SENATUS POPULUSQUE ROMANUM

SENATE open meeting 6AUG2017

Present:

Emperor Stephanus Galtier

Senators: Silvanus Varro Auronus, D Rad Parthicus, Eryx Etchegaray-Drake, RegulusAntius Rufus, Booker Beningborough, Wolf Confero, Tybalt Caproni, Gaius Cassius Varro Aquillius, Cato Leone Elen, Markus Pompeius-Vindelici, Miles Maximus

Citizens: Darius Galtier Varro, Stef Endriago Antonius Drakon, Strymon O Aemilius Parthicus, Nero Creticus Antonius Drakon, Syrus Etchegaray-Drake, Aurelius Romanov-Phoenix, Skip Scipio, Ptolemy Confero, Petrus Pompeius-Vindelici, Joyce Redrose-O'Black, Ejix E Silvercloud, Leo Verus Aquillius, Derek Lyons Aquillius, Luca Mistwood Hadrianvs, Josh Argenteus Aurelius. Krystian St Augustine, candyboy Allen, Tod, Jovian Parthicus. Tolomeo Confero

Proxies: Markus Vindelici for Januarius Vindelici, Joyce Redrose-O'Black for Cato Leone Elen, Wolf Confero for Uncasnow, Strymon O Aemilius Parthicus for Rad Parthicus

I. MR ROMANUM COMPETITION 2017

Markus Pompeius - Vindelici: This year, the co-ordinating team of Januarius, Kaeso and myself, was commissioned to organize the Mr. Romanum election in 2017. In the past, we always had a skybox as location, this year I have the idea of running the competition in the Pompeii Theater, if I get the permission of the emperor and Proconsul Wolf. The reason why I wish to do the event there is that it is a great location for such events and I think Romanum has so many great buildings which are rarely in use, so it would be good to change that. Also I am working on some rule changes. I let you know more when. Silvanus Varró Auronus: In the past and for many years in Romanum there have been several events and concerts and so much more that the list is endless. We have traditionally used the Romanum Forum to hold such events and more recently a special venue was created as well to host this. So could we not help showcase the new beautiful Romanum and effectively hold this show Mr Romanum in the Heart of the empire? Wolf Confero: Markus, we would be happy to let you use the theater in Pompeii. Just let me know what you need and we'll arrange it. I think they want to do it in Pompeii partially because of the lag problems on the new Rom I. I think we'd all like to see things done there but right now that is difficult. Markus Pompeius - Vindelici: Generally I agree to Silvanus but yes, it’s the lag what causes trouble on the forum especially if the participants use different effects for their shows. So I think Pompeii is a good choice. Emperor Stephanus Galtier: I agree it is a good idea to try a different Romanum venue for Mr Romanum and also other events throughout the year. Yes, Romanum I suffers lag, but there are ways to lessen lag. My point being, Rom I should not stop being a place for events because of lag. So, for Mr Romanum 2017, let's do Pompeii. Wolf Confero: I dont think they are suggesting not hosting other events on Rom I. It’s just that past Mr Romanum shows are extremely elaborate and lag causing on their own. I know the next topic is the Auction and that will be on R1 so I’m sure we all want to use R1 as much as we can. Markus Pompeius - Vindelici: there are so many temples in the heart of Romanum so maybe we can do some more religious events there. The gods will appreciate that. Emperor Stephanus Galtier: I wanted to say I agree with Markus. I would like to see more religious events. Silvanus Varró Auronus: I want to agree with the Emperor that there are many ways to reduce lag and have a more effective venue here in Romanum to help showcase the Beauty we have here and show new visitors there is a vast and impressive Empire here and beyond its borders. D. Rad Parthicus: I just wish to remind folks that there are temples and public venues throughout Romanum and we do wish to promote the entirety of our community. It is full of beauty and variety.

II. SENATOR AUCTION

Eryx Etchegaray-Drake: [Message from Wes Baiae Etchegaray-Drake] Greetings Emperor, Proconsuls, Senators and citizens of Romanum. I am sorry I cannot personally attend today but have asked my fathers to share with you information on the upcoming Senator Auction. I am pleased to announce we have 6 Senators who are planning to participate in the auction. Tentative date August 20th from 11 am to 3 pm SL. This is the tentative schedule of event: 1. Senator parade and introduction at the Hippodrome 2. Chariot Races among the Senators 3. Possible Chariot race among the winners of the Chariot races to recognize Champion Senator (waiting to hear form Senator Tybalt if this can be done) 4. Move to Theatre for live Senator Auction. Each Senator will be choose a number with that being his auction placement. 5. Each Senator will be introduced with his date package being read. 6. The senator will be on the auction block for two minutes with bids being taken from the floor. 7. After all the participants have successfully been auctioned the totals will be read and distributed equally among the chariot race, the Gladiators and the Pankration. 8. Each senator will be given the opportunity of retaining his 10 percent from his bid or donate it back to be distributed among the three charities. 9. After the auction the Etchegaray-Drake Palace will be opened up for a gala formal dance for everyone in Romanum. In closing I would like to request a short bio on each Senator volunteering an a possible date package they would like to offer. Each date will be completed two weeks after the auction with a maximum two hour time frame for the date. Wolf Confero: I spoke to Wes last night, he asks that any Senator wanting to be auctioned off, please send him a notecard with a short bio about yourself, and what types of events you are interested in doing with someone who "wins" you. And we'll ask Wes to adjust the date so you can attend Emperor.

