It seems to me that the best way to get new people into this RP is to make it as clear as possible that this is completely new. I therefore suggest we discuss it all in a new thread.
Re-posted is Marius' last post in the previous thread, in which he posted various questions we should all consider.
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Things to think about:
Genre: Historical fiction, historical fantasy, just-plain-fantasy, science fiction, some delightful mishmash only we could come up with? <g>
Era: (if historical) Kingdom, Early-, Middle- or Late Republic, Early-, Mid-, or Late Empire? Any particular reign? Any particular circumstance? (exempli gratia: Punic Wars, Plebeian Seccession, Year of Four Emperors, Siege of Rome...) If the game is not strictly historical, we could just describe the context: "For the last several years there has been increasing civil unrest..." vel simile. For both Era and Setting (below), we should pick something that will neither assume nor require a whole lot of background knowledge on the part of the newcomer.
Setting: Whereabouts in the Roman world will the action take place? The City itself, one or more of the Provinces, at sea, beyond the limites? (If the last, I'm all for that "Roman Western" I proposed several years back...but that's just my Texas half speaking; I'm not sure how easy that'd be for a non-Ami to get into.) Many of our prospective players over the years have expressed disappointment in that more of the action was not actually taking place in Rome proper. I'm not choosy myself; but some characters (poets and gladiators, pro exemplo) just do better in an urban setting. If Rome is what newcomers are expecting, maybe that's what we should give them? (For my part, however, it wouldn't have to be Rome--it could be any large city in a Province, and we'd avoid the politics. Then again, who says a Rome game has to be political?)
Tone: I think we've figured out that, while we can sustain a long-running, globe-spanning Epic Quest, it's hard to actually finish one, and they're awfully tricky for any new players to get into. We could swing the other way and do this as a bunch of one-offs, strictly for laughs; but hopefully we can find something in-between: engaging, purposeful, yet not too demanding or serious. Hmm... >({|:-q
Overall plot: What's the story going to be about? The last one was "Get our fine Roman selves to Britannia before Draco's brother (a legionary) and Curio's (a leader of the native resistance) manage to kill each other." (Yes, loyal Readers: That's what that one was trying to get to.) This one should have goals that can be reasonably achieved by graduate students, reenactors, Nova Roman magistrates (Gaius Equitius! Come back...!!!) and a post-op veteran in under five years.
...and I'm sure we'll come up with other elements to consider.
Thoughts?
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My thoughts:
Genre: It should be historical fiction. The problem with fantasy, sci-fi, etc, is that it opens the door to many innovations that are the brainchild of one writer that may grate terribly with the other participants. I think historical fiction will be good, especially if we choose a specific date.
Era: I think 3rd century BC. It allows us to have a fairly bustling, urban Rome that's growing in confidence, but also anyone can play people from other places - Carthage, Hispania (Mari?
) the empires of the Diadochi, or wherever people feel like coming from, and still have some form of independence. Essentially, I think playing at the point of Rome's rise in strength will allow us to have much greater flexibility.Setting: I think Roma would be a good setting since, as you say, a lot of people wanted more action in the city itself. If we choose a time of great political turmoil, either internal or external, then it gives us plenty of interesting action to choose from, if we want to borrow a historical event or sequence to meddle in.
Tone: I agree that the epic quest didn't work, but I don't think one offs would either. I want our characters to develop a relationship, and to interact over a period of time, not to merely have a series of scenes...
Overall plot: I'm not going to suggest an actual plot sequence, but I do think that if we set this at a time of some turmoil, ideally in Rome itself, then if at any point things run dry, one of us can introduce a contemporary historical event, and we can all react to that, and go from there. Eg, if it was set during the 60s BC(Not really suggesting that, mind you), and things ran dry, we could have our characters react to the election of Cicero, or the antics of Clodius, or whatever.
I think the most essential thing is to get more than three active players. We had lots of people begin the last RP, but then we ended up with just the three of us (Marius, Draco, Curio) embarking on this quest, with the occasional cameo by Piscinus, Equitius Cato, etc, and I don't think three people are enough to sustain a truly active RP.
Regarding Cato, I doubt we'll entice him back - as I understand it, he is once again fairly active in NR.
Thoughts, everyone?
Curio.
It'd probably require a lot of research for me regardless of what road is taken, but I'm definitely interested. 
I am also open to any plot, those had just been a couple suggestions.