To be voted: amendments to the Regula Fundamentalis

[Gnaeus Dionysius Draco]

Salvete sodales,

It seems to have become almost an annual tradition to present the membership with yet another round of RF-reform, and I'm afraid this year is no different.

Again, the aims are more of a practical nature than they are ideological. All these amendments have been passed by the Senate, but, according to this very same RF, they need to be passed by the Comitia as well. This is why I am presenting you with the issues you will need to vote soon.

This is the time of the contio, the officially sanctioned debate on these proposed issues, and will last until approximately July 15.

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ARTICLE I.4

OLD ARTICLE

I. Identity, Nature, Goals, and Principia

4. The Societas recognizes the recreated and reformed Religio Romana as its official spiritual basis, but guarantees full freedom of religious belief, conscience and practice to its members in whatever tradition, philosophy or faith they follow.

PROPOSED ARTICLE

I. Identity, Nature, Goals, and Principia

4. The Societas guarantees full freedom of religious belief, conscience and practice to its members in whatever tradition, philosophy or faith they follow, so long as they do not run counter the spirit and letter of the Regula Fundamentalis.

COMMENT

There is no real consensus over what constitutes the "Religio Romana", and some members of the Senate feel that the phrase of freedom and the fact that the Societas recognises the Religio Romana as its official spiritual basis on the other hand to be in conflict. Another minor change is that a member's own beliefs may not run counter to the spirit and letter of our organisation. In practise, this means that one cannot invoke this right if we are talking about crimes or violations of human rights under the guise of religion or philosophy.

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ARTICLE III.1.

OLD ARTICLE:

III. Members and Gentes

1. Membership

(a) Any person may apply for membership on a basis of equality, regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnic group, language preference or religious conviction. Sincere interest in Romanitas and active membership in at least one collegium of the Societas prior to final membership approval shall be the main criteria for membership.

(b) The Societas discourages membership applications from extremist political, religious or ideological motivations. Members are also expected to be respectful towards the Religio Romana and its practice and practitioners, whatever their own religious faith.

(c) Membership shall be automatically granted by the Censores upon demonstration of fulfillment of all criteria. When both Censores believe an applicant to be unqualified for membership, the application may be denied, subject to a right of appeal to the Praetores, of which right the denied applicant must be adequately informed. The Praetores after investigation and acting collegially may overrule the Censorial denial, upon which the Censors shall register the applicant as a member.

(d) Membership in or public alignment with neo-fascist, ultra-rightist, ultra-leftist, racist, anti-semitic, totalitarian or terrorist organisations is considered adequate reason for denial or withdrawal of membership. Failure to mention such affiliation or orientation at time of membership application is due cause for summary expulsion by both Censores acting collegially. Subsequent evidence of such affiliations if discovered shall be reported to the Praetores for investigation and possible expulsion trial, or to the Magister Morum if one has been appointed.

(e) Membership may be involuntarily revoked by a Praetorial arbitrium (judgement) sentencing a member to expulsion according to fixed conditions after due investigation of guilt in a case under his adjudication. This is subject to intercessio by his colleague or by both Consules acting collegially, or to provocatio. Those losing in an act of provocatio before the Comitia shall likewise have their membership revoked under the terms set by the arbitrium of the Praetor. Provisions made for inactive members (article I.7) and violations against the list policies created by the Aediles, also fall under this article.

(f) A voluntary relinquishing of membership may be effected by public statement on the Comitia of the Societas Via Romana or a private email to the Censores.

(g) Members in good standing having voluntarily resigned shall have the right to return at will through the normal application process, which may be accelerated for them if the Censores have their original records still available. The return of those whose membership was involuntarily revoked shall be as described in this Regula, by the original conditions of expulsion, and by pertinent decreta and Praetorial edicta.

PROPOSED ARTICLE:

III. Members and Gentes

1. Membership

(a) Any person may apply for membership on a basis of equality, regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnic group, language preference or religious conviction. Sincere interest in Romanitas and active membership in at least one collegium of the Societas prior to final membership approval shall be the main criteria for membership.

