SENATUS POPULUSQUE ROMANUM

SENATE open meeting Minutiae 8OCT

Present:

Emperor Stephanus Galtier

Senators: Ausus Equitius Calx, Booker Beningborough, Wolf Confero, UncaSnow, Januarius Vindelici, Cato Leone Elen, D Rad Parthicus, Tybalt Caproni, RegulusAntius Rufus, Markus Pompeius-Vindelici, Eryx Etchegaray-Drake, Miles Maximus, Stef Endriago Antonius Drakon, Syrus Etchegaray-Drake, Gaius Antigos

Citizens: Damion Draco Antonius, Zarek Antonius, Wes Baiae Etchegaray-Drake, Tiberivs Hadrianvs, Eloy Parthicus, Luca Mistwood Hadrianus, Petrus Pompeius-Vindelici, Titus, Franko Haifisch, Leo Verus Aquilllius, Micah, Derek Lyons Vale Aquillius, Bambi Panius-Serafin, Asharr Panius, zelko indigo, Ilyas Riina, Emmerick Leone Elen Gallicus, Phedro, Josh Argenteus Aurelius, Sailor Vasiliev Varro-Crucifixus, Geronimo, Strymon O Aemilius Parthicus, Equa Arkala, Hayt Artorius Aurelius, Silvanus Varro, Lucius Parthicus Dii Consentes, candyboy Allen, Jupiter Gaius Aquillius

I. IMPERIAL APPOINTMENTS

Stef Endriago Antonius Drakon, Gaius Antigos and Guy Leone have been appointed as Romanum Senators.

Emperor Stephanus Galtier: The primary requirement is the male owns land in Romanum. The person should be an upstanding citizen with some time in the community, but not necessarily a certain amount of time. At the moment I appoint Senators. We may be including more in the process with the new government proposal.

II. ROMANUM GOVERNANCE RESTRUCTURING

Emperor Stephanus Galtier: Two weeks ago, the Romanum Sims owners and I met to go over a proposal I developed regarding changes in how we govern in Romanum. I was assuming we would complete that review in one meeting but we did not. The meeting was very productive but the Romanum Sim owners will meet again next Sunday to hopefully finish our review. Then we will present our proposal to the Senate in a closed door meeting for advice. I hope we can conclude all of this by November with any new government in process soon after the new year.

III. CITY ACTIVITIES

Januarius Vindelici reporting for the co-ordinators committee:

(I) Mr Romanum dates have now been fixed for a final on 26 November, with a semi-final on 19 November if necessary. Further details on entry and closing dates will be announced soon.

(II) Prince Jin has postponed progress on the play Star-Crossed Lovers, due to lack of support, and problems in arranging rehearsal times. We are investigating other possibilities.

(III) Senator Gaius Antigos is planning a regular Slave Market event (RP). This should be regular, and can operate as a sort of dating agency for Domini/servi. Please watch for date/time/venue.

(IV) My thanks to Markus, Prince Jin, Tybalt, Oliver and Yanneck for making the show 201 AD A Romanum Odyssey last Saturday a success. Also to Wes and Wolf for inspiring the idea and the other myriad helpers who made it work. I know that Wes would also like to speak about the auction. I congratulate him on the success.

Wes Baiae Etchegaray-Drake: I want to take this time to officially thank everyone who participated. The Auction was very different from many we have had here. The Auction was a very successful financial endeavour that helped with The Gladiators, The Pankration and The Chariots. We had a total of 8 Senators offer their support. When the event was completed and all the silver and gold counted each of the 3 received at total L$18,757. A final total of L$55,725 was raised for the citizens of Romanum. Thank you very much, I do not deserve the thanks it goes to the Senators and Participants.

Zarek Antonius: The Antonii will be hosting an event at our family sim (Capri) on OCT 22 starting at 12PM SLT. The event is to welcome our cousins from Alexandreia to Romanum, and specifically our villa. The Queen of Alexandreia (Anassa Kleopatra) and her Court will be in attendance. We are working out the details of coordinating with other events that day and details will be forthcoming. All of Romanum will be welcomed to attend this event.

