with the censors, who will maintain records of gens membership and other relevant information.

2. No two gentes may have the same nomen. The censors shall be responsible for ensuring this rule is observed.

3. Each gens shall consist of a minimum of one domus (lineage).

4. No two domus within a gens may have the same cognomen (surname). The censors shall be responsible for ensuring this rule is observed.

5. Each familia shall have a paterfamilias and / or materfamilias who shall act as the leader(s) of the family and speak for it when necessary. The holder(s) of this position must be registered as such with the censors. The paterfamilias and / or materfamilias may, at his, her, or their discretion, expel members of his, her, or their familia, accept new members into it by adoption, or allow members to form new familiae belonging to the same order.

a. The paterfamilias and / or materfamilias may, at his, her, or their discretion, exercise the rights enumerated in paragraph II.B of this Constitution on behalf of impuberes in his, her, or their familia, with the exception of the right to vote (paragraph II. B. 3.) and the right to join the Ordo Equester (paragraph II. B. 8.). (2)

E. Tribes and Centuries

1. There shall exist thirty-five tribes, into which the censors shall divide all of the citizens. Thirty-one of these tribes shall be designated the Rural tribes, and shall be assigned by the censors as directed by law passed by the comitia populi tributa. Four of these tribes shall be designated the urban tribes, and shall be made up of those citizens who fail to vote in the annual magisterial elections. Should a member of an urban tribe subsequently vote in an annual magisterial election, he or she shall be reassigned to a rural tribe.

2. There shall exist a number of centuries, said number to be set by law enacted by the Comitia Centuriata and not to exceed one-hundred ninety-three, into which the censors shall divide all of the citizens. Until such a law is passed, the number of centuries shall be one-hundred ninety-three. The exact composition of these centuries shall be determined by law passed by the comitia centuriata, but shall be weighted in favor of those citizens who have shown the greatest commitment to Nova Roma.

III. Comitia

A. The comitia curiata (Assembly of Curiae) shall be made up of thirty lictores curiati (lictors of the curia), appointed to their positions by the collegium pontificum (college of pontiffs). It shall be called to order by the Pontifex Maximus, and the collegium pontificum shall set the rules by which the comitia curiata shall operate internally. It shall have the following responsibilities:

1. To invest elected and appointed magistrates with Imperium (which is necessary to employ coercitio [the power to compel obedience to their edicts], interpret and execute law, and possess the honor of being preceded by lictors as a symbol of office), without right of refusal individually or as a body;

2. To witness the appointment of official priests and priestesses of the Religio Romana, adoptions, and the recording of wills.

3. To approve or reject the elevation of a plebeian family to the Ordo Patricius;

4. To approve or reject an adoption that elevates a plebeian to the Ordo Patricius or lowers a patrician to the Ordo Plebeius;

5. To approve or reject an application from a patrician who wishes to renounce his status and become a member of the plebeian order.

B. The Comitia Centuriata (Assembly of Centuries) shall be made up of all of the citizens, grouped into their respective centuries. While it shall be called to order by either a consul or a praetor, only the comitia centuriata shall pass laws governing the rules by which it shall operate internally. It shall have the following powers:

1. To enact laws binding upon the entire citizenry;

2. To elect the consuls, praetors, and censors;

3. To try legal cases in which the defendant is subject to permanent removal of citizenship.

C. The Comitia Plebis Tributa (Assembly of the Plebeians) shall be made up of all non-patrician citizens, grouped into their respective tribes. While it shall be called to order by a tribune of the plebs, only the comitia plebis tributa shall pass laws governing the rules by which it shall operate internally. It shall have the following powers:

1. To enact plebiscites with the force of law, binding upon the entire citizenry;

2. To elect the plebeian aediles and tribunes of the plebs;

3. To try legal cases solely involving members of the plebeian order that do not involve permanent removal of citizenship.

D. The Comitia Populi Tributa (Assembly of the People) shall be made up of all citizens, grouped into their respective tribes. While it shall be called to order by either a consul or a praetor, only the comitia populi tributa shall pass laws governing the rules by which it shall operate internally. It shall have the following powers:

1. To enact laws binding upon the entire citizenry;

2. To elect the quaestors and curule aediles;

3. To try legal cases that do not involve permanent removal of citizenship.

IV. Magistrates

Magistrates are the elected and appointed officials responsible for the maintenance and conduct of the affairs of state. There are two categories of magistrates: ordinarii (those who are ordinarily elected) and extraordinarii (those who are only occasionally appointed or elected). Qualifications necessary to hold these positions may be enacted by law properly passed by one of the comitia.

A. Should an office in mid-term become vacant and suitable candidates be at hand, an election shall be held in the appropriate comitia to elect a successor to serve out the remainder of the term within thirty days of the vacancy. Should one of the ordinarii be found to be derelict in his duties, that magistrate may be removed by a law originating in the comitia that elected him. Elections of the ordinarii shall take place every civil year no later than November 20th for the plebeian offices and no later than December 15th for the curule magistracies and other elected officials. Newly elected Quaestores will assume office on December 5th, the tribuni plebis and aediles plebis shall enter their offices on December 10, all other officials shall enter their offices on the following Kalends of January. Anyone currently serving in an elected or appointed office may complete their term and enter their newly elected office on or after January 1. Exceptions to these provisions regarding elections may be found in section V of this Constitution. The ordinarii, in decreasing order of authority, are as follows: (3)

1. Censor. Two censors shall be elected by the comitia centuriata to serve a term lasting two years, to be elected in alternate years so as to have a one-year overlap of terms. They shall have the following honors, powers, and obligations:

a. To issue those edicta (edicts) necessary to carry out those tasks in which they are mandated by this Constitution and the law to engage (such edicts being binding upon themselves as well as others);

b. To maintain the album civium (list of citizens), including the tribe and century to which they are assigned as described by law, and other appropriate information regarding them;

c. To maintain the album gentium (list of gentes) and appropriate information regarding them;

d. To maintain the album senatorum (list of Senators), including the power to add and remove names on that list according to qualifications set by law;

e. To maintain the album equestrium (lists of members of the equestrian order), including the power to add and remove names on that list;

f. To safeguard the public morality and honor through the collegial administering of notae;

1. A nota against an ordinary individual is sufficient to deprive that individual of the right to vote until such time as it is removed;

2. A nota against a member of the Senate is sufficient to remove that individual from the Senate until such time as it is removed.

g. To appoint scribae (clerks) to assist with administrative and other tasks, as they shall see fit.

2. Consul. Two consuls shall be elected annually by the comitia centuriata to serve a term lasting one year. They shall have the following honors, powers, and obligations:

a. To hold Imperium and have the honor of being preceded by twelve lictors;

b. To issue those edicta (edicts) necessary to engage in those tasks which advance the mission and function of Nova Roma (such edicts being binding upon themselves as well as others);

c. To call the Senate, the comitia centuriata, and the comitia populi tributa to order;

d. To pronounce intercessio (intercession; a veto) against another consul or magistrate of lesser authority;

e. To appoint accensi (personal assistants) to assist with administrative and other tasks, as they shall see fit.

3. Praetor. Two praetors shall be elected by the Comitia Centuriata to serve a term lasting one year. They shall have the following honors, powers, and obligations:

a. To hold Imperium and have the honor of being preceded by six lictors;

b. To issue those edicta (edicts) necessary to engage in those tasks which advance the mission and function of Nova Roma and to administer the law (such edicts being binding upon themselves as well as others);

c. To call the Senate, the comitia centuriata, and the comitia populi tributa to order when the Consuls are unavailable;

d. To pronounce intercessio against another praetor or magistrate of lesser authority;

e. To appoint scribae (clerks) to assist with administrative and other tasks, as they shall see fit.

4. Aediles Curules (Curule Aediles). Two curule aediles shall be elected by the comitia populi tributa to serve a term lasting one year. They shall have the following honors, powers, and obligations:

a. To hold Imperium;

b. To issue those edicta (edicts) necessary to see to the conduct of public games and other festivals and gatherings, to ensure order at public religious events, to see to the maintenance of any real public facilities that the State should acquire, and to administer the law (such edicts being binding upon themselves as well as others);

c. To pronounce intercessio against another aedile (curule or plebeian) or magistrate of lesser authority;

d. To appoint scribae (clerks) to assist with administrative and other tasks, as they shall see fit.

e. To maintain the venues where the Ordo Equester is engaged in commerce within Nova Roma property. It is the responsibility of the Curule Aediles to report any changes of the Ordo Equester to the Censors.

5. Aediles plebis (Plebeian Aedile). Two plebeian aediles shall be elected by the comitia plebis tributa to serve a term lasting one year. They must both be of the plebeian order and shall have the following honors, powers, and obligations:

a. To issue those edicta (edicts) necessary to see to the conduct of public games and other festivals and gatherings, to ensure order at public religious events, to see to the maintenance of any real public facilities that the State should acquire, and to administer the law (such edicts being binding upon themselves as well as others);

b. To pronounce intercessio against another plebeian aedile or magistrate of lesser authority;

c. To appoint scribae (clerks) to assist with administrative and other tasks, as they shall see fit.

6. Quaestor. A number of quaestors shall be elected by the comitia populi tributa equal to the number of consuls, praetors, and aediles to serve a term lasting one year. One quaestor shall be assigned to each of these magistrates by mutual agreement or, if such cannot be made, by decision of the newly-elected consuls. They shall have the power and obligation to administer those funds that shall be allocated to them by the Senate in its annual budget under the supervision of that magistrate to whom they are assigned. Those quaestors assigned directly to the consuls shall supervise the whole of the aerarium (treasury), but no funds may be spent without the prior approval of the Senate.

7. Tribuni Plebis (Tribune of the Plebs). Five tribunes of the plebs shall be elected by the comitia plebis tributa to serve a term lasting one year. They must all be of the plebeian order, and shall have the following honors, powers, and obligations:

a. To pronounce intercessio (intercession; a veto) against the actions of any other magistrate (with the exception of the dictator and the interrex), Senatus consulta, magisterial edicta, religious decreta, and leges passed by the comitia when the spirit and / or letter of this Constitution or legally-enacted edicta or decreta, Senatus Consulta or leges are being violated thereby; once a pronouncement of intercessio has been made, the other Tribunes may, at their discretion, state either their support for or their disagreement with that intercessio.

1. Each Tribune may issue only one such declaration of support or disagreement, but may change their declaration from one to the other, should they wish to do so.

2. The initial pronouncement of intercessio by a Tribune shall count as that Tribune's declaration of agreement.

3. Should the number or the Tribunes who choose to disagree with an intercessio equal or exceed the number of Tribunes who choose to support it, the intercessio shall be revoked.

a Intercessio may not be imposed against statements of support for or disagreement with a use of intercessio that are issued pursuant to the preceding paragraph.

b The issuance and function of intercessio shall be defined according to procedures described by legislation passed by Comitia.

b. To pronounce intercessio (intercession; a veto) against another Tribune using the same mechanism as described in paragraph IV. A. 7. a. above;

c. To be immune from intercessio pronounced by other magistrates, except as described in paragraphs IV. A. 7 .a. and IV. A. 7. b. above;

d. To be privy to the debates of the Senate, and keep the citizens informed as to the subjects and results thereof, in such manner and subject to such restrictions as may be defined by law;

1 To call the Senate to order;

2. To call the comitia plebis tributa to order, except when the Patrician order shall constitute more than ten percent (10%) of the total population, in which case the power shall be altered to calling the comitia populi tributa to order;

3. To administer the law;

4. To appoint scribae (clerks) to assist with administrative and other tasks, as they shall see fit.

8. Vigintisexviri (The Twenty-Six). Collectively, the Twenty-Six shall be minor magistrates elected to fulfill those necessary functions as shall be assigned to them by law enacted by one of the comitia.

9. Apparitores (Attendants). Collectively, the apparitores shall not be considered magistrates, but rather shall be appointed into various decuriae (corporations) to fulfill those necessary functions as shall be assigned to them by law enacted by one of the comitia. They shall include the lictores, lictores curiati, scribae, and accensi.

B. The extraordinarii are as follows:

1. Dictator. In times of emergency, the Senate may appoint a dictator to serve a term not to exceed six months. At the time of such appointment, the Senate may prescribe a given task or boundaries within which the dictator is obliged to remain. The edicts of the dictator are absolute within his sphere of influence, and subject to neither intercessio or provocatio. The dictator shall hold Imperium and have the honor of being preceded by twenty-four lictors. At the end of his term the actions of the dictator shall be subject to final confirmation by the Senate.

2. Interrex. Should both consular positions be vacant at the same time, the Senate shall appoint an Interrex to serve a term lasting no more than five days. The Interrex must be a member of the patrician order, and shall have all the powers and responsibilities of a normally elected consul. The Interrex shall organize new elections in the comitia centuriata to elect two new consuls to serve out the remainder of the previous consuls' term of office.

V. The Senate

The supreme policy-making authority for Nova Roma shall be embodied in its Senate. The album Senatorum (list of Senators) shall be maintained by the censors according to qualifications set by law. The Senate shall have the following honors, powers, and obligations:

A. As the repository of experience and wisdom in the affairs of State, the Senate shall have the authority to issue Senatus consulta (advice of the Senate) on those topics upon which it shall see fit to comment.

B. The Senate shall exercise control over the aerarium (treasury) and shall oversee the financial endeavors, health, and policy of the state.

1. No later than the last day of November of each year, the Senate shall prepare a budget for the following year. This budget shall deal with the disbursement of funds from the aerarium to the quaestors for various purposes. Even though the quaestors assigned to the consuls shall be responsible for the maintenance of the entire treasury, no funds from it may be disbursed without the prior approval of the Senate. The Senate may, as required by changing circumstances, pass supplemental Senatus consulta to modify the annual budget.

2. The Senate may, by Senatus consultum, impose taxes, fees, or other financial requirements on the citizens in order to maintain the financial welfare of the state.

C. The Senate may, by Senatus Consultum, create provinciae for administrative purposes and appoint provincial governors therefor, who shall bear such titles as the Senate may deem appropriate. The Senate may review each governor on a yearly basis and it remains in the discretion of the Senate whether or not to prorogue such governors, although this review shall not constitute a ban on the authority of the Senate to remove governors from office as its discretion. Governors shall have the following honors, powers, and obligations:

1. To hold imperium and have the honor of being preceded by six lictors solely within the jurisdiction of their respective provinciae;

2. To proclaim those edicta (edicts) necessary to engage in those tasks which advance the mission and function of Nova Roma, solely within the jurisdiction of their provinciae (such edicts being binding upon themselves as well as others);

3. To manage the day-to-day organization and administration of their provinciae;

4. To appoint officers to whom authority may be delegated, subject to those restrictions and standards as the Senate shall deem appropriate;

5. To remove officers whom they have appointed, or make changes to their titles and/or delegated authority, subject to those restrictions and standards as the Senate shall deem appropriate.

D. Should a magistrate's office become vacant during the course of his term, the Senate may appoint a replacement to serve out the remainder of the term should there be less than three months remaining therein.

E. The Senate shall have the power to issue the Senatus consultum ultimum (the ultimate decree of the Senate). When in effect, this decree will supersede all other governmental bodies and authorities (with the exception of the dictator) and allow the Senate to invest the consuls with absolute powers to deal with a specific situation, subject only to their collegial veto and review by the Senate. Even under the authority of the Senatus consultum ultimum, the consuls may only temporarily suspend this Constitution; they may not enact any permanent changes hereto.

F. The Senate may, by Senatus consultum, enact rules governing its own internal procedures (such Senatus consulta may not be overruled by laws passed in the comitia).

VI. Public Religious Institutions

A. The Religio Romana, the worship of the Gods and Goddesses of Rome, shall be the official religion of Nova Roma. All magistrates and Senators, as officers of the State, shall be required to publicly show respect for the Religio Romana and the Gods and Goddesses that made Rome great. Magistrates, Senators, and citizens need not be practitioners of the Religio Romana, but may not engage in any activity that intentionally blasphemes or defames the Gods, the Religio Romana, or its practitioners.

B. The priesthoods of the Gods of Rome shall be organized as closely as practical on the ancient Roman model. The institutions of the Religio Romana shall have authority over religious matters on the level of the state and nation only, maintaining the religious rites of the State and providing resources pertaining to the Religio Romana which Citizens may make use of if they choose. Nova Roma shall approach all other religions with a syncretistic outlook, offering friendship to all paths which acknowledge the right of those who practice and honor the Religio Romana to do so and respect the beliefs thereof. Only Citizens of Nova Roma may be members of the public institutions of the Religio Romana, which shall be organized, and have their responsibilities divided, as follows:

1. The collegium pontificum (college of pontiffs) shall be the highest of the priestly collegia. It shall consist of the Pontifex Maximus, fourteen Pontifices, twelve flamines, six Sacerdotes Vestales, and the Rex and Regina Sacrorum. The collegium pontificum shall appoint its own members. The collegium pontificum shall have the following honors, powers, and responsibilities:

a. To control the calendar, and determine when the festivals and dies fasti and dies nefasti shall occur, and what their effects shall be, within the boundaries of the example of ancient Rome;

b. To have ritual responsibilities within the Religio Romana; and general authority over the institutions, rites, rituals, and priesthoods of the public Religio Romana;

c. To issue decreta (decrees) on matters relevant to the Religio Romana and its own internal procedures (such decreta may not be overruled by laws passed in the comitia or Senatus consultum).

2. The Collegium Augurum (College of Augurs) shall be the second-highest ranked of the priestly Collegia. The eldest member of the Collegium shall be the Magister Collegii. The Collegium Augurum shall consist of nine Augurs, five from the Plebeian order and four from the Patrician order. They shall be appointed by the Collegium Pontificum, and shall hold their offices for life, excepting in cases of resignation of office, resignation of citizenship, or loss of Assiduus citizenship by process of law. Resignation of office or citizenship by an Augur must be made in writing to the Pontifex Maximus and the Magister Collegii; the Pontifex Maximus and Magister Collegii shall be informed in writing of any process of law by which such an Augur has lost citizenship. Augurs who have resigned their office, resigned their citizenship, or have lost their citizenship by process of law shall remain sacri in their persons but may exercise no augural powers or functions, nor shall they be accounted members of the Collegium Augurum.

a. The collegium augurum shall have the following honors, powers, and responsibilities:

1. To research, practice, and uphold the ars auguria (the art of interpreting divine signs and omens, solicited or otherwise);

2. To issue decreta (decrees) on matters of the ars auguria and its own internal procedures (such decreta may not be overruled by laws passed in the comitia or Senatus consultum).

b. Individual augurs shall have the following honors, powers, and responsibilities:

1. To define templum (sacred space) and celebrate auguria (the rites of augury);

2. To declare obnuntiatio (a declaration that unfavorable and unsolicited omens have been observed that justify a delay of a meeting of one of the comitia or the Senate).

3. Other institutions and priesthoods may be instituted, and the rules for such set, by the collegium pontificum, in accordance with the ancient models of the Religio Romana as practiced by our spiritual ancestors.

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CV: Lex Equitia de gentibus

I. ((Constitutional amendment))

Article II.D of the constitution is hereby amended to read:

D. Gentes, Domus, and Familiae. Familiae (households) being the backbone of Roman society, the prerogatives and responsibilities of the familia are of primary importance to Nova Roma. Except where specifically dealt with in this constitution and the law, each familia shall have the right to determine its own course of action and parents shall have the undisputed right and responsibility to see to the education and raising of their children.

1. Each gens (clan) shall be registered with the censors, who will maintain records of gens membership and other relevant information.

2. No two gentes may have the same nomen. The censors shall be responsible for ensuring this rule is observed.

3. Each gens shall consist of a minimum of one domus (lineage).

4. No two domus within a gens may have the same cognomen (surname). The censors shall be responsible for ensuring this rule is observed.

5. Each familia shall have a paterfamilias and / or materfamilias who shall act as the leader(s) of the family and speak for it when necessary. The holder(s) of this position must be registered as such with the censors. The paterfamilias and / or materfamilias may, at his, her, or their discretion, expel members of his, her, or their familia, accept new members into it by adoption, or allow members to form new familiae belonging to the same order.

a. The paterfamilias and / or materfamilias may, at his, her, or their discretion, exercise the rights enumerated in paragraph II.B of this Constitution on behalf of impuberes in his, her, or their familia, with the exception of the right to vote (paragraph II. B. 3.) and the right to join the Ordo Equester (paragraph II. B. 8.).

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CVI: Lex Equitia Galeria de legibus ex post factis

Article I section A of the Constitution of Nova Roma is amended by adding a section A.3 a and b which shall read

3. a. No one shall suffer a penalty for an action which was not subject to a penalty when the action was performed. If an action was subject to a penalty when the action was performed but is no longer subject to any penalty, no penalty shall be applied for that action.

b. No one shall suffer a greater penalty for an action than the penalty which was applicable when the action was taken. If an action was subject to a penalty when the action was performed but is now subject to a lesser penalty, the lesser penalty shall be applicable for that action.

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CVII: Lex Apula de assiduis et capite censis

I. ((Purpose of the lex))

This lex Apula de assiduis et capite censis is hereby enacted to define the classifications of taxpayers and non-taxpayers, and put in place special conditions on those who are unable or unwilling to support the financial welfare of the Republic through payment of those taxes which may be enacted by the Senate.

II. ((Definition of assidui))

A. Citizens who pay taxes in such amount and in such manner as may be defined by the current legislation shall be considered assidui. No special conditions shall be placed on assidui in regards to their placement in centuries and tribes or their ability to run for or hold office.

B. ((Tax exemption of the Vestal virgins))

Those appointed as Vestal virgins by the Collegium Pontificum shall be exempt from paying the annual tax and shall retain their status as assiduae so long as they remain Vestal virgins. No special conditions shall be placed on Vestal virgins with regard to their placement in centuries and tribes or upon their ability to run for or hold office.

III. ((Definition of capite censi))

Citizens who do not pay taxes in such amount and in such manner as may be defined by the Senate shall be considered capite censi. The following special conditions shall apply to capite censi:

A. ((Placement in centuries))

The Censors shall place all capite censi in the last century in Class V as defined in the lex Vedia centuriata and those leges which may amend it, and no other Citizens shall be enrolled therein.

B. ((Placement in tribes))

The Censors shall place all capite censi in the urban tribes as defined in the lex Vedia tributorum and those leges which may amend it.

C. ((Public office))

No member of the capite censi may run for or hold office as one of the ordinarii (including the apparitores), nor be appointed to or hold office as provincial governor, nor be titled as Senator or members of the Collegium Pontificium or priest or Sacerdos. Members of the capite censi may hold provincial or local offices at the discretion of the governor of the province in question.

D. ((Default of payment while in office))

Members of the Senate and Ordinarii sitting magistrates of the ordinarii and Senatores who become members of the Capite Censi due to non-payment of taxes may be removed from office by the Censors.

Members of the Collegium Pontificum and priests and sacerdotes who become members of the Capite Censi due to non-payment of taxes may be removed from office by the Pontifex Maximus.

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CVIII: Lex Apula de magistro araneario

I. ((Magister aranearius))

The Magister Aranearius is the official webmaster of Nova Roma. This law provides the procedures for the his appointment and his official activities.

II. ((Appointment))

The Senatus will appoint the Magister Aranearius in Consultum following a review of his curriculum vitae and technical skills. The duration of the appointment is to discretion of the Senatus.

III. ((Duties))

The magister aranearius is responsible for the design, the database, the server and maintenance, and any alteration of the website www.novaroma.org and of all official web sites sponsored by the Nova Roma, except for the parts under the control of other magistrates.

IV. ((Cooperation with others))

The magister aranearius shall solicit input from the other magistrates and institutions of Nova Roma regarding content for the web site.

V. ((Assistants))

The magister aranearius shall have the authority to appoint his own ASSISTANT, should he deem it necessary.

VI. ((Resignation))

Resignation from the Office must to be announced to the Senatus at least 30 days before it becomes effective.

VII. ((Amendment of lex Equitia de vigintisexviris))

Paragraph II of the lex Equitia de vigintisexviris is modified as follows:

"II. In accordance with the Constitution of Nova Roma, the following minor magistracies are defined within the category of Vigintisexviri:

A. Editor of Written News

The editor commentariorum shall be responsible for the production, publication, and distribution of the official publications sponsored by the State. The editor commentariorum shall have the authority to appoint his own scribae, should he deem it necessary.

B. Rogatores. Magistratus ad consignandos suffragium ferentes

1.a. Until the Kalends of January MMDCCLVIII (1 January 2005), four rogatores shall be responsible for the administration of elections and the recording of votes among the curiae.

1.b. Each rogator shall have the authority to appoint his own scribae, should he deem it necessary.

1.c. The lack of a full complement of, or the active participation of, four rogatores shall not in and of itself be sufficient to invalidate or postpone a particular election.

1.d. The rogatores may divide their duties amongst themselves as they see fit and practical.

1.e. Since the rogatores are by definition privy to the details of the election process, they may not run for any elective office while they serve in office as rogatores.

2.a. Beginning on the Kalends of January MMDCCLVIII (1 January 2005), two rogatores shall be elected to act as subordinate magistrates to the censores, responsible for registering qualified voters, issuing voter codes, and administering the routine citizenship application process.

2. b. During intervals when no censors are serving in office, the rogatores may carry out the routine maintenance of the Album Civium and the Album Gentium in concert with the magister aranearius.

2. c. Each rogator shall have the authority to appoint his own scribae, should he deem it necessary.

C. Diribitores--Suffragiorum computatores

1. Beginning on the Kalends of January MMDCCLVIII (1 January 2005), up to four diribitores shall be responsible for the counting of votes among the curiae.

2. The lack of a full complement of, or the active participation of, four diribitores shall not in and of itself be sufficient to invalidate or postpone a particular election.

3. The diribitores may divide their duties among themselves as they see fit and practical with the approval of the custodes.

4. Since the diribitores are by definition privy to the details of the election process, they may not run for any elective office while they serve in office as diribitores.

5. Diribitores shall only count votes, and shall not engage in any tie-breaking.

D. Custodes. Iudices Electionum

1. Beginning on the Kalends of January MMDCCLVIII (1 January 2005), two custodes shall be responsible for certifying the tally of votes in elections as reported to them by the diribitores, breaking any ties among the centuries and tribes, and providing the results of elections to the magistrates presiding over the elections.

2. Since by definition the custodes are privy to the details of the election process, they may not run for any elective office while they serve in office as custodes.

3. The lack of a full complement of, or the active participation of, both custodes shall not in and of itself be sufficient to invalidate or postpone a particular election.

4. Custodes may, if they choose, assist the diribitores in the vote-counting process.

5. In the event that there are no diribitores, the custodes shall assume the duties of diribitores until sufficient diribitores have been elected."

VIII. ((Amendment of the lex Fabia centuriata))

Paragraph II.b.1 of the lex Fabia centuriata is modified as follows:

"Quaestor and Vigintisexvir and Magister Aranearius:

10 CP

5 CP (past service)"

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CIX: Lex Popillia senatoria

This lex follows the institutions of the kings in establishing a maximum size for the senate, and the lex Ovinia of c.318 in setting guidelines for the selection of new senatores.

I. ((Number of senatores))

After each census the censores shall declare a maximum number of senatores.

A. This number shall be 15% of the total number of assidui at the time, or the nearest whole number.

B. This number shall be the maximum number of senatores until the number is revised by the censores after the following census.

C. This number shall never be lower than the number of senatores who exist at the time of the declaration, regardless of the number of assidui.

D. This number shall never exceed 300, regardless of the number of assidui.

E. After they have declared the maximum number of senatores (and not before), the censores shall revise the list of senatores.

II. ((Removal of senatores))

The censores may remove senatores from the list.

A. They shall begin with the list drawn up by the previous censores.

B. They shall first strike from the list those who have died or lost their citizenship since the last list was drawn up.

C. They may also strike from the list any existing senatores whose past conduct they consider seriously harmful to the dignity of the senate. They shall make public explanation of their reason for doing so.

D. An existing senator may only be removed from the list with the agreement of both censores.

III. ((Sublection of senatores))

The censores shall add new senatores to the list.

A. After removing any senatores whom they wish to remove from the list, the censores shall sublect (add) new senatores to the list until the total number of senatores is equal to the maximum which they have set, or as near to the maximum as the censores consider reasonable.

B. They shall first sublect any dictatorii (citizens who have completed terms as dictator) who have not already been sublected, removed, or passed over for sublection.

C. They shall next sublect any censorii (citizens who have completed terms as censor) who have not already been sublected, removed, or passed over for sublection.

D. They shall next sublect any consulares (citizens who have completed terms as consul) who have not already been sublected, removed, or passed over for sublection.

E. They shall next sublect any praetorii (citizens who have completed terms as praetor) who have not already been sublected, removed, or passed over for sublection.

F. They shall next sublect citizens at their discretion, giving due weight to their past tenure of public office, to their seniority, and to their good character. These may include citizens who were passed over or removed from the senate by previous censores.

G. They may pass over for sublection any citizen qualified under III.B, C, D, or E whose past conduct they consider would be seriously harmful to the dignity of the senate. They shall make public explanation of their reason for doing so.

H. A new senator may only be added to the list with the agreement of both censores.

IV. ((Ius sententiae dicendae))

Higher magistrates and ex-magistrates shall be entitled to attend meetings of the senate.

A. Any flamen Dialis, dictator, censor, consul, or praetor shall be entitled to attend meetings of the senate and to vote therein; any tribunus plebis shall be entitled to attend meetings of the senate but not to vote therein.

B. No flamen Dialis, dictator, censor, consul, praetor, or tribunus plebis shall be counted toward the total number of senatores.