(b) Membership shall be automatically granted by the Censores upon demonstration of fulfillment of all criteria. When both Censores believe an applicant to be unqualified for membership, the application may be denied, subject to a right of appeal to the Praetores, of which right the denied applicant must be adequately informed. The Praetores after investigation and acting collegially may overrule the Censorial denial, upon which the Censors shall register the applicant as a member.

(c) The Societas discourages membership applications from extremist political, religious or ideological motivations. These run counter to the spirit of the Societas Via Romana.

(d) Membership in or public alignment with neo-fascist, ultra-rightist, ultra-leftist, racist, anti-semitic, totalitarian and/or terrorist organisations is considered adequate reason for denial or withdrawal of membership. Failure to mention such affiliation or orientation at time of membership application is due cause for summary expulsion by both Censores acting collegially. Subsequent evidence of such affiliations if discovered shall be reported to the Praetores for investigation and possible expulsion trial, or to the Magister Morum if one has been appointed.

(e) Membership may be involuntarily revoked by a Praetorial arbitrium (judgement) sentencing a member to expulsion according to fixed conditions after due investigation of guilt in a case under his adjudication. This is subject to intercessio by his colleague or by both Consules acting collegially, or to provocatio. Those losing in an act of provocatio before the Comitia shall likewise have their membership revoked under the terms set by the arbitrium of the Praetor. Provisions made for inactive members (article I.7) and violations against the list policies created by the Aediles, also fall under this article.

(f) A voluntary relinquishing of membership may be effected by public statement on the Comitia of the Societas Via Romana or a private email to the Censores.

(g) Members in good standing having voluntarily resigned shall have the right to return at will through the normal application process, which may be accelerated for them if the Censores have their original records still available. The return of those whose membership was involuntarily revoked shall be as described in this Regula, by the original conditions of expulsion, and by pertinent decreta and Praetorial edicta.

COMMENT

The order of the articles has been changed into a more logical order. In III.1.c, a last phrase is added.

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ARTICLE III.4.

OLD ARTICLE

III. Membership and gentes

4. Familiae and Gentes

(a) The Familia being the basic unit of Roman society, the prerogatives and responsibilities of the familia are of great importance to the Societas Via Romana. Except where specifically dealt with in this Regula and any relevant decreta, each familia shall have the right to determine its own course of action.

(b) The Societas grants each member's children the right to be considered minor associates (socii minores) with full social privileges but no voting or legal rights as members until the age of 15, depending on the will of the parent member(s) for the minor. The Censores shall append such associates to the familia of the parent member(s). Within six months of reaching the age of 15 the child shall determine for himself whether to pass into full adult membership or be removed from the Alba of the Societas altogether, and shall so inform the Censores. Failure to contact them within the period stipulated above shall be construed as a desire for removal.

(c) Each familia shall be registered with the Censores, who shall maintain the Album Gentium with records of gens membership and other relevant information. No two familiae may have the same nomen (surname) plus cognomen combination unless they are differentiated by a discriminatory agnomen, and within a familia all male and female members should have the same such combination. The Censores shall be responsible for ensuring that this rule be observed.

(d) Each familia shall, through whatever means it may determine appropriate, designate a paterfamilias, materfamilias, or coequal pair, parentesfamilias, who shall act as the leader(s) of the familia and speak for it when necessary. The holder(s) of this position must be registered as such with the Censores.

(e) Gentes are those groupings of familiae who share a common nomen (surname). Gentes shall have the gentiles with the longest continuous membership in the Societas appointed by the Censores as their Principes Gentis, provided that these accept this nomination. Gentes may, if they prefer by a majority decision indicated by a petition bearing the names of that majority, elect a Princeps Gentis to represent them, and order their collective gentile life democratically according to their own individual Regula Gentilicia, which must in that case be provided to the Censores for approval, subject to pertinent decreta. The Censores shall register these gentes, together with their Principes.