IV. EMPEROR STATEMENT ON RECENT UPHEAVALS

Emperor Stephanus Galtier: Over seven and a half years ago I came up with the idea of creating an ancient Roman world targeted to gay and bisexual men. There were already ancient worlds and Roman worlds in SL, but not an ancient Roman world targeted to gay and bisexual men. It would be Romanum's market niche in SL. The idea and a carefully built brand that was created caught on very quickly. Romanum started with a single Sim. The one you are in right now. During its first year, Romanum saw much change and its share of drama. Some people started their own ancient worlds either geared toward gay and bisexual men or at least competitive with Romanum's ancient world concept. Over the many years, virtually all of those competing worlds closed for any number of reasons. A key reason being running a successful Sim in SL is no easy feat. It was in Romanum's first year, after I expanded Romanum to two Sims, that the first person approached me about bringing their Sim to Romanum to be a part of Romanum. They liked what they saw about Romanum and wanted to help expand Romanum and its opportunities. I instantly recognized, in agreeing to allow this new Romanum Sim not owned by me, I had something to protect. I birthed the concept of Romanum. I developed (with some help) the Romanum brand, its look, its mission, its logo, its slogan, its music. So I had this new Romanum Sim owner sign a written agreement with me recognizing my ownership of Romanum. People were/are free to try and copy Romanum elsewhere in SL, but I own Romanum. Gaius Casius Varro Aquillius signed such a written agreement with me last September 2016. Owning a Sim that is part of Romanum is a privilege, not a right. That may sound a bit haughty, but I have worked very hard, spent thousands of US dollars, spent hundreds and hundreds of hours, endured a wide range of emotional experiences, to help make Romanum what it is, by SL standards, a highly successful Sim world, an enduring world. But despite all my efforts, Romanum's success is its people, people committed to its success. Yes, I hope I inspire these people, but without the people of Romanum, there would be no Romanum. One thing I want to make real clear. I am my own man. No one controls me. No one. People influence me and I ALWAYS welcome input on how to make Romanum better, to solve problems. Romanum has been blessed over the years with people who give a great deal of time and effort to Romanum in leadership positions. Yes, money is important too. But money alone does not make Romanum successful. As the founder of Romanum, not only do I have the right to select those who will help me lead Romanum, I have earned that right. I am not a perfect person, no one is. I make mistakes. Some mistakes of mine have caused pain for some people in Romanum. I try real hard to avoid that pain, those mistakes. But despite my imperfections, I know I am, overall, a good leader. But I will ALWAYS recognize everyone else who contribute to Romanum's success. It is not my place to doing a deep dive on understanding Gaius Casius Varro Aquillius. I sincerely believe Gaius is basically a good person with a good heart who cares deeply about those people he loves. Gaius is passionate and emotional, not unlike me. Gaius is also imperfect, like me. I will not speak, here, some of the encounters I have had with Gaius in private and those who support him. Their intentions were good, I believe, and their love of Romanum sincere. They and I have had disagreements and it has caused my heart to be troubled, troubled because I DO care deeply about everyone and I wish everyone could be happy and satisfied. I have been forced into a position to make some difficult decisions. But I was shocked at what was reported to me on Thursday, September 21 regarding the action of Gaius and the home Alexi owned. I spent time taking the testimony of Alexi, who courageously agreed to make his testimony public. I sought out expert opinion and confirmation from two expert builders, including the builder of Alexi's home. They confirmed what my own eyes saw, what photographic evidence documented: that for whatever reason I do not know, Gaius Casius Varro Aquillius took it upon himself to use technology to steal Alexi's home right in front of his face. In doing so, Gaius deprived the builder of the home his rightful claim to compensation. That builder filed an abuse claim with Linden Lab. As I said, no one is perfect, including me. But an owner of a Romanum Sim, not merely a land parcel owner, an owner who signed a written agreement with me, the founder of Romanum, had a responsibility to exercise a high ethical standard. Gaius grossly violated that standard. He committed a very serious violation of Second Life's Terms of Service. He may or may not be seriously penalized by Linden Lab. But if I allowed such an egregious violation to go without penalty for a person entrusted with Romanum's reputation and brand, it would be a severe dereliction of my own responsibility. Not only could it harm Romanum's reputation in general, but it could cause some to avoid Romanum because they may fear theft of their property. So even though Gaius and I had had our strong disagreements over other matters in Romanum, it was THIS action and ONLY THIS action, his theft, which forced my hand. I have exercised my option in the written signed agreement on Romanum Sim ownership I had with Gaius, and have asked Gaius to remove his five Sims from Romanum and remove the name Romanum from his Sims. I have also permanently banned Gaius from Romanum. Taking such drastic action is having drastic effect. What pains me the most is the many innocent people impacted by this decision. I am working with some of those people to help them transition. But some will suffer regardless. Even though my decision may cause some loyal to Gaius to no longer feel welcomed in Romanum, I will state again, here, publicly, they remain welcomed. I speak specifically of the Aquillius family and also the Varro family which is, unfortunately, also impacted by my decision. As has been stated, this is the most difficult decision I have ever had to make as leader of Romanum with the greatest potential impact. There is a risk involved. But I know my commitment to Romanum remains as strong as ever. I know those who live and play in Romanum are resilient and committed to Romanum's success and its future. We will survive and we will prosper. So, I want to mention what will now happen in the immediate future with Romanum. As per the written signed agreement I had with Gaius, I had the right to ask him to remove his Romanum Sims and remove the name Romanum from his Sims at HIS expense. I asked Gaius to do this September 21. That was 17 days ago and Gaius' Romanum Sims have not been removed or renamed. In consultation with the other Romanum Sim owners, we believe Gaius will probably not remove his Sims or rename them. Therefore, within days, we will move our Romanum Sims elsewhere on the SL grid. It will be near where Romanum is now. We hope all ten of the remaining Romanum Sims are moved at the same time and are working with Linden Lab to try and accomplish that goal. There may or may not be some difference in time when each Sim moves and we will let you know as soon as we know. It is my understanding this move will have zero impact on landmarks. However, for a day or so, teleporting may not be perfect. Moving our Sims will separate Romanum from Gaius' Sims, but I have no idea when he might remove the name Romanum from his Sims. I hope sooner, rather than later. Until he does, we will need to make it clear his Sims are no longer Romanum Sims. To restate what I have said before, the five Gaius' Sims that we will move away from are: Varro Estate RomanumVI; Aquillia Estate RomanumVII; Romanum XI; Lacus Nemi RomanumXII; Lacus Nemi Romanum XV. In addition to moving our ten Romanum Sims, Rad Parthicus is bringing in a new full Sim that will be the new home of the zoo my dear friend Cato Leone already built twice. It pains me he will need to build it a third time. That new Sim will be located north of Romanum V (the Imperial Palace Sim) and east of Romanum IX (Rad's Garden District Sim). The new Sim will be named RomanumXI. So I want to thank you all for being here today and listening to my comments on this important subject.

