For Dec 15th issue of Acta

Io Saturnalia !

The Greek Libanius wrote,
"The impulse to spend seizes everyone. He who the whole year through has taken pleasure in saving and piling up his pence, becomes suddenly extravagant.
People are not only generous toward themselves, but also toward their fellow-men. A stream of presents pours itself out on all sides.
The festival banishes all that is connected with toil. From the minds of young people it removes... the dread of the schoolmaster... Another great quality of the festival is that it teaches men not to hold too fast to their money, but to part with it and let it pass into other hands."
(My, how things have changed...... NOT!)

Why do we perpetuate these traditions of the universal feast and its practices that have been handed down from primitive man? Because they answer needs that are basic to mankind. The need to be thankful, the need to celebrate life and the need to be assured we will have continuing good fortune in the year to come.
And so as we pile our tables high with food and drink to honor Saturn, god of sowing, we will pray that it persuades him to make the seeds sprout and the long, warm sunny days return.
We wish you one and all Io Saturnalia!~

For Report of Curiate Assembly - Dec 15th issue of Acta

REPORT OF CURIATE ASSEMBLY: NOVEMBER 28, 2010

by Senator Zelda Walpole

November Curiate Assembly saved a lot of good news for our Citizens.

The big and good surprise is that Roma has four brave and great new Estate Managers to help Torin Golding in the management of our Sim: Maali Beck (Princeps Senatus), Achille Back (Legio XIII Gemina Officer), Peter Woody (Praetor Scaenae and Ludorum Editor) and Alekso Minotaur (Ludorum Editor). They will help to take care of Roma, keep strong the connection between Roma Groups and take out specific responsabilities, as great Officiers of our more active groups.

I leave out details about the state of the Sim (that is really better than before: 90% of plots rented in Subura) to say that we will soon (in the middle of December) have a totally restyled Macellum building, similar to the new Trajan's Market, to which it will be connected with a bridge. The new Macellum could bring more traffic to Merchants and will certainly look wonderful as all of our Praefectus' buildings.

Even if estate of the Sim is getting better, some Citizens remembered how to help Roma finances: pay Latrina taxes (suggestion of Liza Brandenburg), support Lucretia in the Tavern (sugg. of Melanippe Karas), donate through Maritima Boxes and Plaza Fountain (sugg. of Torin Golding).

About Saturnalia planning, our December festival (ancestor in some ways of Christmas), Melanippe Karas, Representative of Collegia, suggested snow themed events and gifts exchange.

Then a Citizen (Gare Claven) wanted to share with us how much he admires the impressive iron discipline of our great Legio XIII Gemina.

Thinking about the good participation in the First Latin Lesson, Senator Zelda Walpole asked if it was possible to focus again on cultural events: she could do on her own Latin Literature lessons and all can encourage to play again original tragedies or comedies in our wonderful Dionysus' Theater.

At the end, Spaciva Ivanova, our Acta Roma Officer, suggested to pick up the Acta, in a word our newsletter...that is what you are reading now! The proposal was very well received and Princeps Senatus encouraged to help Spaciva with Acta.

Last words of the Assembly was of our Princeps Senatus, Maali Beck: "This meeting is adjourned!"

So ended the second meeting we had in the new Curia.

For Festival Events section - Dec 15th issue of Acta

Saturnalia Subura Domus Tour
December at 1.30 PM SLT
Tuesday, 14 Dec 2010 19:58:58 GMT

On 18 December at 1.30 pm SLT come and enjoy our Saturnalia decorations in Subura houses! Senators Zelda Walpole and Ragark Fiertze will lead you through our wonderful Subura and show some of the most beautifully decorated domus of Roma. This is the chance not only to chat and drink some wine together, but also to see houses usually not open to all citizens.
If you would like to show your decorated domus send a notecard to Zelda Walpole before 17th December.
See you around Subura streets! Io Saturnalia!

For Festival Events section - Dec 15th issue of Acta

DECEMBER FESTIVAL - SATURNALIA

by the Vestalis Maxima

Our December festival is the Saturnalia - the original Saturnalia was the winter solstice festival in Rome. It involved the conventional sacrifices, a couch set out in front of the temple of Saturn and the untying of the ropes that bound the statue of Saturn during the rest of the year. Besides the public rites there were a series of holidays and customs celebrated privately. A Saturnalicius princeps was elected master of ceremonies for the proceedings.

