You can read a much more detailed account of events here: ANNALS of NOVA ROMA
In November 2015, two long time trouble makers of Nova Roma, Cn. Caesar and L. Sulla, with the support of M. Pompeius Caninus, committed a coup d’état by forming an illegal dictatorship: they cancelled free elections, voided civic rights (corporate membership rights), and annihilated several citizens by expulsions in order to impose their private monarchy on Nova Roma. Caesar’s and Sulla’s goal was to convert our serious nonprofit educational and cultural corporation into a “Roman emperor simulation game” in which they can play emperors for the rest of their life. The main supporters of this coup d’état who accepted executive offices from the illegal dictator were T. Iulius Sabinus, C. Popillius Laenas and Sta. Cornelia Aeternia.
As a resistance to these horrendous actions, Cn. Cornelius Lentulus organized the Saving Nova Roma Movement, immediately joined by hundreds of citizens, including the most respected members of Nova Roma, many of the oldest founding citizens, and with the professional direction and invaluable support of P. Porcius Licinus, a total of 300 members of Nova Roma, Inc. turned to attorneys for help. Our corporation, legally registered in the State of Maine, USA, could be only saved by legal authorities at this point.
The citizens’ attorneys warned the perpetrators of this illegal coup with legal action in court. As a result, the illegal dictator recognized that his position was undefendable, and resigned in March 2016. However, the crisis was not over. The “corporate” Nova Roma was continued to be intentionally paralyzed by Caesar and Sulla who still controlled the Board of Directors and kept the corporation in an “artificial coma” in hope that they can still keep their power over Nova Roma. The year 2017 was spent with negotiations between the attorneys of the membership of Nova Roma and the attorney of Sulla and Caesar who paralyzed the corporation and kept the Board of Directors under their control.
After months of investigation and solid work, in mid 2018, the attorneys of the citizens of Nova Roma launched a very well-prepared and legally very compelling argument against the usurpers of our corporation, as a result of which the former illegal dictator and quasi-monarch of Nova Roma, Caesar, who caused all these troubles and almost destroyed Nova Roma, acknowledged his incomplete and erroneous understanding of the corporate laws pertinent to Nova Roma, Inc., and that he was unable to defend his positions and continue any fight against the united citizenry and their attorneys. On 15th October, 2018, Caesar finally renounced his citizenship in Nova Roma and left the organization. The attorneys of the citizenry continued working on the final lawsuit document to be presented to the court. After they had presented this document, with the irrefutable evidences, on 18 July, 2019, finally Sulla also admitted that his position holding the corporation hostage was legally untenable, recognized his defeat, and renounced his citizenship. Unfortunately, one month after his departure from Nova Roma, Sulla passed away on 6th August, 2019. As a gesture to his family, to his memory, and to the better things he did in the past, the non-corporate government, in the name of Nova Roma, sent flowers and a wreath to the funeral of Sulla and a day of mourning was dedicated to his memory, as a symbol of the closure and forgiveness.
Since Caesar and Sulla, supported by their close friends in the corporate Board of Directors, didn’t allow corporate elections in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, and because the year of 2020 with the coronavirus plague, death and illness in the leadership of Nova Roma caused a further delay in progress, there are still no corporate officers in Nova Roma, only the non-corporate structure works and runs all activities of Nova Roma. The corporate side of Nova Roma is in hibernation. This non-corporate community of Nova Roma is comprised of all Nova Roman citizens except those 6 individuals who still support the perpetrators of the coup, all of whom are rogue Board members. None of the regular membership of Nova Roma supports or recognizes these rogue Board members. The rest of the citizens of Nova Roma have decided to disconnect the Republic of Nova Roma from the corporation of Nova Roma, and, thanks to this, the Republic (the cultural and community aspect of NR) is living on in good strength and with lots of activities, such as reenactment festivals, citizen meetups or the 7th Grand International Convention of Nova Roma held in 2018 in Rome. The Republic of Nova Roma, our living community, is thriving even without its corporation, and it is now often referred to as the “Non-Corporate Nova Roma”. This website served as the temporary website for our Republic until the citizens recovered the original website and corporation. Now, this website is obsolete, and you can find all relevant information about Nova Roma on our recovered official website.
