The Mons Aventinus Project
Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 10:43 pm
Salvete, amici Romani!
I think I've mentioned the Mons Aventinus project in foro a time or two; when last heard from on the subject, in Comitia-->New Curatores and the Future, I was contemplating moving onto the Campus Martius. Bene--I did!! Last week, on the Ides, after a most pleasant conversation with the project's Praefectus.
The Praefectus, Lucius Vitellius Triarius, was researching the historical topography of the ancient City and, like me, he found he really needed to get a visual on it... What he wound up with was a Wiki site housing a virtual recreation of ancient Rome, broken down by hill, street and neighborhood, with houses and insulae for people to move into, decorate, link to other sites and call their own. He promptly threw Mons Aventinus open to purt' near ever'body, whether as individual Romans-in-Spirit or as members of their respective Roman organisations, ours included. MA is run by members of Nova Roma, but is not a branch of NR itself and is not there to "assimilate" anyone. Rather, its purpose is to bring all Romans together online, like I've been talking about for years; to make sure Romans and Roman organisations the world over have a common place to meet, to become aware of each other, to get in touch and be in on each others' events. (The list of links on MA's Community Portal is terrifyingly comprehensive- and yes, we've been on it since well before I showed up!)
Curator Servilius sicced me on Mons Aventinus about a month and a half ago. I went. I saw. I drooled. Wandering up and down the various streets, getting the feel of each neighborhood, stopping for directions, finding the home of a friend...just like a visiting Roman would have, back in the day. It's the closest I've been to actually living in Rome of approximately the Severan era. It's got the Seven Hills, the clivi between them, the distinct neighborhoods of the time (yes, you too can live in the Suburra!). Anyone, NR civis or not, can obtain an insula anywhere except on the Capitoline and the Palatine; these are, understandably, reserved for Nova Roma religious and administrative offices respectively. Any other Hill, you can just pick one of the streets, edit that page to "move into" your building, and decorate to taste. Novaromani can also choose to occupy a domus or a villa, depending on their tax status. There are shop spaces for merchants, Nova Roman or otherwise. Any resident's space can be linked to their Roman group or other site of choice. And by making "subpages", you can add rooms to your home; my little flat already has a Library in the works.
Originally, non-NR Citizens were encouraged to settle either on the Ianiculum (Trans Tiberim) or the Campus Martius; my choice was clear, the old War-wolf would just have to pitch his pup-tent on the Field of Mars. Since then, it's been realised that non-NR Romans are Citizens, too, of a wider Rome; the same Rome Mons Aventinus was designed to appeal to in the first place. But I'm still on the Campus Martius. What can I say, it just calls to me... Besides, it was the traditional site for embassies in historical times, so it's an appropriate spot for a legatus. The old parade-ground's been built up a bit since the late Republic; there are no camping-spots, but plenty of insulae, most of 'em available and just begging for an influx. Ongoing Special: the first tenant of an insula gets to name the building; I'd just love to get us all in there and start making people Nervous <g>! >({|;-)
This is all very new; one can almost literally get in on the ground floor. (The actual ground floors are for shops and businesses.) Besides the site itself, there are a chatroom, a Taverna, and a series of mailing-lists for the residents; and just last week Vitellius launched a social-networking site called RomanSpace. Curatores Servilius et Iohannes, et Poplicola amicus, are already on Mons Aventinus and on RomanSpace; and I may follow them onto the latter if I can get my connection to hold up. (Would you believe your Webmaster's still on dialup??)
Can you tell I'm excited?? --I'm rambling and repeating myself! --Anyway, I like it, and the neighbors don't mind the Little Dog, and the zoning's right. Stop by and leave me a note!
Mons Aventinus: http://monsaventinus.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
Marius: http://monsaventinus.wikia.com/wiki/Via ... Martius%29 (Insula I-C)
RomanSpace: http://romanspace.ning.com
In amicitia et fide,
I think I've mentioned the Mons Aventinus project in foro a time or two; when last heard from on the subject, in Comitia-->New Curatores and the Future, I was contemplating moving onto the Campus Martius. Bene--I did!! Last week, on the Ides, after a most pleasant conversation with the project's Praefectus.
The Praefectus, Lucius Vitellius Triarius, was researching the historical topography of the ancient City and, like me, he found he really needed to get a visual on it... What he wound up with was a Wiki site housing a virtual recreation of ancient Rome, broken down by hill, street and neighborhood, with houses and insulae for people to move into, decorate, link to other sites and call their own. He promptly threw Mons Aventinus open to purt' near ever'body, whether as individual Romans-in-Spirit or as members of their respective Roman organisations, ours included. MA is run by members of Nova Roma, but is not a branch of NR itself and is not there to "assimilate" anyone. Rather, its purpose is to bring all Romans together online, like I've been talking about for years; to make sure Romans and Roman organisations the world over have a common place to meet, to become aware of each other, to get in touch and be in on each others' events. (The list of links on MA's Community Portal is terrifyingly comprehensive- and yes, we've been on it since well before I showed up!)
Curator Servilius sicced me on Mons Aventinus about a month and a half ago. I went. I saw. I drooled. Wandering up and down the various streets, getting the feel of each neighborhood, stopping for directions, finding the home of a friend...just like a visiting Roman would have, back in the day. It's the closest I've been to actually living in Rome of approximately the Severan era. It's got the Seven Hills, the clivi between them, the distinct neighborhoods of the time (yes, you too can live in the Suburra!). Anyone, NR civis or not, can obtain an insula anywhere except on the Capitoline and the Palatine; these are, understandably, reserved for Nova Roma religious and administrative offices respectively. Any other Hill, you can just pick one of the streets, edit that page to "move into" your building, and decorate to taste. Novaromani can also choose to occupy a domus or a villa, depending on their tax status. There are shop spaces for merchants, Nova Roman or otherwise. Any resident's space can be linked to their Roman group or other site of choice. And by making "subpages", you can add rooms to your home; my little flat already has a Library in the works.
Originally, non-NR Citizens were encouraged to settle either on the Ianiculum (Trans Tiberim) or the Campus Martius; my choice was clear, the old War-wolf would just have to pitch his pup-tent on the Field of Mars. Since then, it's been realised that non-NR Romans are Citizens, too, of a wider Rome; the same Rome Mons Aventinus was designed to appeal to in the first place. But I'm still on the Campus Martius. What can I say, it just calls to me... Besides, it was the traditional site for embassies in historical times, so it's an appropriate spot for a legatus. The old parade-ground's been built up a bit since the late Republic; there are no camping-spots, but plenty of insulae, most of 'em available and just begging for an influx. Ongoing Special: the first tenant of an insula gets to name the building; I'd just love to get us all in there and start making people Nervous <g>! >({|;-)
This is all very new; one can almost literally get in on the ground floor. (The actual ground floors are for shops and businesses.) Besides the site itself, there are a chatroom, a Taverna, and a series of mailing-lists for the residents; and just last week Vitellius launched a social-networking site called RomanSpace. Curatores Servilius et Iohannes, et Poplicola amicus, are already on Mons Aventinus and on RomanSpace; and I may follow them onto the latter if I can get my connection to hold up. (Would you believe your Webmaster's still on dialup??)
Can you tell I'm excited?? --I'm rambling and repeating myself! --Anyway, I like it, and the neighbors don't mind the Little Dog, and the zoning's right. Stop by and leave me a note!
Mons Aventinus: http://monsaventinus.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
Marius: http://monsaventinus.wikia.com/wiki/Via ... Martius%29 (Insula I-C)
RomanSpace: http://romanspace.ning.com
In amicitia et fide,