The celebrations included the making and giving of small presents and a special market. Many of the decorations involved greenery - swathes, garlands, wreaths, etc - being hung over doorways and windows, and ornamenting stairs. Ornaments in the trees included sun symbols, stars, and faces of the God Janus (who looked toward both the past and the future, having two faces). Trees were not brought indoors (the Germans started that tradition), but decorated where they grew.

People were just as likely to be ornamented as the trees. Wearing greenery and jewelry of a sacred nature was common. Gambling was allowed for all, even slaves (however, although it was officially condoned only during this period, one should not assume that it was rare or much remarked on during the rest of the year). It was a time to eat, drink, and be merry. The toga was not worn, but rather colorful, informal "dinner clothes", and the pileus (freedman's hat) was worn by everyone. Slaves were exempt from punishment, and treated their masters with disrespect. The slaves celebrated a banquet: before, with, or served by the masters.

Saturnalia became one of the most popular Roman festivals which led to more role-reversal, marked chiefly by having masters and slaves ostensibly switch places (only symbolically - slaves weren't really free to make a freedman's decisions and anything they did or decreed would reverse at the end of Saturnalia). It was license within careful boundaries - it reversed the social order without subverting it. The customary greeting for the occasion is "Io, Saturnalia!" "Io" being a Latin interjection related to "ho" (as in "Ho, praise to Saturn").

***Festival Schedule***

17th Dec. :

Ave Weekend Party - 12pm (Noon)
Saturnalia Latin Lessons - 1pm

18th Dec. :

Saturnalia Ritual & Tavern Celebration - 10am
Saturnalia Snowman Building Contest - 12pm (Noon)
Subura Domus Deco Walking Tour & Feast- 1:30pm

19th Dec. :

Saturnalia Ice Skating Party - 11am
Saturnalia Sleigh Races - 12pm (Noon)
Legion XIII's Saturnalia Gladius Deathmatch - 1pm
Saturnalia Grand Feast - 4pm
(Grand Feast includes Trivia Contest and Saturnalia Gift Exchange)

For more detailed info on events - see the schedule posted in the Tabularium

For ROMA Daily News and Events section - Dec 15th issue of Acta

Latin Classes In ROMA

Recently Magistrae Zelda Walpole and Tonina Rodenberger started a basic Latin lesson in Roma SPQR.
Here you can read a short summary about what was taught in the first lesson:

Latin is an inflected language. In other words, the meaning and function of each word, especially nouns, adjectives and verbs, varies based on its endings.
Whereas english derives meaning from word order ("Man bites dog" and "Dog bites man" mean entirely different things) Latin may place the words in any order but the endings of the words make sentence meaning clear.

Latin nouns are sorted into 5 declensions.

Flecting a noun (and that also includes names) or an adjective is called "to decline".
It is also important to know, that every latin noun has its gender, either masculine or feminine or neuter.

Latin nouns are sorted into 5 declensions and we learned about the

1st (a-) -declension, that its nouns end on -a in nominative singular and that most of them are feminine.
Example: rosa = The rose, a rose

2nd (o-) -declension, that the masculine nouns of this declension end on -us in nominative singular.
Example: servus = the slave, a slave

Verbs

Flecting a verb we call "to conjugate".
Latin verbs are sorted into 5 conjugations.
Each Latin verb, depending on its spelling, falls under one of these categories. From there a verb can be conjugated into tenses such as present, imperfect, future I, perfect, plusquamperfect and future II
and the ending also tells us who is doing something or to whom something is done.

Our first latin lesson taught us, that the 1st person singular present (he,she,it) is expressed by the ending -t.
Example: sedet = he/she/it sits
rogat = he/she/it asks

Look forward to the next lesson. Keep in mind what you learned so far and, well, dont forget to learn your vocabulary! ;-)

For Latin Phrase of the day section - Dec 15th issue of Acta

Latin Phrase of the Day:

Qod licet Iovi, non licet bovi.

quod here: what (relative pronoun 1st pers. singular neuter)
licet it is allowed
Iovis Jupiter (Iovi = dative)
bos, bovis, masc. bull, ox (bovi = dative singular)

"Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi" is a Latin phrase, litterally meaning "What is legitimate for Jove (Jupiter) is not legitimate for oxen".
The phrase was created by Terence, a playwright of the Roman Republic in reference to the myth wherein Jupiter took the form of a bull to seduce Europa.
The phrase is often translated as "Gods may do what cattle may not".
It indicates the existence of a double standard (justifiable or otherwise), and essentially means "what is permitted to one person or a group, is not permitted to everyone".

