What is the Roman Republic: Res Publica Romana?
We are a unique cultural community. Together the Roman Republic is made up of people from across the world who love ancient Roman culture, history and virtues. Together we are represented by the registered non-profit corporation called the Roman Republic Cultural Group.
Our basic and fundamental principles are outlined in the Declaration. Those who become members (also referred to as citizens) are modern ambassadors of living ancient Roman culture! What separates us from other “interest groups” or historical reenactment organizations is that we actively seek to incorporate Roman virtues and culture into our everyday lives, to follow the Roman way (Romanitas). When it comes to Roman culture we seek to live and breathe restored cultural practices, from the ancient Roman virtues, to art, philosophy and religion. We believe Romanitas of antiquity laid the foundation and strengths of today’s modern western culture. Because of this, we seek to embrace and live the old ways as much as possible while acknowledging the modern world and progress made. In other words, we seek to make the best aspects of ancient Rome live again and serve the needs of the demanding modern world.
We are an online and offline community. We exist online to help connect our citizens who are spread out across the globe and provide resources towards our united goal of living Romanitas. We exist even more offline. We are forming chapters (provinces) in many countries and regions. We seek to build communities dedicated to expressing Roman culture. We offer the opportunity to connect with others who love Rome from around the world and in your own local community.
Citizens gain access to a multitude of resources through the Roman Republic to assist in living as a modern-ancient Roman and towards learning about Rome. Beyond mere resources we also provide an active Roman community within our Res Publica. You will encounter many interesting people who share many of the same passions on Rome. We welcome you to join us in our adventure towards the restoration of an international community dedicated to Romanitas and ancient Roman culture! If you are ready you may apply for citizenship here.
What is the Roman Republic not?
We are not roleplayers or playing a game. Our citizens assume Roman names as a form of cultural expression, they do not form alter-egos or new identities. We do support reenactment activities as a form of cultural research and expression. However, these activities do not extend beyond this. The Roman Republic, like all non-profit organizations, has officers to manage administrative tasks. As a form of cultural expression, these officers are known as magistrates. For instance, the censors are also known as the corporate secretaries of our non-profit. This is not done to simulate ancient Roman politics. Magistrates are very real positions with many modern roles to play in ensuring the Roman Republic remains a useful and enjoyable place for all. The Roman Republic is not a place to play pretend politics. The Roman Republic is about real cultural projects. Those who volunteer their time to assist in these projects are asked to do serious work for the Roman Republic.
We are not only an online community. The Roman Republic uses online resources to transcend the limits of geography. All of our online activity is ultimately towards offline living activity and community building.
We are not a polytheistic religious organization. But we are an organization that supports those who opt to explore the ancient Roman religion as a modern religious choice. We do have many citizens who pursue this interest, and the Roman Republic does support associated groups promoting such activity and our non-profit supports such activity broadly and provides a forum for its expression. We welcome all faiths, beliefs and ideas within our community. One can privately believe whatever they want spiritually in the Roman Republic. Many of our members do not subscribe to the ancient Roman Religion, and this is fine. We only ask for mutual respect and tolerance from all.
We are not a micronation. The founders of the Roman Republic believe there is no such thing as a micronation. Instead, we are a spiritual-cultural nation. We do not seek sovereignty, but we do seek recognition of a unique community of people who voluntarily subscribe to a form of culture-based upon that of ancient Rome. We also recognize an already existent Roman spiritual-cultural nation exists today which transcends borders and oceans. Towards this ends, we are dedicated to working for the establishment of thriving Roman cultural communities within countries throughout the world in the future.