C. Any dictatorius, censorius, consularis, or praetorius shall be entitled to attend meetings of the senate and to vote therein, except one who has been deliberately passed over for sublection.

D. No dictatorius, censorius, consularis, or praetorius shall be counted toward the total number of senatores unless he or she has already been sublected by the censores.

V. ((Immunity))

A decision of the censores to remove an existing senator, or of either censor to pass over a citizen for sublection, is not subject to any appeal or provocatio and cannot be used as grounds to prosecute any current or former censor.

VI. ((Repeals))

The leges Vedia senatoria, Arminia senatoria, and Octavia de senatoribus are repealed.

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CX: Lex Fabia de nominibus approbationibusque

PREAMBLE:

This lex provides a frame in the way prospective citizens can choose their roman name. It encompasses historical research in the form of attested lists of Republican names and takes into consideration the laws of Nova Roma that deal with citizenship approval and the scope of Pater / Mater Familias authority on this particular matter. Application to Nova Roman citizenship implies acceptance and agreement to the terms of the present lex and is subject to a probationary period as described by lex Equitia de tirocinio civium novorum. The Censores reserve the right to refuse any application that does not abide by the following articles.

For the purpose of this lex, and as per lex Labiena de gentibus is recognised as the basic unit of society in Nova Roma. Gentes are composed of many different familiae that share the same nomen. Pater / Materfamilias are head of these officially recognised familiae and not of the gentes. This lex spells out the procedures that the Censores will follow in dealing with the approval of prospective citizens to Nova Roma and the incidence those procedures will have on their names.

This lex hereby complements the lex Cornelia et Maria de mutandis nominibus whose article II.E is repealed. Whenever a contradition arises between the lex Cornelia et Maria de mutandis nominibus and the present lex de nominibus approbationibusque, the present lex shall have precedence.

BASIS OF AUTHORITY

This lex is based on lex Labiena de gentibus and lex Equitia familiaris and takes into consideration the fact that Familiae are now the basic social units of Nova Roma. As such Pater / Materfamilias are now head of Familiae (natural or adopted) and not Gentes as was previously the case.

DEFINITIONS

The definitions below are provided to help cives understand the context within which Nova Roman nomenclature applies.

A Familia (pl familiae) (household) constists of a pater or materfamilias and all who are in their potestas or manus OR two heads of household together in a free marriage and all who are in their shared potestas.

A Domus (pl domus) or Stirps (pl. Stirpes) is an informal group of people who all share the same "nomen-cognomen" combination. There are no recognised heads of Domus; The heads of the familiae whose pater / materfamilias belong to the domus may, however, act in concert to authorise any new citizen to use their "nomen-cognomen" combination.

A Gens (pl gentes) regroups all the people who share the same nomen. There are no recognised heads of Gentes in Nova Roma. As long as a new citizen does not choose an existing "nomen-cognomen" combination (see domus), he/she can choose to join any gens he / she likes.

I. Names in Nova Roma

I.A. Nomenclature

As per Roma Antiqua the nomenclature of free male citizens is that of the "tria nomina" (three names) formed as "praenomen-nomen-cognomen". The preferred choice for female nomenclature in Nova Roma is also the "tria nomina": This is to reflect the equal treatment of each prospective citizen, regardless of his / her gender, required by the constitution. The Censores, however, MAY recognise the Roman tradition in naming female citizens and may, in certain exceptional cases and after a personal application to the Censores, allow the following nomenclatures: "nomen only" or "nomen-cognomen".

I.A.1. Praenomen

Here is presented a list of Republican praenomina available to the prospective citizen. Each praenomen has been historically researched and attested. This list will be reviewed as and when new evidence comes to light: Please note that NO Praenomen that does not appear on this list will be accepted by the Censorial office without a special application. Please note that this list includes all the most common praenomina: They are accepted as standards by most scholars and will also be accepted by the censores without discussion. There are however a few other, far less common, praenomina available on request, look below.

Praenomina are very often abbreviated, and the abbreviations will be used in most official communications and records.

Common praenomina: the praenomina nearer to the beginning of the list are more frequent; those nearer to the end are less frequent.

Abbreviation	Male	Female
C.	Gaius	Gaia
L.	Lucius	Lucia
M.	Marcus	Marca
P.	Publius	Publia
Q.	Quintus	Quinta
T.	Titus	Tita
Ti.	Tiberius	Tiberia
Sex.	Sextus	Sexta
A.	Aulus	Aula
D.	Decimus	Decima
Cn.	Gnaeus	Gnaea
Sp.	Spurius	Spuria
M'.	Manius	Mania
Ser.	Servius	Servia
Ap.	Appius	Appia
N.	Numerius	Numeria

Rare praenomina: a list of Republican rare praenomina available to the prospective citizen is presented on the Name page (Index Nominum) of the main Nova Roma Website. This list will be updated by the Censores as new evidence comes to the foreground. These praenomina are only available on request and such requests must be approved by the Censores.

I.A.2. Nomen

The Nomen or genticilium serves to identify which gens a prospective citizen will belong to. The list of Nomina (or gentes) available in Nova Roma can be found in the album gentium. A citizen wishing to join a familia within a gens must seek the approval of the Pater / materfamilias of the said familia. The choice of a gens is subject to the articles II.B.i. and II.B.ii. of the present lex.

Prospective citizens are authorised to petition the Censores if they wish to create a new Gens, thus introducing a new nomen in Nova Roma. If their claim is justified, historically valid and supported by adequate evidence, the censores may, exceptionally, consider such request and eventually decide to authorise the creation of a new gens.

I.A.3. Cognomen

The magistrates of Nova Roma understand the personal nature of cognomina and the fact that they reflect physical or behavioural characteristics. Therefore cognomina may be accepted even if they don't appear on the recommended list. The prospective citizen must be able to justify his / her choice on either historical or personal grounds and that must be subject to the expressed condition that the chosen cognomen be a Latin word. Please note the restriction applied to cognomina that are already attached to a family in a particular gens (see point II.B.i.a of the present lex). A list of recommended cognomina can be found in the Nova Roma web-pages for Roman names. This list will be updated by the Censores as and when new evidence comes to light.

Special Cognomina: this lex revokes article II.E of lex Cornelia et Maria de mutandis nominibus whereby special cognomina were known under the word "agnomina".

Honorary cognomina are conferred upon a citizen by special dispensation. They can be awarded by a vote of the Senate in recognition of service to Nova Roma. They are not available to be chosen at the application stage.

Geographical honorary cognomina that refer to a provincia or regio (e.g. Germanicus, Britannicus) of Nova Roma and Roma Antiqua are subject to the same limitations as they were customarily bestowed upon a general after a successful campaign. Rare exceptions can be made by the censores in the case of citizen born in the provincia covering the territory of his/her macronation. In that latter case, the geographical cognomen will not be seen as honorary and can be requested at the application stage.

Cognomina that refer to the name of a deity will not currently be accepted unless the prospective citizen specifically expresses a desire to honour a god or goddess that he / she already worships and contact the Censores to present his / her case prior to sending his / her application.

I.B. Name change

I.B.1. Introduction

The choice of a Roman name being a very personal and intimate matter, the Censores and their staff must do their utmost to guide and help prospective citizens to choose the right name on the first instance. As such, no name change should be allowed after the original application has been approved to the satisfaction of all parties involved. However, on exceptional circumstances, the Censores reserve the right to authorise such name change if the citizen in question can effectively argue his / her case and only if this change affects the praenomen, cognomen or agnomen. The ruling of the Censores is final.

In case of a nomen change (i.e. change of gens), the only procedure authorised is that of adoption. Adoption takes the forms of adrogatio or adoptio according to the status, Sui Iuris or Alieni Iuris, of the adopted party. The procedures of Adoption are defined by the lex Equitia familiaris and the effect on name are described below: the citizen wishing to change his / her nomen must seek approval from the new Pater / Materfamilias whose domus he / she wishes to be part of. Upon approval, this prospective citizen will take the praenomen, nomen and eventual cognomen of his / her new Paterfamilias / Materfamilias.

Recent experiences, however, where the Censorial Cohors had to deal with multiple adoptions of several members of the same gens into one familia has shown that in these cases the only distinction between members of that familia would have been to add yet another cognomen (primus, secundus, tertius etc.) to distinguish one civis from the other. The censorial office judged that this solution was not satisfactory as it cannot ensure that each civis would easily be identifiable nor that his / her own individuality would truly be reflected in their new name. The following articles, I.B.ii and I.B.iii, reflect those experiences and propose a way of dealing with adoptions that is consistent with traditional Roman nomenclature and the spirit of flexibility and practicality that were qualities of our forefathers.

I.B.2. Adoption involving two cives belonging to two different gentes

I.B.2.a. The adopted party will take the Nomen AND Cognomen of his / her adopting parent.

I.B.2.b. The adopted party will add to his / her new name a second cognomen based on the root of his / her old Nomen to which will be added -ianus / -iana according to the gender.

I.B.2.c. The adopted party will be able to retain his/her praenomen and cognomina should he/she wish to, so long as the adopting parent agrees.

I.B.2.d. Example: M. Anicius Brutus wishes to be adopted by the paterfamilias L. Lucretius Candidus. M. Anicius Brutus wishes to keep his Praenomen Marcus. His new name, after the adoption is completed, will be: M. Lucretius Candidus Anicianus.

I.B.3. Adoption involving two cives belonging to the same gens

I.B.3.a. The adopted party will take the Nomen AND Cognomen of his / her adopting parent.

I.B.3.b. The adopted party will retain his / her old Cognomen and use it as a second cognomen in his new name. This second cognomen will not be inherited by his / her filiifamilias.

I.B.3.c. The usual Cognomen resulting from adoption (ending in -ianus / -iana and based on the root of the nomen of the adopted party and as defined by the lex Equitia familiaris is dropped.

I.B.3.d. The adopted party will be able to retain his / her praenomen should he / she wish to, so long as the adopting parent agrees.

I.B.3.e. Example: M. Anicius Brutus wishes to be adopted by the paterfamilias L. Anicius Lepidus. M. Anicius Brutus wishes to keep his Praenomen Marcus. His new name, after the adoption is completed, will be: M. Anicius Lepidus Brutus. Please note the difference with point I.B.2.d above where the new name would have been: M. Anicius Lepidus Anicianus.

I.B.4.

There exists the possibility of administrative name correction, permitted only in very limited cases upon the request of the citizen, at the discretion of the Censorial Office. In the case of administrative name correction, citizens who made a mistake in choosing their praenomen, nomen, cognomen, or cognomina, at the time of their application for citizenship may be allowed to correct their names, even their nomen gentilicium. If a citizen corrects his name by administrative name correction process, any connection to his or her original gens is eliminated, and all public records shall show only the new name of the citizen (only the Censorial Database must archive the previous version of the name), and the citizen has to be regarded as if he or she had always had this name. The censores are especially encouraged to allow all such name corrections when incorrect or unhistorical names are being corrected to authentic ones, but they shall compel the citizens to change as few parts, and to change as little in their name, as possible. As a general guideline to the Censorial Office, citizens who are unknown to the wide public of Nova Roma always should be allowed to correct their names. Well-known citizens should not take up a completely new name, but additions of new cognomina may be tolerated.

II. Approval procedures and names

II.A. Introduction

II.A.1. ((Joining gentes))

This lex applies the revocation by lex Labiena de gentibus of the right of former heads of Gentes (until now also known as Patres / Matresfamilias) to approve or reject the application of a prospective citizen to join a particular Gens.

II.A.2. ((Joining familiae))

This lex confirms the right of heads of Familiae known as Pater / Materfamilias to approve or reject the application of a prospective citizen to join a particular Familia.

II.B. Approval authority

II.B.1. Approval authority in a Familia and / or Domus

II.B.1.a. Familia

Each Familia duly registered with the censorial office will be headed by a Pater / Materfamilias chosen as per the recommendations found in lex Labiena de gentibus.

II.B.1.b. Domus

Each Domus duly registered with the censorial office will be confirmed in its position by the right of using a reserved and specific cognomen within a Gens to differentiate itself from other Domus in that Gens.

No prospective citizen of a particular Gens may choose the cognomen of a Domus already existing within that Gens, unless the prospective citizen has been approved by all the Patres / Matresfamilias of the familiae existing in the said Domus. In effect the new prospective citizen will become the pater / materfamilias of a new Familia within the Domus.

Existing citizens must go through the process of Adoption (either adoptio or adrogatio) to enter an existing Domus. See point I.B.iii.

II.B.1.c. Approval authority of the Pater / Materfamilias

The Pater / Materfamilias of a Familia duly registered with the censorial office will have the ultimate authority in accepting or rejecting the application of any prospective citizen wishing to join this Familia.

II.B.1.d. The duty of the Pater / Mater Familias in guiding prospective Citizens.

II.B.1.d.i As the person responsible to welcome new citizens into the Familia and guiding them in Nova Roma, the Pater / Materfamilias has the duty to help and support the prospective citizen in his / her choice of name, following the laws and edicta that guide such selection, before the familial approval reaches the censorial office.

II.B.1.d.ii. Should it come to the attention of the Censores that a Pater / Materfamilias repeatedly approves prospective citizens with names that do not compy with the present lex, a censorial investigation may be launched as to why that is. If no satisfactory explanation is provided, the Censores may issue a public reprimand against the said Pater / Materfamilias for non adherence to Nova Roman practice as defined by the laws, edicta and decreta of Nova Roma.

II.B.2. Approval authority in a Gens

II.B.2.a. The Gens in Nova Roma

II.B.2.a.i. A Gens in Nova Roma is composed of many different Familiae that share a common nomen.

II.B.2.a.ii. Although members of a particular Gens may wish to organise themselves as they see fit, for the purpose of this lex and in accordance with lex Labiena de gentibus the Censores do not recognise the authority of a head of a Gens as far as approving citizens is concerned.

II.B.2.a.iii. Building on the above point, closed Gentes are now abolished as prospective citizens are free to join any Gens they wish as opposed to officially recognised Familiae and Domus that are allowed to present possible restrictive entry conditions.

II.B.2.b. Approval authority to acceptance in a Gens

II.B.2.b.i. Any prospective citizen may choose the Gens of his choice providing he / she doesn't seek to belong to an already existing Domus. In the latter case approval authority falls within the rights and duties of the Pater / Materfamilias as stated in II.B.1.b.

II.B.2.b.ii. The Censores will hold the ultimate authority to approve or reject prospective citizens seeking admission in a Gens but not in a recognised Familia.

III. Sources

Roman Nomenclature:

Diana Bowder "Who Was Who In the Roman World", Cornell University Press, 1980

John Boardman, Jasper Griffin, Oswyn Murray "The Oxford History of the Roman World", Oxford University Press, 2001

T. Robert S. Broughton "Magistrates of the Roman Republic", Vol. 1 and 2, American Philological Association/Scholars Press, 1986

Mika Kajava "Roman Female Praenomina" Institutum Romanum Findlandiae Vol. XIV, Rome 1994: Senatorial Women's Praenomina in the Republican and Imperial Periods ( p. 136)

O. Salomies, "Die romischen Vornamen" (Commentationes Humanarum Litterarum 82, 1987).

B. Salway, "What's In A Name? A Survey Of Roman Onomastic Practice From c.700 B.C. to A.D. 700"

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/List-of-Republican-Roman-Consuls

http://www.ualberta.ca/~csmackay/Consuls.List.html

http://www.hostkingdom.net/consuls.html

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CXI: Lex Moravia de ratione comitiorum plebis tributorum

The lex Moravia de suffragiis in comitiis plebis tributis et ratione comitiorum plebis tributorum, AUC a.d. XV Kal. Dec. MMDCCLVI (17 November 2756), as amended by the lex Arminia de ratione comitiorum plebis tributorum, AUC a. d. IV Non. IUN. MMDCCLVII (2 Jun 2757), Section V: Timing the Vote, on the election of Plebian officials, is hereby amended, under the Constitution Part III, Section C, as follows:

Subsections V.A, V.B, AND V.C revoked by the lex Arminia de ratione comitiorum plebis tributorum are replaced as follow:

V.A. While the Comitia Plebis Tributa is convoked during the regular annual elections of Tribuni Plebis and Aediles Plebis, plebiscita may not be considered for a vote.

V.B. Those candidates winning election shall be called Tribuni Plebis designati and Aediles Plebis designati, respectively. Upon announcement of the results of the election, any Tribunus Plebis may call for a contio and set dates for holding a consecratio of the Tribuni Plebis designati and Aediles Plebis designati. The consecratio shall be arranged as when voting on a plebiscitum, and other plebiscita may also be proposed before the Comitia at the same time.

V.C. A plebiscitum de consecratione will have the effect of conferring upon the Tribuni Plebis designati and Aediles Plebis designati the full powers of their respective offices. It will take effect on a.d. IV Id. Dec. (10 December) or, if that date has already passed by the time the passage of the plebiscitum de consecratione is announced, it will take effect immediately. The sitting Tribuni Plebis and Aediles Plebis will leave office when the passage of the plebiscitum de consecratione of their successors is announced or on a.d. IV Id. Dec. (10 December), whichever date is later.

A consecratio is a formal recognition by the Comitia Plebis Tributa of the election results of Tribuni Plebis and Aediles Plebis, and by its enactment the Comitia Plebis Tributa extends sanctitas, as defined under the lex Arminia Equita de sanctitate, AUC Id. Sex. MMDCCLVII (13 August 2757), to Tribuni Plebis and Aediles Plebis.

This plebiscitum shall take effect immediately and apply to the regular annual elections of Tribuni Plebis and Aediles Plebis to be held in AUC 2759. Any Tribunus Plebis or Aediles Plebis who shall have been elected to begin office on AUC Kal. Ian. MMDCCLVIX (1 January 2759), and shall hereby have his or her term of office curtailed by this plebiscitum, shall be regarded as having served a full year in office, AUC Kal. Ian. MMDCCLVIX to prid. Kal. Ian. MMDCCLVX (1 January 2759 to 31 December 2759).

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CXII: Lex Vipsania de consecratione

We the Plebians of Nova Roma recognize and accept the results of the election of Tribuni Plebis and Aediles Plebis held in the Comitia Plebis Tributa during the month of December 2758 A.U.C. as reported by the Office of the Custodes, and by this act of consecratio afford to the designati

Marcus Arminius Maior
Marcus Moravius Piscinus Horatianus
Gnaeus Salvius Astur
Quintus Suetonius Paulinus
Gaius Vipsanius Agrippa

the rights, responsibilities, and obligations to exercise on behalf of all Nova Romans, in our name, the Tribunicia Potestas as outlined in Nova Roma law and in accordance with the mos maiorum,

And afford to the designatae

Julilla Sempronia Magna
Marca Hortensia Maior

the rights, responsibilities, and obligations to exercise on behalf of all Nova Romans, in our name, the duties of Aediles Plebis as outlined in Nova Roma law and in accordance with the mos maiorum.

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CXIII: Lex Minucia Moravia de civitate eiuranda

Citizenship in Nova Roma may be voluntarily relinquished or involuntarily revoked according to the Constitution, or may be temporarily suspended under the Lex Fabia de Censu, paragraph VI. Outlined in this lex are the procedures by which a citizen may voluntarily relinquish his or her citizenship by a process of renouncing Nova Roman citizenship, and procedures to be followed when a person returns into citizenship following suspension of citizenship or relinquishment of citizenship.

I. Supersession

The lex Vedia de civitate eiuranda and lex Equitia de civitate eiuranda are hereby repealed.

II. Renouncing from citizenship

A. Citizenship from Nova Roma may be voluntarily relinquished by notification of the censors. Submission to the censors of an intention to renounce citizenship should be made in writing with the intention clearly stated, and may be transmitted in writing via any available means. When a citizen renounces citizenship in Nova Roma, the loss of citizenship will not take permanent effect for a nundinum (8 days, 192 hours) from the date of the censors being notified. If the citizen desires to withdraw his or her resignation during this nundinum and remain a citizen, that citizen may freely do so without penalty. The citizen can withdraw the renunciation of citizenship during this nundinum by notifying the censors of this decision.

B. A parent or guardian may voluntarily rescind Nova Roma citizenship of impuberes (minors) as provided for above.

III. Forfeiture of offices

If citizenship is resigned, any and all public offices, titles, positions held by the citizen are immediately vacated at the time that the censors receive a resignation. No public offices, elected or appointed, shall carry over into a new citizenship should a resigning citizen later reestablish citizenship.

III. Reinstatement

A. Reinstatement of citizenship, after the expiration of the grace period of the resignation nundinum, is granted at the discretion of the censors or the censorial office. Against the decision of the censors, former citizens wishing to be reinstated may turn to the praetors or to magistrates with the right of jurisdiction to start a legal proceedings to appeal against the decision.

B. When a former citizen applies for reinstatement of citizenship, he or she shall have restored his or her census points, which may be subject to penalties due to relinquishment of citizenship.

C. Former titles and offices may be restored by the relevant authorities at their discretion.

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CXIV: Lex Minucia eiuratione magistratum

This lex clarifies the legal definition of magisterial resignation, consequences of resignation, and those procedures legally necessary to validate and remedy magisterial vacancy due to a resignation of office, in accordance with the Constitution of Nova Roma, Section IV, on 'Magistrates', which states that an office becomes vacant when a magistrate resigns or dies while in office. The language of this lex is binding on resignation of magisterial offices elected in the in the Comitia Centuriata and Comitia Tributa and in the Comitia Plebis Tributa.

I.A. An elected magistrate resigns from office by tendering his or her notification of a resignation to the presiding official (defined below) of the comitia in which the resigning magistrate was elected.

I.B. The Tribunes of the Plebs are the presiding officials of the Comitia Plebis Tributa. A resignation of an office that was elected in the Comitia Plebis Tributa may be tendered in writing directly to one or more Tribunes of the Plebs, or else is tendered to the Tribunes of the Plebs by posting a notice of resignation via the official Comitia Plebis Tributa list, or a list that is supported by Nova Roma as a Public Forum.

I.C. The Consuls and Praetors are the presiding officials of the Comitia Centuriata and Comitia Tributa. A resignation of an office that was elected in the CComitia Centuriata and Comitia Tributa may be tendered in writing directly to one or both Consuls or Praetors, or else is tendered by posting a notice of resignation on a list that is supported by Nova Roma as a public Forum.

II.A: A vacancy of office is legally established when an appropriate presiding official acknowledges in writing the receipt of a tendered resignation to the resigning magistrate. A vacancy may also be legally established when the Censors inform the presiding magistrates that a magistrate is unreachable after an absence of 45 or more days.

II.B: Within a nundinum (192 hours) of receiving notification of a resignation, the presiding official of the respective comitia – any one of the Consuls or Praetors, or any one of the Tribunes of the Plebs, as the case may be, shall acknowledge receipt in writing to the resigning magistrate. The resigning magistrate may not use any of his or her powers and rights as a magistrate from the moment of announcing the resignation. The loss of magistracy will not take permanent effect until the presiding official accepts it, but if the resignation nundinum expires, it becomes permanent automatically. The resigning magistrate may withdraw the resignation during this nundinum, and resume full powers and rights as a magistrate, unless the presiding official has formally accepted and made it official record already. The resignation will be dated to the time when the resignation was announced by the resigning magistrate. If a presiding magistrate claims that a magistrate resigned in private communication, but the magistrate in question denies it, and there is no public evidence of the resignation, the resignation shall not be considered to have happened.

II.C. Consuls shall not accept a resignation from office of a magistrate elected in the Comitia Plebis Tributa.

II.D. Tribunes of the Plebs may only accept the resignation from office of a magistrate elected in the Comitia Centuriata and Comitia Tributa as in II A and B when none of the Consuls or Praetors is available to accept the resignation on behalf of this comitia.

III. Elections shall be held within a month of the established vacancy for a suffect magistrate in the legally appropriate comitia, according to prevailing legal procedures governing elections of that comitia.

IV. This lex does not in itself restrict a former magistrate from standing for election in the Comitia Plebis Tributa or in the Comitia Centuriata and Comitia Tributa to fill the vacancy caused by his or her resignation, and for which he or she is eligible to hold.

V. The presiding official of a comitia who lawfully acknowledges receipt of a resignation from office of any magistrate who was elected in either the Comitia Plebis Tributa or Comitia Centuriata and Comitia Tributa, as outlined in this lex, shall be responsible for communicating this information to the Censors, the Magister Aranearius and to the citizenry via public fora within the following a nundinum (192 hours) from the time that the resignation goes into effect.

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CXV: Lex Minucia de duobus legibus Arminis Equitiis abrogandis

Lex to Repeal Current Items of Legislation I don't have a proper Latin name for this measure yet, but comitia's approval of this item will officially repeal the following legislations:

Lex Arminia Equitia de Dignitate Curule http://www.novaroma.org/tabularium/leges/2004-06-30-ii.html

Lex Arminia Equitia de Sanctitate http://www.novaroma.org/tabularium/leges/2004-08-13-ii.html

The last lines of both these leges (above) nullify their respective legal and binding forces. Further, there is no corresponding constitutional language that I can see to clarify their legal purpose. Although they are remarkable from an academic standpoint, the language of these legislations has caused issues of controversy, which might (at least theoretically) be avoided in future if we repeal them officially.

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CXVI: Lex Arminia de consecratione magistratuum plebis

We, the Plebians of Nova Roma, recognize and accept the results of the election of the Tribuni Plebis and Aediles Plebis held in the Comitia Plebis Tributa in 2759 a.u.c., as reported by the Custodes, and by the present consecratio, afford to candidati electi:

Gaius Arminius Reccanellus
Marcus Curiatius Complutensis
Marcus Pontius Sejanus
Quintus Servilius Priscus

the rights, responsibilities, and obligations to exercise on behalf of all Nova Romans, and in the name of the Plebs, the tribunicia potestas as outlined in Nova Roma law and in accordance with the mos maiorum.

We also afford to candidatus electus Caius Curius Saturninus the rights, responsibilities, and obligations to exercise on behalf of all Nova Romans, and in the name of the Plebs, the duties of Aedilis Plebis as outlined in Nova Roma law and in accordance with the mos maiorum.

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CXVII: Lex Curiata de consecratione magistratuum plebis

We, the Plebians of Nova Roma, recognize and accept the results of the election of the Tribuni Plebis and Aediles Plebis held in the Comitia Plebis Tributa in 2759 a.u.c., as reported by the Custodes, and by the present consecratio, afford to candidatus electus Flavius Galerius Aurelianus the rights, responsibilities, and obligations to exercise on behalf of all Nova Romans, and in the name of the Plebs, the tribunicia potestas as outlined in Nova Roma law and in accordance with the mos maiorum.

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CXVIII: Lex Curiata II de consecratione magistratuum plebis

We the Plebians of Nova Roma recognize and accept the results of the election of Tribunus Plebis held in the Comitia Plebis Tributa in 2760 A.U.C. as reported by the Office of the Custodes, and by this act of consecratio afford to the designatus:

Titus Flavius Aquila
Lucia Livia Plauta
Quintus Arrius Nauta
Quintus Valerius Callidus
Quintus Iulius Probus

the rights, responsibilities, and obligations to exercise on behalf of all Nova Romans, in our name, the Tribunicia Potestas as outlined in Nova Roma law and in accordance with the mos maiorum.

And afford to the designati:

Publius Constantinus Placidus
Flavius Galerius Aurelianus

the rights, responsibilities, and obligations to exercise on behalf of all Nova Romans, in our name, the duties of Aediles Plebiis as outlined in Nova Roma law and in accordance with the mos maiorum.

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CXIX: Lex Galeria de censu L. Arminio Ti. Galerio consulibus producendo

The time allotted to complete the Census 2760 A.U.C is hereby extended to pr. Kal. Ian.2760 (December 31, 2007).

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CXX: Lex Galeria de editore commentariorum

I. The editor commentariorum shall be appointed by a vote of the senate on the nomination of a consul.

II. The editor commentariorum shall serve for three years.

III A deputy editor commentariorum shall also be appointed by a vote of the senate on the nomination of a consul. The deputy will serve as the chief assistant to the editor commentariorum. If during the three year term a vacancy occurs the deputy editor commentariorum shall assume the duties for remainder of that term as editor commentariorum.

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CXXI: Lex Galeria de privatis rebus

I. The Lex Cornelia de privatis rebus is repealed.

II. The Lex Octavia de privatis rebus is repealed.

III. Confidential information consists of the following:

A. information given directly by a person for the purpose of applying for citizenship; and

B. information given directly by a person for the purpose of updating or correcting information referred to in III.A above; and

C. information obtained from the subscription list of the e-mail list that currently constitutes the Forum or main list of Nova Roma, other than information which is available to every member of that e-mail list; and

D. information obtained from the subscription lists from the publications of Nova Roma.

IV. Information is given directly when it is provided voluntarily by the person to whom it pertains.

V. Where confidential information is held in official records or by any magistrate, it shall be made available to any censor, consul, praetor, magister aranearius [1], or magistrate legally responsible for the handling of applications for citizenship, upon request by that person. It shall be made available to any provincial governor, upon request by that governor, if and only if it pertains to a person living in the province which he or she governs. It shall not be made available to any other person except as provided below.

VI. A censor may at his or her discretion give confidential information to a magistrate other than one entitled to received it under V above upon request by that magistrate.

VII. A magistrate who receives confidential information under V or VI above may at his or her discretion give that information to his or her lawfully appointed assistant.

VIII. A censor may at his or her discretion give confidential information on request to a municipal agent of law enforcement or other person entitled by municipal law to demand and be given the information. Where a censor receives such a request, he or she shall inform the person to whom the information pertains of the request, of all circumstances relevant to the request, and of the censor's actions in response to the request.