Read a more detailed account of the events here: ANNALS of NOVA ROMA
Background history of the events
Prior to the illegal dictatorship and coup d’état of Caesar and Sulla, Nova Roma had been suffering from their abusive leadership for a while. Between 2009-2010, they conducted a psychological purge campaign of insults, harassment, trolling over our various community fora, which resulted in mass resignations and the rise to power for the Sulla-Caesar Faction from 2011 to 2015. They didn’t use their power in Nova Roma to make the organization thriving and successful, they didn’t create projects or a welcoming atmosphere. They used this power only to act like fiefs or emperors who boss around the community fora and lecture people about their power. Over the course of these years, many of our best and most active citizens were driven away by the harassment campaigns of Sulla and Caesar.
During the years of their unofficial “monarchy” between 2011-2015, Caesar and Sulla committed various violations against Nova Roman law, Roman tradition and against the interests and cause of Nova Roma, and they drove Nova Roma into a period of decline. While they paid great attention to the enactment of oppressive laws and decrees and to play political faction-war games against the active contributors of Nova Roma, Sulla and Caesar greatly neglected the real, valuable missions and duties of Nova Roma. Applications for citizenship were neglected, some pending for years. All cultural activities and programs were made by voluntary citizens, and never supported or never initiated by the Caesarian-Sullan leadership. Caesar or Sulla have never organized or helped the organization of any event, program, project or cultural activity of Nova Roma as our mission would have required. They focused only on their insult campaigns against members who dared to criticize them and on their hurtful “power games” for titles and domination.
In November 2015, Caesar and Sulla wanted to enact a senate decree that would have discriminated all Nova Roman citizens who hold membership in other Roman organizations. The Tribunes of the Plebs, in defence of these brotherly Roman organizations, had interposed a veto against these unconstitutional senatorial decrees. Caesar and Sulla then claimed that this is an “imminent emergency” which “threatens the existence” of Nova Roma. Upon this pretext of emergency, Caesar and Sulla imposed their illegal dictatorship, and started the cleansing and purge of the active citizens of Nova Roma in order to make way for their personal “playing a Roman emperor” version of Nova Roma. Almost all the active citizens were united with outrage against this coup d’état. 300 citizens joined together in threatening the perpetrators of this illegal coup with legal action, as a result of which the illegal dictator resigned in March 2016, but, unfortunately, they kept their positions in the Board of Directors and continued to control the corporation of Nova Roma. In October 2018 Caesar was defeated by the legal arguments of our attorneys and left Nova Roma permanently, however Sulla still remains, which means that Sulla still controls the Board of Directors.
Learn more about these events in the Annals of Nova Roma.
Current situation as of March, 2021
Those 15-20 Sulla-Caesar Coup Faction members who were fixing their hopes on the tactics of Cn. Caesar were scattered after the surprise that even their leaders, both Caesar and Sulla acknowledged that they couldn’t win a legal conflict against the membership of Nova Roma, Inc. in court, simply because their actions about the so called “coup” and afterwards were all illegal and indefensible. At the moment, there are no more remaining active Coup Faction members in Nova Roma, and the Coup Faction has been dissolved. Nova Roma is currently dealing with the aftermath of the coup d’état: the restoration of the corporate entity. The dispute between the Caesarian Coup Faction members and the membership of Nova Roma has been resolved thanks to the solid work of our attorneys, and the members of Nova Roma currently work on the restoration and reformation of the corporation and the original Nova Roma website as well.
Meanwhile, the real soul of Nova Roma is carried on by the citizen community, and we are growing with the addition of new provinces and increasing our real life presence. The “non-corporate” Nova Roman Republic is now functioning with vigor. In October, 2017, we celebrated the Completion of the Founding of Nova Roma, closing the period of our 20 founding years and instituting the Palladium and Pignora Imperii of Nova Roma which are the sacred tokens validating a community as the real Roman Nation. We are having various events all over the world. We conduct cultural games and competitions with serious prizes. Our priests are offering the due rituals to the gods. We have magistrates. We hold elections. We strive to be the real living and breathing New Roman Nation, and we have resolved the corporate crisis and regained our corporate assets with lawful, righteous, decent and due process.
Our 7th International Grand Convention was just held in April, 2018, in Rome, Italy with participating citizens from all over the world. Nova Roma participated in international Roman festivals and programs in both 2019 and 2020, and we were able to hold some real life events even in the midst of the pandemic. On March 1, 2021, Nova Roma has celebrated its 23rd Anniversary with contests and games during the Ludi Novi Romani. Nova Roma is back on track, the emergency period is soon to closed!
You can read a much more detailed account of these events here: ANNALS of NOVA ROMA