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I. Tribe Assignment a. Cives are assigned to tribes for two main purposes: i. The election of Quaestors ii. The voting of laws. 1. Tribes meet regularly and are the main body for the passage of laws in Nova Roma. b. Tribal assignments are then utilized for two separate assemblies: i. Populi Tributa 1. General elections ii. Comitias Plebis (CPIT) 1. This body is for Plebeians only and votes for Tribunes of the Plebs and Plebiscites a. Has yet to be ‘officially’ convened in Nova Roma. c. Tribes are divided as follows: i. XXXI Rural tribes. Those individuals that vote in the main (December) elections. ii. IV Urban tribes. Citizens that fail to vote in the previous main December elections. d. Tribal Assignment i. Each civis on obtaining Nova Roman citizenship is assigned to a Rural Tribe. 1. Citizens are assigned based on a loose ‘averaging’ algorithm or on a basis of keeping the sizes of the tribes evenly matched. a. As a secondary factor, citizens are assigned based on their physical location. (Provincial membership.) Thus, if the Rural Tribes are evenly matched at the time a new citizen is approved, then the citizen will be placed in a tribe that is well-represented in his/her province. 2. Once citizens are assigned to a tribe, they are expected to vote in the December elections. If they fail to do so, then they are assigned to one of the four urban tribes. (Capite Censi, or ‘headcount’ tribes.) 3. The new headcount law provides for the following: If a civis voted in the last qualifying December election, but has not paid taxes, then the civis is placed in tribe 35. If said civis later changes their status by the payment of back taxes, then they are reassigned to a new tribe at that time. Thus, the potential exists for a bloated tribe #35. II. The Centuries a. 193 total centuries i. In antiqua, centuries were originally summoned for military recruitment b. In Nova Roma, the Centuries are summoned to: i. Elect Censores, Consuls and Praetors ii. Promulgate laws iii. Provide ½ of the requirement necessary to make changes to the Constitution. The other requirement being 2/3 Senate approval. c. Centuries are divided into five classes, based on cumulative point values. In antiqua, these classes were based on wealth and land holdings. In Nova Roma, they are based on: i. Participation in Nova Roma, its government and activities ii. Length of citizenship. d. How Cives are currently assigned to centuries: (Per the Lex Vedia Centuriata) i. Cives are assigned points for length of service and degree of physical participation. –Though currently the law of the land, there is a movement in place to change this. 1. Specific point values assigned to each magistracy and role are enumerated in the Lex Vedia Centuriata which is published in the Nova Roman Tabularium. 2.
Points are totalled for each civis and equated to a class standing. (1
through 5.) e. How point totals equate to class membership: i. In the Censorship of Sulla, a table was established with the following point assignments: 1. First Class: anyone with 60 points or higher 2. Second Class: 45-59 points 3. Third Class: 30-44 points 4. Fourth Class: 15-29 points 5. Fifth class: 0-28 points. ii. Once the initial table of point assignments was established in the Sullan table, then classes were mapped to centuries in the following manner: 1.
Class 1 is assigned Centuries 1 - 50 2.
Class 2 is assigned Centuries 51 - 92 3.
Class 3 is assigned Centuries 93 - 132 4.
Class 4 is assigned Centuries 133 - 163 5. Class 5 is assigned Centuries 164 – 193 iii. To see how typical class numbers map to centuries within Nova Roma currently: 1.
Class 1 - usually has 1-2 members per century 2.
Class 2 - usually has 2-3 members per century 3.
Class 3 - 4-5 members per century 4.
Class 4 - 2-3 members per century 5. Class 5 - 5+ members per century f. Point revision schedule i. Point schedules are revised annually, prior to 11/30. They absolutely MUST be done for all cives by this time. g. Areas for work, improvement and discussion: i. A main area for tweaking of blend between the letter of the law and the realities of the citizenship structure is the determination of just how many centuries make up one class. 1. Technically, it would be legal to place everyone into the first class. Currently, it does not matter how the centuries are divided, as long as the total is 193. a. Most Censores utilize the examples stated in the Lex Vedia Centuirata to match this as closely as possible. 2. There are further interpretations of the law. a. One intrepretation states that new cives can be tossed into the fourth and fifth classes and they can be assigned somewhere later. Another interpretation of the spirit of the law says that citizens should be matched equally between the centuires. Currently in Nova Roma, centuries are aligned as accurately as possible within this particular interpretation. The primary issue is how cives are put into the centuries. The deciding factor in these cases is to be found in Article 2 of the Constitution: the last sentence states that the exact composition should be waived in favor of those cives that show the greatest commitment to Nova Roma.
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