IX. Other than as set out above, no person shall give to any other person any confidential information about any third person without the permission of that third person.

X. Nothing in this lex shall be taken to prohibit any person from asking any other person for information about himself or herself. Nothing in this lex shall be taken to prohibit any person from giving information about himself to any other person.

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CXXII: Lex Livia de lege Arminia abroganda

We, the plebs, repeal the Lex Moravia de ratione comitiorum plebis tributorum (Nova Roma), approved by Comitia plebis tributa on a.d. VII Kal. Feb. C. Buteone Po. Minucia cos. MMDCCLIX a.u.c., thus reverting to the lex Moravia de suffragiis in comitiis plebis tributis et ratione comitiorum plebis tributorum (Nova Roma), AUC a.d. XV Kal. Dec. MMDCCLVI (17 November 2756, as amended by the lex Arminia de ratione comitiorum plebis tributorum (Nova Roma), AUC a. d. IV Non. IUN. MMDCCLVII (2 Jun 2757).

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CXXIII: Lex Livia de lege Moravia abroganda

We, the plebs, repeal the Lex Moravia de ratione comitiorum plebis tributorum (Nova Roma), approved by Comitia plebis tributa on a.d. VII Kal. Feb. C. Buteone Po. Minucia cos. MMDCCLIX a.u.c., thus reverting to the lex Moravia de suffragiis in comitiis plebis tributis et ratione comitiorum plebis tributorum (Nova Roma), AUC a.d. XV Kal. Dec. MMDCCLVI (17 November 2756, as amended by the lex Arminia de ratione comitiorum plebis tributorum (Nova Roma), AUC a. d. IV Non. IUN. MMDCCLVII (2 Jun 2757).

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CXXIV: Lex Curiatia Iulia de ratione comitiorum centuriatorum

By this lex Curiatia Iulia de ratione comitiorum centuriatorum is amended the lex Fabia de ratione comitiorum centuriatorum 5. B which reads:

In the case of a magisterial election, voting shall be sequential.

1. A century from the first class shall be selected by lot by the diribitores to vote first. No century containing only one member shall be selected for this purpose. For the first 48 hours of the voting period only members of that century shall be permitted to vote.

2. Twenty-four (24) hours after the beginning of the voting period, the diribitores shall tally the votes of all those who have voted so far according to the method set out in A.1 above, and shall announce the result no later than 48 hours after the beginning of the voting period.

3. Forty-eight (48) hours after the beginning of the voting period, the rest of the centuries in the first class shall be permitted to vote; members of the century selected under B.1 above who have not yet voted shall still be permitted to vote.

4. Ninety-six (96) hours after the beginning of the voting period, the diribitores shall tally the votes of all those who have voted so far according to the method set out in A.1 above, and shall announce the results no later than 120 hours after the beginning of the voting period.

5. One hundred twenty (120) hours after the beginning of the voting period, everyone who is eligible to vote but has not yet done so shall be permitted to vote. All voting shall cease no less than 216 hours after the beginning of the voting period.

The Lex Fabia de ratione comitiorum centuriatorum 5.B is hereby amended as follows:

5.B: In the case of magisterial elections, the voting period shall last no fewer than 192 hours (8 days), with all centuries casting their votes concurrently. Reports of the voting results shall be announced sequentially.

1. The Diribitores shall select by lot one century from among the first class centuries to serve as the Centuria Praerogativa. No century containing only one member shall be selected for this purpose.

2.Within forty-eight (48) hours after the beginning of the voting period, the Diribitores shall tally the votes of all those who have cast votes thus far in the Centuria Praerogativa, and shall announce those results no later than 48 hours after the beginning of the voting period.

3. Ninety-six (96) hours after the beginning of the voting period, the Diribitores shall tally the votes of all those who have voted thus far, and shall announce the results of only the first class centuries no later than 120 hours after the beginning of the voting period.

4. All voting shall cease after no less than 192 hours (8 days) have past and no more than 216 hours (9 days) have past after the beginning of the voting period. The Diribitores shall then tally all votes cast and within 48 hours later report the results solely to the presiding magistrate and to his or her colleague as per 3.F.

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CXXV: Lex Curiatia Iulia de tributo virginum vestalium

The following new paragraph II.B is inserted in lex Apula de assiduis et capite censis:

" II.B: Those appointed as Vestal virgins by the Collegium Pontificum shall be exempt from paying the annual tax and shall retain their status as assidui so long as they remain Vestal virgins. No special conditions shall be placed on Vestal virgins with regard to their placement in centuries and tribes or upon their ability to run for or hold office."

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CXXVI: Lex Cornelia de ratione comitiorum centuriatorum

Resolved, it is the purpose of this lex to establish ongoing, simple and easily understood procedures to summon the Comitia Centuriata. In the past 3 years Nova Roma has been unable to function the Comitias under the existing procedures and thusly required the Senate to pass Emergency Decrees (SCUs) to resolve this impasse. By promulgating this lex no further SCU will be needed to summon this Comitia (Comitia Centuriata).

Pursuant to Section III B of the Constitution of Nova Roma, empowers the Comitia to establish procedures and rules for which it is allowed to operate. All previous legislation previously passed is hereby rescinded and repealed.

I. Laws Repealed or Rescinded

Laws effectively repealed include but are not limited to: Lex Fabia de Ratione Comitorium Centuriatorum and the Lex Curiatia Iulia de ratione comitiorum centuriatorum.

II. Calling to Order the Comitia Centuriata

a. Either a Consul, Praetor, or Interrex (hereinafter referred to as presiding magistrate) may, as described by the Constitution call the Comitia Centuriata (hereinafter referred to as “The Comitia”) in order to hold a vote on the following: A Lex, a series of leges, to hold an election or to conduct an appropriate legal proceeding.

i. The Comitia may be summoned by the presiding magistrate by making a public declaration announcing the summons in the official public fora.

ii. It is recommended that the presiding magistrate seek auspices with a member of the College of Augurs or an appropriate alternative.

iii. The Summons must contain the following information:

Subject heading: Official Summons of the Comitia Centuriata

In the text of the message must include:

Candidates, date of citizenship, if they met the Constitutional and legal requirements of the office they are seeking, and The office they are seeking.
Full text of leges which are being voted on, draft version is acceptable at this point.
The dates and time when the members of the Comitia shall begin and end the Contio and the start and end date of the voting period.
Also, the presiding magistrate shall include any additional special instructions necessary that pertain to the mechanics of the vote.

In the event of a legal proceeding the presiding magistrate will include all necessary information including but not limited to:

Name of the petitioner, name of the defendant, the charges specified.

iv. The Timing of the Vote.

1. The Official Summons of the Comitia Centuriata is identified as an edictum. A copy of the Official Summons will be posted on the Website with the corresponding designation.

2. The edictum containing the call to vote must be issued at least 120 hours (5 days) prior to the start of the voting session. This period shall be known as the Contio and during this time formal discussion of the agenda (leges and legal proceeding) and/or candidates shall take place.

3. In the event that, in an effort to fill a magisterial office, there are not enough candidates at the time of the opening of the Contio, the presiding magistrate may accept additional candidates up to 48 hours remaining in the Contio. In other words, there are two vacant offices for office of Praetor – at the time the presiding magistrate summons the Comitia only one candidate has stepped forward – leaving 1 vacancy. 24 hours after the Contio has started another citizen has stepped forward (and has met the requirements) the presiding magistrate has the discretion to include that individual in this comitia summons, a new election or a delay in the existing contio does not need to take place. The acceptance of late accepting magistrates does not give the presiding magistrate to disregard any constitutional requirements for office.

4. Final draft of all legislation being voted on must be presented to the Comitia at least 48 hours prior to the close of the Contio.

5. During the Contio all the necessary constitutionally empowered positions and powers are all available. Tribunes can issue intercessio, magistrates who share imperium or outrank in imperium may exercise their constitutionally derived powers.

6. Intercessio may be exercised against the following: The entire election, vote, one specific item on the agenda, or multiple items on the agenda. The removal of an item or items is effective for the length of this comitia summons only. It does not prevent the item from being listed in a future Comitia summons.

7. In voting for a lex, the minimum contio period must last no fewer than 120 hours (5 days).

8. In a legal proceeding the minimum contio period must last no fewer than 192 hours (8 days).

9. The ability to vote during the voting period may be impacted due to calendar issues as enacted by decreta of the Collegium Pontificum. Any impact must be announced by the presiding magistrate.

10. Election officials shall tally the vote and deliver the results to both the presiding magistrate and the Censors (Secretaries of the Corporation) within 48 hours of the close of voting period. The presiding magistrate cannot announce the result until the certification process is fulfilled.

11. The Censors have 24 hours to certify the results given by the election officials. They have the ability to review all actions taken by the election officials to ensure accuracy and impartiality. Once the Censors certify the vote and/or election the Censors or the presiding magistrate shall announce the result(s) in the appropriate official public fora. Once completed the presiding magistrate shall bring the Comitia to a close.

III. Voting Procedures

A. Each citizen will receive a unique voter identification code. This code shall be used to maintain anonymity in the voting process, and to minimize the possibility of voter fraud. The voter identification code can be issued via automatic process by the web based secured form used or by the 3rd party alternative. If an automated process is impractical, or non-existent the Censores shall in a timely manner, prior to vote, issue the voter codes, delivered to the citizens and supply the electoral officers with the list of valid voter codes within each Century in a way that assures the anonymity of the citizens vote. The election officials shall not have access to the names of the citizens associated with the particular voter identification codes, nor shall the election officials have access to the Censor tools or censor database.

B. The election officials, Censors, Web Master, or any authorized or appointed official shall make available a cista (a secure web-based form – internal voting platform) or a secured 3rd party alternative (currently Nova Roma uses votingplace.net) that will allow citizens to vote. It is highly recommended that a link is posted on the Nova Roma website, and a link posted in the official public fora before the voting period is open. The election officials will keep record of the voter identification number and the desired vote of the individual. The information thus collected will be either forwarded to the election officials as it is gathered or at the end of the process, at their discretion. Alternative methods of voting may be enacted by other legislation as required.

C. In the case of a magisterial election, each voter shall have the option to mark each candidate “Yes (uti rogas) or leave the candidate unmarked; each ballot shall carry the following direction: “You may vote for 1 candidate per office vacancy, please select the magistrate you most strongly support.” In the case of legislation, for each proposed law, each voter shall have to option to vote “yes (uti rogas) or “no (antiquo).” In the case of a legal proceeding each voter shall have the option to vote “absolve” (I absolve, innocent) or “condemn” (I condemn, guilty).

D. Once cast, no vote may be altered, even with the correct voter identification code. Should multiple votes be registered with the same voter identification code, only the first recorded vote shall be used in tallying the vote.

IV. Procedures for Counting Votes

A. Votes shall be counted by centuries.

B. In the case of magisterial election the votes of each century shall be calculated as follows. For each century the candidates shall be ranked in order by the number of yes votes they receive. The candidate(s) that receives the most “yes” votes wins the century. Ties will be decided by using the procedure established in "THE BREAKING OF TIES" section of this lex. If more than one office is vacant the HIGHEST ranked member wins until all offices are filled. If no one in the century votes, the century is skipped and the election officials move to the next century.

C. In the case of a vote on a lex, each century shall vote in favor of the lex if a majority of votes received by members of that century are in favor. If no one in the century votes, the century is skipped and the election officials move to the next century.

D. In the case of a vote on a legal proceeding before the Comitia Centuriata, each century shall vote for conviction if a majority of the votes is received from the members of that century are marked “condemno.” Ties within a century will result in that century voting to acquit. If no one in the century votes, the century is skipped and the election officials move to the next century.

E. The Voting period for the Comitia, shall be no fewer than 168 hours (7 days). All centuries are allowed to vote at the commencement of the voting period. The presiding magistrate will notify the Comitia the opening of the voting period via the official public fora and a notice will be posted on the website.

F. Results shall be counted by century.

G. In case of magisterial elections the results are calculated as follows:

a. Each century will rank the candidates voting results from highest to lowest. The candidate that wins the most votes is declared the winner of that century. If there is a tie in deciding who won the century, Ties will be decided by using the procedure established in "THE BREAKING OF TIES" section of this lex (by breaking the tie between the candidates who are tied). Depending on the number of vacancies there could be more than one winner. (If there is more than one vacancy, each century should have more than one winner, those being the highest and second highest vote totals per century, etc etc until all vacancies are filled.) This process will be done for each century that voted. The winner then is determined by which candidate won the most centuries, until all office vacancies are filled.

H. In the case of a magisterial election, a majority is defined as one the candidate who receives the most centuries per vacancy (not counting those centuries that did not vote).

I. In the case of lex or leges, a simple majority of centuries casting votes must vote in favor for the lex to be adopted. In the case of a vote on the a lex or Leges, a simple majority is defined as one half of the number of centuries casting votes plus one, fractions being rounded down. If a Century is tied, the century will be counted as a No vote, there will be no tie breaking procedure. A century in which no voter cast votes shall not be counted.

J. In the case of a legal proceeding, a majority of the centuries must vote in favor of conviction in order for the accused to be condemned. In the case of a trial before the Comitia Centuriata, a "majority" is defined as "one half of the total number of centuries, plus one, fractions being rounded down."

a. Even those centuries in which no voters cast votes shall be counted, as implicit votes for acquittal, toward the total. If a Century has no members enrolled the election officials are instructed to remove those centuries from consideration during the vote counting process – Only centuries with individuals may determine the outcome of a legal proceeding.

K. Votes may be tallied by automated means should the election officials determine such is preferable to, and at least as accurate as a manual count.

L. Only the aggregate voters of the centuries shall be delivered to the presiding magistrate; the votes of individual citizen shall be secret.

V. The Breaking of Ties

The following are the only three methods to be utilized to determine the results of ties. The process to be used will be in numerical order – in other words no choosing. If a victor is not determined by the method #1 - then #2 will be used and then #3 until a winner shall be determined. This will be utilized for both ties in individual centuries and in the sum total of the Comitia.

1. In case of tied candidates the tie is resolved giving the highest position to the candidate who has been a citizen of Nova Roma the longest.

2. If the above tie breaking process does not resolve the tie situation the winning candidate between the tied candidates will be the one with the most century points.

3. If the above two tie breaking processes fail to break the tie the result will be determined between the ages of the tied candidates. The oldest candidate will be declared the winner of the tie.

Addendum: In the event that Nova Roma implements a Cista voting platform (internally controlled) and can establish a random tie breaking program that cannot be tampered with to manipulate the results, (Even the implication of tampering could damage the credibility of our electoral process and must be avoided to the extent of our ability to do so. Nothing must infringe on the integrity of the election.) Such a tie breaking program would need to be thoroughly tested and endorsed by the Senate of Nova Roma, prior to being used by the Comitia. Upon this requirement being satisfied the election officers may use a lot breaking device with the approval and consent of the Censors The Censors through the certification process must be confident that the integrity of the tie breaking procedure is both beyond the bounds of human manipulation and that the will of the People through the vote is maintained. The entire electoral process must be, and be seen to be, entirely credible and transparent. Once completed then the Certification process may progress as written in this Lex.

In addition, the presiding magistrate has the duty and responsibility to request a member of the College of Pontifices or appropriate Priest to conduct a ceremonia, at the start of a vote, to address the State’s need to utilize a method of tie resolution that does not utilize chance and a more direct form of divine intervention due to the corruption and tampering of men.

VI. Certification Process

The Censors have the responsibility and powers to investigate any verifiable concern regarding the vote, within the timeframe. If the censors need additional time, one or both censor’s may seek an extension of time from the presiding magistrate. The presiding magistrate has the discretion to approve an extension or not. The Censors certify the election by sending a notification to the presiding magistrate that they “Approve and sign off on the Comitia results.”

If the Censors fail to sign off on the certification process they are required to explain their rationale to the presiding magistrate. With this notification the presiding magistrate notifies the Senate. Within 48 hours, the presiding magistrate issues an emergency summons of the Senate for the sole purpose of addressing this issue and to promulgate a Senatus Consulta based on the Comitia situation. If the Senate decides to override the Censors decision the Censors can

1. Certify the election or

2. Refuse to sign.

If the Censors choose to refuse to sign, the Senate certifies the election in place of the Censors. If the Senate determines that the Censors issues are valid and side with the Censors the results of the Comitia are null and void. The Presiding magistrate notifies the People and closes the Comitia and the Comitia will need to be completely restarted.

If the Censors fail to respond within the 24 hour timeframe, the Censors are deemed to have consented and the Comitia results can then be posted by the presiding magistrate.

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CXXVII: Lex Cornelia de quaestoribus

In recent years, Nova Roma has had ongoing vacancy issues, specifically regarding the electoral officers. Some offices often experienced the absence of the office holder due to personal or macronational problems. This has an adverse affect on the people of Nova Roma, and this law intends to address the issue of vacant offices and absent magistrates by authorizing the consuls, praetors and aediles to order the quaestors to complete various tasks and to deputize or to stand in for various magistrates.

I. In the event of a magisterial or administrative vacancy (vacant office or absent, unavailable officer), the consuls can order a quaestor to stand in for the absent magistrate. The quaestor so appointed by the consuls will not have the powers of the magistrate that they are substituting for, but they shall do those duties for the missing or absent magistrate which do not require using the specific constitutional powers uniquely possessed by the missing or absent magistrate.

II. A presiding magistrate of voting comitia may order any quaestor to accept appointment for the positions of rogator, diribitor and custos if there is lack of volunteers for these positions; the quaestor may not refuse the order of the magistrate unless the quaestor declares his or her candidacy in the same election for which he or she was selected to be an electoral officer.

III. Magistrates who know in advance that they will be unavailable or incapable of doing their duties for a period of time have the right to delegate part of their powers and duties and to empower any quaestor to stand in for them and to complete specific tasks, including tasks that are within the exclusive power of the magistrate who is giving the authorization. The magistrate may order the selected quaestor without an option for refusal. The designation of the quaestor as deputy and the tasks the quaestor is empowered to do in the name of the magistrate shall be briefly defined in an edict, as well as the extent of time of the authorization.

III.A. The quaestor will not be permitted to usurp any power of the magistrate for which he or she has not received specific authorization.

III.B. Quaestors, so empowered to act in the name of a magistrate, shall declare in the name of which magistrate they are acting for in all of their official acts and documents they compose during their authorized period of service.

III.C. Quaestors may not be delegated the power of intercessio, the powers of lectio senatus, recognitio equitum, the regimen morum (which term includes the animadversio and the nota), and the right to convene the senate or the comitia. Quaestors may be delegated the right to convene the comitia in the name of a magistrate in case of legal proceedings upon specific authorization and instructions by the praetor or other magistrate holding a trial before the people.

IV. Magistrates may order any of the four quaestors who are not consular or praetorian quaestors to complete various tasks determined by the magistrates within their field of competence.

V. Magistrates shall consult with the selected quaestor before assigning duties to them, and shall not overload them with unrealistic demands. Magistrates are required to exercise discretion and understanding when ordering quaestors to perform various tasks. Quaestors who become overloaded with tasks have the right to complain to the tribunes of plebs, asking them to veto the order of the magistrate. Quaestors may also seek a higher ranking magistrate to veto the lower ranking magistrate making the excessive demand, or, if all of these attempts fail, quaestors can send a petition to the senate asking exemption from under the order of the magistrate.

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CXXVIII: Lex Cornelia de vigintisexviris

Introduction

This lex serves the purpose of refining Nova Roma's offices to better serve the interests of the State. In recent years an insufficient number of qualified candidates stood for election to these positions, leaving them vacant. This lex addresses the need for a more effective and easier alternative for filling these positions; and to give the Senate more direct oversight especially concerning the filling of the electoral magistracies which conduct, count and oversee the elections of officers in Nova Roma.

This lex supersedes and repeals all previous leges and Senatus Consulta in this jurisdictional area. This includes but is not limited to the following:

http://novaroma.org/nr/Lex_Equitia_de_vigintisexviris_(Nova_Roma)

http://novaroma.org/nr/Lex_Galeria_de_editore_commentariorum_(Nova_Roma)

http://novaroma.org/nr/Lex_Apula_de_magistro_araneario_(Nova_Roma)

http://novaroma.org/nr/Lex_Labiena_de_iure_edicendi_vigintisexvirorum_(Nova_Roma)

((I. Abolishing all current vigintisexviratus offices))

Effective immediately the positions that were covered under the lex Equitia de vigintisexviris are no longer independent offices that are elected by the Comitia Populi Tributa; nor are the offices listed in this lex to be classified as vigintisexviri positions.

((II. Abolishing the magistracy of rogator, transforming it to a censorial apparitor))

Effective immediately the office of the rogator, whose responsibility was focused on registering qualified voters, issuing voter codes, and administering the routine citizenship application process reverts to the censores office to be filled at the discretion of the censors’. This position, if filled will have the same ranking and distinction as a scribe appointment with all the same rights, responsibilities and century point allocations therein. The independent office of rogator is now extinct.

((III. The new office of diribitores)

Effective immediately the offices of custodes and diribitors are combined.

A. A new office is created called diribitores with four positions available to be appointed by the Senate by proposal of the presiding magistrate. A minimum of two individuals must fill this position at all times.

B. The diribitores will have the duty to count the votes and tie breaking in the voting processes in the Comitia Centuriata, Comitia Populi Tributa and Comitia Plebis Tributa – in compliance and in accord with the leges governing the vote count and ties breading procedures governing each Comitia.

C. The Senate may appoint individuals for suffect (partial term), full year terms, or multiple years.

D. Since the diribitores are by definition privy to the details of the election process, they may not run for any elective office while they serve in office as diribitores.

((E.)) Appointment of Diribitors: As senatorial appointments the presiding magistrate (i.e. consul, praetor or tribune of the plebs) may present individuals to the Senate for consideration. The Senate has the right and privilege to accept or reject candidates for the diribitor position(s).

((F.)) In the event of an emergency: An emergency is described as having 20 days or less to an upcoming Comitia summons – the Presiding magistrate may issue an edicta appointing individual(s) pro-tempore to serve as a diribitore – for one election cycle only. To be specific it means only one summons of one Comita only (Comitia Centuriata, Comitia Populi Tributa, and Comitia Plebis Tributa). No individual can be named Pro Tempore Diribitor for more than one time in a calendar year. However that individual may be considered by the Senate for a suffect appointment.

((IV. Editor commentariorum and magister aranearius))

Editor commentariorum and magister aranearius (webmaster) are the two remaining positions.

((A.)) The editor commentariorum shall be responsible for the production, publication, and distribution of the official publications sponsored by the State. The editor commentariorum shall be appointed by a vote of the senate. The editor commentariorum shall be appointed for suffect (Partial term), full year terms or multiple years . The standard Senatorial appointment should be for a minimum of 2 years.

((B.)) The magister aranearius shall be responsible for the design, maintenance, and any alteration of the official web site(s) sponsored by the State. The magister aranearius shall solicit input from the other magistrates and institutions of Nova Roma regarding content for the web site. The magister aranearius may be appointed for suffect (partial term), full year term or multiple years. The standard Senatorial appointment should be for a minimum of 2 years.

((V. Census points))

The positions of the diribitor, editor commentariorum and magister aranearius shall receive the same number of points as the office of quaestor.

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CXXIX: Lex Cornelia de ratione comitiorum populi tributorum

Resolved, it is the purpose of this lex to establish ongoing, simple and easily understood procedures to summon the Comitia Populi Tributa. In the past 3 years Nova Roma has been unable to effectively summon the Comitias under the existing procedures and thus the Senate was required to pass Emergency Decrees (SCUs) to resolve this impasse. By promulgating this lex no further SCU will be needed to summon this Comitia (Comitia Populi Tributa).

I. Laws Repealed or Rescinded

All previous laws relating to the Comitia Populi Tributa (hereinafter referred to as the Comitia) are hereby rescinded as they apply to the election of magistrates and the promulgation of legislation by the Comitia.

The Lex Fabia de ratione comitiorum populi tributorum is hereby repealed.

II. Calling to Order the Comitia Populi Tributa

A. Either a Consul, Praetor, or Interrex (hereinafter referred to as presiding magistrate) may, as described by the Constitution call the Comitia Populi Tributa (hereinafter referred to as “The Comitia”) in order to hold a vote on the following: A Lex, a series of leges, to hold an election or to conduct an appropriate legal proceeding.

i. The Comitia may be summoned by the presiding magistrate by making a public declaration announcing the summons in the official public fora.

ii. It is recommended that the presiding magistrate seek auspices with a member of the College of Augurs or an appropriate alternative.

iii. The summons must contain the following information:

Subject heading: Official Summons of the Comitia Populi Tributa

The text of the summons must include:

Candidates’s names, date of citizenship, a statement that they have met the constitutional and legal requirements of the office they are seeking, and the office they are seeking.
Full text of leges which are being voted on, draft version is acceptable at this point.
The dates and times when the members of the Comitia shall begin and end the Contio and the start and end date of the voting period.
Also, the presiding magistrate shall include any additional special instructions necessary that pertain to the mechanics of the vote.

In the event of a legal proceeding the presiding magistrate will include all necessary information including but not limited to:

Name of the petitioner, name of the defendant, and the charges specified.

iv. The Timing of the Vote.

1. The Official Summons of the Comitia Populi Tributa is identified as an edictum. A copy of the Official Summons will be posted on the Website with the corresponding designation.

2. The edictum containing the call to vote must be issued at least 120 hours (5 days) prior to the start of the voting session. This period shall be known as the Contio and during this time formal discussion of the agenda (leges and legal proceeding) and/or candidates shall take place.

3. In the event that, in an effort to fill a magisterial office, there are not enough candidates at the time of the opening of the Contio, the presiding magistrate may accept additional candidates as long as there are at least 48 hours remaining in the Contio. In other words, there are eight vacant offices for office of Quaestor - at the time the presiding magistrate summons the Comitia only one candidate has stepped forward - leaving 7 vacancies. 24 hours after the Contio has started other citizen(s) step forward (and have met the requirements) the presiding magistrate has the discretion to include those individual(s) in this comitia summons, a new election or a delay in the existing contio does not need to take place. The acceptance of late candidates does not give the presiding magistrate discretionary authority to disregard any constitutional requirements for office.

4. Final draft of all legislation being voted on must be presented to the Comitia at least 48 hours prior to the close of the Contio.

5. During the Contio all constitutional powers remain in effect. Tribunes can issue intercessio, magistrates who share imperium or outrank in imperium may exercise their constitutionally derived powers.

6. Intercessio may be exercised against the following: The entire election, vote, one specific item on the agenda, or multiple items on the agenda. The removal of an item or items is effective for the length of this comitia summons only. It does not prevent the item from being listed in a future Comitia summons.

7. In voting for a lex, the minimum contio period must last no fewer than 120 hours (5 days).

8. In a legal proceeding the minimum contio period must last no fewer than 192 hours (8 days)

9. The ability to vote during the voting period may be impacted due to calendar issues as enacted by decreta of the Collegium Pontificum. Any impact must be announced by the presiding magistrate.

10. Election officials shall tally the vote and deliver the results to both the presiding magistrate and the Censors (Secretaries of the Corporation) within 48 hours of the close of voting period. The presiding magistrate cannot announce the result until the certification process is fulfilled.

11. The Censors have 24 hours to certify the results given by the election officials. They have the ability to review all actions taken by the election officials to ensure accuracy and impartiality. Once the Censors certify the vote and/or election the Censors or the presiding magistrate shall announce the result(s) in the appropriate official public fora. Once completed the presiding magistrate shall bring the Comitia to a close.

III. Voting Procedures

A. Each citizen will receive a unique voter identification code. This code shall be used to maintain anonymity in the voting process, and to minimize the possibility of voter fraud. The voter identification code can be issued via automatic process by the web based secured form used or by the 3rd party alternative. If an automated process is impractical, or non-existent the Censores shall in a timely manner, prior to vote, issue the voter codes, delivered to the citizens and supply the electoral officers with the list of valid voter codes within each tribe in a way that assures the anonymity of the citizens vote. The election officials shall not have access to the names of the citizens associated with the particular voter identification codes, nor shall the election officials have access to the Censor tools or censor database.

B. The election officials, Censors, Web Master, or any authorized or appointed official shall make available a cista (a secure web-based form – internal voting platform) or a secured 3rd party alternative (currently Nova Roma uses votingplace.net) that will allow citizens to vote. It is highly recommended that a link is posted on the Nova Roma website, and a link posted in the official public fora before the voting period is open. The election officials will keep record of the voter identification number and the desired vote of the individual. The information thus collected will be either forwarded to the election officials as it is gathered or at the end of the process, at their discretion. Alternative methods of voting may be enacted by other legislation as required.

C. In the case of a magisterial election, each voter shall have the option to mark each candidate “Yes (uti rogas) or leave the candidate unmarked; each ballot shall carry the following direction: “You may vote for 1 candidate per office vacancy, please select the magistrate you most strongly support.” In the case of legislation, for each proposed law, each voter shall have the option to vote “yes (uti rogas) or “no (antiquo).” In the case of a legal proceeding each voter shall have the option to vote “absolvo” (I absolve, innocent) or “condemno” (I condemn, guilty).

D. Once cast, no vote may be altered, even with the correct voter identification code. Should multiple votes be registered with the same voter identification code, only the first recorded vote shall be used in tallying the vote.

IV. Procedures for Counting Votes

A. Votes shall be counted by tribes.

B. In the case of magisterial election the votes of each tribe shall be calculated as follows. For each tribe the candidates shall be ranked in order by the number of yes votes they receive. The candidate(s) that receives the most “yes” votes wins the tribe. Ties will be decided by using the procedure established in "THE BREAKING OF TIES" section of this lex. If more than one office is vacant the HIGHEST ranked member wins until all offices are filled. If no one in the tribe votes, the tribe is skipped and the election officials move to the next tribe.

