Capital: Rome
Continent: Europe
Official Languages: English, Italian, Latin
Established: 1998 AD/CE
History:
Nova Roma (Latin for 'New Rome") is an international Roman revivalist and reconstructionist organization created in 1998 by Joseph Bloch and William Bradford, later incorporated in Maine as a non-profit organization with an educational and religious mission. Nova Roma claims to promote "the restoration of classical Roman religion, culture, and virtues" and "shared Roman ideals".
Reported to provide online resources about Roman culture, Latin, ancient Roman costuming and reenactment guidelines, Nova Roma aims to be more than a community of reenactors or history study group. Strimska, Davy, Adler, Gallagher-Ashcraft, and recently Chryssides refer to it as a polytheistic reconstructionist community. Because it has a structure based on the ancient Roman Republic, with a senate, magistrates and laws enacted by vote of the comitia, and with its own coinage, and because the Nova Roma Wiki states that the group self-identifies as a "sovereign nation", some outside observers classify it as a micronation.
Nova Roma has adopted the ancient Roman religion as its state cult, but also maintains the freedom of religion of its citizens. As a polytheistic reconstructionist practice, the religio Romana or cultus deorum Romanorum (Latin designations used by Nova Roma adherents when referring to their religion) reportedly attracts people especially of military background. Religious Studies scholar Michael York noted that traditional Roman way of thinking, Roman philosophy provides the moral code for Nova Romans in their New Roman belief system.
Both the domestic religious traditions and the so-called state religion (sacra publica) are represented in the practices of Nova Roma, including the restoration of the ancient priestly collegia, including the offices of pontifex and Vestal Virgin, and the honoring of the full cycle of Roman holidays throughout the year. According to the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, at the time of Christmas, Nova Romans celebrate the Roman holiday Saturnalia.
In 2006 Margot Adler noted the organization's plan to restore a Magna Mater shrine in Rome.
Nova Roma holds its own local and international conventions and regularly participates with its affiliated reenactment groups in such history festivals and public events as the Festival of Ancient Heritage in Svishtov, Bulgaria, the Roman Market Day in Wells, Maine's Harbor Park, and Forum Fulvii in Italy, Ludi Savarienses Historical Carnival, the Aquincum Floralia Spring Festival in Hungary, or the Natale di Roma (the historical festival of the birthday of Rome) in Rome, Italy, where Nova Roma celebrated its twentieth anniversary.
Among the cultural activities of Nova Roma, competitions and games associated with various Roman festivals have an important place. They can include a wide range of various programs from humorous online games up to serious art-competitions like the Certamen Petronianum, a literary contest of historical novel writing first held in 2005, where the jury was composed of notables including Colleen McCullough, author of many Roman-themed best-selling novels, and T. P. Wiseman, university professor of Roman history and former vice-president of the British Academy, or the second edition of the same competition, where the jury was Jo Walton, World Fantasy Award-winning novelist and poet. Kristoffer From was the winner of the first Certamen Petronianum.
The international governance of Nova Roma permits the Nova Roman communities of each country to create their national subdivision of Nova Roma, called provincia, and to form their own not-for-profit or incorporated organizations, established under the respective legislation of their local country. This enables better local recognition and management, as well as provides the means for legal and insurance coverage, such as that offered by the Australasian Living History Federation (ALHF).