III. ROMANUM ACTIVITY AND ROLEPLAY SCHEDULES

Wolf Confero: Hearing my name called, I slowly stand, surveying the room as I do. Several faces that love me, and several that would probably like to see me pushed from the stands and run over at the chariot races. I clear my throat and shrug it off. Looking toward the Emperor "Caesar, if you'll indulge me, I would like to take a moment to talk about RP in Romanum, turning my face away not waiting for an answer, as he has grown accustomed to my doing. "Citizens, I've had conversations with several of you over the years about the topic of RP. I know many of us are disappointed that RP seems to have faded away. We have several ideas to help ‘bring back RP’. One such idea we have is to allow IC and OOC events to overlap on the calendar. That is something we will need to work on to make sure the rules for this are clear. But many of us think this will at least help to open up some time slots for additional things to be planned in Romanum. However, what I hear most about RP, is a blame game of why RP has diminished in Romanum. I know it is human nature to try and find someone or something to blame other than ourselves in these situations, but I would like to suggest, that it is all of our faults. I glance over the faces surrounding me and see many that look puzzled at my statement. "Every day that we exist here in Romanum, we write our own story. For some of us, that story is more fictional than it is for others. Many of us feel that the environment alone is our RP and we just want to live out a ‘normal’ life within it." Looking back toward the Emperor "You and I have had several conversations between us about what RP really is, and how RP has as many different definitions, as the field has flowers". Standing up a bit straighter and puffing out my chest, I look over the crowd accusingly. "You, citizens of Romanum, are what has killed RP in our city". Fully expecting something to be thrown at me, I quickly scan the room, prepared to duck or throw Proconsul Booker into the line of fire! (hehe) "Every day, and every moment, is an opportunity for RP, and the only thing stopping RP from occurring, is you. Any event or situation - sexual or platonic - private or public - they are all opportunities for RP. All you need to do, is decide, that today is the day, ‘you’ are going to do your part to bring RP back to Romanum." Looking around the room, I can see many faces are understanding my point and others are doing more than hoping I'll get run over. They are trying to figure out how much it will cost to make it happen. "So in closing" looking back to the face of the Emperor, trying to determine if he is any more annoyed with me today than he usually is "If I can do this, the one person who is probably the most NOT into RP in Romanum, then certainly anyone else can turn any other situation into an opportunity to have RP." Slightly bowing my head to the Emperor, I quickly take my seat again, hoping that my words have not fallen on deaf ears, and that at least some of you will take my advice, and bring RP back to Romanum in your own ways. Emperor Stephanus Galtier: I agree 100%. RP is what anyone makes it. Only each of us can make good RP. Romanum will never be a strict Gor type RP environment but we do encourage RP. And there are extensive guidelines on our website about RP. As to RP classes, we used to have those. I am happy to have them again, if there is interest. As I just said, Romanum is a large beautiful Empire, literally I dare anyone to find such an amazing place in SL but in accordance with us having Mr Romanum in Pompeii this year I want to encourage events throughout the Empire. So I encourage our event organizers to try and come up with events in the many sims we have. RegulusAntius Rufus: The Emperor asked me to write a play to be performed at the new theater. It was mostly finished about 5 to 6 months ago. It seems as though the director is gone. Is there any way someone can get a hold of Hunter and see if he is still interested in doing this. And if not, is there anyone here who would agree to direct the play? Josh Argenteus Aurelius: 1. Does Hunter know that the play is written and ready to be produced? 2. As for role play: The geography and physical layout of the Romanum cluster do not encourage coordinated daily life role play. PTOLEMY CONFERO: Just to comment in a nerdy kind of way, I have always LOVED the throne room in the palace. I would strongly suggest possible audiences there, and it would give our beloved Emperor a great chance to be Imperial and showcase that spectacular room in accordance with RP. Any new senator appointments, for instance. D. Rad Parthicus: As Hunter's Pater, I have a bit more knowledge of his actions. He is dealing with a personal issue and has taken an SL leave as we all do from time to time. I suggest finding a new director. Emperor Stephanus Galtier: But I have a new theater director, if Hunter no longer wants the title. I will make the announcement in due time. As most of you know, I have dreamed of an active theater for a long time. The rebuild created a very beautiful historically active functional theater. I hate to see it sit there collecting dust. We are very fortunate my husband Regulus agreed to write plays. That has always been a major sticking point, the plays, given we cannot use audio. A play in SL is unique and must be