Tiberivs Hadrianvs: My Emperor, Proconsuls, Senators, Patricians and Servi, before rank in all of you exist a soul who have the same value for me, a long time I was more quiet like to talk about life event in romanum, a long time I was more like an ''observer" in this community, in this whole time I try to involve myself into rp where I serve, Flamen Apollonis, (for a short time as gladiator but was ejected because I changed my name. Consider this a shame of Austen not mine one), Legionnaire and Gladiator (thanks to Senator Aeon), after I see in Romanum I have 3 rp but whatever I buy small parcels or more huge parcels of land I still do not have the right to send a simple notice in the Romanum empire group. But some guys can send many notice and sometime to just spam this group with notice for parties or whatever. One new person arrived and he got the right to send notice to this group for rp in the second week after he arrived in Romanum. I decided to move in a small part of the sim to build a new dream, Hadrian’s dream, where others fail to make something with this sim. I build my nice house but others make jokes and compare my house with a latrine. For me, it was my house and I spent many nights to build every part, but in a short time I failed because sometimes people make mistakes. I consider myself a collateral victim of this story and I am not alone, many like me are in the same situation. Many times, because of some people from there, I just stay away from my rp. It is a shame to see how up in the legion, if you are member of family of an officer you can to make any mistake and no-one will comment. Otherwise, a small mistake is an example for all. Guys, if you want clean and fun rp keep protection for family in your house not in legion or in others rp, otherwise legion or other rp will remain for your family. I will not give names or pointed examples, as this is not the time and place, I only try to wake up some persons who believe Romanum is his own place. We all know who is owner of this sims and this brand. Please realise, guys, Romanum will live if idiots like me, and many more, will pay land and play in rp there. I do not fight for power, this is a reason to NOT accept high rank in any rp there, I fight instead for love, virtue and honour. This is an extremely short story, after all of this I still continue to live here. Please, people, be not bad to unimportant citizens like me or others. Us unimportant citizens, we have souls and with all of us together Rome lives and grows in valour, not only with the few who they think is the best. In Romania I have a saying "Before you arrive to God with complaints saints will eat you". This is reason to not make newer complains, there are too many saints. I consider all of this my own mistake, my own fault, but I say all of this because all of you deserve to know what I think and what is in my head. In final I have no words to thank you to My Emperor for huge help what he gave me in the last 2 weeks when I was on the street. Thank you again from all my soul My Emperor.

zelko indigo: my emperor, for the subject that Romanum is a land gay, personally I come to Romanum, because a Romanum, there are only men and we are very, very good between men. I am tired when I go on other land to meet that women or girls is 90 percent of the lands, so I hope that Romanum will never change :) so that romanum accepts that gays

Cato Leone Elen: I wish to extend hand from the Leone-Elens to the Aquillius family in the hopes this even does not sever our relations in the future. I as well only wish to do as needed and the extent of fairness to all whom are involved. We are here for the empire and dutifully serve as needed. And thank you to Rad for bringing in the sim for the new zoo.

Ŀucα Mıѕէωօօժ Hαժriαηνѕ: What are the qualifications to be able to make announcements in Romanum groups?