(f) All official names used in the Societas shall be Latin and Roman in structure, permissibly incorporating Latinised elements associated with other Roman-area societies, consisting of a praenomen, nomen, and optional cognomen and agnomen. The Censores shall see to the grammatical and formal correctness and internal consistency of these names, and the consistency of the name with other familia members. Members may announce changes to their names to the Censores at their pleasure, providing that the above criteria are met. Men or women or both may change their nomina and thus gens affiliation at marriage, or a pouse may add her pouse's nomen in the appropriate gender to his/her existing name as a variety of agnomen without the necessity to change gens affiliation. No one may belong to more than one gens simultaneously. The grammatical gender chosen by a member for his or her name is presumed to indicate his or her preferred social gender.

PROPOSED ARTICLE

III. Membership and gentes

4. Familiae and Gentes

(a) The Familia being the basic unit of Roman society, the prerogatives and responsibilities of the familia are of great importance to the Societas Via Romana. Except where specifically dealt with in this Regula and any relevant decreta, each familia shall have the right to determine its own course of action.

(b) Each familia shall be registered with the Censores, who shall maintain the Album Gentium with records of gens membership and other relevant information. No two familiae may have the same nomen (surname) plus cognomen combination unless they are differentiated by a discriminatory agnomen, and within a familia all male and female members should have the same such combination. The Censores shall be responsible for ensuring that this rule be observed.

(c) Each familia shall, through whatever means it may determine appropriate, designate a paterfamilias, materfamilias, or coequal pair, parentesfamilias, who shall act as the leader(s) of the familia and speak for it when necessary. The holder(s) of this position must be registered as such with the Censores.

(d) Gentes are those groupings of familiae who share a common nomen (surname). Gentes shall have the gentiles with the longest continuous membership in the Societas appointed by the Censores as their Principes Gentis, provided that these accept this nomination. Gentes may, if they prefer by a majority decision indicated by a petition bearing the names of that majority, elect a Princeps Gentis to represent them. The Censores shall register these gentes, together with their Principes.

(e) All official names used in the Societas shall be Latin and Roman in structure, permissibly incorporating Latinised elements associated with other Roman-area societies, consisting of a praenomen, nomen, and optional cognomen and agnomen. The Censores shall see to the grammatical and formal correctness and internal consistency of these names, and the consistency of the name with other familia members. Members may announce changes to their names to the Censores at their pleasure, providing that the above criteria are met. Men or women or both may change their nomina and thus gens affiliation at marriage, or a spouse may add her pouse's nomen in the appropriate gender to his/her existing name as a variety of agnomen without the necessity to change gens affiliation. No one may belong to more than one gens simultaneously. The grammatical gender chosen by a member for his or her name is presumed to indicate his or her preferred social gender.

COMMENT:

We're mainly talking about III.4.d. How groups of people, gentes or familiae, behave, is no real business for the central administration and is mainly a lot of dead letters to most of our members. It is also hard to discern whether gentes are 'organised' or not, and I do not deem this useful for our community at this time.

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ARTICLE V.5.

OLD ARTICLE

V. Magistratus

5. Praetores: Two Praetores shall be elected by the Comitia Generalia to serve a term lasting one year. They shall have the following honours, powers, and obligations:

(a) To hold Auctoritas;

(b) To issue those edicta desirable to advance the mission and purposes of the Societas and set forth their principles for interpreting and administering this Regula and the decreta of the Societas in the process of rendering justice;

(c) To collegially remove a member from the fora if the majority of Aediles has requested so, in which case the Praetores must investigate the case and decide whether or not to remove the member from the fora, and for what period, by means of an arbitrium. If the person in question is a Praetor or if one of the two Praetores is away for an indefinite or long period of time, the other Praetor may take this decision alone.

(d) To collegially investigate and reverse a decision by the Censores to deny membership to an applicant, in which proceedings their decisions shall be immune from intercessio and provocatio.

(e) To render judgement in adjudications and enforce the same, including removal of membership, subject to the limitations imposed by intercessio and provocatio, a Consul, however, having no right of intercessio in his own or his colleague's case;

(f) To convoke the Senatus and the Comitia Generalia and set matters before them for discussion and vote when the Consuls are unavailable or delegate that task;

(g) To pronounce intercessio against the other Praetor or other magistratus of lesser authority;

(h) To sit ex officio in the Senatus;

(i) To appoint and dismiss Scribae Praetorii (Praetorial Clerks) to assist with administrative and other tasks, as each shall see fit.

