UNRV Welcome and FAQ

History and Philosophy of the Site

Salvete! Welcome to the United Nations of Roma Victrix (Victorious Rome)!

UNRV had its humble beginnings with the simple intention of being an ancillary resource guide for an online roleplaying game called Roma Victor. Since then, UNRV has greatly expanded beyond its original mandate to become the internet's premier Romanophile site. The site itself is now fully independent of its modest origin and is its own special entity with the intention of providing both an introductory history of the Roman world and as a gathering place for people of like minds and similar interests. In a manner befitting to Rome, it continues to grow and expand, evolving in depth and breadth.

At UNRV, Romanophiles from around the world discuss what the little village on the Tiber means to them. Every topic germane to the Roman world is discussed by our enthusiastic membership: from politics and history, to religion and humanities, to the march of the Legions. The legacy of Rome from the legendary Founding to the sack of Constantinople, from the Forum to far-flung provinces, is contained herein.

Our members come from diverse backgrounds with equally broad interests. Some are curious passers-by with a specific question to be addressed. Many are well-read layman who have maintained an abiding interest in their favorite era of history. A few are even respected scholars and authors in their field of study. All are valued provided they adhere to basic standards of conduct.

The UNRV administration and membership as a whole bids you welcome and encourages you to become an active participant of the community...

Social Ranks

While UNRV does not seek to reenact or roleplay ancient Roman society as some Romanophile sites do, as the site has grown there has evolved a certain social and administrative hierarchy. It only makes sense that this hierarchy have a Roman feel to it. Currently, the structure of UNRV is modeled loosely on the social hierarchy of the late Republic.

* Damnatio. Members who repeatedly violated forum guidelines are banned, and any offensive posts are usually locked away.
* Servi. Introductory rank. All members automatically start as a slave and their posts as servi will be checked for offensive content before being allowed to appear on any of the fora. After 2 posts, if a member demonstrates they are a sincere new applicant and not an uncouth barbarian, they are automatically emancipated to plebian status. Otherwise, they may be placed on moderation or banned. Servi cannot upload avatars to their profile.
* Plebes. Basic rank. Plebians enjoy the right of free discussion on the forum, and may upload avatars to their profile.
* Equites. Plebians who demonstrate good character and requisite involvement with all aspects of forum discussion are promoted to the Equestrian order. Equestrians are granted free access to the site's blog and gallery functions. The whole forum experience is AD FREE!
* Patricii. Outstanding Equestrians may be adlected into the Patrician Order. Criteria are a demonstrated long term involvement in fora discussion and a proven record of following forum guidelines. Special contributions, such as book reviews and front page articles, may also be considered. Patricians collectively meet in a private forum, known as the UNRV Senate, where their advice is solicited by the UNRV administration. They may be eligible for free book giveaways. The whole forum experience is AD FREE!
* Legati. Legatus status is conferred upon trusted Patricians to act as moderators. Personality, commitment and contributions above the normal Patrician standard are all considered. Legates exercise basic moderation functions on most discussion fora, and are privy to free book giveaways.
* Triumviri. The site administrators. There are, as you might not expect, only two of them.
o Viggen handles the marketing for UNRV, the newsletter, and the book review project.
o Aurelia handles the accounting for UNRV, has written a special historical narrative for UNRV, and supervises the legati and fora moderation.
For more information see: http://www.unrv.com/...w-triumviri.php

Post Count Ranks

These are a conglomeration of military ranks and political positions within the Cursus Honorum (the path through the Roman Senate). They are intended only to be a loose representation of a possible path to personal glory and rank in ancient Rome and should not be taken too seriously as a typical method of personal advancement. They provide atmosphere to the site and little else.

History and Philosophy of the Site

Salvete! Welcome to the United Nations of Roma Victrix (Victorious Rome)!

UNRV had its humble beginnings with the simple intention of being an ancillary resource guide for an online roleplaying game called Roma Victor. Since then, UNRV has greatly expanded beyond its original mandate to become the internet's premier Romanophile site. The site itself is now fully independent of its modest origin and is its own special entity with the intention of providing both an introductory history of the Roman world and as a gathering place for people of like minds and similar interests. In a manner befitting to Rome, it continues to grow and expand, evolving in depth and breadth.

At UNRV, Romanophiles from around the world discuss what the little village on the Tiber means to them. Every topic germane to the Roman world is discussed by our enthusiastic membership: from politics and history, to religion and humanities, to the march of the Legions. The legacy of Rome from the legendary Founding to the sack of Constantinople, from the Forum to far-flung provinces, is contained herein.

Our members come from diverse backgrounds with equally broad interests. Some are curious passers-by with a specific question to be addressed. Many are well-read layman who have maintained an abiding interest in their favorite era of history. A few are even respected scholars and authors in their field of study. All are valued provided they adhere to basic standards of conduct.

The UNRV administration and membership as a whole bids you welcome and encourages you to become an active participant of the community.

Forum Guidelines

• 1) Be courteous and civil.
  