C. In the case of a vote on a lex (or leges), each tribe shall vote in favor of the leges if a majority of votes received by members of that tribe are in favor. If no one in the tribe votes, the tribe is skipped and the election officials move to the next tribe.

D. In the case of a vote on a legal proceeding before the Comitia Populi Tributa, each tribe shall vote for conviction if a majority of the votes received from the members of that tribe are marked “condemno.” Ties within a tribe will result in that tribe voting to acquit. If no one in the tribe votes, the tribe is skipped and the election officials move to the next tribe.

E. The Voting period for the Comitia, shall be no fewer than 168 hours (7 days). All tribes are allowed to vote at the commencement of the voting period. The presiding magistrate will notify the Comitia of the opening of the voting period via the official public fora and a notice will be posted on the website.

F. Results shall be counted by tribe.

G. In case of magisterial elections the results are calculated as follows:

i. Each tribe will rank the candidates voting results from highest to lowest. The candidate that wins the most votes is declared the winner of that tribe. If there is a tie in deciding who won the tribe, Ties will be decided by using the procedure established in "THE BREAKING OF TIES" section of this lex (by resolving the tie between the candidates who are tied). Depending on the number of vacancies there could be more than one winner. (If there is more than one vacancy, each tribe should have more than one winner, those being the highest and second highest vote totals per tribe, etc etc until all vacancies are filled.) This process will be done for each tribe that voted. The winner then is determined by which candidate won the most tribes, until all office vacancies are filled.

H. In the case of lex or leges, a simple majority of tribes casting votes must vote in favor for the lex to be adopted. In the case of a vote on the a lex or Leges, a simple majority is defined as one half of the number of tribes casting votes plus one, fractions being rounded down. If a Tribe is tied, the tribe will be counted as a No vote, there will be no tie breaking procedure. A tribe in which no voter cast votes shall not be counted.

I. In the case of a legal proceeding, a majority of the tribes must vote in favor of conviction in order for the accused to be condemned. In the case of a trial before the Comitia Populi Tributa, a "majority" is defined as "one half of the total number of tribes, plus one, fractions being rounded down."

i. Even those tribes in which no voters cast votes shall be counted, as implicit votes for acquittal, toward the total. If a tribe has no members enrolled the election officials are instructed to remove those tribes from consideration during the vote counting process – Only tribes with individuals, enrolled in said tribe may determine the outcome of a legal proceeding.

J. Votes may be tallied by automated means should the election officials determine such is preferable to, and at least as accurate as a manual count.

K. Only the aggregate votes of the tribes shall be delivered to the presiding magistrate; the votes of individual citizen shall be secret.

V. The Breaking of Ties

The following are the only three methods to be utilized to determine the results of ties. The process to be used will be in numerical order – in other words no choosing. If a victor is not determined by the method #1 - then #2 will be used and then #3 until a winner shall be determined. This will be utilized for both ties in individual tribes and in the sum total of the Comitia.

1. In case of tied candidates the tie is resolved giving the highest position to the candidate who has been a citizen of Nova Roma the longest.

2. If the above tie breaking process does not resolve the tie situation the winning candidate between the tied candidates will be the one with the most century points.

3. If the above two tie breaking processes fail to break the tie the result will be determined by the ages of the tied candidates. The oldest candidate will be declared the winner of the tie.

Addendum: In the event that Nova Roma implements a Cista voting platform (internally controlled) and can establish a random tie breaking program that cannot be tampered with to manipulate the results (even the implication of tampering could damage the credibility of our electoral process and must be avoided to the extent of our ability to do so. Nothing must infringe on the integrity of the election). Such a tie breaking program would need to be thoroughly tested and endorsed by the Senate of Nova Roma, prior to being used by the Comitia. Upon this requirement being satisfied the election officers may use a lot breaking device with the approval and consent of the Censors The Censors through the certification process must be confident that the integrity of the tie breaking procedure is both beyond the bounds of human manipulation and that the will of the People through the vote is maintained. The entire electoral process must be, and be seen to be, entirely credible and transparent. Once completed then the Certification process may progress as written in this Lex.

In addition, the presiding magistrate has the duty and responsibility to request a member of the College of Pontifices or appropriate Priest to conduct a ceremonia, at the start of a vote, to address the State’s need to utilize a method of tie resolution that does not utilize chance and a more direct form of divine intervention due to the corruption and tampering of men.

VI. Certification Process

The Censors have the responsibility and powers to investigate any verifiable concern regarding the vote, within the timeframe. If the censors need additional time, one or both censors may seek an extension of time from the presiding magistrate. The presiding magistrate has the discretion to approve an extension or not. The Censors certify the election by sending a notification to the presiding magistrate that they “Approve and sign off on the Comitia results.”

If the Censors fail to sign off on the certification process they are required to explain their rationale to the presiding magistrate. With this notification the presiding magistrate notifies the Senate. Within 48 hours, the presiding magistrate issues an emergency summons of the Senate for the sole purpose of addressing this issue and to promulgate a Senatus Consulta based on the Comitia situation. If the Senate decides to override the Censors decision the Censors can

1. Certify the election or

2. Refuse to sign.

If the Censors choose to refuse to sign, the Senate certifies the election in place of the Censors. If the Senate determines that the Censors issues are valid and agree with the Censors the results of the Comitia are null and void. The Presiding magistrate notifies the People and closes the Comitia and the Comitia will need to be completely restarted.

If the Censors fail to respond within the 24 hour timeframe, the Censors are deemed to have consented and the Comitia results can then be posted by the presiding magistrate.

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CXXX: Lex Pompeia de ratione comitiorum plebis tributorum

Resolved, in order to establish ongoing, simple and easily understood procedures to summon the Comitia Plebis Tributa and avoid the need for emergency decrees (Senatus consulta ultima - SCUs) by the Senate to effectively summon the Comitia Plebis Tributa, we, the Plebeian citizens of Nova Roma, enact the following:

I. Status of Previous Leges Governing the Comitia Plebis Tributa

All previous laws relating to the Comitia Plebis Tributa (hereinafter referred to as the Comitia) are hereby rescinded as they apply to the election of magistrates and the promulgation of legislation by the Comitia.

A. The Lex Moravia de suffragiis in comitiis plebis tributis et ratione comitiorum plebis tributorum is hereby repealed.

B. The Lex Arminia de suffragiis in comitiis tributis is hereby repealed.

C. The Lex Grylla de magistratibus plebis creandis is hereby repealed.

II. Calling to Order the Comitia Plebis Tributa

A. A Tribunus Plebis may, as described by the Constitution, call the Comitia to order to hold a vote on one or more of the following:

1. an election for office;

2. a Lex (law); or,

3. an appropriate legal proceeding.

B. The Comitia may be summoned by the presiding magistrate by making a public declaration announcing the summons in the official public fora.

C. The Summons must contain the following information:

1. The subject heading shall be: “Official Summons of the Comitia Plebis Tributa”

2. The text of the summons must include:

a) If the summons is to conduct an election then the full Roman name of the candidates, dates of citizenship, an indication of whether or not they met the Constitutional and legal requirements of the office they are seeking, and the name of office they are seeking.

b) If the summons is to vote on a lex or leges then the full text of the lex or leges or links to web pages containing the full text of the lex or leges which are being voted on; however, a draft version of the full text is acceptable at this point.

c) If the summons is to convene a trial or other legal proceeding then the presiding magistrate will include all necessary information including but not limited to: the full Roman name of the petitioner; the full Roman name of the defendant; and, the charges or nature of the proceeding.

d) The dates and times when the members of the Comitia shall begin and end the Contio and the start and end dates and times of the voting period.

3. Also, the presiding magistrate shall include any additional special instructions necessary that pertain to the mechanics of the vote.

III. The Timing of the Vote

A. The Official Summons of the Comitia Plebis Tributa is identified as an edictum. A copy of the Official Summons will be posted on the website with the corresponding designation.

B. The edictum containing the call to vote must be issued at least 72 hours (3 days) prior to the start of the voting session. This period shall be known as the Contio and during this time formal discussion of the agenda (leges and legal proceeding) and/or candidates shall take place.

C. In the event that, in an effort to fill a Plebian office, there are not enough candidates at the time of the opening of the Contio, the presiding magistrate may accept additional candidates during the first 48 hours in the Contio. In other words, if there are five vacant offices for office of Tribuni Plebis and if, at the time the presiding magistrate summons the Comitia, only one candidate has stepped forward leaving 4 vacancies and 24 hours after the Contio has started two other citizens step forward (and have met the Constitutional requirements for the office of Tribunus Plebis) the presiding magistrate has the discretion to include those two additional individuals in the Comitia summons and add them to the ballot so a new election or a delay in the Contio does not need to take place. When accepting additional candidates during this 48 hour grace period following the start of the Contio, the presiding magistrate must not disregard any Constitutional requirements for the office which is the subject of the election. Candidates who put their names forward during the 48 hour grace period following the start of the Contio must meet the Constitutional requirements for the office they seek. Any votes cast for a candidate who does not meet the Constitutional requirements for the office that is the subject of the election will be considered null and will not be counted.

D. A final draft of all legislation being voted on must be presented to the Comitia at least 48 hours prior to the close of the Contio.

E. During the Contio all constitutional powers remain in effect. Tribunes can issue intercessio, magistrates who share imperium or outrank in imperium may exercise their constitutionally derived powers.

F. Intercessio may be exercised against the following: The entire election, vote, one specific item on the agenda, or multiple items on the agenda. The removal of an item or items is effective for the length of the then current Comitia summons only. It does not prevent the item from being listed in a future Comitia summons.

G. In voting for a Lex, the minimum Contio period must last no fewer than 120 hours (5 days).

H. In a legal proceeding the minimum Contio period must last no fewer than 192 hours (8 days).

I. The ability to vote during the voting period may be impacted due to calendar issues as enacted by decreta of the Collegium Pontificum. Any impact must be announced by the presiding magistrate.

J. Election officials shall tally the vote and deliver the results to both the presiding magistrate and the Censores (Secretaries of the Corporation) within 48 hours of the close of voting period. The presiding magistrate cannot announce the result until the certification process is fulfilled.

K. The Censores have 24 hours to certify the results given by the election officials. They have the ability to review all actions taken by the election officials to ensure accuracy and impartiality. Once the Censores certify the vote the Censores or the presiding magistrate shall announce the result(s) in the appropriate official public fora. Once completed the presiding magistrate shall bring the Comitia to a close.

IV. Voting Procedures

A. Each plebeian citizen will receive a unique voter identification code. This code shall be used to maintain anonymity in the voting process, and to minimize the possibility of voter fraud. The voter identification code can be issued via automatic process by the web based secured form used or by the 3rd party alternative. If an automated process is impractical, or non-existent the Censores shall in a timely manner, prior to vote, issue the voter codes, delivered to the citizens and supply the electoral officers with the list of valid voter codes within each tribe in a way that assures the anonymity of the citizens’ vote. Only plebeian citizens will be permitted to vote in the Comitia. The election officials shall not have access to the names of the citizens associated with the particular voter identification codes, nor shall the election officials have access to the Censor tools or censor database.

B. The election officials, Censores, Web Master, or any authorized or appointed official shall make available a Cista (a secure web-based form – internal voting platform) or a secured 3rd party alternative (currently Nova Roma uses votingplace.net) that will allow citizens to vote. It is highly recommended that a link is posted on the Nova Roma website, and a link posted in the official public fora before the voting period is open. The election officials will keep a record of each ballot cast including the ballot number and and the desired vote of the individual. The information thus collected will be either forwarded to the election officials as it is gathered or at the end of the process, at their discretion. Alternative methods of voting may be enacted by other legislation as required.

C. Procedures for Elections

1. The ballot shall include:

a) The name of the office.

b) The number of vacancies.

c) A listing of the candidates for office listed in alphabetical order based on the candidates' nomina, praenomina, and, where applicable, cognomina and agnomina. The list shall be placed on the ballot in a single column.

2. Each voter shall have the option to mark each candidate “uti rogas” (or Yes) or leave the candidate unmarked. Each ballot shall carry the following direction: “You may vote for 1 candidate per office vacancy, please select the magistrate you most strongly support.” Thus, beside the name of each candidate the voter shall be able to mark his or her approval of the candidate.

3. A voter may vote for the number of candidates equal to the number of vacant positions. A voter shall not be required to cast votes for all vacancies. A voter may choose to vote for only some of the candidates or none of the candidates.

4. There shall be an area on the ballot for a write-in candidate should the voter wish to cast a vote for a candidate not listed on the ballot.

5. There shall be an area on the ballot for an abstention, should the voter wish to waive their right to cast any votes for a given magistracy.

D. Procedures for Legislation

1. The full text, or a link to the full text on the Nova Roma website, of each proposed law or plebiscite shall appear on the ballot. Links are permitted only if they resolve to locations in the Nova Roma Wiki or website.

2. Each voter shall have the option to mark each proposal “uti rogas” (or Yes), “antiquo” (or No), or “abstineo” (or Abstain). Thus, for each proposed law the voter shall be able to mark his or her approval of the plebiscite.

E. Procedures for Trials

1. The ballot shall include the name of the accused, the name of the accuser or party bringing the charges, and the charges and specifications brought against the accused.

2. There shall be an area on the ballot where each voter shall have the option to vote "absolvo" (or Innocent), "condemno" (or Guilty), or “abstineo” (or Abstain - should the voter wish to waive his or her right to vote on the accused's guilt or innocence). Thus, beside the name of the accused, the voter shall be able to mark his or her determination of innocence or guilt.

F. Once cast, no vote may be altered, even with the correct voter identification code. Should multiple votes be registered with the same voter identification code, only the first recorded vote shall be used in counting the vote and any subsequent ballots registered with the same voter identification code shall be considered null and void.

V. Procedures for Counting Votes

A. Votes shall be counted by tribes.

B. The Voting period for the Comitia, shall be no fewer than 168 hours (7 days). All tribes are allowed to vote at the commencement of the voting period. The presiding magistrate will notify the Comitia of the opening of the voting period via the official public fora and a notice will be posted on the website.

C. If the Comitia was summoned to vote in an election, the results are calculated as follows:

1. Each tribe will rank the candidates based on the voting results of that tribe with the candidate receiving the highest number of votes ranked first and other candidates ranked similarly based on the number of votes received in the tribe from highest to lowest.

2. The candidate that wins the most votes is declared the winner of that tribe.

3. If there is a tie in deciding who won the tribe, a winner will be determined using the procedure established in Paragraph VI (Breaking of Ties) of this Lex (by resolving the tie between the candidates who are tied). Depending on the number of vacancies there could be more than one winner. If there is more than one vacancy, each tribe should have more than one winner, those being the highest and second highest vote totals per tribe, etc until all vacancies are filled.

4. This process will be done for each tribe that voted. The winner then is determined by which candidate won the most tribes, until all office vacancies are filled.

D. If the Comitia was summoned to approve a Lex or Leges, a simple majority of those tribes casting votes must vote in favor for the Lex to be adopted. A simple majority is defined for this purpose as one half of the number of tribes casting votes plus one, with any fractions being rounded down. If a tribe is tied, the tribe will be counted as a ‘No’ vote and there will be no tie breaking procedure. A tribe in which no voter cast votes is declared vacant and shall not be counted or used to determine the outcome of the vote.

E. If the Comitia was summoned to conduct a legal proceeding, a majority of the tribes must vote in favor of conviction in order for the accused to be condemned. In the case of a trial before the Comitia Plebis Tributa, a majority is defined as one half of the total number of tribes, plus one, fractions being rounded down. Even those tribes in which no voters cast votes shall be counted, as implicit votes for acquittal, toward the total. If a tribe has no members enrolled the election officials are instructed to remove those tribes from consideration during the vote counting process. Thus, only tribes with at least one citizen enrolled shall be counted to determine the outcome of a legal proceeding – any tribe without at least one enrolled citizen (vacant tribes) shall not be counted.

F. Votes may be tallied by automated means should the election officials determine such is preferable to, and at least as accurate as, a manual count.

G. Results shall be tabulated by tribe.

H. Only the aggregate votes of the tribes shall be delivered to the presiding magistrate; the votes of individual citizens shall be secret.

VI. Breaking of Ties

The following are the only methods to be utilized to determine the results of ties. The process to be used will be exactly, and only, in the order shown - in other words no choosing. If a victor is not determined by Tie Breaker #1 then Tie Breaker #2 will be used, and if a clear winner is not determined by Tie Breaker #2 then Tie Breaker #3 will be used to determine a winner. If there is still no clear winner then Tie Breaker #4 will be used. The tie breaking method outlined here will be utilized to resolve ties within individual tribes as well as in the sum total of the Comitia.

A. Tie Breaker #1: If a tie between candidates occurs, the candidate who has been a citizen of Nova Roma the longest, as determined by the Censores based on the date of citizenship recorded in the Album Civium, shall prevail.

B. Tie Breaker #2: If the candidates remain tied because they have the same length of time as citizens of Nova Roma then the candidate with the largest number of Century Points, as determined by the Censores based on the Century Point totals recorded in the Album Civium, shall prevail.

C. Tie Breaker #3: If the candidates remain tied because they have the same length of citizenship and the same number of Century Points recorded in the Album Civium then the oldest candidate, as determined by the Censores based date of birth, shall be prevail.

D. Tie Breaker #4: In the highly unlikely event that the candidates have the same length of citizenship, same number of Century Points and the same date of birth then the tie shall be resolved by the Censores using a random lot to determine the winner. In this final method to break a tie, a random lot will be drawn until the tie is resolved and a clear winner is determined. The Censores of Nova Roma shall determine which types of random lots are appropriate for use in tie breaking. The casting of a random lot must be witnessed by at least three Senators and one Pontifex. Neither of the Censores may act as witnesses. The casting of random lot may be conducted and witnessed online using appropriate video conferencing technology.

VII. Certification of the Vote

A. The Censores have the responsibility and powers to investigate any verifiable concern regarding the voting in the Comitia at any time during the voting period and up to 24 hours after the presiding magistrate has announced the close of the voting period.

B. If the Censores need additional time, one or both Censores may seek an extension of time from the presiding magistrate. The presiding magistrate has the discretion to approve an extension or not.

C. The Censores formally certify the election by sending a written notification to the presiding magistrate that they, “Approve and certify the Comitia results.”

D. If the Censores fail to approve and certify the Comitia results:

1. The Censores are required to explain their rationale to the presiding magistrate.

2. With this notification the presiding magistrate notifies the Senate. Within 48 hours, the presiding magistrate issues an emergency summons of the Senate for the sole purpose of addressing this issue and to promulgate a Senatus Consulta based on the Comitia situation.

a) If the Senate decides to override the decision of the Censores, the Censores can either (1) certify the election or (2) refuse to sign. If the Censores choose to refuse to sign, the Senate certifies the election in place of the Censores.

b) If the Senate determines that the Censores issues are valid and agree with the Censores the results of the Comitia are null and void.

3. The presiding magistrate notifies the People and closes the Comitia and the Comitia will need to be completely restarted.

E. If the Censores fail to respond within the 24 hour timeframe, the Censores are deemed to have consented and the Comitia results can then be posted by the presiding magistrate.

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CXXXI: Lex Cornelia de lege Labiena abroganda

Repeal - Lex Labiena de custodia perpetua fori -

http://novaroma.org/nr/Lex_Labiena_de_custodia_perpetua_fori_(Nova_Roma)

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CXXXII: Lex Cornelia de punctis censualibus

Introduction:

Nova Roma’s primary means of compensating its citizens for service and citizenship has been through the utilization of Census Points (hereinafter referred to as CPs). The accumulation of CPs must be carefully monitored to insure that all citizens receive neither more nor less than the appropriate credit for their service. There are also areas in Nova Roma life that have been ignored and hopefully this comprehensive law will address some of those areas.

In accordance with Section II. E. 2 of the Constitution of Nova Roma, the Lex Cornelia de Punctis Censualibus is hereby enacted.

I.

With the passage of this law all previous conflicting legislation is hereby repealed. This includes but is not limited to: Lex Vedia Centuriata (http://novaroma.org/nr/Lex_Vedia_centuriata_(Nova_Roma) ) and the Lex Fabia Centuriata: http://novaroma.org/nr/Lex_Fabia_centuriata_(Nova_Roma)

II.

Points will be awarded for all relevant events in each citizen’s record based on the values established in this Lex. For elected positions, citizens are awarded points for each term served. For example, if one was Consul three times then that individual earns three times the CPs – reflecting each term served.

III.

It is the responsibility of each citizen to review their CPs details and ensure that all of their previous service is represented. The Censors, strive to be as accurate as they can be, but it is only with the active cooperation and involvement of citizens that we can ensure the records are as close to perfection as possible. Upon the enactment of this lex, all CPs accumulated so far will be totaled and carried over into the new census points as a direct conversion. There will be no conversion and/or recalculation of century points to census points.

A. Magistrates:

Censor: 30 CP

Consul: 30 CP

Praetor: 25 CP

Tribune of the Plebs: 25 CP

Curule Aedile: 20 CP

Plebian Aedile: 20 CP

Quaestor: 15 CP

Dictator: 30 CP

Interrex: 10 CP

Magistrates Appointed by the Senate (Diribitors, Magister Aranearius, Editor Commentariorum, etc): 7 CP

B. Apparitores: Citizens may hold more than one position in a magistrate’s staff but only get awarded points for one position within that staff. A citizen may not receive census points for more than three such simultaneously-held positions.

Apparitor: 5 pts

C. Provincial Positions: Citizens may hold more than one position within a province – but only get points awarded for one – the highest ranked position. If individuals are governor of more than 1 province they only get points awarded for one province as they are stake-holders for the Senate.

Governor 25 CP

Apparitor: 5 pts

Provincial Sacerdos/Priest: 5 CP

D. Sacerdotes: Citizens may hold more than one position listed in this subparagraph but only get points awarded for one – the highest ranked position. Citizens who serve Nova Roma in one of the positions listed below but also serve in a provincial sacerdos role may receive the points for Provincial Sacerdos/Priest as stated in subparagraph C above in addition to the points awarded for service in a position listed in this subparagraph.

Rex Sacrorum 20

Regina Sacrorum 20

Flamen Maior 20

Pontifex Maximus 20

Pontifex 20

Flamen Minor 15

Augur 15

Vestal 15

Other Sacerdos/Priest 5

For Provincial Sacerdotes see sub-paragraph C above.

E. Other Positions:

Senator: 20 CP

Pater Patriae: 10 CP (in addition to the CP awarded for Senator)

Princeps Senatus: 15 CP (in addition to the CP awarded for Senator – Consistent to the previously adopted Senatus Consulta)

The Senate shall have the authority to issue points for special appointed positions, as well as rewards for special services performed on behalf of the State. Such rewards must be announced at the time of the appointment, and may not be awarded retroactively.

F. Sodalitates (officially sanctioned sodalitates only): Citizens may hold more than one sodalitas position, but get points for the highest one only. The positions and titles of officials included in each rank are defined by each Head. A report must be filed to the Censores to determine the validity of issuing CPs ensuring that the charter approved by the Senate is being properly maintained and elections are held in timely manner. It is the responsibility of the Head of the Sodalitas to provide this information.

Head of a Sodalitas 10 CP

Person of High Authority: 6 CP

Person of Minor Authority: 3 CP

Member of Sodalitas: 1 CP

G. Orders, Citizenship and Candidates:

The Orders:

Patrician: 10 pts

Plebeian: 7 pts

Ordo Equester - 10 CP

Length of citizenship:

Less than 6 months: 5 CP

Between 6 and 12 months: 10 CP

Between 1 year and 5 years: 20 CP

Between 5 years and 10 years: 40 CP

Between 10 years and 20 years: 75 CP

The disbursement of points are not added together. If one has been a member of NR for 13 years they only get 75 CPs because of the bracket that they are in.

Unsuccessfully run for office: 2 CP (Maximum of 1 award per calendar year)

H. Public Events: In an effort to recognize the time, effort, costs of putting on public events the following is stipulated: A public event is one that is identified as a gathering of more than 4 citizens (minors not counted) for the purposes of facilitating an event in which Nova Roma plays an important part this includes but not limited to: Religious rituals occurring, discussion of Nova Roma events, Legionnaire reenactments, dining and camaraderie. After Action reports (hereinafter referred to as AAR) are required to be posted at the public fora as well as a copy is to be given to the Censors. In the AAR, there needs to be the following: The organizer of the event, participants, overview of the event. Some photographic evidence and/or video documentation is to be provided to ensure that those who participated are awarded the points. Each year a citizen may earn points in this category for no more than 3 events.

Organizer of the Event: 5 CP

Participant: 2 CP

I. Reenactors – Of Officially Sponsored Legions.

Liaison between Sponsored Legion and Nova Roma: 3 CPs

Member of Sponsored Legion: 1 CP

IV.

It is now also official policy in Nova Roma that we recognize the need to raise additional revenue. In order to accomplish this Nova Roma establishes the ability of citizens to purchase their way to increase the power of the Vote. Citizens who pay the established fee, which will be confirmed by the CFO of Nova Roma will be able to move up a class of centuries to the next class level. In other words, if a citizen is currently in a Class V level of centuries by paying the fee they will move to the 4th class. This is available to all the classes except for citizens already enrolled in the 1st and 2nd classes. This fee is a yearly recurring fee.

A. The fee for the remainder of the year for 2013 will be $10.00 US

B. The fee for the full year for 2014 will be: $30.00 US

C. The fee for every year after that will be set by the Senate via Senatus Consultum.

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CXXXIII: Lex Cornelia de cursu honorum

As a means of consolidating the laws regarding the eligibility of individuals to serve in magisterial positions (Section IV of the Constitution), this law seeks to make it easier for citizens to know the requirements to run and hold office as well as aid magistrates in cross checking the eligibility of candidates who wish to run for office.

This lex repeals the following:

I

1. To run for and assume the office of Censor one must meet all of these requirements:

Must be at least 30 years old.
Must be an Assiduus/Assidua (tax payer).
Must have been a citizen of Nova Roma for at least 4 years.
Must have previously held the position of Praetor or Consul for at least 6 months OR held the position of Senator of Nova Roma for a year.

2. To run for and assume the office of Consul one must meet all of these requirements:

Must be at least 30 years old
Must be an Assiduus/Assidua (tax payer).
Must have been a citizen of Nova Roma for at least 4 years.
Must have previously held the position of Praetor, or Tribune of the Plebs for at least 6 months; or have served as a Provincial Governor for at least 3 years; or Senator for a year.

3. To run for and assume the office of Praetor (NOT Provincial Praetor) one must meet all of these requirements:

Must be at least 27 years old.
Must be an Assiduus/Assidua (Tax Payer).
Must have been a citizen of Nova Roma for at least 3 years.
Must have previously held one or more of the following positions for at least six months: Tribune of the Plebs, Plebeian Aedile, Curule Aedile, Quaestor, or Senator for 6 months.

3a. To be appointed Provincial Governor one must meet all of these requirements:

Must be at least 27 years old
Must be an Assiduus/Assidua (Tax Payer).
Must have been a citizen of Nova Roma for at least 2 years.
Must have previously held one or more of the following positions for at least six months: Tribune of the Plebs, Plebeian Aedile, Curule Aedile, Quaestor, or a Senator for 6 months. An applicant may substitute service in an apparitor position for at least one year for the previous requirements.

EXEMPTION: In the case of this position only, the senate may waive the previously held exemption if and only if no other candidate steps forward to serve as Governor/Provincial Praetor of a province.

4. To run for and assume the office of Curule Aedile one must meet all of these requirements:

Must be at least 25 years old
Must be an Assiduus/Assidua (Tax payer).
Must have been a citizen of Nova Roma for at least 2 years.
Must have previously held the position of Plebeian Aedile, Provincial Governor, Quaestor or a Senator for at least 6 months.

5. To run for and assume the office of Quaestor one must meet all of these requirements:

Must be at least 21 years old.
Must be an Assiduus/Assidua (Tax Payer).
Must have been a citizen of Nova Roma for at least a year.
Must have previously have held the position of an Apparitor for at least 6 months of service.

6. To be appointed as an election official, minor magistrate, or Apparitor of Nova Roma as defined by IV.A.8 or IV.A.9 of the Constitution of Nova Roma one must meet all of these requirements *:

Must be at least 18 years of age.
Must be an Assiduus/Assidua (Tax Payer).
Must be a citizen of Nova Roma for at least 6 months.

* Serving in the positions that fall under the umbrella that are classified under item 6 are generally described to be our entry level positions within Nova Roma and we encourage any and all citizens to being their process of learning about Nova Roma and volunteering their time in one of the many apparitore positions that are available both within one’s province and within the positions that serve Nova Roma in its entirety (consul, censor, praetor.).

II

Age Exemption Procedure

An age Exemption can be granted to a person by the approval of both Censors and receiving an age dispensation via Senatus Consultum from the Senate of Nova Roma via 2/3s approval of the Senate of Nova Roma

Citizens who wish to run for office must present the Consuls with their petition for exemption to the age restriction.

In the case of the annual December magisterial elections, such petitions must be presented to the Consuls no later than the 15th of October.

In the case of mid-year elections, such petitions must be presented to the Consuls as soon as possible, but the presentation of such petitions shall not be regarded as sufficient reason to postpone replacement elections more than thirty days as required by the Constitution, and the right of underage cives to run for office shall not override the Constitutional requirement to fill vacant magistracies in a timely manner.

