State of the Nation - September 2011

Greetings All,

September 2011 was a steady month for Byzantium Novum.

We are now at 213 official Byzantine Citizens, an increase of seven for the month. If you haven't visited our main Citizen map at Community Walk for a while, it's worth a look to see how we've grown: http://www.communitywalk.com/byzantium_novum_citizen_map/map/543922
As always, if you are a Citizen you can add personal info on your map point if you like! :)

Byzantium Novum now has 2337 Facebook contacts, a monthly increase of 87 more people receiving our public posts and broadcasts.

The biggest news for September was the completion of the latest edition of "The Basilica" by Senator Amma Doukaina. This wonderful issue is filled with great information and may be viewed here:
http://www.byzantiumnovum.org/finalnewsletter.pdf
Many thanks to Senator Amma and everyone who contributed to this excellent issue!

As always, Byzantium Novum is looking to expand its local community and there was good progress in many of the local areas of Byzantium Novum, including local newsletters and new Citizens becoming active.

The Byzantium Novum public web forums were fairly quiet in September. Some of our most active Citizens were dealing with personal situations and could not be as present in Byzantium as usual. This happens at times in all forums at times so we are looking forward to a more active community participation in October!

-Marcus Cassius Julianus
Senate President, Byzantium Novum

State of the Nation - August 2011

Greetings All,

August has been a milestone month for Byzantium Novum. We have reached and surpassed 200 official Citizens!

We now have 206 Byzantine Citizens, a gain of 14 this month overall. That is above our usual average so many thanks to everyone who has helped to get the word out! Posting an putting ads out on local forums such as Craig's List really does make a difference and this month is the proof...

We also have a total of 2,250 people who have friended Byzantium Novum on Facebook, a gain of 146 more people able to see our public posts and updates. This is also important as it is still important to get the word out that Byzantium has returned and is building again.

The Byzantium Novum Senate is currently finishing up it's August session. New Senate votes votes will be completed shortly and announced in the various public lists in the next few days.

The other good news is that now that we are headed into the fall season things tend to pick up even more. Hopefully our rate of growth will continue, making our forums more active and allowing us to build more local, real world community connections. :)

I hope everyone has had a good summer, and wish you all a great month ahead!

Valete,

Marcus Cassius Julianus
Senate President, Byzantium Novum

State of the Nation - July 2011

Greetings All,

July of 2011 has been another good month for Byzantium Novum. We currently stand at 192 officially registered Byzantine Citizens - we're getting close to the 200 mark! As of this month we now have 2,104 "friends" on facebook, meaning that our public postings are getting an ever wider audience.

The big news is that at the beginning of this month, the Byzantium Novum Senate approved Scotland as the newest Byzantine Colony in our micronation! We have several wonderful Citizens in Scotland and it is great to see activity happening on the local level there. Our congratulations to this new colony!

Working toward Byzantine community in the real-world, at the local level is a cornerstone of what Byzantium Novum is about. Although we have goals of someday establishing a real-world capitol, we will always have Byzantine Citizens internationally. Local Byzantine communities are crucial to restoring this ancient civilization! Being able to meet other Byzantines face to face, and share friendship and activities are what make all communities worthwhile. It is inspiring to see new Counts volunteering to coordinate new territories, and thrilling to see new colonies coming to life!

In order to keep this momentum, I would like to once again invite our Citizens to share the news about Byzantium Novum as widely as possible. Each of us taking a few minutes to post to free classifieds sites such as Craigs List will help get the word out that Byzantium lives again! Recommending the Byzantium Novum website, linking to it, or simply telling friends about this new community will make a huge difference...

This next month will mark the end of the summer for most of us. Byzantium Novum should be busier after August. In the meantime I hope everyone enjoys the season - and remembers to continue exploring Byzantine civilization and culture when there is time!

-Marcus Cassius Julianus
Senate President
Byzantium Novum

Issue 1 of "The Basilica" - The official Byzantium Novum newsletter!

The first issue of "The Basilica" - the official newsletter of Byzantium Novum is now online at:

http://www.byzantiumnovum.org/BasilicaIssue1.pdf

State of the Nation - June 2011 Report

Greetings all,

My apologies for the delay in posting the June report. It's a holiday weekend here and I'm off schedule!