• 2) Debate is encouraged. Argument and flaming is not. Support your own opinions. Do not attack the opinions of others without making your own case clear. We also generally do not encourage single line posts without some 'meat' within the posts. (This is topic dependent of course and generally relates to historical discussions.) For example rather than say just 'Caesar was the greatest general', post 'Caesar was the greatest because he conquered a unified Gaul, crossed the Rhine, invaded Britain, defeated an equally great Roman army, brought Egypt completely under Roman dominance' etc, etc.
  
• 2a) Do not require proof of established consensus history (if historical evidence suggests general agreement with a theory then it classifies as consensus for this purpose). Obviously there are many items open to debate, but if you bring an unestablished opinion here, you must attempt to prove it before making an unsupported statement and requiring others to prove you wrong. (This goes along with general debate courtesy.) Attempt, with all reasonable effort, to back up your statements by providing links or citing the author and title of the book you are using, so that interested parties can look up the veracity of your statements on their own.
  
• 3) Try to keep subject matter in the appropriate forum. Keeping the forum tidy encourages people who are interested in particular subjects to post in those categories, or to ignore threads they aren't interested in.
  
• 4) Be language sensitive. We have posters from all over the world, many of whom don't use English as their primary language. Let's encourage proper English, but also give people the benefit of the doubt if some posts seem a bit difficult to understand. However, excessive internet lingo, various forms of 'leet' speak and general grammar/spelling laziness are highly discouraged and can be deleted/ridiculed without notification.
  
• 5) Be tolerant. The Romans viewed many people of all walks of life to be of lesser cultural standing, but rarely cared about ethnicity or skin color. Even religions of all types (with the notable exceptions of Christianity depending on the era, Judaism depending on Imperial regime, and Druidism for it's threat as a governing body) were widely accepted. However, don't be politically correct just for the sake of it. Sometimes we must be a little more clear in order to illustrate a point. If something is offensive we will deal with it appropriately, but we don't want to censor any more than necessary for the health of the forum.
  
• 6) There are also teachers, students and people of all walks of life who read this forum countless times from various search engine results. Let's keep the 'colorful language' to a minimum and present ourselves with intelligent, open and inviting conversation.
  

Regarding Religion

We understand that passionate debate is a common recurring issue with discussions in the religion folder (Templum Romae - Temple of Rome), and likely always will be. However we hope only that the passion we feel, wherever it may be directed, can be tempered with civility towards others and their belief systems. Just as Atheists, Agnostics, Pagans, etc. don't want overzealous monotheists telling them what to believe because not to means damnation and suffering of eternal torment; Christians, Jews, Muslims, etc. don't want militant atheists telling them that their religion is absurd and that they are ignorant. We are not asking anyone to stifle themselves completely, only to tone down the aggression in open discussion.

It's understandable of course that such topics can lead to argument and hostility; and to expect complete utopian harmony is ridiculous. We only ask that people realize that arguing until "blue in the face" neither convinces nor invites new input from other members. If a point is being made simply to agitate or discredit with hostility, please think twice before making it. For example, if someone makes what appears to be a thoughtful and valid point, direct any questions or counterpoints against that particular point, rather than against an individual, a group as a whole or some underlying ideology. Clearly there are times when there are people, that we might describe as having a thin skin, that should simply avoid direct discussion of such concepts. However, sometimes banter between participants in one thread can spill over into unrelated topics involving participants who are actually attempting to avoid such things. As such, some animosity can be reduced by making an extra effort to restrict said discussion to appropriate topics.

With that said, this is not a ban on the discussion of religion or its merits by any stretch. To do so, especially regarding topics so closely related to Roman history, would be in direct opposition to the idea of this forum. Its simply a request for renewed courtesy and civility per guideline #1, in the post above.

Book Reviews and Articles

Reviewing books and submitting articles relevant to the Romanophile community have become a celebrated part of UNRV.

Here is a suggested format for a book review.

* I. Introduction. State briefly what the book is about, who the author is, and whether or not you like it. As the first paragraph is always posted to the UNRV front page, make sure it is something that entices the viewer to read more.

* II. Organization. Discuss the overall layout of the book. Give the reader an idea of how the book is divided into chapters or sections, and what ground is covered.

* III. Hypothesis/plot. Discuss the author's main themes, ideas or arguments, and their relative merits or lack thereof.

* IV. Readability. Mention any resources that may be of help to the reader (glossary, maps, etc). Discuss the author's prose/tone, and for whom the author is writing (general readers, academic, etc). Does the author have relevant credentials? If the book is badly edited, be sure to mention it.

* V. Conclusion. Restate in general terms whether the book meets its intended goals or not, and whether or not you recommend it.

Quoting short passages from the book is welcome if relevant.

Articles can be on any topic relevant to the Romanophile community. They should contain citations or end notes as needed.

Do try to edit your work for grammar, punctuation, sentence structure and spelling. Be advised the UNRV staff reserve the right to make minor edits to any submissions along these lines.

All submissions should be in English, the de facto language of the fora. If you are a not a native speaker of English and need help, ask a member of the moderating team.

Please send all book reviews or articles as a private message to Viggen.