PROPOSED ARTICLE

V. Magistratus

5. Praetores: Two Praetores shall be elected by the Comitia Generalia to serve a term lasting one year. They shall have the following honours, powers, and obligations:

(a) To hold Auctoritas;

(b) To issue those edicta desirable to advance the mission and purposes of the Societas and set forth their principles for interpreting and administering this Regula and the decreta of the Societas in the process of rendering justice;

(c) To collegially remove a member of the Societas from the fora if the majority of Aediles has requested so, in which case the Praetores must investigate the case and decide whether or not to remove the member from the fora, and for what period, by means of an arbitrium. If the person in question is a Praetor or if one of the two Praetores is away for an indefinite or long period of time, the other Praetor may take this decision alone. Aediles shall retain the right to remove non-members from the fora on their own authority.

(d) To collegially investigate and reverse a decision by the Censores to deny membership to an applicant, in which proceedings their decisions shall be immune from intercessio and provocatio.

(e) To render judgement in adjudications and enforce the same, including removal of membership, subject to the limitations imposed by intercessio and provocatio, a Consul, however, having no right of intercessio in his own or his colleague's case;

(f) To convoke the Senatus and the Comitia Generalia and set matters before them for discussion and vote when the Consuls are unavailable or delegate that task;

(g) To pronounce intercessio against the other Praetor or other magistratus of lesser authority;

(h) To sit ex officio in the Senatus;

(i) To appoint and dismiss Scribae Praetorii (Praetorial Clerks) to assist with administrative and other tasks, as each shall see fit.

COMMENT

V.5.c should be changed so that aediles can, if necessary, remove disruptive non-members from the forum. These do not fall under praetorial jurisdiction because they don't enjoy the same rights as members of SVR.

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ARTICLE V.6.

OLD ARTICLE

V. Magistratus

6. Aediles: No less than two, and no more than six Aediles - the exact number shall be determined by the Senatus each year before the elections - shall be elected by the Comitia Generalia to serve a term lasting one year. Candidates for this position receiving the highest or second highest number of votes shall be Aediles Maiores. The other candidates, provided that there are more than two Aediles required by the Senate, shall be Aediles Minores. They shall have the following honours, powers, and obligations:

(a) To hold Auctoritas;

(b) To create and maintain the websites of the Societas, including those of the collegia;

(c) To maintain order and civility on the internet fora of the Societas;

(d) To pronounce intercessio against another Aedilis or magistratus of lesser authority;

(e) To serve on the Collegium Aedilicium made up of all Aediles, which body shall divide the duties of the Aediles among its members at the beginning of each year and collectively monitor the carrying out of the same;

(f) Aediles Maiores shall sit ex officio in the Senatus. Aediles Suffecti do not fall under this article.

(g) To appoint and dismiss Scribae Aedilicii (Aedilician Clerks) to assist with administrative and other tasks, as each shall see fit.

(h) To elevate Scribae Aedilicii to the status of Aedilis Suffectus when needed, by a 2/3 majority vote in the Collegium Aedilicium.

PROPOSED ARTICLE:

V. Magistratus

6. Aediles: No less than two, and no more than six Aediles - the exact number shall be determined by the Senatus each year before the elections - shall be elected by the Comitia Generalia to serve a term lasting one year. Candidates for this position receiving the highest or second highest number of votes shall be Aediles Maiores, and the rest shall be Aediles Minores. They shall have the following honours, powers, and obligations:

(a) To hold Auctoritas;

(b) To create and maintain the websites of the Societas, including those of the collegia;

(c) To maintain order and civility on the internet fora of the Societas;

(d) To pronounce intercessio against another Aedilis or magistratus of lesser authority;

(e) To serve on the Collegium Aedilicium made up of all Aediles, which body shall divide the duties of the Aediles among its members at the beginning of each year and collectively monitor the carrying out of the same;

(f) To sit ex officio in the Senatus, provided they are Aediles Maiores. Suffecti do not fall under this article.

(g) To appoint and dismiss Scribae Aedilicii (Aedilician Clerks) to assist with administrative and other tasks, as each shall see fit.