ѕץяus Etchegaray- Đяαkє: I have been in contact with Gaius as well as Derek Gaid brother who confirms that full financial restitution to the building creator. Not that it’s important because the action was wrong also it was confirmed at least one, if not all, of Gaius’s sims will be moved within the next few days or so.

Bambi Panius-Serafin: I remember when these lands were small, when everyone would congregate outside the palace or in the tavern because there wasn't really anywhere else to go, or risk their lives underwater with the mermen. And back then it was a lot different. It was warmer and we had a laugh. Of course, the lands grew and more people came and then everyone sort of drifted into family groups. Not that that is a bad thing. I don't think anyone should look on the losing of land as a terrible thing that nobody can survive. Ok, so you may end up squashed on top of each other for a while but so what? You make new friends that way. One man made an error of judgment that I am sure he regrets but this does not mean his family should think that they are no longer welcome and loved, or that they can't go anywhere now. He would not want that, and nor does anyone here. So, will Romanum be different? Yes. Will it be worse? Of course not. Everyone, from the Emperor down to a lowly pot washer makes this land an amazing place to be. You should all respect each other and treat each other as you wish to be treated yourself. And finally, why the hell do you not have orgies anymore?

candyboy Allen: I will only will say that my family, the Karu, are standing behind our emperor.

Markus Pompeius - Vindelici: I just have a question to Tiberius, I did not understand some words of his speech, maybe I am too blonde? (Emperor Stephanus Galtier: it may be better to talk to Tiberius privately on this issue)

Wes Baiae Etchegaray-Drake: I do understand that the Emperor had to make some very hard decisions recently. With respect to his leadership and work with other to insure things remain as calm here as possible. No decision with implications like this can be easy. Thank you for your leadership.

Asharr Panius: just wished to answer Booker's glance from earlier yes i used to organise particular events but Romanum seems to have become somewhat shy or prudish that is probably why orgies are not held or as stated in senate ages ago there are not enough slaves to hold one (why slaves needed no idea)

ADDENDUM TO THE IMPERIAL STATEMENT

Emperor Stephanus Galtier: I am receiving some important back channel communication. I am pleased to hear Gaius Aquillius plans to honor his business agreement with me. Therefore, we will cancel our move. We will need to confirm, but for now, we are cancelling our move. Gaius is making plans to move or sell his Sims.

V. BUSINESS FROM THE FLOOR

- Gaius Antigos: on the subject of orgies, I am working on recruiting more slaves for Romanum, starting with a slave market RP.

- zelko indigo: I never said that orgies should be done at the tavern, but just that to organize orgies, the tavern was a good place for meetings and talk about it.

RegulusAntius Rufus: Romanum has definitely become more prudish. I would like to address that at the next senate meeting. I recently was criticized in IM by a citizen for my "dirty" comments. I will admit I was embarrassed. Later I realized that this is an adult sim and adult language is permitted.

- zelko indigo: I am zelko, the waiter of the Romanum tavern, my boss is sir Maxumus Miles, I meant, I do not feel responsible from the welcome of the newcomers, my priority is to serve my clients at the tavern, and if the newcomers want information, they can come to the tavern, but for me, the main priority, and take care of my beloved guests.

Emperor Stephanus Galtier: I want to express my gratitude publicly for the great job he is doing at the Tavern. I have seen him all hours of the day there to serve people and engage in conversation. Many others have done similar, and it is a wonderful thing.

Booker Beningborough: I would like to publicly mention to all here that it is the responsibility of each of us to be a welcoming community of men. Whenever you see someone new, please speak to him and make him feel welcomed. We want them to feel this love and fellowship so they will want to come here more. All of us can do this to insure the survival of our land.

Bambi Panius-Serafin: Why not have a seating area outside the landing spot and encourage your more active people to sit there and rp? Rather than use the tavern, it's nice to go to a sim and straight away see people are there.

Emperor Stephanus Galtier: The tavern is just outside the Welcome Center, but thanks.

Booker Beningborough: The Senate is working on this issue and will be sending out suggestions in the very near future. But we all can be a welcoming group.

Januarius Vindelici: Or move the landing spot so it faces the tavern.

Wes Baiae Etchegaray-Drake: The landing spot needs to be at the visitor center with possible visitor area there to welcome visitors.

Booker Beningborough: As I mentioned earlier, the Senate is discussing this issue and will be sending out suggestions.

zelko indigo: it is true that if customers are present at the tavern, it will be much easier for newcomers to ask questions to customers, there will always be one of my clients who will answer.

- Asharr Panius: Does Romanum have a flickr account ? If so, it could be good for photographers to add their work to it in a photo pool

The next meeting of the Senate will be Sunday 12 November 11am SLT

Gratitude,

Ixion Parthicus Ἰξίων Παρθικος

Senate Scribe

(A big thank you to the Emperor, JoshR, Strymon and Januarius for their assistance and support of the Scribe's Office)