Salve iterum, mi Calidi, et Salvete omnes!
In another forum, on another topic, I wrote:
As to the "zoning restrictions" on Mons Aventinus, I'll work on that.
It is very important to note that MA is not a Nova Roma project, but the outgrowth of conditor Triarius' research on the topography of the ancient City. OTOH, it is the brainchild of a Nova Roman citizen. That's not insinuating anything, it's just a cultural observation. (I am an anthropologist by training; this stuff fascinates me.) If Vitellius' experience has been anything like mine, Nova Roma may be the first Roman society he's ever been a part of, so of course it would leave an imprint. If you've only ever seen a thing done one way, that becomes, for you, the way to do it. (You could almost say most NRi don't know any better.) >({|;-)
But Triarius has been very receptive to outside input. I struck up a correspondence with him before I even moved in, and secured the right of non-Novaromani to occupy most any Hill we pleased. I told him that we, too, considered ourselves populus Romanus, some of us for years before Nova Roma ever saw daylight. I also said that having Romans from all corners rub elbows on every street would make for a more authentic experience.
I am now a sysop on MA. ("Ahh, so that's where Mari slips off to when we can't find him here!") I do not make policy for the site; that's the owner's job. But I am in a good position to make suggestions. The one I will make shortly will be to open the domi, if not the villae, to anybody who wants one. (Every street has domi, even the traditionally non-Citizen areas of Trans Tiberim and the Campus Martius.)
Why not the villae? Besides that possibly being a harder sell, I got to thinking: The occupants of the villae (and of the Capitoline and Palatine Hills) are universally Nova Roman assidui. They actually have paid for the privilege, and even I think that deserves a little extra consideration.
Given time, I'm certain there will be some divergence between Nova Roma and Mons Aventinus, and perhaps that will lead to them not being so tightly intertwined. I see NR's structure as a concrete slab that was used for a foundation. It's not the basement, but it's not the whole edifice either. That's something we, the residents, will build together out of whatever materials we've got handy, with whatever tools we can bring to bear.
And, somewhat later...
I don't know that I'm all that comfortable with being considered someone who has "special access" to Lucius Vitellius. [...] His User Talk page is just as available to you as to me; and I'm going to do what you could, which is make an occasional suggestion. And Triarius has just become a Sodalis here; you'll be seeing as much of him as I do, both places; you could ask him yourself. >({|;-)
Na, I believe his idea of Roman Citizenship is plenty wide enough. (After all, he let *me* in, nonne? <g>) It's more a matter of how to express this on the Mons Aventinus site. We'd need to review the content, with an eye towards identifying and modifying any of its guidelines that may be conflicting with that broader vision. *If* that happens, it's going to take some time... But Hei, it's a Wiki! --It's *supposed* to be perpetually Under Construction.
*Mari dons his hard hat* (=|;-)
Patientia vobiscum,