(h) To elevate Scribae Aedilicii to the status of Aedilis Suffectus when needed, by a 2/3 majority vote in the Collegium Aedilicium.

(i) To have the right to run for the office of Aedilis sooner than one year has passed after they last held the office, exempting them from the restrictions set in article V.1.

COMMENT:

If this is passed, aediles may be perpetually re-elected to the same office. Good webmasters are hard to find, and as it stands right now SVR does not have abundant talent to continue and improve the site with different webmasters each year.

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ARTICLE V.8.

OLD ARTICLE:

V. Magistratus

8. Rogatores: No more than four, and no less than two Rogatores shall be elected by the Comitia Generalia to serve a term lasting one year. If no Rogator is available to carry out the elections for other Rogatores, the Senate may appoint two responsible members not running for the office to carry out as Prorogatores balloting for one or more Rogatores. Rogatores shall have the following disabilities, powers and obligations:

(a) To count and register votes in the elections of the Comitia Generalia and secret votes of the Senatus;

(b) To be unable to stand for office in the year that they serve in this capacity;

(c) To be eligible for automatic elevation to the ordo patricius the year they serve as Rogator

PROPOSED ARTICLE:

V. Magistratus

8. Rogatores: No more than four, and no less than two Rogatores shall be elected by the Comitia Generalia to serve a term lasting one year - the exact number to be determined each year by the Senatus. If no Rogator is available to carry out the elections for other Rogatores, the Senate may appoint two responsible members not running for the office to carry out as Prorogatores balloting for one or more Rogatores. Rogatores shall have the following (dis)abilities, powers and obligations:

(a) To count and register votes in the elections of the Comitia Generalia and secret votes of the Senatus;

(b) To be unable to stand for office in the year that they serve in this capacity;

(c) To be eligible for automatic elevation to the ordo patricius the year they serve as Rogator

COMMENTS:

The old article did not define who or what defines how many rogatores are needed. The proposed one does.

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ARTICLE VI.1.

OLD ARTICLE:

VI. The Senatus

1. The policy-making and oversight authority for the Societas Via Romana shall be embodied in its Senatus. The Album Senatorum (list of Senators) shall be maintained by the Censores according to qualifications set by law. The Senatus shall be composed of all Rectores Collegiorum, Aediles Maiores, Praetores, Consules and Censores. These members shall be Senators as long as they are serving in the capacity of said offices, ex officio. Each Senator shall have only one vote regardless of serving in more than one office. If a Senator has been in the Senatus for five full consecutive years or seven full years non-consecutively, his membership shall become for life.

PROPOSED ARTICLE:

VI. The Senatus

1. The policy-making and oversight authority for the Societas Via Romana shall be embodied in its Senatus. Each Senator shall have only one vote regardless of serving in more than one office. If a Senator has been in the Senatus for five full consecutive years or seven full years non-consecutively, his membership shall become for life.

COMMENT:

The magistrates from aediles maiores and up are already defined as Senatores. The old article just repeated it, which was quite redundant.

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ARTICLE VI.2.

OLD ARTICLE:

VI. Senatus

2. The Senatus shall have the following honours, powers, and obligations:

(a) As the repository of experience and wisdom in the affairs of the Societas, the Senatus shall have the authority to issue Senatus Consulta (Advice of the Senate) on those topics upon which it shall see fit to comment. Proposed Senatus consulta may be drafted and issues brought up for consideration by any individual Senator according to the regulae of the Senatus.

(b) No later than the last day of November of each year, the Senatus shall prepare a budget for the following year, in cooperation with the Quaestores. This budget shall deal with the disbursement of funds from the Aerarium to the Quaestores to magistratus and collegia for various purposes. The Quaestores Generales shall be collegially responsible for the maintenance of the Aerarium, but no funds from it may be disbursed without the prior approval of the budget duly approved by Senatus and Comitia Generalia. The Senatus may, as required by changing circumstances, pass supplemental Senatus consulta to modify the annual budget. Each original annual budget must be approved by the Comitia Generalia to take effect.