The petition will include the following information: a. Full Roman name b. Length of Citizenship c. Prior experience within Nova Roma d. The office for which the applicant intends to run

The Consuls shall present the petition to the Senate for a vote in such manner as to allow due consideration of the petition.

III

There shall be no exemption for citizens who are not in the Assiduus/Assidua status or any other magisterial requirement unless directly specified in this lex.

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CXXXIV: Lex Cornelia de apparitoribus

Introduction:

In order to prevent abuse of the Century/Census Point (hereinafter referred to as CPs) system, to protect the electoral integrity of the Comitia Centuriata and promote the proper exercise of the voice of the People of Nova Roma, to insure that only an appropriate number of apparitores be appointed by magistrates, to discourage duplicative and inefficient bureaucracy, and to treat CPs as bona fide compensation for services rendered, this lex places reasonable limits on the number of apparitores, including scribae and accensi, that may be appointed.

DEFINITION: Apparitores (Attendants). Collectively, the apparitores shall not be considered magistrates but rather shall be appointed into various decuriae (corporations/cohors/Staffs) to fulfill those necessary functions as shall be assigned to them by law enacted by one of the comitia. They shall include lictores, lictores curiati, scribae and accensi. (Taken from the Constitution of Nova Roma IV.A.9)

Pursuant to Section IV. A. 9. Upon passage of this lex it is the policy of Nova Roma to impose limits on magistrates who employ apparitores, to keep the amount of apparitores consistent with the size of the organization.

I.

Apparitores perform important functions in Nova Roma. This lex recommends that all citizens, especially new citizens, gain necessary experience concerning the inner workings of Nova Roma. It is equally important that individuals who volunteer their time and effort in Nova Roma are best utilized for the organization; creating bureaucratic nepotism is highly discouraged.

II.

This lex limits the number of apparitores that magistrates may utilize in the scope of their duties:

a. Each Censor: May employ a total of 5 individuals who will earn CPs.

b. Each Consul: May employ a total of 5 individuals who will earn CPs.

c. Each Praetor/Governors: May employ a total of 5 individuals who will earn CPs.

d. Each Curule Aedile: May employ a total of 12 individuals who will earn CPs.

e. Each Plebian Aedile May employ a total of 4 individuals who will earn CPs.

f. Each Tribune of the Plebs: May employ a total of 2 individuals who will earn CPs

III.

It is the policy of Nova Roma that magistrates who are elected and are bound by their oath of office should do the preponderance of their work and not delegate all or most of their tasks to subordinates and assistants (who are not bound by the Oath of office).

IV.

If Magistrates choose to exceed the number of Apparitores in excess of section II of this lex those apparitories in excess will not receive payment for services in the form of CPs. This will be determined by Section V of this lex.

V.

Magistrates must disclose in the form of an appropriately published edict, the names of those apparitor who will receive CPs by June 1st. If the Magistrate is a suffectus magistrate that magistrate must disclose, in the form of an appropriately published edict the names of those apparitories who will receive CPs within 60 days of assuming office.

VI.

If a magistrate does not publish the edict no apparitor will receive CPs for that position. They will, for all intent and purposes have volunteered their time and effort for no payment. This is also applicable for those apparitores who continue service for a magistrate and do not receive CPs.

VII.

A Citizen may serve in as many apparitor positions to as many magistrates as he or she wishes; however, the citizen will receive CPs for service in no more than 3 cohortes (staff) during 1 (one) calendar year.

VIII.

When Nova Roma reaches an Assidui tax base of more than 300 Assidui citizens the presiding magistrate may petition the senate of Nova Roma to adjust the staff sizes of magistrates. The Senate may at that time raise the staff members of individual magistrates or the entire spectrum based on their discretion. However, the Senate must take into consideration the overall number of tax paying citizens as their primary factor.

IX.

If a Magistrate is serving without a colleague that magistrate is entitled to employ double the legal staff limit specified in Section II of this lex. However, if a suffectus magistrate is elected, appointed or assumes the position the Magistrate must reduce his staff within 30 days or publish an edict confirming which apparitores will be given compensation of CPs.

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CXXXV: Lex Cornelia de rebus ordinis equestris

Constitutional Change of the Ordo Equaestor Section of the Constitution Section II.C.2.

Ordo Equester (Equestrian Order) the Equestrian Order shall consist of high standing citizens who excel in their service to the Res Publica. Equestrians shall be enrolled into the Ordo Equester as specified by laws approved by the Comitia.

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CXXXVI: Lex Cornelia de Arminia de fovenda lingua Latina corrigenda

Strike out and repeal section III of the lex Arminia de fovenda lingua Latina.

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CXXXVII: Lex Pompeia de cursu honorum

Resolved, in order to establish the minimum eligibility requirements to serve in those offices specified in Section IV of the Nova Roma Constitution that are elected by the Comitia Plebis Tributa, we, the Plebeian citizens of Nova Roma, enact the following:

I. Tribunus Plebis

To run for and assume the office of Tribunus Plebis one must meet all of these eligibility requirements or a presiding magistrate for such an election must reject the candidacy:

A. Must be at least 25 years old on the date of assuming office.

B. Must be a current citizen of Nova Roma and must have held such citizenship continuously for at least 18 months prior to the date of assuming office.

C. Must be of the plebeian order.

D. Must have previously served at least six months as an Apparitor, Provincial Governor, Senator, or as any elected official as defined in Section IV of the Nova Roma Constitution.

E. Must hold current assiduus status – i.e., must be current on Nova Roma tax payments.

F. There shall be no exemption from these eligibility requirements for Tribunus Plebis.

G. A presiding magistrate for an election in which a candidate for Tribunus Plebis does not meet the eligibility requirements specified in I.A-I.E above must reject such candidacy and ensure the individual does not appear on the ballot. If any candidate is rejected due to such ineligibility, a presiding magistrate shall state the full Roman name and the specific reason for the rejection of such a candidacy on the Main List and any other official fora used to conduct the election within the first 24 hours of contio.

H. If a write-in candidate should receive enough votes in an election to win a seat as a Tribunus Plebis but that write-in candidate does not meet the eligibility requirement specified I.A, I.B, I.C or I.D above then a presiding magistrate of such an election must reject the write-in candidate as unqualified for office and the write-in candidate shall not be permitted to assume office. If such a candidate meets the eligibility requirements for I.A, I.B, I.C and I.D but fails to meet I.E because he or she has not paid taxes and is not in assiduus status then the presiding magistrate shall contact the write-in candidate directly to determine whether or not the candidate intends to pay taxes and assume office or wishes to forfeit the office. Such a write-in candidate will have one week to pay the required taxes and will then be permitted to assume office. If the taxes are not brought current within one week then such a write-in candidate shall forfeit the office and the office will go to the citizen who has the next highest vote total.

II. Aedilis Plebis

To run for and assume the office of Aedilis Plebis one must meet all of these eligibility requirements or a presiding magistrate for such an election must reject the candidacy:

A. Must be at least 18 years old on the date of assuming office.

B. Must be a current citizen of Nova Roma and must have held such citizenship continuously for at least six months prior to the date of assuming office.

C. Must be of the plebeian order.

D. Must have previously served at least six months as an Apparitor, Provincial Governor, Senator, or as any elected official as defined in Section IV of the Nova Roma Constitution.

E. Must hold current assiduus status – i.e., must be current on Nova Roma tax payments.

F. There shall be no exemption from these eligibility requirements for Aedilis Plebis.

G. A presiding magistrate for an election in which a candidate for Aedilis Plebis does not meet the eligibility requirements specified in II.A-II.E above must reject such candidacy and ensure the individual does not appear on the ballot. If any candidate is rejected due to such ineligibility, a presiding magistrate shall state the full Roman name and the specific reason for the rejection of such a candidacy on the Main List and any other official fora used to conduct the election within the first 24 hours of contio.

H. If a write-in candidate should receive enough votes in an election to win a seat as an Aedilis Plebis but that write-in candidate does not meet the eligibility requirement specified II.A, II.B, II.C or II.D above then a presiding magistrate of such an election must reject the write-in candidate as unqualified for office and the write-in candidate shall not be permitted to assume office. If such a candidate meets the eligibility requirements for II.A, II.B, II.C and II.D but fails to meet II.E because he or she has not paid taxes and is not in assiduus status then the presiding magistrate shall contact the write-in candidate directly to determine whether or not the candidate intends to pay taxes and assume office or wishes to forfeit the office. Such a write-in candidate will have one week to pay the required taxes and will then be permitted to assume office. If the taxes are not brought current within one week then such a write-in candidate shall forfeit the office and the office will go to the citizen who has the next highest vote total.

III. Plebeian status

If at any time during his or her candidacy for the office of Tribunus Plebis or Aedilis Plebis a candidate is adopted into a patrician family or is elevated to the patrician order the presiding magistrate of the Comitia Plebis Tributa must immediately terminate such candidacy. Similarly, if a Tribunus Plebis or Aedilis Plebis who is serving in office is adopted into a patrician family or is elevated to the patrician order during his or her term of office then he or she shall be required to step down immediately and the Censores shall ensure an appropriate entry is made in the citizen’s official record. Any other Tribunus Plebis serving in office at the time of such a resignation may call for suffectus candidates and summon the Comitia Plebis Tributa to conduct an election to fill the vacancy left by the departing tribune or aedile.

IV. Implementation

This law shall go into effect immediately upon approval by a simple majority of the tribes voting in the Comitia Plebis Tributa. However, any citizen holding one of the aforementioned positions at the time of the passage of this law or listed as an official candidate in a election for one of the aforementioned positions at the time this law goes into force shall be exempt from the eligibility requirements stated in paragraphs I and II for the remainder of his or her term. All candidates and all elected Tribuni Plebis and Aediles Plebis, regardless of when their candidacy or term of office started, must maintain plebeian status as stated in paragraph III as there shall be no relief, remedy, exemption or grandfathering for the provisions of paragraph III of this law.

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CXXXVIII: Lex Cornelia de classibus et ordine equestri

Introduction: The purpose of this lex is to bring Nova Roma closer to the ancients by implementing and bringing to life an important segment of the ancient Roman community, The Ordo Equester. This will spell out clearly, transparently the requirements and privliedges of being a member of this esteemed order. In creating this segment of society into Nova Roma it also requires some readjusting of the Comitia Centuriata in accomplishing this every aspect of each citizen’s alignment within the Comitia is transparently laid out from the Census points each citizen earns, to their Class membership and the actual evolution of centuries as Nova Roma’s tax base increases.

I. The lex Octavia altera de comitiis centuratis is hereby repealed.

II. The preconditions for admittance to the Ordo are:

a. That the person be an Assiduus classified citizen of Nova Roma

b. Admission to the Ordo Equester is voluntary and occurs only if the citizen accepts the honor.

c. That the citizen applying must have:

i. A total of at least 220 census points, in which case membership is permanent subject to the citizen maintaining a balance of census points that totals at least 220. Upon acceptance of the offer the citizen will be duly enrolled.

or

ii. Contributed during the year in which he/she applies the minimum amount set annually by the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for business contributions for Ordo membership by any citizen operating a business within Nova Roma, or legally utilising any assets of Nova Roma. Upon acceptance of the offer the citizen will be duly enrolled.

or

iii. Contributed during the year in which he/she applies the minimum amount set annually by the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for donative contributions for Ordo membership. Membership is permanent and no further donative contribution shall be required for the citizen to maintain membership of the Ordo. Upon acceptance of the offer the citizen will be duly enrolled.

or

iv. Be chosen by one censor for outstanding service to Nova Roma. A Censor may only choose one citizen during his/her two year term as censor. Membership of the Ordo through this means shall not result in advance for the citizen in the centuries and/or classes, though advancement may occur by accruing more census points through the normal public service criteria. A Suffect Censor can not choose any citizen. Upon acceptance of the offer the citizen will be duly enrolled.

III. The requirements for continued membership in the Ordo Equester are:

a. For those citizens admitted under I.b.i permanent, but subject to the citizen retaining a balance of at least 220 census points. Should the citizen suffer a reduction in census points that results in his/her total being less than 220 census points, removal from the Ordo is deemed automatic, and the Censores shall upon such reduction reflect this change in the Album Civium and note the reason in the Censorial record for that citizen.

b. For those citizens admitted under I.b.ii renewed annually and subject to the citizen making the business contribution amount for the year of renewal. After ten years of uninterrupted and continuous payments of the business contributions required, membership shall become permanent and no further business contributions shall be required. A person operating a business within Nova Roma is not eligible to apply for membership of the ordo by virtue of donative contributions as at II.c below.

c. For those citizens admitted under I.b.iii renewed annually and subject to the citizen making the donative contribution amount for that year of renewal. After ten years of uninterrupted and continuous payments of the donative contributions required, membership shall become permanent and no further donative contributions shall be required.

d. For those citizens admitted under I.b.iv permanent, subject to that citizen not resigning or being banished and also subject to the citizen retaining a balance of at least 220 census points. Should the citizen suffer a reduction in census points that results in his/her total being less than 220 census points, removal from the Ordo is deemed automatic, and the Censores shall upon such reduction reflect this change in the Album Civium and note the reason in the Censorial record for that citizen.

IV. The process for admittance to the Ordo:

a. Is automatic for I.b.i and not requiring Censorial approval, collegiate or otherwise.

b. Is subject to the Censors acting in a collegiate manner to admit a citizen for I.b.ii to I.b.iv inclusive.

c. Does not require any public reason to be published to support the decision to admit a person.

d. Requires that the Censors set the amount of census points for the citizens initially admitted under I.b.ii to I.b.iii inclusive at 220 should they be less than 220.

V. The process for rejection of an application to be admitted to the Ordo does not require the Censors to publish a reason for rejection, nor for the censors to provide the person applying with the reasons for rejection. The Censors shall however inform a citizen whose application has been rejected of the fact of rejection, but there is no requirement placed upon the Censors to supply that citizen with the reasons for rejection.

VI. The number of centuries shall be determined based on the number of Assidui citizens in Nova Roma. The Comitia Centuriata will have 31 Centuries that will be divided into 5 classes. The addition of new centuries to the Comitia Centuriata will be structured to coincide to benchmarks of Assidui citizens.

a. 300 and fewer Assidui citizens will result in 31 Centuries

b. 301-600 Assidui citizens will result in 61 Centuries

c. 601 -1200 Assidui Citizens will result in 91 Centuries

d. 1201-1800 Assidui Citizens will result in 121 Centuries

e. 1801-2400 Assidui Citizens will result in 151 Centuries

f. 2401 and above Assidui Citizens will result in 193 Centuries.

VII. The Censores may no longer alter the makeup of the centuries by class. The Censores are tasked to ensure that each class is properly filled with the appropriate citizens in compliance to existing legislation. If there are centuries assigned to classes that do not have the citizens to fill those centuries then the Censores cannot fill those centuries.

a. The Number of Census points will determine what class citizens are allocated in the Comitia Centuriata.

i. If Citizens hold 220 or more Census Points and have accepted enrollment into the Ordo Equester they will be allocated to that Class and appropriate Century.

ii. If Citizens hold between 140-219 Census points OR have not accepted membership into the Ordo Equester they will be allocated to the First Class of Centuries.

iii. If Citizens census points fall within the 100 – 139 Census points they will be allocated to the Centuries within the Second class.

iv. If Citizens census points fall within the 50-99 Census points they will be allocated to the Centuries within the Third class.

v. If Citizens census points fall within the 35-49 Census points they will be allocated to the Centuries within the Fourth class.

vi. If Citizens census points fall within 17-34 Census points they will be allocated to the Centuries within the Fifth class.

vii. If Citizens census points do not meet the minimum threshold of 16 Census points they will be allocated to the Capite Censi Century.

VIII. The relative sizes of each class shall be set as follows:

a. Class I: 49% of the total number of Centuries

i. One single century in this class shall be composed of all those members of the Ordo Equester who have accepted membership into the Ordo Equester. This will be referred to as Century 1.

ii. The Century set aside for the members of the Ordo Equester will be expanded to 2 Centuries when Nova Roma reaches 91 Centuries as defined under section VI.C. These two centuries will be designated as Century 1 and Century 2.

iii. The Centuries set aside for members of the Ordo Equester will be expanded to 3 Centuries when Nova Roma achieves the full complement of 193 centuries as described under VI.f. These 3 centuries will be designated as Century 1, Century 2 and Century 3.

b. Class II: 10% of the total number of Centuries

c. Class III: 10% of the total number of Centuries

d. Class IV: 10% of the total number of Centuries

e. Class V: 15% of the total number of Centuries

i. One single century within class V is reserved for the Capite Censi Only.

f. Within each class, the number of citizens is to be spread as equitable as possible. With the exception of those individual centuries that have extra requirements (Section VIII,a,i and Section VIII,e,i). The Censors are instructed to ensure each class is properly and equitable represented.

IX. Upon enactment of this lex, the only lawful method of subsequently superseding, amending or repealing this lex must be by way of a vote in the Comitia Centuriata that must achieve an extraordinary majority of 2/3s or greater (67% or greater) of the total Centuries.

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CXXXIX: Lex Cornelia poenalis

Introduction: Nova Roma must have a method to administer and adjudicate conflicts between citizens. This has been an area of ongoing concern since Nova Roma was created. The most recent attempt, the Leges Salicia, have not been successful. There are multiple problems with the Leges Salicia. The recent unpleasantness with the trials that Nova Roma have gone through have proven beyond a doubt that Nova Roma needed to rethink how we balance the need for conflict resolution while taking steps to ensure the protection of the Organization. This law achieves that balance.

I. The lex Salicia iudiciaria and the lex Salicia poenalis are repealed.

II. Any attempt to introduce or change the current judicial system or administratively alter the procedures within and for Nova Roma, other than those processes outlined in this lex, shall be illegal.

III. The judicial system of Nova Roma shall be based solely on the Code of Conduct as defined in this lex.

IV. Only the praetors, consuls, censors and Senate shall enforce and administer the Code of Conduct.

V. The Code of Conduct shall be applicable and have legal force within:

a. All official fora under the control of the praetors

b. Those communication venues under the care, custody and control of the Senate

c. Those communication venues under the care, custody and control of the provincial governors.

d. Those communication venues under the care, custody and control of official Nova Roman sodalities, as defined by the Senate.

e. Those communication venues under the care, custody and control of the Collegium Pontificum or the Collegium Augurum as defined by the collegium concerned and such definition being ratified by the Senate.

f. Official Nova Roman in-person meetings, authorised and/or sponsored by a magistrate of Nova Roma, the Senate, the Collegium Pontificum, the Collegium Augurum or a provincial magistrate.

VI. The Code of Conduct shall be as follows:

a. A person who advocates or otherwise promotes or publicises a prohibited course of action in any area as defined at section V above, or commits an act in support of such a course of action, whether such act is successful in its execution or not, shall be deemed to have breached the Code of Conduct.

b. The following are courses of action that are, for the purposes of section II.B.4 of the Nova Roman Constitution, deemed to represent and imminent and clear danger to the Republic and are thus prohibited for the purposes of section VI.a above together with the relevant penalty schedule (as defined below) that shall apply :

i. The overthrow and/or replacement of a magistrate(s), official (elected or appointed) and/or Senate of Nova Roma by any method that is illegal and/or unconstitutional (schedule I)

ii. Threats of violence, intimidation or harm to person(s) or threats to damage property (schedule I)

iii. The theft of, or destruction or damage to corporate assets (schedule I)

iv. The provision of data or information from any Nova Roman record or database to an unauthorised person or organization. Exceptions are for the purpose of complying with a legal demand by macronational authorities, and in order to protect and/or preserve the corporate status of Nova Roma Inc. (schedule I)

v. The dissolution of Nova Roma by any method that is illegal and/or unconstitutional (schedule II)

vi. The removal of the religio publica as the official religion of Nova Roma by any method that is illegal and/or unconstitutional (schedule II)

vii. The surrender or sabotage of the corporate status of Nova Roma Inc. by any method that is illegal and/or unconstitutional (schedule II)

viii. Public displays of hatred towards any person, or group of persons, based on colour, race, religion, ethnic origin, gender or sexual orientation (schedule III)

ix. Extolling the benefits and/or values of an organization deemed by the Senate to be a competing organization (schedule III)

x. Resigning from any magistracy or office at a time critical to the security and/or well-being of Nova Roma, where such resignation would likely pose an imminent and clear danger to the continued survival, or orderly functioning of, Nova Roma, and where no other magistrate or official of equal or greater authority currently holds office, or where such other magistrate or official is unavailable (schedule IV)

xi. Engaging in a pattern of behaviour and communication during a comitia summons, with the intended result of disrupting and/or terminating any vote within that comitia that is illegal and/or unconstitutional (schedule IV)

xii. Engaging in a pattern of behaviour and communication that violates the Terms of Service (ToS) of any communication venue owned by a third party service or company, and which Nova Roma utilizes, thereby imperilling, impeding or preventing Nova Roma’s right to use that communication venue. (schedule IV)

c. Any citizen of Nova Roma may present a praetor with a complaint alleging a breach of the Code of Conduct. Upon receipt of such information the praetor must within 7 calendar days of such receipt review the evidence presented as well as any other evidence which the praetor subsequently discovers upon investigation of the allegation. If the praetor upon review of such evidence concludes there is no breach of the Code of Conduct no further action shall be taken. If the praetor considers that there is reasonable suspicion that a breach of the Code of Conduct has occurred, then:

i. The praetor must then contact the person at section VI.a and request an explanation for the alleged breach of the Code of Conduct and require an answer within 14 calendar days.

ii. Should no answer be received by the praetor within 14 calendar days then the person at section VI.a shall be automatically deemed to have breached the Code of Conduct.

iii. Should an answer be received within 14 calendar days the praetor shall review it and determine if:

1. A response can be made from the individual accused and/or by a representative on behalf of the accused.

2. There is no clear and convincing evidence of the accused having violated the Code of Conduct. If that is the case, no further action shall be taken.

3. There is evidence a breach has occurred but mitigating circumstances exist. If there is evidence of such then the praetor has the discretionary power to issue a warning and not impose a penalty, or should the praetor not wish to exercise that discretion a level (a) penalty under the relevant schedule shall be imposed. Should a person who has been warned previously commit further similar or greater, as defined by the praetor, breaches of the Code of Conduct then this discretionary power shall not be exercised and a level (c) penalty under the relevant schedule shall be imposed.

4. There is evidence a breach has occurred and there are no mitigating circumstances and no aggravating circumstances. If there is evidence of such, then the praetor shall impose a level (b) penalty under the relevant schedule.

5. There is evidence a breach has occurred and there are no mitigating circumstances and aggravating circumstances exist. If there is evidence of such, then the praetor shall impose a level (c) penalty under the relevant schedule.

6. If If there is a guilty decision on any item covered under section v.b.i – v.b.xiii, then the praetor shall transfer authority over the matter to the princeps senatus, who shall issue a call to convene the Senate into a formal meeting of the Senate in session, as defined by the SENATUS CONSULTUM DE RATIONE SENATUS MMDCCLXV. The princeps senatus shall present the Senate with such evidence and the matter shall be debated by the Senate. The princeps senatus shall present a draft senatus consultum to the Senate that asks it to decide whether the alleged breach has occurred and to approve the sentencing of the infraction according to the schedule listed in this lex.

a. The princeps senatus shall have the administrative discretion to judicially review the administrative process conducted by the Praetor, can conduct necessary discovery, and recommend alternative sentences. The only limitation is that the princeps senatus cannot impose any sentence in excess of the schedule listed in this lex.

7. In assessment of evidence, or mitigating circumstances or aggravating circumstances, the praetor shall determine those by use of his/her own judgement.

8. If any punishment is so warranted by any empowered magistrate or empowered individual covered in section iii before said punishment may be applied it must be reviewed by the Senate of Nova Roma. If the Senate of Nova Roma does not approve by consent of the voting members of the senate (simple majority of all senators present) then the punishment is voided and not applied. Only after the consent of the Senate may any punishment be applied.

iv. The following define Schedule I to Schedule IV penalties:

1. Schedule I (levels a, b and c)

a. Mitigation: Banishment from Nova Roma for 10 years to 19 years. Upon any return of Nova Roman citizenship: loss of the right to stand for any public office for a further 5 years from the date of return.

b. No mitigation and no aggravating circumstances: Banishment from Nova Roma for 20 years to 29 years. Upon any return of Nova Roman citizenship: loss of the right to stand for any public office for a further 7 years from the date of return.

c. No mitigation and aggravating circumstances: Banishment from Nova Roma for 30 years to 99 years. Upon any return of Nova Roman citizenship: perpetual loss of the right to stand for any public office.

2. Schedule II (levels a, b and c)

a. Mitigation: Banishment from Nova Roma for 4 years to 5 years. Upon any return of Nova Roman citizenship: loss of the right to stand for any public office for a further 1 year from the date of return.

b. No mitigation and no aggravating circumstances: Banishment from Nova Roma for 6 years to 7 years. Upon any return of Nova Roman citizenship: loss of the right to stand for any public office for a further 2 years from the date of return.

c. No mitigation and aggravating circumstances: Banishment from Nova Roma for 8 years to 9 years. Upon any return of Nova Roman citizenship: loss of the right to stand for any public office for a further 4 years from the date of return.

3. Schedule III (levels a, b and c)

a. Mitigation: Banishment from Nova Roma for 1 year.

b. No mitigation, no aggravating circumstances: Banishment from Nova Roma for 2 years.

c. Aggravating circumstances: Banishment from Nova Roma for 3 years.

4. Schedule IV (levels a, b and c)

a. Mitigation: Loss of membership from all areas at section V that the person at VI.a might legitimately be admitted to at the time of the imposition of the penalty and loss of voting rights and right to stand for any public office for, or be appointed to, any office or position in Nova Roma, for 6 months to 1 year

b. No mitigation, no aggravating circumstances: Loss of membership from all areas at section V that the person at VI.a might legitimately be admitted to at the time of the imposition of the penalty and loss of voting rights and right to stand for any public office for, or be appointed to, any office or position in Nova Roma, for 1 year to 5 years

c. Aggravating circumstances: : Loss of membership from all areas at section V that the person at VI.a might legitimately be admitted to at the time of the imposition of the penalty and loss of voting rights and right to stand for any public office for, or be appointed to, any office or position in Nova Roma for 5 year to 10 years

v. Where a range of years in the form of a penalty exists, the praetor shall, at his or her own discretion, choose the exact amount of years from within that range, excluding section VI.c.III.5 where the vote of the Senate imposes the penalty and level.

vi. The right of appeal upon imposition of a penalty under this lex shall be defined as the exercise of the right of provocatio, as per section II.B.5 of the Nova Roman Constitution.

vii. The mechanism for imposing the penalty shall be by means of a praetorial edict issued by the presiding praetor. The censors must upon publication of the praetorial edict record the details of the penalty in the Album civium entry for the person at VI.a.

d. The praetor shall use his/her own judgement in determining the facts of a matter, and/or evaluating evidence in respect of that matter, concerning an alleged breach of the Code of Conduct. This also applies to the Senate with regard to judicial review of any guilty verdict.

e. In cases where there is a difference between the decision of the Praetor and a decision reached by the Senate of Nova Roma the decision by the Senate of Nova Roma is the decision of final resort.

f. There shall be a limitation on the period of time for each breach during which the actions described in this lex can be utilized and after that time no action shall be taken, dated from the time and date offense or action. The limitations according to the associated schedule number for the breach concerned are:

i. Schedule I: 10 years

ii. Schedule II 5 years

iii. Schedule III: 3 years

iv. Schedule IV: 1 year

VII. Rights of all citizens under this lex.

a. Citizens have the right to know who their accuser is.

b. Citizens have a right to a defense and may seek representation. Citizens also have a right to know the accusations and evidence presented against them.

c. Any punishment determined by the praetor is suspended and shall not take effect until the Senate ratifies that punishment by vote.

VIII Upon enactment of this lex, the only lawful method of subsequently superseding, amending or repealing this lex must be by way of a vote in the Comitia Centuriata that must achieve an extraordinary majority of 2/3s or greater (67% or greater) of the total Centuries.

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CXL: Lex Cornelia de civitate eiuranda

I. For the purpose of section V of the Lex Minucia Moravia de civitate eiuranda, the “prevailing legal procedures” shall be defined as those procedures contained within a Senatus consultum, which at the time of the enactment of this lex is the “Senatus consultum on the reapplication process for citizenship”, passed 2765 A.U.C. A senatus consultum issued after the enactment of this lex may amend, or enhance, the “prevailing legal procedures”.

II. Section II.A of the Lex Minucia Moravia de civitate eiuranda is amended to read:

“Citizenship from Nova Roma may be voluntarily relinquished by either:

1. Notification of the Censors. Submission to the Censors by the citizen intending to resign of an intention to resign citizenship should be made in writing with the intention clearly stated, and may be transmitted in writing via any available means.

2. A statement of intent to resign citizenship made in writing by the citizen intending to resign in a public communications forum, list, board or venue, electronic or otherwise, whether that forum is owned or controlled by Nova Roma or not, to which the censors or another magistrate (as described in section IV.A or section IV.B of the Nova Roman Constitution) or a provincial governor of Nova Roma has access. Such intent may also be made by email to a magistrate or provincial governor. The magistrate or governor shall forward verbatim the text of the resignation and provide any electronic hyperlink to such a statement or a forwarded copy of the email concerned. The censors shall exercise collegiate judgment in whether to accept any such communication at section II.A.2 as intent to resign citizenship.”