written with the extra time needed for the audience to read lines. Plus finding plays that fit an ancient Roman theme is no easy matter. I can tell you Regulus is an extremely good writer. He has written amazing fictional stories I have seen over the years. He is a former English teacher and has an amazing imagination. So if we can get an active director and some committed actors I want to see a new play every two months. Wolf Confero: Though I agree not all of Romanum is laid out well toward daily life RP, that should not stop us from making the best of what we do have, and RPing where we can. The faults we have should not be enough to stop any and all RP. We just work around and do the best we can with what we have. Many have blamed "things" or "situations" on the death of RP here and though it might have hurt it, I still think any that want to RP, can try and work around it all and maybe in time, that will encourage improvements down the road. But we have to start somewhere. Doing nothing does not encourage growth, planting the seed does. I plan to address this further in a Senator Only meeting soon, to see if the leaders can help me with some more specific ideas. Ǥαιυѕ Cαѕѕιυѕ Vαяяσ Aqυιllιυѕ: what does it mean: not all of Romanum is laid out well toward daily life RP. Wolf Confero: It is generally understood, that an RP environment is laid out in an open manner so that it is easy to see others, communicate, move from one area to another. Some sims are set up more for this, and some are set up more for historical accuracy. Ones set up for historical accuracy are not always as open but that does not mean we can’t function RP wise at all in them, it’s just not as easy. Quick example: in the old R1, the tavern was front and centre, easy to see everything. The info centre, shops, etc. now, there is simply more there in the city, so not as easy to see. It makes RP a bit more difficult. Josh Argenteus Aurelius: I can give one example to illustrate the geography point I made. Across Romanum, there are several blacksmith operations set up, some in public areas, some in private homes. No one is doing anything wrong by using the one they use, it's just that they are not congregated together naturally while doing their work. So, when we think about coordinating role play related to blacksmiths, we have to do something to compensate for that. It's just something to keep in mind, it's not a hopeless blockage. PTOLEMY CONFERO: I would also say that one must have a venue for RP, the closest we come these days is the arena, during the games. That is a good example. A space. The temples, the throne room, a chance to use the spaces, and encourage RP within them. Wolf Confero: I’m just trying to convey what has been expressed to me by some of the RP'rs about what they find does and does not make RP difficult in the Empire. They all seem to prefer open areas, with things to do that they can work together on. Silvanus Varró Auronus: A venue is not the issue the sims are not the issues, if you have a sense of character awareness in the empire and you are interacting with others in the empire of Romanum you are in a sense in RP. Act accordingly. Your personal issues are just that personal maybe leave them in your private residence. But all of Romanum is a great place to emote and invoke your character’s RP. RegulusAntius Rufus: About RP in Romanum, I have come here when there were many avis here, maybe 12 to 15 but there are no avis on the streets or in the tavern which formerly was a centre of interaction for people. We had an almost full time barkeep at the tavern and you could drop by any time. Booker, I am sure remembers those times, and the Emperor. It was NOT Gorean RP but it was a way for new people to be introduced to Romanum OH, about those 12 to 15 avatars - they were all in villas, not in the city. It seems that no one cares about RP except when they complain we don't have any. I have come to Romanum as one of my alts and been ignored at dances and although I try to initiate conversation and no one picks up the thread. Joyce Redrose-O'Black: I RP every day when I am in Romanum, no matter want sim, I maybe visiting. And to address you, Regulus, I have greeted many a person at a dance. I have done this when I am about this wonderul city! I tour and walk around and have spoken to many citizens here. So, to live in Romanum is to RP in one form or another is it not. Silvanus Varró Auronus: in reference to Regulus's comment and this is more a city/RP concern to consider. In accordance to this being about City issues, and this may come as more of a suggestion or new order of business. But I would like to say that there are no Greeters in Romanum. We need to have maybe scheduled times that all of us contribute to being mindful of the Romanum welcome centre and forum and offer guidance some light RP. This may also be a great opportunity (role) for new members in Romanum to be tour guides and Greeters here getting to know the landscape and the community at large we have enough people here. So it’s a RP and a city issue that kind is a two in one.

IV. BUSINESS FROM THE FLOOR

Markus Pompeius -Vindelici refers his proposed item on limiting the prize money at competitions to a future meeting.

The next meeting of the Senate is September 10 and anyone with any items they wish brought up, please send them to our Senate Scribe Ixion.