(c) The Senatus shall have the power to issue the Senatus Consultum Ultimum (the Ultimate Decree of the Senate) in times of danger to the Societas internal or external. When in effect, this decree will supercede the normal rights and powers of all other administrative bodies and authorities, and allow the Senatus to invest the Consules with absolute powers to deal with a specific situation, subject only to their collegial intercessio and review by the Senatus. All magistratus and members are required to cooperate with them for the security of the Societas. Even under the authority of the Senatus Consultum Ultimum, the Consules may only temporarily suspend the provisions of this Regula; they may not enact any permanent changes hereto, nor may they expel members from membership or collegia from recognition or magistratus from office without the approval of a majority of the Senatus, those being voted upon or their representatives being excluded from the vote. The Consules with the assent of the Senatus may declare new elections at their discretion to replace dismissed or expelled magistratus, and at the time of regular elections may with Senatorial assent conduct or postpone them. The term of a Senatus Consultum Ultimum may not exceed ninety days, nor may regular elections be postponed longer than sixty days.

(d) The Senatus may, by Senatus consultum, enact rules governing its own internal procedures and such Senatus consulta may not be overruled by laws passed in the Comitia, except those to ensure adequate transparency and disclosure. All votes of the Senatus should be made public for each Senator, including any comments a Senator may wish to make upon his voting in explanation thereof, except when legitimate protection of individual privacy, or matters affecting the security of the Societas are involved, or other matters for which this Regula specifically prescribes secret votes.

(e) The Senate may recognise the most able members of the Societas in the interpretation of this Regula and the decreta comitialia, edicta magistralia and regulae collegiales, and name them Iurisconsulti, their number not to exceed seven. They must have adequate knowledge of Latin to construe the enactments in that reference language, and must have been members for at least two years, except for the conditores of the Societas. The Collegium Iurisconsultorum Senatoriale so formed shall severally and collectively advise the Senate, magistratus and private members in matters of this Regula and all rules and enactments of the Societas, and their interpretations and interactions. The Collegium having at least three collegae, subsequent appointments shall be carried out only with the consent of the majority of the existing collegae. The Collegium may elect a Princeps from its number for a one-year renewable term if it so wishes. Membership is normally for life or until resignation, but a persistently inactive or unavailable Iurisconsultus may be removed from the Collegium by a two-thirds vote of the Senatus.

PROPOSED ARTICLE:

VI. Senatus

2. The Senatus shall have the following honours, powers, and obligations:

(a) As the repository of experience and wisdom in the affairs of the Societas, the Senatus shall have the authority to issue Senatus Consulta (Advice of the Senate) on those topics upon which it shall see fit to comment. Proposed Senatus consulta may be drafted and issues brought up for consideration by any individual Senator according to the regulae of the Senatus.

(b) No later than the last day of November of each year, the Senatus shall prepare a budget for the following year, in cooperation with the Quaestores. This budget shall deal with the disbursement of funds from the Aerarium to the Quaestores to magistratus and collegia for various purposes. The Quaestores Generales shall be collegially responsible for the maintenance of the Aerarium, but no funds from it may be disbursed without the prior approval of the budget duly approved by Senatus and Comitia Generalia. The Senatus may, as required by changing circumstances, pass supplemental Senatus consulta to modify the annual budget. Each original annual budget must be approved by the Comitia Generalia to take effect.

(c) The Senatus may, by Senatus consultum, enact rules governing its own internal procedures and such Senatus consulta may not be overruled by laws passed in the Comitia, except those to ensure adequate transparency and disclosure. All votes of the Senatus should be made public for each Senator by a Consul or a Praetor, including any comments a Senator may wish to make upon his voting in explanation thereof, except when legitimate protection of individual privacy, or matters affecting the security of the Societas are involved, or other matters for which this Regula specifically prescribes secret votes.

(d) The Senate may recognise the most able members of the Societas in the interpretation of this Regula and the decreta comitialia, edicta magistralia and regulae collegiales, and name them Iurisconsulti, their number not to exceed seven. They must have adequate knowledge of Latin to construe the enactments in that reference language, and must have been members for at least two years, except for the conditores of the Societas. The Collegium Iurisconsultorum Senatoriale so formed shall severally and collectively advise the Senate, magistratus and private members in matters of this Regula and all rules and enactments of the Societas, and their interpretations and interactions. The Collegium having at least three collegae, subsequent appointments shall be carried out only with the consent of the majority of the existing collegae. The Collegium may elect a Princeps from its number for a one-year renewable term if it so wishes. Membership is normally for life or until resignation, but a persistently inactive or unavailable Iurisconsultus may be removed from the Collegium by a two-thirds vote of the Senatus.