III. Section IV.A of the Lex Minucia Moravia de civitate eiuranda is amended to read:

“A Citizen whose citizenship is temporarily suspended under the Lex Fabia de Censu is known as an exsilius. A Citizen who voluntarily relinquishes citizenship by submitting a resignation from Nova Roma may also be treated as a exsilius for the purposes of this lex. Under the lex Fabia de Censu, a Citizen becomes a excensus after failing to register with one census. Any excensus or former Citizen in a excensus status who fails to register with a census or who fails to otherwise reestablish citizenship may, at the discretion of the Censors, have his or her status terminated, and thus be removed from the censorial Album Civium.”

IV. Section IV of the Lex Minucia Moravia de civitate eiuranda is amended by the insertion of a subsection C to read:

“A citizen subject to banishment imposed under the terms of any lex shall not be treated as exsilius and upon imposition of the banishment shall be treated as a former citizen, devoid of any and all legal rights within Nova Roma.”

V. Section VI.A of the Lex Minucia Moravia de civitate eiuranda is amended to read:

“When a former Citizen applies for reinstatement of citizenship, a waiting period of ninety (90) days must precede the reestablishment of citizenship. A former Citizen whose citizenship was removed by the process of banishment is not entitled to a restoration of any titles, honors and/or effects of past public offices (including census points). In the case of any other Citizen who was exsilius or excensus the restoration of any titles, honors and/or effects of past public offices (excluding census points) shall be at the discretion of, the censors acting in a collegiate manner. The restoration of census points for a person who was exsilius or excensus shall be determined by the process in section XXXX of this lex.”

VI. Section VI.C of the Lex Minucia Moravia de civitate eiuranda is amended to read:

“Any census points that are due under the terms of this lex to a returning Citizen must be restored at the time that citizenship is legally re-established by the censors.”

VII. Section VIII.A of the Lex Minucia Moravia de civitate eiuranda is amended to read:

“All rights and privileges of citizenship are restored to a Citizen at the time his or her citizenship is re-established, subject to any legal prohibitions, cancellations, or any other such restriction, that may exist at the time of re-establishment of citizenship.”

VIII. The Lex Minucia Moravia de civitate eiuranda is amended by the insertion of a section IX. ((Census Point loss)) which shall have the following sub-sections:

“A. Voluntary resignations shall be classified as follows:

1. Personal: The reason provided, in the judgment of the censors acting collegiately, clearly relates to a situation of a non-Nova Roman nature

2. NR dispute: The reason provided, in the judgment of the censors acting collegiately, clearly relates to a situation where a conflict, conducted in public or private, has occurred over matters that relate to Nova Roman matters, between the Citizen resigning Citizenship and another Citizen(s), or a former Citizen(s) or another person(s)

3. No reason: No reason is provided in the judgment of the censors acting collegiately

4. No warning: The Citizen resigning, while holding office, whether elected or appointed, gave no prior notice of an intent to resign, thus preventing alternative solutions to resignation being discussed

5. 2nd resignation: The Citizen has resigned his/her citizenship twice.

6. 3rd plus resignations: The Citizen has resigned his/her citizenship three or more times.

B. A Citizen who has voluntarily resigned shall be classed as either “citizen” (not holding elected or appointed office at the time of resignation), “minor official” (holding an office at the time of resignation, whether that office was elected or by appointment, that was not censor, consul, praetor or provincial governor) or “major official” (held office at the time of resignation as censor, consul, praetor or provincial governor).

C. Upon restoration of Citizenship, except in cases where the returning Citizen is returning from a period of legal banishment that has now expired, the amount of Citizen Points (CP) that must be returned to the Citizen is based on the table below “at VIII.D”, Where the amount of loss is listed as a percentage, that percentage must be deducted from the CP held by the Citizen at the time of his/her resignation, or the fixed amount of actual CP that must be deducted. After calculation of a percentage loss, the result of CP if less than a whole number shall be rounded down. If after deduction of a fixed amount of CP this results in a negative number, that shall be recorded in the Citizen’s Album Civium. The censors shall administer the application of the CP deductions in the table below.

D. Census Point loss table

	Personal	NR Dispute	No reason	No warning	2nd resignation	3rd resignation
Citizen	20% loss	35% loss	50% loss	N/A	100% loss	Set CP to -100
Minor official	30% loss	60% loss	80% loss	+20% loss	2x % loss	Set CP to -250
Major official	50% loss	80% loss	100% loss	2x % loss	3x % loss	Set CP to -500

Notes:

1) 2nd resignation of a person deemed at the time of resignation does not require that he/she was also an official on 1st resignation. 2) Results of CP loss may place the resigned citizen in negative balance, which he/she will have to work off balance before CP can be earned. 3) Tax rates will be addressed through Senatus consultum (tax is the prerogative of the Senate) but persons who have resigned and returned will be required to pay the Nova Roman tax for the class they were in prior to CP loss.

4) CP loss will be calculated at the time of resignation, not upon returning, and amount of loss noted on citizen's Album page together with the class and century they were in at time of resignation.

5) The table is read left to right, so the censors shall first determine which applies; Personal, NR dispute or No reason. Then they shall determine if warning was not given and apply the enhanced penalties indicated, and finally evaluate if the citizen has resigned two, or three (or more) times and apply those penalty enhancers.

6) +20% means that this 20% is added to either, 30%, 60% or 80% depending on which applies to the Citizen.

7) 2x % loss means that the prior amount calculated is multiplied by a factor of two; 3x % loss means that the prior amount calculated is multiplied by a factor of three.

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CXLI: Lex Cornelia de constitutione corrigenda secunda

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CXLII: Lex Cornelia Domitia de re publica constituenda

Preamble

We, the Senate and People of Nova Roma, as a symbolically and spiritually independent and sovereign nation, herewith set forth this law as the foundation of our governing institutions and common society. We hereby declare Nova Roma to be the commonwealth in possession of the renascens populus Romanus, the renascent modern Roman people worldwide, regardless of their status of citizenship, as established by the Contract with the Gods at the October Horse ceremony in the 20th Year of Nova Roma, which completed the founding process of the New Roman Nation, and which was sealed by the Confirmed Declaration of Nova Roma and the installation of the Pignora Imperii and the New Palladium. Nova Roma shall stand as a beacon for those who identify as Romans anywhere in the world, who all shall be considered members of the Nova Roman Nation. Nova Roma is hereby established as the home community of all Romans and all things Roman, embodied in ancient Roman form, as its most classical incarnation, but inheriting and cultivating all periods of Roman history, from archaic to medieval and modern. As the spiritual heir to ancient Rome, Nova Roma shall restore and maintain the Pax Deorum and shall serve as the homeland and worldly focus for the Religio Romana. As heir to the Roman Republic and Empire, Nova Roma shall endeavor to exist, in all manners practical and acceptable, as the modern restoration of the ancient Roman Republic. The religion, culture, law and society of Nova Roma shall be patterned principally upon those of the ancient Roman Republic, or when needed or deemed more practical, on other periods of Roman history, preferably on the Principate. In its mission to revive Roman civilization, Nova Roma shall always endeavor to recreate the best of ancient Rome and the most classical expression of a Roman tradition. Nothing shall be permitted or legally valid in Nova Roma which would violate the spirit, purpose and principles of the Confirmed Declaration of Nova Roma.

The primary function of Nova Roma shall be to fulfill the Confirmed Declaration of Nova Roma, to restore the Roman Nation and attend the Cultus Deorum, to revive and to promote the study and practice of the mos maiorum, the religion, culture and virtues of classical Roman civilization, defined as the period from the founding of Rome in 753 BCE to the final extinction of the Sacred Fire of Vesta in 394 CE, and of all things Roman from other periods secondarily, encompassing such fields as religion, culture, law, politics, language, literature, philosophy, fashion, craftsmanship, art and architecture, and to found the Roman model city of Nova Roma.

I. Constitutional Basis

A. This law shall be the Constitution of Nova Roma, a special lex ('law') serving as the basic authority for all decision-making within Nova Roma, and shall limit the authority of all magistrates and institutions, of all other leges (translated as 'laws') passed by the Comitia, decreta (translated as 'decrees') of the priestly collegia, magisterial edicta (translated as 'edicts') and Senatus consulta (translated as either 'recommendations' of the Senate or 'decrees' of the Senate) shall be subject to it. This law may be altered by a lex passed by a two-thirds majority vote of Comitia Centuriata and ratified by a two-thirds majority vote of the Senate before it shall take effect.

B. Legal precedence and interpretation. The English terms “law” or “legal” document within the context of Nova Roma shall be understood to refer to this lex constitutiva or to any lex, decretum, Senatus consultum or edictum if its nature and context is unspecified; more properly 'law' is the English translation of the term lex passed by Comitia. This present lex shall be the highest legal authority within Nova Roma. It shall thereafter be followed in legal authority by Senatus consulta ultima, edicta issued by a legally appointed a dictator, leges properly voted and passed by one of the Comitia, decreta passed by the Collegium Pontificum, decreta passed by the Collegium Augurum, Senatus consulta, and edicta issued by magistrates or other officers (in order of descending authority as described in section IV of this law, such edicts being binding upon themselves as well as others), in that order. Should a lower authority conflict with a higher authority, the higher authority shall take precedence. Should a law contradict another of the same rank of legal precedence without explicitly superseding it, the most recent law shall take precedence. Should the law of Nova Roma be silent or ambiguous in a question, ancient Roman law and legal convention shall be used as guide to the decision or interpretation. Interpretation of law and the legality and validity of disputed law or action shall be in the power of the magistrates, and relevant officers, with iurisdictio (with the possibility of overriding each other's decisions in order of authority), of the praetors in the first place as part of their primary duties, or of any higher magistrates with iurisdictio if they see the need to intervene, which can be overridden by Senatus consulta or leges, and in cases of religious law and the unwritten laws of sacred Roman traditions, the mos maiorum, of the Collegium Pontificum, which can be overridden by leges. Against the ruling of all these institutions on questions of interpretations, intercessio, provocatio or Nova Roman judicial process may be initiated, defined by lex. For the special case of adjudicating the validity of a disputed tribunician prehensio and intercessio, the rules in section IV.A.7.a-b apply.

C. This Constitution shall serve as the bylaws for Nova Roma, a legally incorporated entity in the state of Maine, USA (hereafter referred to as the "corporation"). The terms republic and state shall be understood to refer to the corporation within the context of Nova Roma. The other governing documents of the corporation shall be the leges of the Comitia which are the general assembly resolutions of the corporation, the decreta of the Collegium Pontificum and Collegium Augurum, which are cultural directive committee resolutions of the corporation, the Senatus consulta of the Senate which are the board resolutions, and the edicta of the magistratus which are the executive resolutions of the officers of the corporation. The Senatus consulta ultima are extraordinary board resolutions in corporate terminology. The governing bodies of the corporation shall be the Comitia Centuriata and the Comitia Tributa, which shall be the General Assembly of the members of the corporation (general meeting, the same body but with two different methods of voting); the Comitia Plebis Tributa shall be the Plebeian Committee of the General Assembly (composed of a class of members defined as plebeians), empowered to issue resolutions of the General Assembly in less important questions defined in these bylaws; the Priestly Colleges shall be Cultural Committees of the corporation, entrusted with keeping the corporation in line with its founding principles and cultural mission; the Senate shall be Board of Directors of the corporation, and the officers of the corporation shall be the magistrates, governors, priests and other elected or appointed officers of Nova Roma, as follows:

1. The consuls shall be the presidents of the corporation;

2. The praetors shall be the vice-presidents of the corporation;

3. The censors shall be the secretaries of the corporation;

4. The aediles shall be the deputy secretaries and culture and community directors of the corporation;

5. The quaestors shall be the treasurers and assistant directors of the corporation.

6. Other officers of the corporation: the tribunes of the plebs shall be the members' advocates of the corporation; the praefectus rei publicae (administrandae) shall be the chief executive officer, the curator aerarii the chief financial officer and the curator rei informaticae the chief information officer, the exact Latin titles and job descriptions of all of which can be defined and changed by law; the apparitors shall be senior and junior assistants of the management; the curators, legates and prefects shall be managers or supervisors of the management; the governors shall be regional presidents of the corporation; the various priests of Nova Roma shall be cultural officers, responsible to keep the organization within the spirit of Roman culture and religion.

7. The extraordinary corporate officers who are appointed only occasionally are the of the dictator, which is an extraordinary supreme president of the corporation, the magister equitum, which is an extraordinary vice-president, and the interrex, which is the temporary president of the corporation.

8. Additional corporate officers, or different corporate titles for the aforementioned officers other than described here, may be defined by edicta, decreta, leges and senatus consulta. In place of the censors, who are not permanent officers but hold office intermittently at fixed intervals, when there are none in office, the aediles shall fill the corporate legal role of secretary, but when doing so, they may not possess the powers of the censors other than which is specifically attributed to them by these bylaws or other laws of Nova Roma.

9. Members of the corporation are called “citizens”, or “people”, collectively; the reference to “people” as a source of law in these Bylaws and in the entire legal code of Nova Roma shall be understood to refer to the members' General Assembly (Comitia). Members are divided into membership fee paying members with more rights and enhanced voting power, called assidui, and non-paying members with limited rights, called capite censi or proletarii. Membership fee is called “tax” (or tributum) inside Nova Roma. Members of the corporation exercise their voting rights in voting groups, called centuries and tribes, within the differently voting variants of the General Assembly, further regulated by general assembly resolution. The result of the voting of the General Assembly is calculated not from the result of the individual votes of members, but from the result of the votes of these individual voting groups, the vote of each voting group being determined by the votes of the members cast internally within the voting group.

D. Any change to the Articles of Incorporation of Nova Roma, Inc. may be made by a lex passed by a two-thirds majority vote of Comitia Centuriata and ratified by a two-thirds majority vote of the Senate.

E. The use of male pronouns and technical terms within this Constitution is done solely for clarity, and shall not be construed to imply any disparity between genders before the law.

II. Citizens and Gentes

A. Citizenship. Regardless of citizenship, all people who identify as Romans shall be considered the spiritual members of the Nova Roman nation, with special emphasis of respect toward the people living in the former territory of the Roman Empire, especially those of Romance languages and nationalities, whereas the renascent Roman people, consecrated as native Romans by the Pignora Imperii, shall be the spiritual owners of Nova Roma. However, only citizenship grants any actual legal membership status and rights within the corporation. The full citizens of Nova Roma are those who possess the civitas Nova Romana optimo iure, they are the members of the corporation. The families of the cives optimo iure, and all spiritual members of the Nova Roman nation, either individuals or entire Roman communities, receive partial citizenship without voting or membership rights, the civitas Nova Romana sine suffragio, as defined by law, if they are registered in a manner defined by law. Entire Roman or non-Roman communities or individuals can receive the lesser partial associate citizenship of the civitas Latina (Latin citizenship) with the ius Latinum also knowns as ius Latii, or the allied or friend status, socius or amicus, as defined by separate law, which grant associate status to close partners of Nova Roma. Any and all rights of a citizen, and citizenship itself, may be restricted, suspended or terminated, as a disciplinary measure, in process defined by law. Full citizenship, civitas optimo iure, shall be regulated as follows:

1. Any person 18 years old or older may apply for Citizenship.

2. Citizens may apply for Citizenship on behalf of their children or legal wards (as defined by relevant macronational law) under the age of 18. Such Citizens shall be known as impuberes.

3. Citizenship is open to anyone regardless of ethnic heritage, gender, religious affiliation, or sexual orientation.

4. Citizenship may be involuntarily revoked by those means that shall be established by law, or may be voluntarily relinquished by notification of the censors or by public statement before three or more witnesses.

5. Impuberes may have their Citizenship relinquished on their behalf by their parent or legal guardian (as defined by relevant macronational law) by notification of the censors or by public statement before three or more witnesses.

B. Citizens who have reached the age of 18 shall have certain fundamental rights (iura) and basic duties (munera). It is the mandatory duty of each citizen to register for the census, and it is an optional duty to pay the tributum and to perform the munus militiae (ceremonial and reenactment military service for Nova Roma) which shall be redeemable by alternative solutions, regulated by law. The fundamental rights that each citizen shall be guaranteed are contained in this enumeration, but it shall not be taken to exclude other rights that citizens may possess:

1. The ius suffragii, the right to vote in elections as members of their various Comitia on matters brought before the People;

2. The ius honorum, the right to be eligible for office, subject to requirements set by law;

3. The ius commercii, the right to pursue business enterprises within Nova Roma and the right to receive reasonable encouragement to build a strong economy through Roman-oriented commerce; the only restrictions being those informational and other materials copyrighted by the State, which shall remain the property of the State;

4. The ius conubii, the right to have a lawful marriage within Nova Roma with anyone, regardless of their citizenship status, and to have the children of any such marriage to be part of the Nova Roman Nation, however, full citizenship will be granted to these children only upon registration with the censors;

5. The ius provocationis, the right of provocatio; to appeal a decision of a magistrate that has a direct negative impact upon that citizen to the Comitia Tributa;

6. The ius legis actionis, the right to receive justice, protection and redress in case of conflict with other citizens, non-citizens or with the State, in fair internal judicial procedure, defined by law;

7. The right and obligation to remain subject to the civil rights and laws of the countries in which they reside or hold citizenship, regardless of their status as dual citizens of Nova Roma;

8. The right of protection from ex post facto laws so that no citizen may suffer:

a. A penalty for an action which was not subject to a penalty when the action was performed. If an action was subject to a penalty when the action was performed but is no longer subject to any penalty, no penalty shall be applied for that action.

b. A greater penalty for an action than the penalty which was applicable when the action was taken. If an action was subject to a penalty when the action was performed but is now subject to a lesser penalty, the lesser penalty shall be applicable for that action.

9. The right to participate in all public fora and discussions, restricted only in case of disruptive behavior. Such officially sponsored fora shall be expected to be supported, maintained and reasonably moderated in the interests of maintaining order and civility;

10. The right to seek and receive assistance and advice from the State in matters of Roman culture and activities;

11. The right to privacy; security in one's home, person, and property; and authority over one's home, person, and property. Homes may not be searched, persons may not be detained, and property may not be seized, except by judicial ruling or by a special provision of law, and;

12. The ius sacrorum, the right to complete authority over one's own personal and household religion, rites and beliefs, Roman or otherwise; except when the laws mandate public participation in the ceremonies of the Religio Romana, such as the case of magistrates.

C. The Genera Gentilicia. There are two gentilic genera into which all citizens fall:

1. The patriciatus (the patrician genus)

a. The patriciatus shall consist of a minimum of 30 families.

b. Should there be fewer than 30 patrician families the Senate shall have the power to nominate a plebeian family to the Comitia Curiata for elevation to patrician status.

c. The Senate shall have the power to nominate additional families to the Comitia Curiata for elevation to patrician status if this elevation does not cause the patriciatus to exceed 5% of the population of Nova Roma.

d. A patrician family may allow its members to form new patrician families.

2. The plebs (the plebeian genus). The plebs shall consist of individuals who do not belong to the patriciatus.

D. Gentes (clans), stirpes (branches, dynasties), familiae (families) and domus (households). Familiae being the backbone of Roman society, the prerogatives and responsibilities of the familia are of primary importance to Nova Roma. Except where specifically dealt with in the law, each familia shall have the right to determine its own course of action and parents shall have the undisputed right and responsibility to see to the education and raising of their children.

1. Each gens (clan) shall be registered with the censors, who will maintain records of gens membership and other relevant information.

2. No two gentes may have the same nomen. The censors shall be responsible for ensuring this rule is observed.

3. Each gens shall consist of a minimum of one stirps (lineage).

4. No two stirpes' within a gens may have the same cognomen (surname). The censors shall be responsible for ensuring this rule is observed.

5. Each familia shall have a paterfamilias and / or materfamilias who shall act as the leader(s) of the family and speak for it when necessary. The holder(s) of this position must be registered as such with the censors. The paterfamilias and / or materfamilias may, at his, her, or their discretion, expel members of his, her, or their familia, accept new members into it by adoption, or allow members to form new familiae belonging to the same order.

a. The paterfamilias and / or materfamilias may, at his, her, or their discretion, exercise the rights enumerated in paragraph II.B of this law on behalf of impuberes in his, her, or their familia, with the exception of the rights under paragraphs II. B. 1-4.

E. Curiae, Tribes, Centuries and Classes

1. There shall exist thirty curiae, into which the censors shall divide all of the gentes, and each ten curiae shall be joined up in one of the three ceremonial tribes, the Ramnes, Tities or Luceres, directed by law passed by the Comitia. Unlike the voting tribes and the centuries, the curiae do not vote directly in the Comitia Curiata, but they are represented by the lictores curiati.

2. Separately from the three ceremonial tribes, there shall exist nineteen voting tribes, into which the censors shall divide all of the citizens. Fifteen of these tribes shall be designated the rural tribes, made up of those citizens who are designated as assidui. Four of these tribes shall be designated the urban tribes, and shall be made up of those citizens who are designated as capite censi or proletarii. Citizens shall be assigned by the censors into tribes as directed by law passed by the Comitia.

3. There shall exist a number of voting centuries, set by law enacted by the Comitia Centuriata, one reserved for the capite censi or proletarii, the rest for the assidui, into which the censors shall divide all of the citizens.

4. The centuries shall be established within five Classes into which the censors shall divide all of the citizens according to qualifications set by lex. The exact composition of the centuries and classes shall be determined by law passed by the Comitia Centuriata, but shall be weighted in favor of those citizens who have shown the greatest commitment to Nova Roma.

F. Ordo equester (equestrian order). The Equestrian Order shall consist of high standing citizens who excel in their service to the Res Publica. Equestrians shall be enrolled into the Ordo Equester as specified by laws approved by the Comitia. There shall be two grades of equestrians, the equites equo publico (public knights) who shall be the equestrians proper, and equites equo privato (private knights) who shall not be considered full members of the Equestrian Order, and a preliminary grade of the tribuni aerarii equestres (equestrian treasury tribunes), as defined by law.

III. Comitia

The Comitia are the highest organs of the republic possessing all powers of the people and the state. A law passed by the Comitia is called lex. No session of the Comitia may be held without taking the auspices before with favorable result and without an opening and closing ceremony of the Religio Romana; any lex enacted without this procedural step shall be invalid.

A. The Comitia Curiata (Curiate Assembly) shall be made up of thirty lictores curiati (lictors of the curia), appointed to their positions by the Collegium Pontificum (college of pontiffs). It shall be called to order by a consul or praetor in point III.A.1, or by the pontifex maximus or a pontifex in points III.A.2-5, when the Comitia Curiata can be also called Comitia Calata, and the Collegium Pontificum shall set the rules by which the Comitia Curiata shall operate internally. No magistrate shall exercise the rights contained in imperium and auspicia maiora without the formal grant by the Comitia Curiata. It shall have the following responsibilities:

1. To invest elected and appointed magistrates, governors or other officers with auspicia maiora and imperium (full or greater imperium to consuls and to officers specially empowered with consular imperium, and lesser imperium to praetors and to officers specially empowered with praetorian imperium), without right of refusal individually or as a body. When imperium is prorogued, it shall not be invested again by the Comitia Curiata. Imperium is defined as chief command and presidency, complete power over provinces and military, supreme executive, judicial and disciplinary power, which includes the ius imperandi (the power to command and to give orders to anyone), full iurisdictio (the power to interpret and administer the law and to administer justice), full ius coercitionis (the right to enforce the law and their own decisions, even by disciplinary or preventive actions), ius intercessionis (the right to forbid decisions or actions of the colleague or lesser magistrates), and ius edicendi (the right to issue edicta); all these within the boundaries or provincia of the office, and it grants the honor of being preceded by lictors as a symbol of supreme power. With certain exceptions defined by this lex, imperium cannot be exercised within the central administration of Nova Roma, where it is subject to both provocatio and tribunician intercessio;

2. To witness the appointment of official priests and priestesses of the Religio Romana, adoptions, and the recording of wills.

3. To approve or reject the elevation of a plebeian family to the patriciatus;

4. To approve or reject an adoption that elevates a plebeian to the patriciatus or lowers a patrician to the plebs;

5. To approve or reject an application from a patrician who wishes to renounce his status and become a member of the plebs.

B. The Comitia Centuriata (Centuriate Assembly) shall be made up of all of the citizens, grouped into their respective centuries. While it shall be called to order by either a consul or a praetor, only the comitia centuriata shall pass laws governing the rules by which it shall operate internally. It shall have the following powers:

1. To enact laws binding upon the entire citizenry;

2. To elect the consuls, praetors, and censors;

3. To try legal cases in which the defendant is subject to permanent removal of citizenship.

C. The Comitia Populi Tributa (Tribal Assembly of the People), abbreviated as 'Comitia Tributa', which shall always refer to these Comitia, not to the Comitia Plebis Tributa, shall be made up of all citizens, grouped into their respective tribes. While it shall be called to order by either a consul or a praetor, only the comitia populi tributa shall pass laws governing the rules by which it shall operate internally. It shall have the following powers:

1. To enact laws binding upon the entire citizenry;

2. To elect the quaestors and curule aediles;

3. To try legal cases that do not involve permanent removal of citizenship.

D. The Comitia Plebis Tributa (Tribal Assembly of the Plebs), abbreviated as 'Concilium Plebis', shall be made up of all non-patrician citizens, grouped into their respective tribes. While it shall be called to order by a tribune of the plebs, only the comitia plebis tributa shall pass laws governing the rules by which it shall operate internally. It shall have the following powers:

1. To enact plebiscites with the force of law, binding upon the entire citizenry, but those addressing finances or foreign policy (external relations of Nova Roma, alliances, unions) shall be ratified by the Senate before they shall take effect;

2. To elect the plebeian aediles and tribunes of the plebs;

3. To try legal cases solely involving members of the plebs that do not involve permanent removal of citizenship.

IV. Magistrates

Magistrates are the elected and appointed officials responsible for the maintenance and conduct of the affairs of state and for the welfare of the people. Higher magistrates posses the auspicia maiora (the consul, censor and dictator have a higher degree of auspicia maiora which can be called auspicia maxima, the praetor and the magister equitum shall have a lesser degree) and higher potestas (power), the lower magistrates (the rest of the magistrates) possess the auspicia minora and lower potestas. The higher magistrates, together with the curule aediles, are curule magistrates and shall be accorded distinguished respect and their historical insignia and privileges. There are two categories of magistrates: magistratus ordinarii (those who are ordinarily elected) and extraordinarii (those who are only occasionally appointed). Qualifications necessary to hold these positions may be enacted by law properly passed by one of the Comitia. No magistrate or promagistrate shall enter office without a taking of office ceremony of the Religio Romana before, including an inauguration and taking the vows of imperium, the oaths and auspices for the term of office with favorable result; a magistrate or promagistrate without these procedural steps may not legally exercise any powers of his office. No one may hold more than one magistracy at the same time.

A. The magistratus ordinarii are to be elected by the Comitia annually, with the exception of the censors, defined in IV.A.1. As the powers of the praetors and censors are derived from the consul's historical regia potestas, the consuls, praetors and censors shall be elected under the same auspices, and, in addition, the praetors shall be considered as minor colleagues of the consuls whose full ceremonial title is “praetor iudex consul”. Newly elected quaestors shall assume office on the Nones of December (December 5); the tribuni plebis and aediles plebis shall enter their offices on the fourth day before the Ides of December (December 10); all other magistrates shall enter their offices on the Kalends of January (January 1). Should an office in mid-term become vacant and suitable candidates be at hand, an election shall be held in the appropriate Comitia to elect a successor to serve out the remainder of the term within one month of the vacancy. The magistratus ordinarii, in decreasing order of authority, are as follows:

1. Censor. Two censors shall be elected by the Comitia Centuriata to be regarded as the most sacred magistrates kept in the highest respect, to serve a term lasting a maximum of eighteen months, to be elected once in every thirty months, to conduct the census of Nova Roma, which shall be initiated no later than in the thirtieth month after the lustrum of the previous census, observing that one in two censuses be completed before the end of every fifth calendar year of Nova Roma. The censors shall not necessarily remain in office until the end of their term, but they may resign from office after they have completed the census and the lustrum. If a censor dies, resigns, or is removed from office, the remaining censor shall resign no later than within a nundinum. When there are no censors in office, their duties listed under IV.A.1.c-d, without the right to award public knighthoods, shall be continued by the Censorial Office directly administered by the praefectus rei publicae administrandae under the legal authority of the consuls who shall only supervise the lawfulness of the operation of the Censorial Office; the rest of the censorial powers shall remain in abeyance. All censorial decisions shall be made by unanimous collegial decision. The censors shall have the following honors, powers, and obligations:

a. To hold potestas and the auspicia maiora, and to conduct the census with the lustrum, which shall include the lectio senatus (appointment and removal of senators), the recognitio et probatio equitum (elevation to, or removal from, the Equestrian Order), the regimen morum (general control, with disciplinary power, over the public conduct and morals of citizens, including the punishments of tribu movere: to re-allocate an assiduus citizen from a rural tribe to an urban tribe; senatu movere: to remove a senator from the senate, equum adimere: to remove the rank of “eques equo publico” from an equestrian; in aerarios referre: to remove the voting rights of citizens by exclusion from all tribes and centuries, simultaneously removing them from the Senate and the Equestrian Order, too), to possess an incomplete ius coercitionis limited to be used within their duties, and the ius edicendi restricted only to issue those edicta that are necessary to carry out those tasks in which they are mandated by law to engage;

b. To review, evaluate and set the direction of the public works, properties (in cooperation with the aediles) and finances of the state between two censuses;

c. To maintain the album civium (list of citizens) including the list of gentes, the allocation of citizens into tribes, centuries and classes as described by law, and other appropriate information regarding them;

d. To maintain the album equitum (lists of members of the equestrian order), including the power to add and remove names on that list;

e. To maintain the album senatorium (list of Senators), including the power to add and remove names on that list according to qualifications set by law;

f. To safeguard the public morality, virtue, honor and decency through public chastisements (animadversio) and through the collegial administering of notae;

i. The nota censoria shall include the public explanation of the reasons for the disciplinary action and the recommended behavior which could convince the censors to lift the nota;

ii. The nota censoria shall impose one or more punishments that the censors are empowered to inflict, listed at IV.A.1.a;

iii. A nota shall remain in force until such time as it is removed by the same or by subsequent censors;

g. To appoint apparitors and other officers to assist with administrative and other tasks, as they shall see fit.

