Ceremonial Opening of the Ludi Cereales

The Cerealia were opened by a religious ritual and sacrifice to Ceres by pontifex, quaestor, praefectus rei publicae Cn. Cornelius Lentulus, followed by a ceremonial opening speech by the aedilis plebis M. Caecilius Metellus Tocaiensis which you can read below:

Aedilician Opening Speech

M. Metellus Tocaiensis aedilis plebis populo et plebi s. p. d.

M. Metellus Tocaiensis aedilis plebis to the people and to the plebs sends greetings.

In my and my colleague M. Aurelius Cotta Jovius' name, I salute you, citizens, from the occasion of this Ludi Cereleas, or otherwise called, the Cerealia, to celebrate Ceres, goddess of corn, wheat and cereals. She was the main goddess of plebeians, and we, the plebeian aediles are responsible to honor her with sacrifice and festival.

My colleague and I will present various games to Ceres and to you. The whole people is invited, not only the plebeians, but during the Cerealia, the plebeians rule!

We honor Ceres first with betting game in a real Horse Race in America. This is a new idea, and we will test it the first time. Please help Nova Roma to experiment this new kind of game. This program is hosted by my colleague's quaestor C. Sempronius Scepsis Agricola.

We will hold a Chess Tournament, organized by C. Claudius Quadratus, assisting from the consular office as praefectus cultui culturae administrandae promovendae.

We will offer Live Gladiatorial Betting Game again, by my colleague M. Aurelius Cotta Jovius aedilis.

My colleague will present you a Quiz Contest, and I will also hold a Quiz Contest.

In these moment, pontifex Cn. Cornelius Lentulus will offer the plebeian aedilician opening sacrifice to Ceres.

May Ceres be satisfied! Let the games BEGIN!

M. Caecilius Metellus Tocaiensis

AEDILIS PLEBIS

Programs of the Megalesia

Live Horse Race Betting Game: Watching a Race Together

Hosted by C. Sempronius Scepsis Agricola, quaestor

On behalf of aedilis plebis M. Aurelius Cotta Iovius, we are offering to the People of Nova Roma this opportunity to participate in the age-old Roman pastime of horse racing. In honor of the goddess Ceres, we celebrate the Ludi Cereales, and we will bet on a real-life horse race from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. You are welcomed to bet on Parx Racing Race # 9, on Monday 19 April at 10:30 PM Rome Time CEST (4:30PM NAEDT – North American Eastern Daylight Time). With an entrant called “Sizzling Roma”, we are taking this as an omen, and so this race has been chosen.

WHERE TO WATCH THE HORSE RACE

The race will be visible at:

• https://www.parxracing.com/parxracingreplays.php

How to play?

Honor the Goddess Ceres, participate, MAKE YOUR BETS, and win Census Points in Nova Roma as a prize! Tell us which horse will come win this race and which will come 2nd and 3rd? Here is the link to the race 9 and the entrants at time of this posting:

• https://entries.horseracingnation.com/entries-results/parx-racing/2021-04-19#race-9

ALL BETS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY MONDAY 19 APRIL 10:00PM ROME TIME (CEST) 4:00PM NAEDT

Write your bets in the comment to the game post any any of the forums of Nova Roma.

The persons who correctly pick the winning horse, 2nd place and 3rd place be awarded 3 Census Points to the winner, 2 CP for the second best, and 1 CP for the third best. If there are more players who pick the horse for each place, then one of them from each place will be chosen by lot and receive the prize.

Nova Roman Online Chess Tournament with Roman Coin Prize

Hosted by C. Claudius Quadratus

Under the auspices of aedilis plebis M. Caecilius Metellus Tocaiensis, senator C. Claudius Quadratus is hosting a new type of game – a Nova Roman Online Chess Tournament on Chess.com. The format of the tournament (double round-robin, round-robin, or Swiss system) shall depend upon the number of participants. You may register for this event by either responding to this announcement or by contacting senator C. Claudius Quadratus (Charles Aronowitz) directly at:

c.claudius.quadratus@gmail.com

Registrations are accepted until 20 April, midnight, Rome Time.'

THE PRIZE FOR THE WINNER

A 3rd-century ancient Roman coin issued by the emperor Probus to the winner, plus census points for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.

DESCRIPTION OF THE GAME

This event is open to all persons associated with Nova Roma, regardless of citizenship status. Ideally, the games will be played on a Facebook Chess Application, using their time limit of 15 minutes for all moves per player (with an increment of 10 seconds for every move made) so that individual games should not last more than 30 – 45 minutes. The players may arrange between themselves convenient times for their assigned games. If Facebook is inconvenient, players have the option of using other platforms such as Discord, email for their games, or even over-the board, with provisos that games be played to completion without interruption and last no more than one hour. The games will be scored as follows: 1 point to the winner, 1/2 point to each player in case of a draw.

Senator C. Claudius Quadratus will serve as tournament director. The senator has serious experience – namely certification by both the United States and Canadian chess federations as a tournament director (senior level in the U.S.) and in addition he taught chess at an elementary school in Montreal from 2003 to 2010. Senator C. Claudius' students traveled widely to participate in tournaments and won many titles, including 6th grade champion of Vermont, and best Canadian team at the U.S. Amateur Team Championship East (2008), held in New Jersey.

Munera Gladiatoria Live

Hosted by C. Aurelius Cotta Iovius, aedilis plebis

Announcement later!

Contest by aedilis M. Cotta

Hosted by C. Aurelius Cotta Iovius, aedilis plebis

Announcement later!

Contest by aedilis M. Metellus

Hosted by C. Aurelius Cotta Iovius, aedilis plebis

Announcement later!