COMMENTS:

The provision for the Senatus Consultum Ultimum is removed on grounds of being unhistorical and paranoid, an echo of both an older phase of our existence and an even stronger echo of another place. Secondly, the old article did not define who is to announce the votes and opinions of the Senatores - hence, it was never done. According to the proposed article, a presiding consul or praetor should now inform the membership.

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ARTICLE VIII.2.

OLD ARTICLE:

VIII. Collegia

2. Collegia shall be headed by Rectores, who are to be elected yearly by the members of the several collegia. If there is only one candidate, the prospective members of said Collegium can still choose by majority vote not to appoint him Rector. The Consules shall then collectively appoint an interim Prorector until another candidate can be found and voted upon. Whenever a new candidate proposes himself, the Prorector shall conduct balloting within thirty days according to the statues of the Collegium. Such candidate shall take office, if unopposed, only by receiving an absolute majority of votes cast.

PROPOSED ARTICLE:

VIII. Collegia

2. Collegia shall be headed by Rectores, who are to be elected yearly by the members of the several collegia. If there is only one candidate, the prospective members of said Collegium can still choose by majority vote not to appoint him Rector. The Consules shall then collectively appoint an interim Prorector until another candidate can be found and voted upon. Whenever a new candidate proposes himself, the Prorector shall conduct balloting within thirty days according to the statues of the Collegium. Such candidate shall take office, if unopposed, only by receiving a majority of votes cast.

COMMENT:

An upposed candidate needing 2/3 votes for a collegium is a little harsh and, again, a bit paranoid, too, since the power of rectores has been curtailed enough by our previous reform. A normal majority should be enough to have sole candidates elected.

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ARTICLE VIII.4.

OLD ARTICLE:

VIII. Collegia

4. Collegia are responsible for their own internal organization, but are subject to interference by the Senatus or the exception of the Consules, whose responsibility it is to ensure that democratic procedures and the protection of individual rights are being carried out in each Collegium, and that financial and legal responsibility are being reasonably exercised so as not to bring the Societas into disrepute or threaten its existence or security. Their internal organization should contain no less than three officers, at least one of them being responsible for the general leadership, one for the mailing list, and another to count the votes. Magistratus may request information as they feel necessary from each collegium to carry out this task, and Collegia are required to promptly provide all available information so requested. They are required to hold general elections for Rector or any other position they may require at the end of November or the beginning of December each year.

PROPOSED ARTICLE:

VIII. Collegia

4. Collegia are required to hold general elections for Rector or any other position they may require no earlier than at the end of June and no later than the end of July each year.

COMMENTS:

The proposed article brings SVR more up to date with the actual reality, and scraps a lot of mumbo jumbo that reflected a previous phase of our organisation, which required a seperate organisation for each collegium, and seperate membership lists (and as such, seperate dates of election).

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If you've read this far, congratulations.

Valete bene,
Gn. Dionysius Draco

[Aldus Marius]

Salve, mi Draco, et salvete omnes...

Some comments on the proposed amendments...

PROPOSED ARTICLE:

III. Members and Gentes,
1. Membership

(a) ... Sincere interest in Romanitas and active membership in at least one collegium of the Societas prior to final membership approval shall be the main criteria for membership.

Sed Marius:
As we don't really have 'memberships' in the Collegia anymore, how would "active membership in at least one collegium of the Societas" be determined? Is this still a requirement?

III. Membership and gentes
4. Familiae and Gentes

(a) The Familia being the basic unit of Roman society, the prerogatives and responsibilities of the familia are of great importance to the Societas Via Romana...

(b) Each familia shall be registered with the Censores...