For Roleplay section - Dec 15th issue of Acta

OOC REPORT ABOUT THE ROLEPLAY NEWS

Many things have happened in ROMA'S roleplay this year. Here are a few of the notices from throughout the year discussing the changes;

1) Closing the Theatrum Romanum site

This was an unhappy necessity but gave us the opportunity to reorganize and consolidate the contents in a new space. This is the message board of "romacitizen", the "Theatrum" section: http://romacitizens.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=theatrum

2) reorganizing the romacitizens messageboard

In the message board, the news about the roleplay was spread over several sub and sub-sub boards, surely too many. Some of them will be deleted in the next days, to allow the roleplayer to find the news more easily. For instance, to know the character history of an avatar, you will consult a unique sub-board where a dozen stories are already posted: http://romacitizens.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=stories

And in the future you will be able to consult them even while roleplaying. They will be listed alphabetically.

3) updating the personal character stories

We want you to utilize the above mentioned sub-board as a practical instrument to better your roleplay. So please send your updated ones to peter Woody, the moderator if you want be an active member of the group. You can do it also in form of note, inworld. If you need to discuss its contents, please do that with him or with another praetor scaenae. To allow you to retrieve your old story, the closure of the old sub-boards will be delayed until 31st of December.

those sub boards are:

http://romacitizens.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=cspatricians

http://romacitizens.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=csforeigners

http://romacitizens.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=csplebs

http://romacitizens.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=roleplay

Only the avatars included in the updated board will have the full tag of ROMA ROLEPLAYER.

All the roleplayers are invited to keep in mind their personal stories and behave consequently when roleplaying: submitting the stories is not a bureaucratic procedure, it is the food of the play.

4) reorganizing the theatrum romanum group

We need new blood for roleplaying (no, we are not vampires) so we decided to simplify the access to the group. It is no more invitation only, all avatars can join for free, but with a "guest" tag. So even a shy player, unsure of his/her ability to roleplay, can match him/herself with us in a sort of trial period. Then, after that decide to join fully, choosing a roman name and discussing with the praetores his or her character history, so that he/she can achieve the ROMA ROLEPLAYER tag.

The distinction between patrician, plebs and foreigner will be eliminated in the future.

5) changing the day

After a discussion with the estate managers, it has been decided to move the official roleplay time to Saturdays at 1 PM SLT, to allow more people to join. The slot of Wednesday is still available for special events. The meeting point, when not specified in group notices, is the tavern. On the 1st floor you can find a board where any interesting news will be posted.

For Astrology Section - Dec 15th issue of Acta

CAPRICORN ~ 22 December - 20 January

Capricorn (♑) is the tenth sign in the zodiac, originating from the constellation of Capricornus. In western astrology, this sign is no longer aligned with the constellation as a result of the precession of the equinoxes. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axial_precession_%28astronomy%29)

Element - Earth
Ruling Planet - Saturn
Symbol - Sea Goat
Birthstone - Garnet
Introvert

The constellation Capricorn represents the tenth Zodiac sign. According to Greek mythology, Capricorn is portrayed as a fish-tailed goat, Amaltheia, who nursed the baby Zeus who was in hiding from his evil father Cronos. Zeus became lord of the Gods and took one of Capricorn’s horns which came to be known as cornucopia, the horn of plenty. The horn was said to abound with whatever fortune its owner desired. Amaltheia was rewarded with a place in the heavens by Zeus.

Capricornus (or Capricorn) is usually translated as "The Sea Goat". It literally means horned goat. The constellation is ancient, and was one of the earliest members of the zodiac.

The practical and prudent Capricorn sun sign will be the first to tell you if your new idea just does not make common sense. They are great refiners, taking people creative ideas and fine tuning them, adding direction and practical application.

http://www.astrology-insight.com/capricorn.htm

How Do I Submit My Articles To The Acta?

Right here!

Just write out your article, run it through spellcheck, and post it here - where it can be collected by the editors.

To post on Blogger is simple:

1. Log in to Blogger with your email and password.
2. Once logged into your Dashboard, find the Acta ROMA Worktable
3. Click the blue "New Post" button - this will open up a new post.
4. Give it a title and be sure to include which issue of the Acta your piece is intended for - the 1st or the 15th
5. Write or cut and paste your article into the body of the post
(make sure to spellcheck it - there is a spellcheck button on the task bar at the top of the new post)
6. Preview your post, and then click "Publish Post"

That's it! The editors will take it from there!