2. Consul. Two consuls shall be elected annually by the comitia centuriata to serve a term lasting one year. They shall have the following honors, powers, and obligations:

a. To hold the regia potestas et imperium and the auspicia maiora, and to exercise, even when the use of imperium is restricted, full iurisdictio, the ius coercitionis, the ius intercessionis, the ius edicendi, the ius agendi cum populo (the right to call the Comitia of the whole people), the ius agendi cum Senatu (also known as “ius agendi cum patribus”, the right to call the Senate) and to have the honor of being preceded by twelve lictors; the consuls are responsible in general for the government of Nova Roma;

b. To issue those edicta necessary to advance the mission and function of Nova Roma and to administer the law;

c. To call the Senate, the comitia centuriata, and the comitia populi tributa to order;

d. To pronounce intercessio (intercession; a veto) against another consul or magistrate of lesser authority;

e. To appoint by unanimous collegial decision, the praefectus rei publicae (administrandae), modelled on the ancient praefectus urbi, as a general deputy, representative and prime assistant to coordinate the executive offices and the administration of Nova Roma, and individually or collegially, apparitors and other officers to assist with administrative and other tasks, as they shall see fit.

3. Praetor. Two praetors shall be elected by the Comitia Centuriata to serve a term lasting one year. They shall have the following honors, powers, and obligations:

a. To hold the lesser regia potestas et imperium and the auspicia maiora, and to exercise, even when the use of imperium is restricted, full iurisdictio, the ius coercitionis, the ius intercessionis, the ius edicendi, the ius agendi cum populo, the ius agendi cum Senatu, to deputize for the consuls in any of their powers and duties; and to have the honor of being preceded by six lictors; the praetors are responsible for the administration of justice and judicial procedures in Nova Roma which shall be defined and regulated by law;

b. To issue those edicta necessary to advance the mission and function of Nova Roma and to administer the law;

c. To call the Senate, the Comitia Centuriata, and the Comitia Tributa to order;

d. To pronounce intercessio against another praetor or magistrate of lesser authority;

e. To appoint apparitors and other officers to assist with administrative and other tasks, as they shall see fit.

4. Aedilis curulis (curule aedile). Two curule aediles shall be elected by the comitia populi tributa to serve a term lasting one year. They shall have the following honors, powers, and obligations:

a. To hold lower potestas, incomplete iurisdictio (the right to interpret and administer the law and to administer justice, limited to cases within their duties and to smaller punishments defined by law), incomplete ius coercitionis limited to be used within their duties, the ius intercessionis and the ius edicendi, all of which rights and powers are restricted only to be exercised within their scope of authority, that is, to oversee and manage the cultural life, festivals and celebrations, public market and commerce within Nova Roma, the public infrastructure, the official and public fora, media, websites and communication platforms and the public order of Nova Roma, or any additional tasks assigned to them by law; and to have the honor of being preceded by two lictors;

b. To issue those edicta necessary to ensure public order, to regulate public space and market, to see to the maintenance of public facilities, conduct of public games, festivals and gatherings, and to administer the law;

c. To pronounce intercessio against another aedile (curule or plebeian) or magistrate of lesser authority;

d. To appoint apparitors and other officers to assist with administrative and other tasks, as they shall see fit.

e. To maintain the venues of market and commerce within Nova Roma.

5. Aedilis plebis (plebeian aedile). Two plebeian aediles shall be elected by the comitia plebis tributa to serve a term lasting one year. They must both be of the plebs and shall have the following honors, powers, and obligations:

a. To hold lower potestas, incomplete iurisdictio (the right to interpret and administer the law and to administer justice, limited to cases within their duties and to smaller punishments defined by law), incomplete ius coercitionis limited to be used within their duties, the ius intercessionis and the ius edicendi, all of which rights and powers are restricted only to be exercised within their scope of authority, that is, to oversee and manage the cultural life, festivals and celebrations, public market and commerce within Nova Roma, the public infrastructure, the official and public fora, media, websites and communication platforms and the public order of Nova Roma, or any additional tasks assigned to them by law; and to assist the tribunes of the plebs in any plebeian matter as mandated by them;

b. To issue those edicta necessary to ensure public order, to regulate public space and market, to see to the maintenance of public facilities, conduct of public games, festivals and gatherings, and to administer the law;

c. To pronounce intercessio against another aedile (curule or plebeian) or magistrate of lesser authority;

d. To appoint apparitors and other officers to assist with administrative and other tasks, as they shall see fit.

e. To maintain the venues of market and commerce within Nova Roma.

6. Quaestor. Eight quaestors shall be elected by the Comitia Tributa to serve a term lasting one year. One quaestor shall be assigned to each consul and praetor by mutual agreement or, if such cannot be made, by decision of the newly-elected consuls to serve them as their general assistants in their duties and manager of the funds allocated to these magistrates. The four other quaestors shall be assigned various administrative tasks, duties and projects by any higher ranking officer, by the Senate or the Comitia. Any two of the quaestors, assigned to the provincia of the aerarium by the Senate, shall be the quaestores aerarii, chief treasurers, supervising and administering the aerarium (state treasury), but funds may be spent only according to the directives of the Senate. Any quaestor, even those already assigned to magistrates, can be assigned to governors in the same functions, and after their term of office, the governor can prorogue the term of his quaestor in the territory of the province with the title “proquaestor”. All quaestors shall have the following honors, powers, and obligations:

a. To hold lower potestas, incomplete ius coercitionis and ius intercessionis, all of which rights and powers are restricted only to be exercised within their scope of authority, that is, to supervise, manage or execute tasks, duties and projects assigned to them by law or order by a higher ranking officer, the Senate or the Comitia;

b. To guard and administer the legal handover of government, including the oaths of office, to act as legal and financial controllers of the other officers, to serve as public prosecutors, investigators and chief law enforcement officers, to assist at Nova Roman judicial proceedings and to administer the law;

c. To serve as representatives, delegates and deputies of the magistrates, governors or other officers to whom they are assigned, acting in their name with full competence in the extent as defined by their superior;

d. To employ apparitors from among the existing ones, based on mutual agreement between quaestor and apparitor, as assistants in administrative and other tasks, as they shall see fit. This assignment of an apparitor to a quaestor shall be made by an edictum of the praefectus rei publicae administrandae (who shall have the ius edicendi) at the order of the quaestor, or in absence of such praefectus, or by any officer with the ius edicendi at their discretion.

7. Tribunus plebis (tribune of the plebs). Five tribunes of the plebs shall be elected from among the plebeian citizens by the Comitia Plebis Tributa to serve a term lasting one year, who shall be sacrosanct and inviolable. The tribunes of the plebs have powers only within the central civilian administration of Nova Roma, they cannot interact with provincial governors and officers or within the ceremonial military of Nova Roma. They shall have the following honors, powers, and obligations:

a. To hold the special tribunicia potestas, derived from their ius auxilii ferendi (the right to bring help to a citizen negatively impacted by a magistrate) which is the main duty and the basis of all other powers of the tribunes: the highest degree of ius coercitionis, encompassing the ius prehensionis (prehensio, 'detainment': the right to suspend the citizenship rights and the office of a someone who obstructs the tribunes in the performance of their duties, for no longer than 72 hours), the highest degree of ius intercessionis, the ius edicendi, the ius agendi cum plebe (the right to call the Comitia of the plebs) and the ius agendi cum Senatu in business concerning the plebs only;

i. As the tribunes are sacrosanct and inviolable, they are empowered to apply disciplinary and judiciary actions within Nova Roma against anyone who hinders them in the exercise of their duties, as defined by law.

ii. The ius prehensionis may only be exercised with the unanimous collegial decision of all tribunes of the plebs, and the issuing of the prehensio shall include a legal reasoning, citing the articles of law which are being violated by the offender. Without such a reasoned exposition, the prehensio is invalid, null and void. The person subject to the prehensio may appeal to the people for legal redress within the first 48 hours of the prehensio, in which case the tribunes are obliged to call the Comitia Plebis Tributa immediately, no later than within 72 hours after the appeal, or if calendrical restrictions do not allow this, on the next possible day, to vote on the justification of the prehensio. If the tribunes do not convene the Comitia within these time frames, or if the Comitia judges the prehensio unjust, the prehensio shall be considered to have been done illegally, and the tribunes lose their right to exercise prehensio for the rest of their term.

b. To pronounce intercessio (intercession; a veto), only within the central administration of Nova Roma, against the actions or decisions of any other magistrate (with the exception of the dictator and the interrex), fellow tribune, other central officers, edicta, decreta after their issuance, or motions for Senatus consulta and leges before their enactment, which would violate, in their interpretation, the rights and interests of the plebs, a plebeian citizen, any citizens, or the mission and function of Nova Roma, or the letter and spirit of any law. Once a pronouncement of intercessio has been made, the other tribunes may, at their discretion, state either their support for or their disagreement with that intercessio. When a dictator is in office, the tribunes' right of intercessio is suspended, and they are not permitted to issue intercessio against consuls and officers acting under the authority of a Senatus consultum ultimum.

i. If the validity of a tribunician intercessio is contested, the praetors, within 48 hours of the issuance of the intercessio, may rule on it based on their full iurisdictio, against which ruling there shall be no place for tribunician intercessio, but the tribunes shall have the right to bring the case to the Comitia Plebis Tributa, within 72 hours after the praetor's decision, or if calendrical restrictions do not allow this, on the next possible day, to overrule the praetors' decision. The declaration of the praetor shall include a legal reasoning, citing the articles of law which serve as evidence for the invalidity of the intercessio. Without such a reasoned exposition, the overruling of the intercessio by the praetor is invalid, null and void. No prehensio may be applied against a praetor for such a praetorian declaration. If the Comitia Plebis Tributa decide that the praetor's verdict was correct, no tribune may ever issue another intercessio against the same action or decision until a new lex authorizes them to do so.

ii. If a tribunician intercessio is declared invalid by the praetors, it ceases to have effect until the decision is overturned by the Comitia Plebis Tributa, and then it shall take force retroactively and it shall annul the act which was vetoed and its effects.

iii. Each Tribune may issue only one such declaration of support or disagreement, but may change their declaration from one to the other, should they wish to do so.

iv. The initial pronouncement of intercessio by a Tribune shall count as that Tribune's declaration of agreement.

v. Should the number or the Tribunes who choose to disagree with an intercessio equal or exceed the number of Tribunes who choose to support it, the intercessio shall be revoked.

1. Intercessio may not be imposed against statements of support for or disagreement with a use of intercessio that are issued pursuant to the preceding paragraph.

2. The issuance and function of intercessio shall be defined according to procedures described by legislation passed by Comitia.

c. To be immune from intercessio pronounced by other magistrates, except as described in paragraphs IV. A. 7 .a. and IV. A. 7. b. above;

d. To be privy to the debates of the Senate, and keep the citizens informed as to the subjects and results thereof, in such manner and subject to such restrictions as may be defined by law;

e. To call the Comitia Plebis Tributa to order; and to call the Senate to order for advice in matters strictly within the sphere of duties of the tribunes, and to enact Senatus consulta which may include such decisions only that are strictly internal business of the plebs or internal administrative matters of the tribuni plebis, except when the tribune shall call the Senate for approving a plebiscite requiring ratification by the Senate, or in other cases defined by law;

f. To help and protect the plebeians and all citizens from any discriminating action of the magistrates, to act as legal controllers of all officers, to conduct judicial procedures in connection with their duties, to serve as public prosecutors, public defenders, and to administer the law;

g. To appoint apparitors to assist with administrative and other tasks, as they shall see fit.

8. Vigintisexvir (Magistrate of the twenty-six). Collectively, the vigintisexviri shall be various magistrates elected by the Comiti Tributa to serve a term lasting one year to fulfill those necessary functions as shall be assigned to them by law enacted by one of the Comitia of the people. Their collective title may be changed by law from vigintisexvir to reflect their real number in Latin.

9. Tribunus militum comitiatus (Elected military tribune). The Comitia Tributa shall elect a number of military tribunes (also called tribuni militum a populo) elected to fulfill functions related to the ceremonial and reenacting military of Nova Roma as defined by law enacted by one of the Comitia of the people. Military tribune is also a military rank (tribuni militum rufuli), promoted by the consuls, praetors, governors or other commanding officers of a legion.

B. The magistratus extraordinarii are as follows:

1. Dictator. In times of emergency or to complete special extraordinary tasks, the consuls, upon the mandate of the Senate, may appoint a dictator to serve a term not to exceed six months, who shall possess all powers and rights of all magistrates and the judiciary, including all of their authorizations mentioned in this lex or elsewhere in the legal system of Nova Roma. A motion for appointing a dictator, the enactment process of the Senatus consultum about the appointment of the dictator, or the actual appointment by the consul, are not subject to tribunician intercessio (installing a dictator by Senatus consultum ultimum shall remain subject to tribunician intercessio). In the mandate for the appointment of the dictator, the Senate shall prescribe definite tasks or boundaries within which the dictator is obliged to remain, and after the task is completed, the dictator shall resign from office within a nundinum. The dictator can exercise imperium within the central administration, as well, subject to neither intercessio nor provocatio, and the edicta of the dictator are absolute, under the constraints of this Constitution, within the tasks and boundaries prescribed by the Senate. The edictum of the dictator may not be used in place of a lex or Senatus consultum to enact a change in the Constitution or in the Articles of Incorporation, or in place of a decretum pontificum to appoint priests. Those instructions and measures of the dictatorial edicta which overruled leges, Senatus consulta or decreta in the legal system of Nova Roma may not remain in force after the term of office of the dictator has ended: they cease to have any validity or effect. However, the edicta or the parts of an edictum that are not in conflict with the aforementioned types of law, the day-to-day management, operational actions and decisions implemented by the dictator for Nova Roma that do not create new law conflicting with laws of higher legal precedence, will not become reversed or annulled automatically after the tenure of the dictatura, only the changes to the legal system of Nova Roma which would be in conflict with existing leges, Senatus consulta or decreta. The dictator shall appoint a magister equitum as his deputy with lesser imperium equal to a praetor's, who shall assist the dictator as mandated and shall act in his name. The dictator shall hold greater imperium and potestas regia than any magistrate and shall have the honor of being preceded by twenty-four lictors.

2. Interrex. Should both consular positions be vacant and should there be no praetors in office at the same time, the Senate shall immediately appoint an interrex to serve a term lasting five days, and as many subsequent interreges, as will be needed to organize elections to elect the suffect consuls and other missing magistrates to serve out the remainder of the term of office, or in case of a new year, the new consuls and magistrates. The interrex must be a member of the patriciatus, and shall have all the powers and responsibilities of a normally elected consul.

C. Promagistratus (Promagistrate). The Comitia and the Senate can prorogue the imperium of consuls, praetors and the potestas of quaestors (quaestors can be prorogued also by the governor who is their superior) to govern provinces and command legions (or to assist therein, in the case of the quaestor), and can specially create, appoint, and grant consular or praetorian imperium to, governors, commanders or special extraordinary officers. Promagistrates are not magistrates, but private citizen officers who are empowered to exercise the office of magistrate.

D. Commissioner. The Comitia, the Senate, the magistrates and other officers with the ius edicendi, have the right to elect or appoint other officers with Roman titles, patterned upon the legal system of ancient Rome. These are not considered magistrates but commissioners of the state, and they include but are not limited to the office of curator, usually appointed by the senate, the legatus (legate), appointed by the Senate, or upon special authorization of the Senate, by magistrates or other officers, the praefectus (prefect) and the praepositus (provost), usually appointed by magistrates or other officers with the ius edicendi, the tribunus (tribune), usually appointed by consuls, praetors, governors and legion commanders, or elected by the people. The Comitia and the Senate can create, appoint, and grant any rights and powers of any magistrates to special extraordinary commissioners to complete specific tasks. Commissioners, magistrates and promagistrates can be an overlapping category: provincial governors are usually promagistrates, less frequently magistrates, appointed as commissioners to govern a province. If authorized by the Senate, a consul or someone with consular imperium can delegate limited praetorian imperium to a commissioner, but such delegated imperium stays the property and remains under the auspices, control and responsibility of the delegating officer.

E. Apparitor (Civil servant). Collectively, the apparitors are not magistrates but various lower officers appointed as assistants to the higher officers and priests by edictum or by other legal instrument. They shall be appointed into various decuriae to fulfill those necessary functions as shall be assigned to them by law. They shall include the scribae, lictores, viatores, praecones, the unspecified apparitores and the accensi. Other types of apparitors may be defined by law based on Roman historical precedence.

F. Military officers. According to the principles of the classical Roman mos maiorum, military and civilian offices and administration are not separated in Nova Roma, and those magistrates and officers who possess imperium are considered (ceremonial and reenactment) military generals. Certain magistrates and other offices who do not possess imperium, but serve as deputies or delegates to imperium holders, such as quaestors, proquaestors, legates, prefects, provosts and military tribunes (or others defined so by the appointing officer) are considered lieutenant generals or lesser generals. Magistrates and other officers defined as generals can appoint and promote various Roman military officers to military ranks, to military appointments (offices, positions), and can grant certain officers the right to appoint lesser military officers, as defined by law. Military officers can serve in the administration of provinces as a type of commissioners and civil servants (militia officialis) together with the apparitors, and they can serve in the praetorium of the imperium holding officers in the central administration, as well. A law shall define the regulation and the various degrees of autonomy of the ceremonial and reenactment military units of Nova Roma and the role and relationship of these generals and officers regarding them. The aforementioned generals' ranks are political military offices and not professional military ranks: the rank of generals is always a political office. The military rank proper of an individual (including but not limited to tribune, centurio, optio, aquilifer, signifer, tesserarius, decanus) is separate from the political military office (including consul, proconsul, praetor, propraetor, quaestor, proquaestor, legate, prefect, provost, tribune), and different generals can hold different military ranks, or no military rank.

G. General rules for of the operation of magistrates

1. Collegiality. Decisions and actions of the colleague magistrates in the same magistracy can be made individually, jointly or collegially.

a. Individual decisions or actions are the ones taken by only one colleague. Except in cases defined by law, sessions of the Senate and the Comitia can only be called and presided individually. Any decision or action of a magistrate can be vetoed by one or more of his colleagues: the veto procedure (intercessio) and its time frames shall be defined by lex, but the period of time while a decision or action may be vetoed shall be limited to 72 hours, the counting of which period shall be restarted once, and only once, from the time of the first veto in order to allow time for possible counter vetos. As long as an action or decision is not vetoed, it shall be considered to be in force. After a veto has been pronounced, during the period of waiting for possible counter vetoes, the vetoed action or decision shall be considered suspended, and not in force until the end of the waiting period: if a voting has already been started on a vetoed motion, the voting shall proceed uninterrupted, but the law shall not take effect until the end of the veto procedure. If, at the end of the procedure, the veto becomes annulled, the action or decision shall be considered as if it had never been vetoed. These same rules of intercessio shall be applied by the tribunes of the plebs and magistrates of higher authority when vetoing the actions or decisions of magistrates of lower authority.

b. If not all of the colleagues are involved in the making of a decision or action, it shall not be considered to be made collegially, but only a joint decision or action taken by some of the colleagues and not by the entire college.

c. Collegial decisions and actions require the participation (agreement, disagreement, abstention, where the agreements plus abstentions exceed the number of disagreements or vetoes) of all colleagues in the action or decision-making. Unanimous collegial decisions require the agreement or conscious abstention of all colleagues. Colleagues are regarded as involved in an action or decision-making if they were demonstrably informed that they were invited to make a decision or action. If the colleagues are still unresponsive 72 hours after having been contacted and fully informed, their absence shall be counted as conscious abstention even if they protest it later. An unanimous collegial decision may be published as soon as all colleagues were fully informed about it, but it will not be considered unanimous, and might even become null and void depending on the proportion of vetoes, if a colleague still vetoes it.

2. Accountability. Should any officers be found to be derelict in their duties, to abuse their power, or to break the law in any way, they may be removed by a law originating in the Comitia that elected them or by a legal decision of the authority that appointed them. Judicial procedure may not be started against sitting magistrates or promagistrates, but requests for judicial procedure shall be recorded and kept on hold until the end of their term of office when they shall be processed immediately.

3. Transfer of authority. In case of need, certain magistrates shall act in the place of other magistrates, according to the historical and hierarchical nature of their office. If the praetors are not capable to attend their duties, or there are no praetors in office, the consuls, as major colleagues, shall take over the praetorian duties. If the censors are not capable to attend their duties, or there are no censors in office, the consuls shall preside over the censorial office, but they may not directly exercise the censorial functions except in cases, and in a manner, mandated by the Senate or the people; and the aediles shall fill the role of corporate secretary when required by the country of incorporation. As heads of state and government, the consuls, and their deputies, the praetors, shall take over the duties of the aediles if the aediles are not capable to attend their duties, or there are no aediles in office. If only the curule aediles have to be substituted, the plebeian aediles, if only the plebeian aediles have to, the curule aediles shall take over each others' duties. Magistrates, commissioners and governors can transfer their own authority to quaestors (also to proquaestors in the provinces, or optionally also to praetors in the case of the consuls) for a period of time if necessary.

V. The Senate

The supreme policy-making authority for Nova Roma shall be embodied in its Senate. Senators shall be either permanent or temporary members, and voting or non voting members of the Senate. Permanent, full members of the Senate shall be appointed by the censors during the census according to qualifications set by law. Censors, consuls, praetors, and potentially other magistrates determined by lex, shall become ex officio voting members of the Senate upon election to office, but their permanent membership in the Senate will have to be approved by the censors during the census, until which time they shall remain temporary voting members of the Senate. Senators shall hold their senatorial position for life, excepting in cases of resignation or removal from the Senate by the censors or by process of law, loss of citizenship, or extended failure to maintain assiduus status. The Senate may also have non-voting members, defined by lex. The Senate shall have the following powers and responsibilities:

A. As the repository of experience and wisdom in the affairs of State, the Senate shall have the authority to issue Senatus consulta (advice of the Senate) on those topics upon which it shall see fit to comment.

B. The Senate shall exercise control over the aerarium (treasury) and shall oversee the financial endeavors, health, and policy of the state.

1. No later than the last day of November of each year, the Senate shall prepare a budget for the following year. This budget shall deal with the disbursement of funds from the aerarium to the quaestors for various purposes. Even though the quaestors assigned to the consuls shall be responsible for the maintenance of the entire treasury, no funds from it may be disbursed without the prior approval of the Senate. The Senate may, as required by changing circumstances, pass supplemental Senatus consulta to modify the annual budget.

2. The Senate may, by Senatus consultum, impose taxes, fees, or other financial requirements on the citizens in order to maintain the financial welfare of the state.

C. The Senate may, by Senatus Consultum, create provinciae for administrative purposes and appoint provincial governors therefor, who shall bear such titles as the Senate may deem appropriate. The Senate may review each governor on a yearly basis and it remains in the discretion of the Senate whether or not to prorogue such governors, although this review shall not constitute a ban on the authority of the Senate to remove governors from office as its discretion. Governors shall have the following honors, powers, and obligations:

1. To hold imperium et auspicia and have the honor of being preceded by a number of lictors, depending on the rank and degree of their imperium, and solely within the jurisdiction of their respective provinciae, twelve for governors with consular imperium, six for governors with praetorian imperium, who are prorogued in their imperium after their praetorship, and five for governors who are not holding their governorship as propraetors or haven't held the office of praetor. Provinces shall in the first place be given to sitting consuls and praetors, who shall continue their governorship by prorogation of imperium by the Senate or the Comitia. When it is impossible or impractical, provinces should be assigned to former consuls and praetors, whose imperium shall be renewed by the Senate or the Comitia. When no current or former consul or praetor can be found as the most suitable candidate for the governorship, the Senate or the Comitia can grant imperium and assign the province to another individual. No governor shall assume imperium and auspicia without a taking of office ceremony of the Religio Romana before, including an inauguration and taking the vows of imperium, the oaths and auspices for the term of office with favorable result; a governor without these procedural steps may not legally exercise any powers of his office. When a governor's imperium is prorogued, none of these ceremonies shall be required, except for a new province, but they shall be required when the imperium of a sitting magistrate is prorogued for the first time.

2. To proclaim those edicta (edicts) necessary to engage in those tasks which advance the mission and function of Nova Roma, solely within the jurisdiction of their provinciae (such edicts being binding upon themselves as well as others);

3. To manage the day-to-day organization and administration of their provinciae;

4. To appoint officers to whom authority may be delegated, subject to those restrictions and standards as the Senate shall deem appropriate;

5. To remove officers whom they have appointed, or make changes to their titles and/or delegated authority, subject to those restrictions and standards as the Senate shall deem appropriate.

D. In times of emergency, the Senate shall have the power, by a two-thirds majority vote, to issue the Senatus consultum ultimum (the ultimate decree of the Senate) which can, with the exception of this Constitution, supersede all other laws, the judiciary, the magistrates and the Comitia, by making decisions in their place, and can authorize the consuls and other officers to use their imperium in the central administration with absolute powers, under the constraints of this Constitution and within the prescribed scope as defined by the Senatus consultum ultimum, to deal with a specific situation. The Senatus consultum ultimum is a type of Senatus consultum, and as such, it is subject to tribunician intercessio and to all rules regarding Senatus consulta, but magistrates acting under an enacted Senatus consultum ultimum are not subject to tribunician intercessio or provocatio. The Senatus consultum ultimum may not be used in place of a lex to enact a change in the Constitution or in the Articles of Incorporation, or in place of a decretum pontificum to appoint priests. A Senatus consultum ultimum may not remain in force for longer than three months after its enactment: it ceases to have any special authority other than a regular Senatus consultum, and only those parts of the Senatus consultum ultimum retain validity or effect after the three month period has passed which are not in conflict with laws of higher legal precedence above Senatus consultum. Day-to-day management, operational actions, and decisions implemented under the the Senatus consultum ultimum for Nova Roma that do not create new law conflicting with laws of higher legal precedence, will not become reversed or annulled automatically after the expiration of the Senatus consultum ultimum, only the changes to the legal system of Nova Roma that are in conflict with laws of higher legal precedence.

F. The Senate may, by Senatus consultum, enact rules governing its own internal procedure which may be overruled by laws passed in the Comitia only if ratified by the Senate. Leges passed by one of the Comitia which affect or alter the rules by which another Comitia operate internally, or which affect tor alter this lex or the Articles of Incorporation, and plebiscites addressing finances or foreign policy shall be similarly ratified by the Senate. Such ratifications may be done either before or after the enactment of the lex by the Comitia.

VI. Public Religious Institutions

A. The Religio Romana, the worship of the Gods and Goddesses of Rome, shall be the official religion of Nova Roma. All magistrates and Senators, as officers of the State, shall be required to publicly show respect for the Religio Romana and the Gods and Goddesses that made Rome great. Magistrates, Senators, and citizens need not be practitioners of the Religio Romana, but may not engage in any activity that intentionally blasphemes or defames the Gods, the Religio Romana, or its practitioners.

B. The priesthoods of the Gods of Rome shall be organized as closely as practical on the ancient Roman model. The institutions of the Religio Romana shall have authority over religious matters on the level of the state and nation only, maintaining the religious rites of the State and providing resources pertaining to the Religio Romana which Citizens may make use of if they choose. Nova Roma shall approach all other religions with a syncretistic outlook, offering friendship to all paths which acknowledge the right of those who practice and honor the Religio Romana to do so and respect the beliefs thereof. Only Citizens of Nova Roma may be members of the public institutions of the Religio Romana, which shall be organized, and have their responsibilities divided, as follows:

1. The Collegium Pontificum (College of Pontiffs) shall be the highest of the priestly collegia. It shall consist of the pontifex maximus and a number of pontifices, the flamines, Vestales, and the rex sacrorum. The Collegium Pontificum shall determine its internal structure, the number of its constituent priests, and shall appoint its own members, elect the pontifex maximus, and shall define, create and appoint all other priesthoods. The powers and duties of the Collegium Pontificum do not limit the unalienable historical rights of the Comitia and the Senate to mandate rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices, religious offerings or other actions, and to institute holidays or festivals. The Collegium Pontificum shall have the following honors, powers, and responsibilities:

a. To control the the calendar, and determine the festivals and the legal character of the days, and what their effects shall be on the institutions of the state, within the boundaries of the example of ancient Rome, to maintain the official state archives, the various fasti and the annales maximi, and to ensure that the sacred mos maiorum of our spiritual ancestors, the unwritten law and code of conduct of ancient Rome, the traditions of the ancient Roman people, the Roman religion, culture and virtues are celebrated and upheld in an authentic form in Nova Roma;

b. To have general authority and disciplinary power over the institutions, rites, rituals, and priesthoods of the public Religio Romana and in questions of authentic revival and practice of the mos maiorum, and the right to interpret its unwritten laws to be observed by the citizens;

c. To regulate the ius divinum (religious law), the sacra publica, the public rituals and ceremonies, the required ceremonial procedures that validate the offices and actions of the officers and institutions of the state, and

d. To issue decreta (decrees) in all matters discussed in VI.B.1-VI.B.1.c or in any matter that is relevant to the Religio Romana, to any priesthood, and to its own internal procedures (such decreta may not be overruled by laws passed in the Comitia or by Senatus consulta).