COMMENT:

We're mainly talking about III.4.d. [Ed. note: gentes.] How groups of people, gentes or familiae, behave, is no real business for the central administration and is mainly a lot of dead letters to most of our members. It is also hard to discern whether gentes are 'organised' or not, and I do not deem this useful for our community at this time.


Sed Mari:
The original (b) would be deleted; it concerned provisional memberships for members' children, which I agree is certainly not an issue we need to be overly concerned with. The part Dionysius Draco addresses is about gentes, what they are and who's in yours. The most important changes, however, are regarding names.

Given that we are not evolving into a clan-based organization; indeed, given that we seem to be headed well away from that structure; and given the stated purpose of the amendment above, I must ask: Why do we have provisions for 'families' at all? There is another Marius in the SVR; I have enjoyed my few interactions with the man on this Board, and like his Avatar. Are we a familia? Are we a gens? --I am listed as the 'Princeps Gentis' for gens Maria, simply by virtue of being the first (and until recently, sole) member of the clan in the Societas. Is that fair to Marius Primus? Why does our choice of nomen automatically make me something to him, or him something to me?

...I don't get it. From the first I had envisioned this place as an educational institution primarily, with it being understood that 'education' can take place while one is chatting, roleplaying, socializing, and a number of other things that aren't on any formal curriculum. That's why grade schools have field trips. If Joe Bloggs and Fred Bloggs enroll at the same University, they do not become related. I have never understood Article III, Paragraph 4 except for the naming guidelines. I'd rather not wait for the rest to run off with the snowmelt. Can we dump the rest of the 'family' part next year? ...Thank'ee.

PROPOSED ARTICLE:

VI. The Senatus

1. The policy-making and oversight authority for the Societas Via Romana shall be embodied in its Senatus. Each Senator shall have only one vote regardless of serving in more than one office. If a Senator has been in the Senatus for five full consecutive years or seven full years non-consecutively, his membership shall become for life.

COMMENT:

The magistrates from aediles maiores and up are already defined as Senatores. The old article just repeated it, which was quite redundant.

Yes, everyone from Aediles on up is defined as a member of the Senate...but Rectores are not, anywhere else except for the section being removed. So tell me: are Rectores still in the Senate? If so, we shall need to write them in somewhere that yet remains.


Overall, I very much like the suggested reforms. The provisions allowing the Aediles to serve consecutive terms and empowering them to chuck disruptive non-members off the Forum are especially welcome. A Good Thing also is the elimination of the Senatusconsultum Ultimum--what were we ever going to do with a thing like that?? I look forward to those announcements of Senate votes, too; those were fun to read even in the Other Place. The streamlining of the election process does indeed bring the Regula more in line with actual practice. If we can just do that in some of the other areas, like the familia business, then we will have a Regula that makes sense, is easy to read and that we can be proud of. Ita est!!

In fide,

[Gnaeus Dionysius Draco]

Salve Mari!

Your comments all make much sense and deserve to be looked into for a next reform round. Indeed the issue of gentes and familiae is one that needs closer attention and couldn't be completely resolved in this round. But we have time.

About the rector issue, it's an ommission indeed. We'll have to fix that asap.

Vale,
Draco

[Horatius Piscinus]

Salvete Marius et sodales omnes

The provision for an SCU definitely had to go. I have argued against the provision even before there was an SVR and I am glad to see a proposed amendment to finally eliminate it.

The provisions for families and gentes I and Draco think should go as they are unneeded and only add a lot of confusion in the RF. However, they do allow a way for sodales to form groups within SVR that are recognized but formed and controlled by sodales rather than by magistrates. That is a good thing and perhaps our next Senate will come up with something simpler to replace this provision.

In order to remain sodales, members have to participate in SVR in some fashion. Posting to at least one collegium is sufficient. So although our structure is no longer by collegia, the wording still makes sense, but it could be improved upon.

The role of rectores has changed. They now act as discussion leaders for the individual collegia. Any sodales can do the same de facto, but rectores take on an obligation to be discussion leaders, and are an important part in the composition of our Senate. Rather than have administrative duties as before, they act in the Senate to oversee the magistrates. Sometimes administering a site, one sees things differently than users of the site. So in a sense the rectores have become representatives of the general membership in the Senate.