Salvete!
I realize that I am quite a
sodalis novus in the societas, but I hope you will hear my words as though I am speaking beyond my years...
Since I joined the SVR but a few short weeks ago I have put much thought and study into this rogatio and the related discussion threads that preceded it. I would like to share my ideas with you here:
I too believe that we are not/should not portend to be a republic. But, as a society, we do need some additional governance (magistrates and senate) for two reasons:
1) In order to rightly pursue our mission and purpose.
and
2) as noted by our friend Marius:
"But the point---the overarching principle of the thing as a whole--is to increase the level of involvement of the Sodales by giving them some things to do and some rewards for doing it."
The via romana was in a large part reflective of the Senate and People of Rome. In our current state, we are just "the people". If we are to truly pursue the via romana we need to have a senate and an accompaning
cursus honorum.
So, we need magistrates and a senate...but how? As we all know, the previous form of governance (prior to the concilium reforms) was too big, too top heavy, unsustainable with our current active member base. None the less, there are still vital functions to be performed so the new regulae was chartered to keep us afloat. Our esteemd officers of the Curia have carried us well, but we have lost our
romanitas along the way.
So what should the new form of governance consist of? First, the magistrates. Regarding the form and function of the magistrates, I heartily agree with our distinguished Piscinus:
I think that for any proposal intended to create new officers it should delineate exactly the function, area of responsibility, and limitations of authority of the office.
Along those lines, in my humble view, here is what needs to be done as it corresponds to historical precedence and practicaility of a moden internet-based society (before you say..."No, too big!" please read on:
Consul - Overall oversight of the mission and purpose of the society
Censor - Membership application, senatorial selection, maintenance of lists
Praetor - Guide in the absence of Consuls, membership adjudication issues
Aedile - Maintenance of the website and fora
Rector - Guidance and Leadership in the Collegia
Quaestor - Assist in guiding the Colleges (financial duties, if ever)
Tribune Sodalium - Protect the rights of the members, assist with "legislating"
But, we do not have enough active membership (yet - I like to stay positive) to field so many positions, so I would propose to start small with the following "consolidated" positions:
-2 Consuls (Who perform Consular, Censorial, and Praetorial duties)
-2 Aediles (Who perform Aedilic and Quaestorial duties)
So, why these positions with duties as such? Primarily, they are structured to attend to the most vital needs of the society: the furtherance of its mission, and the "physical" infrastructure necessary to sustain itself. Secondly, as Piscinus excellently stated, the government of the Res Publica Antiqua grew and evolved over time.
Specifically, the Consuls are to oversee the furtherance of the mission of the society. There should be two so that they can work collegially to that end and sufficiently meet the demands of their office. Why also have the Consuls take on the role of Censor and Praetor? Well, firstly, as previously stated, we do not have a large enough membership (yet) to fill so many roles, but the duties must still be performed. And secondly, as a historical precedent...the Censura and Praetura were functions of the early republican Consuls until the duties became sufficient enough to spin them off into unique positions. I would propose the same for us until our membership is large enough to sustain these positions.
Specifically regarding the Aediles, the maintenance of the physical infrastructue of the Res Publica Antiqua were the responsibility of the aediles. Our "physical" infrastructure (web site, fora) needs to be maintained as well. As far as the quaestorial duties go, since there is little (if any) real need for financial dealings related to the society, there would not (now) seem to be much need for quaestors, but, quaestors were also elected and then appointed to serve the
Rectores Provinciae as well. I like to think of our Collegia as our "Provinciae" or our "legions" (legions in the sense that they are a manifestation of our greatness (in our case collective knowledge), not of any martial intentions or power). As such, quaestors appointed to governors or armies in the field played a vita roll in keeping the province or army functioning. Quaestors (or Aedile taking on that role) can do the same for our fora. I'll have more to say on this when I discuss our own cursus honorum below.
Eventually as we grow, we can "break" out these colateral duties and elect magistrates to take them on. A likely configuration would be in order and in addition to the above positions like 2 Censors, 1-2 Praetors, 1-4 Quaestors, 1-2 Tribuni Sodalium (Rectors should be appointed by the Senate (from amongst pronconsuls and propraetors - again more on this in a later post)).
As we grow and expand, there should indeed be a cursus honorum. (Quaestor/Tribune-->Aedile--->Praetor-->Consul-->(Censor)) but again only after we are big enough) Why a cursus? 1) As Marius stated, to encourage particiaption and reward as such (attaing higher office and thus recognition
dignitas), and 2) to ensure that our Conuls, our guides, have a deep appreciation of the make up and operation of our society - the only way to do that is to serve in all (most) of the positions.
I do have specific duties in mind for each of the positions I have proposed above that closely resemble their descriptions in the original Regula Fundamentalis with some minor adaptations, but I will refrain from burdening you with them now until I can better gauge your reflections on the above.
I would like to now turn to the Senate. My thoughts on the Senate are not as profound as the magistrates above. Again I agree with Piscinus when he states:
I think there should be a limit set on the number of its members, a limit set as a proportion of the total membership
and
There is no need for a monthly review. New members for the Senate can be adlected annually
Whatever the number of senators is to be, the Censors should apply appropriate qualificatons when considering a sodalis seeking a seat in the Senate.
So, what should the qualifications be? They should be based on wealth (wait, not what you think, please read on). Just as in the Res Publica Antiqua, you could not be a member of the Senate without being in the upper economic class (I am actually planning on posting some thoughts on this in the Collegium Historicum later, but I degress) so to should a sodalis not be a member of our Senate until he or she has exhibited considerable "wealth" in the form of active particiaption in the society (fora discussions, articles & essays, etc.) Remember, one of the pillars of having a Senate and Magistrates is to encourage sodales to participate and be rewarded for it (in this case recognition of their contributions to the society by being accepted to the Senate). Accordingly, the Senate should be comprised of current magistrates and promagistrates who maintain their "wealth".
Once we determine the appropriate size of the Senate, I am confident that the censors will admit worthy members.
As to the function of the Senate, I do not have much to add beyond what has already been said, but the originall RF is a good starting place. I do think we should have Rectors *again, but appointed by the Senate amongst the proconsuls and propraetors. *The main purpose of the Rectors would be to re-vitalize the collegia (our backbone)...they seem a little stagnant as of late.
In summary, as I have articulated above, I think a restored Senate and appropriately enabled and titled magistrates are essential in restoring the romanitas of the SVR by encouraging our sodales to actively participate AND demonstrate our dignitas to prospective new sodales, the admittance of whom is essential to the society (I am not implying these measure are the only way, but they are an essential along with other means).
We need two consuls performing consular, censorial, and praetorial duties to guide the society and two aediles to maintain our infrastructure. When we grow (and I am confident that we will), additional unique offices can be added as appropriate.
I hope you have not found this post awfully presumptious from such a new soldalis. These are only my ideas on the structure of a society that I know I would like to belong to, and to that end, I plan on distinguishing myself as someone worthy of belonging to such an organization through active participation and selfless contribution.
-Severus