2. The Collegium Augurum (College of Augurs) shall be the second-highest ranked of the priestly Collegia. The eldest person of the Collegium shall be the Magister Collegii. The Collegium Augurum shall consist of a number of augurs, determined by the Collegium Pontificum, among whom no more than four may be plebeians. The Collegium Augurum shall coopt its own members, but each member shall be approved and confirmed by the Collegium Pontificum.

a. The collegium augurum shall have the following honors, powers, and responsibilities:

1. To research, practice, and uphold the ars auguria (the art of interpreting divine signs and omens, solicited or otherwise);

2. To issue decreta (decrees) on matters of the ars auguria and its own internal procedures (such decreta may not be overruled by laws passed in the comitia or Senatus consultum).

b. Individual augurs shall have the following honors, powers, and responsibilities:

1. To define templum (sacred space) and celebrate auguria (the rites of augury);

2. To declare obnuntiatio (a declaration that unfavorable and unsolicited omens have been observed that justify a delay of a meeting of one of the comitia or the Senate).

3. Priests shall hold their priesthoods for life, excepting in cases of resignation or removal from priesthood by the Collegium Pontificum, loss of citizenship, or extended failure to maintain assiduus status. Former priests who have resigned or lost their priesthood or citizenship shall remain sacred in their persons, but may exercise no powers or functions, nor shall they be accounted members of their former priestly college. Other religious institutions and priesthoods may be instituted, and different rules than described here set for such other priesthoods, by the Collegium Pontificum, in accordance with the ancient models of the Religio Romana as practiced by our spiritual ancestors.

C. Magistrates and other officers of the people are the executive authorities of the Religio Romana, however, if, for various reasons, they are unable to perform their part in the sacra publica of Nova Roma, they shall have the right to delegate their religious duties to priests of the state, or to any qualified citizens, who as their representatives shall stand in for them in their names in the rituals of the Religio Romana that the magistrates are required to perform.

D. Religious and legal foundations of the institutions of the sacra publica. The first complete ritual, religious and legal establishment of the Collegia, the Senate, the Comitia and the magistrates, initiated by the patres patriae M. Cassius Iulianus and Fl. Vedius Germanicus, was concluded by the ceremonial acts of Completion of the Founding of the Nova Roman Nation, mandated by the People in the original version of this law, on the Ides of October in the year of the tribuni militum consulari potestate Sex. Lucilius Tutor, C. Claudius Quadratus, P. Annaeus Constantinus Placidus and Q. Lutatius Catulus, under the royal auspices of the special rex sacrorum and interrex Cn. Cornelius Lentulus Alexander, pater patriae. The religious and legal validity of the current and past memberships of the Collegia and the Senate derives from the act of ceremonial appointment and confirmation of all members, past and current at that time, by by the rex sacrorum and interrex, authorized by the following passages of the earlier version of this law:

1. The term of office of the tribuni militum consulari potestate shall end on the day before the Ides of October (October 15), in the Sacred 20th Anniversary Year of the Founding of Nova Roma, when they shall transfer the government to a series of interreges.

2. The first interrex shall complete the ritual founding of Nova Roma by reissuing the Declaration of Nova Roma and conducting those proper Latin religious rituals and ceremonies on the Ides of October (October 15), day of the October Horse, a most propitious day to ceremonially close the founding years of Nova Roma, that were missing or not perfectly performed at the founding of Nova Roma 20 years ago. This Completion of the Founding of Nova Roma ceremony shall be performed and the ritual prayers and vows worded in a manner that ensure that Nova Roma as the spiritually legitimate heir to the ancient Roman Empire, and as a state and nation of Nova Romans is fully acknowledged by the Penates, Lares and Manes of the Roman people, the gods of Rome. These rituals shall be supervised by at least one pontifex and one augur who are proficient in Latin and highly respected experts of the sacra publica and cultus deorum. The first interrex in the series of interreges shall be the person who has already served as the first ever interrex of Nova Roma, Cn. Cornelius Lentulus Alexander. His appointment shall be formally made by a Senatus consultum ultimum, enacted no later than the last day of September, and the same Senatus consultum ultimum shall define the specific order and sequence of interreges until the day before the Kalends of January (December 31).

3. After the founding rituals are completed, the elections for the next year shall be conducted by the interreges, in a manner described by the Senatus consultum ultimum that specifies the order and sequence of the interreges, and the new government shall enter office on the next Kalends of January.

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CXLIII: Lex Aurelia de legionibus

Preamble

Whereas in the Declaration of Nova Roma, the New Roman People renounced, “eternally and without exception”, the use of force in the pursuit of the restoration of the Roman republic, in order to exist “as a lawful, peaceful and benign nation, in accord with the principles acknowledged and shared by the world community”, the Army of the New Roman People (Exercitus Populi Novi Romani) may only exist as a ceremonial honor guard and martial arts corps promoting the history of the Roman army and spreading Romanitas and the idea of Nova Roma in the modern world through educational activity, experimental archaeology and historical reenactment. For 20 years, the status of the military reenactment groups of Nova Roma wasn’t regulated by permanent legislation, however, as the expansion of our republic necessitates this, in the 20th Anniversary Year of Nova Roma, the Sacred Year of Concordia, as a tribute to our founding principles, the Nova Roman People enacts the following law:

I. ((The Ceremonial Army of the Nova Roman People))

The entirety of all the military units of Nova Roma is the Exercitus (Reconstructivus/Ritualis) Populi Novi Romani Quiritium (the Reenactment Armed Forces of the New Roman People of the Quirites), and, as a consequence of their imperium, its ceremonial supreme commanders and commanders-in-chief are the consules of the year, its vice-supreme commanders are the praetores, the territorial commanders-in-chief are governors of the provinces, but other, specially appointed commanders may exist, as well.

II. ((The autonomy of the units of the Ceremonial Army of Nova Roma))

The Exercitus Populi Novi Romani Quiritium is composed of independent, autonomous, self-governing reenactment units which all have their own rules of operation, determined by themselves. Their independence can be of varying degree according to their own decision about how much control they want to retain for themselves, but in the list of priority in the access to privileges within Nova Roma the principle must be observed that the more involved is the central management of Nova Roma in the management of the unit, the more support shall be given to the reenactment unit from the organization.

III. ((Types and hierarchy of units))

The highest units of the Reenactment Armed Forces of Nova Roma are the autonomous, self-governing military units, three types of which can exist: the Autonomous Reenactment Legio, the Autonomous Reenactment Cohors, and the Autonomous Reenactment Exercitus, which is an independent and self-governing reenactment organization composed of more than one Legiones. Each Autonomous Reenactment Unit in Nova Roma is completely self-governing and operates according to their own rules and practices. The difference between the Autonomous Reenactment Legio and Cohors is in name only, and it is determined only by the reenactors’ intention of what type of ancient Roman unit they want to represent, therefore these all can be colloquially referred to in a simplified form as “legion (Legio, Cohors) or joint legions (Exercitus) of Nova Roma”, but in order to avoid confusion, all three categories will be referred to as “Automonous Reenactment Unit of Nova Roma” henceforward if all of them are indicated at the same time.

IV. ((Establishment of an Autonomous Nova Roman Military Reenactment Unit of Nova Roma))

An Autonomous Reenactment Unit of Nova Roma can be established only by an official act of levy of a magistrate or governor with imperium. If a Roman military reenactment group wishes to be part of Nova Roma, or if a Nova Roman citizen or group of citizens wish to create a new reenactment group as part of Nova Roma, they shall obtain the consent of the provincial governor with imperium or any magistrate with imperium, who then shall issue an edict on the levy of the reenactment unit in question, specifying the unit as a Nova Roman Military Reenactment Unit. A reenactment group can be declared as a Nova Roman unit only if it requires by rule that all of its soldiers (not including tirones) have to be Nova Roman citizens. The Chief Commanding Officer (CO, simply “commander” hereafter) of the Nova Roman reenactment unit shall be ceremonially appointed by a magistrate or governor with imperium, but the actual method of selecting the commander shall be done according to the internal rules of the unit. The appointment by the Nova Roman authorities is purely a formal and ceremonial action, and the magistrate or governor with imperium must appoint any citizen as commander whom the leadership of the unit requests.

V. ((The internal structure of reenactment units))

The internal structure of these autonomous units, whether they are composed of more divisions, regiments, battalions, companies or squads (legiones, cohortes, manipuli, centuriae, contubernia), is left to the internal decision of that reenactment unit. Nova Roma will keep direct contact only with the autonomous top unit (which encompasses all subdivisions and represents the totality of the reenactment organization), and the responsible contact person and representative for Nova Roma will be the Chief Commanding Officer of the Autonomous Reenactment Unit.

VI. ((The rank and office of a commander of a reenactment unit))

The Chief Commanding Officer of an Autonomous Reenactment Unit of Nova Roma must hold the military rank of Tribunus, or the title of Praefectus Cohortis or Praefectus Legionis, which are not military ranks proper, but political military offices. If the commander’s military rank is not Tribunus, he can hold any other military rank (Tesserarius, Optio, Centurio etc…), but he must immediately be promoted to, and must concurrently hold, the political army rank of Praefectus as well. The rank of Praefectus is automatically granted by Nova Roma to a commander of any Autonomous Nova Roman Reenactment Unit, but formally they shall receive their appointment from the governor of the province where the group resides or from the consuls or from other magistrates with imperium, and the appointing governor or magistrate shall be the immediate ceremonial superior of the appointed commander. This appointment is a requirement to the establishment or recognition of a new Nova Roman unit, and each autonomous unit leader is entitled to it. The duty of the autonomous unit commander is to serve as the representative of Nova Roma within the unit and for the public, and as liaison and coordinator between the leadership of Nova Roma and his unit.

VII. ((Special military political office for commanders of a Legio or an Exercitus))

A commander of an autonomous Legio, or a commander of an autonomous Exercitus, composed of more than one legions, shall wear the political rank of Legatus or Legatus Legionis. This rank is not granted automatically, however, but it is granted at the discretion of the Senate or of a governor or magistrate with imperium. The rank of Legatus is not permanent, it is not a military rank proper, but a political office within the military, and it expires after the term of office is over. In case it has expired, the commander can ask for a renewal of his appointment. If he doesn’t get immediately re-appointed, he can still continue as the actual commander of his reenactment group (but now as Praefectus or Tribunus) without any interruption.

VIII. ((Establishment of an Allied Military Reenactment Unit))

Besides fully Nova Roman reenactment units, Nova Roma accepts Allied Military Reenactment Units as its partner groups. If a Roman or any ancient Roman-era military reenactment group (Germanic, Gallic etc.) wishes to be an allied unit of Nova Roma, they shall obtain the consent of the provincial governor with imperium or any magistrate with imperium, who then shall issue an edict on the acceptance of the reenactment unit in question, specifying the unit as a military reenactment unit allied to Nova Roma. A reenactment group can be declared as an allied unit of Nova Roma only if it has at least one Nova Roman citizen among its soldiers who shall be the representative of Nova Roma within the unit and for the public, and as liaison and coordinator between the leadership of Nova Roma and his unit. There are no other requirements regarding the internal structure of an Allied Reenactment Unit.

IX. ((Establishment of a Friendly Military Reenactment Unit))

A Roman-era military reenactment organization representing any ancient Roman-era culture or ethnicity can apply for the status of recommended or sponsored military unit of Nova Roma with the title “friend of Nova Roma” (amicus populi Novi Romani). If a Roman or any ancient Roman-era military reenactment group (Germanic, Gallic etc.) wishes to be a friend of Nova Roma, they shall obtain the consent of the provincial governor with imperium or any magistrate with imperium, who then shall issue an edict on the acceptance of the reenactment unit in question, specifying the unit as a friend of Nova Roma. A reenactment group can be declared as a friend of Nova Roma only if it makes a reference to its friendship with Nova Roma on its main internet location (website or social media page). There are no other requirements regarding the internal structure of an Friendly Military Reenactment Unit. A unit that is a friend of Nova Roma shall have the right to have its own page on the Nova Roma website where it can introduce and promote itself, and shall have a limited number of promotional opportunities on the fora or social media pages and groups of Nova Roma.

X. ((Rights and privileges of an Autonomous Nova Roman Military Reenactment Unit))

An Autonomous Reenactment Unit shall have the following privileges granted by Nova Roma:

X.A. A Nova Roman Military Reenactment Unit shall have unlimited use of the website and online communication channels of Nova Roma for advertisement, recruitment and announcements of any kind, restricted only by reasonable forum moderation in case of disruptive or uncooperative behavior.

X.B. A Nova Roman Military Reenactment Unit shall have unlimited priority access to expert counsel and assistance regarding research and questions about Roman culture, religion, history, archaeology, military, Latin language or any questions requiring professional assistance for a Roman legionary reenactment unit.

X.C. A Nova Roman Military Reenactment Unit shall have priority entitlement to financial or other type of support depending on the state of the treasury.

X.D. A Nova Roman Military Reenactment Unit shall have unlimited right to cooperation and networking with all other Nova Roman legions, allied units and groups that are friends of Nova Roma, with priority granted regarding invitations to public appearances and business opportunities offered by other Nova Roman units or by the central or provincial administrations of Nova Roma.

X.E. All these privileges are granted for free to an Autonomous Reenactment Unit of Nova Roma: there is no membership fee, there is no requirement regarding activity and it is not mandatory to appear at Nova Roma events or to do certain things; the unit can operate entirely according to its internal organization. The only requirement regarding activity remains that the unit must recognize its programs, events as events of Nova Roma.

XI. ((Obligations of an Autonomous Nova Roman Military Reenactment Unit))

An Autonomous Reenactment Unit or any subdivision unit of an autonomous military reenactment organization of Nova Roma shall fulfill, and once fulfilled, it shall maintain, the following requirements before being conscripted as a Nova Roman legion or other unit type:

XI.A. A Nova Roman Military Reenactment Unit shall possess, use, respect and honor with salutation a flag of Nova Roma as its most sacred national flag publicly besides its own unit standards and flags.

XI.B. A Nova Roman Military Reenactment Unit shall respect and honor with salutation the magistrates and other state officers of Nova Roma, and shall recognize these magistrates as their own state magistrates, but this remains a ceremonial requirement and the magistrates of Nova Roma don’t have any right to give orders to an Autonomous Reenactment Unit unless it is agreed upon otherwise by the leadership of the unit.

XI.C. A Nova Roman Military Reenactment Unit shall recognize the rank of the officers of other Nova Roman legions as real and equal to its own ranks; this is a purely formal and ceremonial gesture, officers of another reenactment unit shall not have any actual commanding power within an Autonomous Reenactment Unit unless with mutual agreement between the groups.

XI.D. All programs and events of a Nova Roman Reenactment Unit shall count as programs and events of Nova Roma, Nova Roma shall have the right to use the events, programs, photos or promotional materials of the unit, and the unit can also advertise all other programs of Nova Roma as its own programs within the extended organization. A reenactment group of Nova Roma shall state this fact on its main internet location (website or social media page), and shall post a link to the Nova Roma website on its main internet location.

XI.E. Reenactor soldiers of a military unit of Nova Roma shall swear an oath of loyalty to the Nova Roman Republic in which they pledge to promote Roman culture and traditions, Roman virtues and values through their educational activities as reenactors. Reenactor soldiers of Nova Roma must keep the safety of their members and the safety of their audience as their highest priority during their performances, must abstain from any form of real violence of harmful intention, must maintain a high ethical standard of civilized and polite behavior, benevolence and spirit of brotherhood toward all reenactors, must avoid uncivilized conflicts with other groups, or if a conflict emerges, they must not let such conflicts be noticeable to the public in any form.

XII. ((Rights and privileges of an Allied Military Reenactment Unit))

An Allied Military Reenactment Unit of Nova Roma shall have the following privileges granted by Nova Roma:

XII.A. An Allied Military Reenactment Unit of Nova Roma shall have the right to use of the website and the online communication channels of Nova Roma for advertisement, recruitment and announcements of any kind, restricted by the priority rights of the fully Nova Roman legions to these tools.

XII.B. An Allied Military Reenactment Unit of Nova Roma shall have access to expert counsel and assistance regarding research and questions about Roman culture, religion, history, archaeology, military, Latin language or any questions requiring professional assistance for a Roman legionary reenactment unit. This right is restricted by the priority rights of the fully Nova Roman legions to these tools.

XII.C. An Allied Military Reenactment Unit shall have right to cooperation and networking with all other Nova Roman legions, allied units and groups that are friends of Nova Roma.

XII.D. All these privileges are granted for free to an allied unit of Nova Roma: there is no membership fee, there is no requirement regarding activity and it is not mandatory to appear at Nova Roma events or to do certain things; the unit can operate entirely according to its internal organization.

XIII. ((Obligations of an Allied Military Reenactment Unit))

An Allied Military Reenactment Unit of Nova Roma shall fulfill, and once fulfilled, it shall maintain, the following requirements before being recognized as an allied unit of Nova Roma:

XIII.A. An Allied Military Reenactment Unit of Nova Roma shall respect and honor with salutation a flag of Nova Roma.

XIII.B. An Allied Military Reenactment Unit of Nova Roma shall respect and honor with salutation the magistrates and other state officers of Nova Roma, but this remains a ceremonial requirement and the magistrates of Nova Roma don’t have any right to give orders to the allied unit unless it is agreed upon otherwise by the leadership of the unit.

XIII.C. An Allied Military Reenactment Unit of Nova Roma shall recognize the rank of the officers of other Nova Roman legions as real and equal to its own ranks; this is a purely formal and ceremonial gesture, officers of another reenactment unit shall not have any actual commanding power within an Allied Reenactment Unit unless with mutual agreement between the groups.

XIII.D. An allied reenactment group of Nova Roma shall state the fact of alliance on its main internet location (website or social media page), and shall post a link to the Nova Roma website on its main internet location.

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CXLIV: Lex Aurelia de familiis gladiatoriis et ludis gladiatoriis

Preamble

Nova Roma is committed against any use of real violence with harmful intention, however, the ancient Roman martial arts of the gladiators encompasses, besides the negative aspects of violence, a historical value and a deeper meaning of noble ideas of fate, human virtues, honor, life and death, mythological motives and religious devotion. With the non-violent, playful, educational but serious reconstruction of the ancient Roman gladiatorial games, Nova Roma aims to invoke that nobler spirit and spiritual aspect in the martial arts of the gladiators, and strives to educate about their historical and cultural significance in order to promote the history of the Roman army and to spread Romanitas and the idea of Nova Roma in the modern world through educational activity, experimental archaeology and historical reenactment. For 20 years, the status of the gladiatorial groups of Nova Roma wasn’t regulated, however, as the expansion of our republic necessitates this, in the 20th Anniversary Year of Nova Roma, the Sacred Year of Concordia, as a tribute to our founding principles, the Nova Roman People enacts the following law:

I. ((Definition of a familia gladiatoria and ludus gladiatorius))

A gladiatorial reenactment group is officially termed as a familia gladiatoria or ludus gladiatorius; the designation is chosen at the discretion of the group, but the term “ludus” is recommended for those groups where education of children or training of gladiators is in the focus, while the term familia is recommended for a less school-like, veteran gladiatorial group where training is not in the focus but public performances fill most of the time of the group.

II. ((The autonomy of the gladiatorial groups of Nova Roma))

Nova Roma recognizes its own gladiatorial groups and allied gladiatorial groups as an Autonomous Gladiatorial Reenactment Group of Nova Roma or as Allied Gladiatorial Reenactment Groups. Each type works as an independent, autonomous, self-governing gladiatorial reenactment group with its own rules of operation, determined by the group. Their independence can be of varying degree according to their own decision about how much control they want to retain for themselves, but in the list of priority in the access to privileges within Nova Roma the principle must be observed that the more involved is the central management of Nova Roma in the management of the gladiatorial group, the more support shall be given to the reenactment group from the organization.

III. ((Establishment of an Autonomous Nova Roman Gladiatorial Reenactment Group of Nova Roma))

An Autonomous Gladiatorial Reenactment Group of Nova Roma can be established only by registration at the aedilician office, and the aediles (either central Nova Roman aediles or municipal, township level aediles) will grant this status if the applicant group meets the requirements. If a gladiatorial group wishes to be part of Nova Roma, or if a Nova Roman citizen or group of citizens wish to create a new gladiatorial reenactment group as part of Nova Roma, they shall obtain the consent of the aediles, who then shall issue an edict on the recognition of the reenactment group in question, specifying the unit as a Nova Roman Gladiatorial Reenactment Group. A gladiatorial group can be declared as a Nova Roman gladiatorial group only if its lanista is a Nova Roman citizen; the position of the lanista is selected and regulated by internal group rules. The gladiators of the group do not necessarily have to be Nova Roman citizens, but when a decision between groups about granting support, favor or privilege is made, the proportion of Nova Roman citizens in the group shall be taken into the weighing of the selection of the group to be favored.

IV. ((Establishment of an Allied Gladiatorial Reenactment Group))

An Allied Gladiatorial Group can be established by the same registration method as a fully Nova Roman gladiatorial group, and the aediles shall issue an edict on the recognition of the reenactment group in question, specifying the unit as an allied gladiatorial reenactment group of Nova Roma. A gladiatorial group can be declared as an allied gladiatorial group only if it has at least one Nova Roman citizen among its members who shall be the representative of Nova Roma within the group and for the public, and as liaison and coordinator between the leadership of Nova Roma and his group.

V. ((Rights and privileges of an Autonomous Nova Roman Gladiatorial Reenactment Group))

An Autonomous Gladiatorial Reenactment Group of Nova Roma shall have the following privileges granted by Nova Roma:

V.A. A Nova Roman Gladiatorial Reenactment Group shall have unlimited use of the website and online communication channels of Nova Roma for advertisement, recruitment and announcements of any kind, restricted only by reasonable forum moderation in case of disruptive or uncooperative behavior.

V.B. A Nova Roman Gladiatorial Reenactment Group shall have unlimited priority access to expert counsel and assistance regarding research and questions about Roman culture, religion, history, archaeology, Latin language or any questions requiring professional assistance for a Roman gladiatorial reenactment group.

V.C. A Nova Roman Gladiatorial Reenactment Group shall have priority entitlement to financial or other type of support depending on the state of the treasury.

V.D. A Nova Roman Gladiatorial Reenactment Group shall have unlimited right to cooperation and networking with all other Nova Roman or allied gladiatorial groups, with priority granted regarding invitations to public appearances and business opportunities offered by other Nova Roman groups or by the central or provincial administrations of Nova Roma.

V.E. All these privileges are granted for free to an Autonomous Gladiatorial Reenactment Group of Nova Roma: there is no membership fee, there is no requirement regarding activity and it is not mandatory to appear at Nova Roma events or to do certain things; the groups can operate entirely according to its internal organization. The only requirement regarding activity remains that the group must recognize its programs, events as events of Nova Roma.

VI. ((Obligations of an Autonomous Nova Roman Gladiatorial Reenactment Group))

An Autonomous Gladiatorial Reenactment Group of Nova Roma shall fulfill, and once fulfilled, it shall maintain, the following requirements before being registered as a Nova Roman gladiatorial group:

VI.A. A Nova Roman Gladiatorial Reenactment Group shall possess, use, respect and honor a flag of Nova Roma as its most sacred national flag publicly besides its own unit standards and flags.

VI.B. A Nova Roman Gladiatorial Reenactment Group shall respect and honor the magistrates and other state officers of Nova Roma, and shall recognize these magistrates as their own state magistrates, but this remains a ceremonial requirement and the magistrates of Nova Roma don’t have any right to give orders to an Autonomous Gladiatorial Reenactment Group unless it is agreed upon otherwise by the leadership of the group.

VI.C. All programs and events of a Nova Roman gladiatorial group shall count as programs and events of Nova Roma, Nova Roma shall have the right to use the events, programs, photos or promotional materials of the group, and the group can also advertise all other programs of Nova Roma as its own programs within the extended organization. A reenactment group of Nova Roma shall state this fact on its main internet location (website or social media page), and shall post a link to the Nova Roma website on its main internet location.

VI.E. It is ethical requirement from the gladiator reenactors of a gladiatorial group of Nova Roma that they shall promote Roman culture and traditions, Roman virtues and values through their educational activities as reenactors. Reenactor gladiators of Nova Roma must keep the safety of their members and the safety of their audience as their highest priority during their performances, must abstain from any form of real violence of harmful intention, must maintain a high ethical standard of civilized and polite behavior, benevolence and spirit of brotherhood toward all reenactors, must avoid uncivilized conflicts with other groups, or if a conflict emerges, they must not let such conflicts be noticeable to the public in any form.

VII. ((Rights and privileges of an Allied Gladiatorial Reenactment Group))

An Allied Gladiatorial Reenactment Group of Nova Roma shall have the following privileges granted by Nova Roma:

VII.A. An Allied Gladiatorial Reenactment Group of Nova Roma unit shall have the right to use of the website and the online communication channels of Nova Roma for advertisement, recruitment and announcements of any kind, restricted by the priority rights of the fully Nova Roman gladiatorial groups to these tools.

VII.B. An Allied Gladiatorial Reenactment Group of Nova Roma shall have access to expert counsel and assistance regarding research and questions about Roman culture, religion, history, archaeology, military, Latin language or any questions requiring professional assistance for a Roman gladiatorial reenactment group. This right is restricted by the priority rights of the fully Nova Roman gladiatorial groups to these tools.

VII.C. An Allied Gladiatorial Reenactment Group shall have right to cooperation and networking with all other Nova Roman or allied gladiatorial groups.

VII.D. All these privileges are granted for free to an allied gladiatorial group of Nova Roma: there is no membership fee, there is no requirement regarding activity and it is not mandatory to appear at Nova Roma events or to do certain things; the group can operate entirely according to its internal organization.

VIII. ((Obligatiobs of an Allied Gladiatorial Reenactment Group))

An Allied Gladiatorial Reenactment Group of Nova Roma shall fulfill, and once fulfilled, it shall maintain, the following requirements before being recognized as an allied group of Nova Roma:

VIII.A. An Allied Gladiatorial Reenactment Group of Nova Roma shall respect and honor the flag of Nova Roma.

VIII.B. An Allied Gladiatorial Reenactment Group of Nova Roma shall respect and honor the magistrates and other state officers of Nova Roma, but this remains a ceremonial requirement and the magistrates of Nova Roma don’t have any right to give orders to the allied group unless it is agreed upon otherwise by the leadership of the group.

VIII.C. An Allied Gladiatorial Reenactment Group shall state the fact of alliance on its main internet location (website or social media page), and shall post a link to the Nova Roma website on its main internet location.

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Leges Novae Romanae

C: Lex Equitia de civitate eiuranda

CI: Lex Equitia de vigintisexviris

CII: Lex Equitia familiaris

CIII: Lex Equitia de iurisdictione

I.

II.

III.

CIV: Lex Equitia de constitutione corrigenda

Preamble

I. Constitutional Basis

II. Citizens and Gentes

III. Comitia

IV. Magistrates

V. The Senate

VI. Public Religious Institutions

CV: Lex Equitia de gentibus

I. ((Constitutional amendment))

CVI: Lex Equitia Galeria de legibus ex post factis

CVII: Lex Apula de assiduis et capite censis

I. ((Purpose of the lex))

II. ((Definition of assidui))

B. ((Tax exemption of the Vestal virgins))

III. ((Definition of capite censi))

A. ((Placement in centuries))

B. ((Placement in tribes))

C. ((Public office))

D. ((Default of payment while in office))

CVIII: Lex Apula de magistro araneario

I. ((Magister aranearius))

II. ((Appointment))

III. ((Duties))

IV. ((Cooperation with others))

V. ((Assistants))

VI. ((Resignation))

VII. ((Amendment of lex Equitia de vigintisexviris))

VIII. ((Amendment of the lex Fabia centuriata))

CIX: Lex Popillia senatoria

I. ((Number of senatores))

II. ((Removal of senatores))

III. ((Sublection of senatores))

IV. ((Ius sententiae dicendae))

V. ((Immunity))

VI. ((Repeals))

CX: Lex Fabia de nominibus approbationibusque

I. Names in Nova Roma

I.A. Nomenclature

I.A.1. Praenomen

I.A.2. Nomen

I.A.3. Cognomen

I.B. Name change

I.B.1. Introduction

I.B.2. Adoption involving two cives belonging to two different gentes

I.B.3. Adoption involving two cives belonging to the same gens

I.B.4.

II. Approval procedures and names

II.A. Introduction

II.A.1. ((Joining gentes))

II.A.2. ((Joining familiae))

II.B. Approval authority

II.B.1. Approval authority in a Familia and / or Domus

II.B.2. Approval authority in a Gens

III. Sources

CXI: Lex Moravia de ratione comitiorum plebis tributorum

CXII: Lex Vipsania de consecratione

CXIII: Lex Minucia Moravia de civitate eiuranda

I. Supersession

II. Renouncing from citizenship

III. Forfeiture of offices

III. Reinstatement

CXIV: Lex Minucia eiuratione magistratum

CXV: Lex Minucia de duobus legibus Arminis Equitiis abrogandis

CXVI: Lex Arminia de consecratione magistratuum plebis

CXVII: Lex Curiata de consecratione magistratuum plebis

CXVIII: Lex Curiata II de consecratione magistratuum plebis

CXIX: Lex Galeria de censu L. Arminio Ti. Galerio consulibus producendo

CXX: Lex Galeria de editore commentariorum

CXXI: Lex Galeria de privatis rebus

CXXII: Lex Livia de lege Arminia abroganda

CXXIII: Lex Livia de lege Moravia abroganda