Byzantium Novum had a fairly average month in June. This is the start of the Summer season for many of us, a time when Internet participation is a little slower as folks spend more time outside.

Our Micronation now has a total of 188 officially registered Citizens, a gain of seven for the month. We now have 2,029 "friends" on Facebook, a gain of 61 people now receiving our public postings.

In June the Senate voted in a new Count in the state of Kentucky... we now have 20 Counts serving as contact points for people interested in building local Byzantine community, and two Mayors in territories where some active local efforts are being done. This is exciting as it is very important to get Byzantium Novum "out there" on the local level!

July seems to be shaping up to be a more active month with the first issue of our official newsletter "The Bascilica" coming out. No doubt there will be more to report in July!

-Marcus Cassius Julianus
Senate President
Byzantium Novum

State of the Nation - May 2011

Greetings all,

Byzantium Novum has done well this month! We now have 181 official Citizens, an impressive gain of 15 new Citizens in May. This kind of growth is wonderful to see... at this point we have gained an average of 12 new people each month since our founding! We also currently have 1,968 Facebook "friends," a gain of 98 new contacts this month for public announcements and communication.

The Byzantium Novum Senate has also approved more new "Counts" to act as local organizers for local territories so that new Byzantine colonies can be formed. Our various cultural interest groups such as the Militarium were also active in May, with interesting discussion and some exciting new projects being started. Our micronation is growing at a healthy pace and continually becoming a more active community!

This month Byzantium Novum commemorated two important Byzantine historical dates - the anniversary of the founding of Constantinople on May 11, 330 AD, and the anniversary of the final fall of Constantinople on May 29th, 1453. Both events went well - with discussion in the Byzantium Novum forums and many Citizens marking the events with local activities also.

Significant dates such as these are important to Byzantium Novum. Our overall goals include both popularizing Byzantine history, and bringing Byzantine tradition and culture to life again through modern celebration and participation. Commemorating the ancient Byzantine world involves people in "things Byzantine" and makes our modern community more meaningful. We will of course continue to mark the dates that are significant for Byzantine civilization.

For many of us this next month is the start of the Summer season, when good weather and fun outdoor activities take precedence over online participation. We hope folks will continue to save at least a little time to participate in the Byzantine forums. We also look forward to the future when our local Colony groups will be able to offer fun and interesting local activities and public events for the more pleasant seasons!

-Marcus Cassius Julianus
Senate President
Byzantium Novum

Greetings all,

Today, May 29, marks the end of the siege of Constantinople with the final fall
of the city to the Ottoman armies.

There is a fine description of the event on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Constantinople

Today I will be attending the local Orthodox church and lighting two candles;
one in honor of Constantinople and the other for the success of Byzantium Novum.

It is wonderful that on this day we can do more than simply commemorate a sad
historical event. With this community we have the opportunity to *continue* that
history, and bring it from the past into the present once again!

As a Micronation and Sovereignty Project, Byzantium Novum is the first
intentionally Byzantine nation to exist in over 600 years. Our efforts to
directly revive and continue the culture and civilization of Byzantium are
unique.

In one year, we have gathered Byzantine Citizens and restored a Byzantine
Senate. We have founded Byzantine cultural and religious groups set the
foundations of a Militarium for martial ceremonial and living history purposes.
We have begun to found Byzantine Colonies around the world so that all people
interested in "things Byzantine" will have the opportunity to gather and hold
live Byzantine events in their local area.

And of course, we have begun an international effort to restore the traditions,
ideals and prestige of a wonderous culture that had been mostly forgotten by the
very world it did so much to create.

Each month, new people join Byzantium Novum and it becomes stronger as a
Byzantine nation. Our opportunities to study, discuss, and participate in
Byzantine Civilization become greater.

With us, Byzantium is born anew.

Because of this today is a day of reflection, but not a day of sadness. We can
instead be glad that Byzantine civilization is not lost... and has a future
ahead which holds wider opportunities than the ancient world could even dream
of!

This day is better because we are here as Byzantines and we have each other.
Today we can remember the past, enjoy the present, and look forward to the
future.

That is the most that any cultural tradition can hope for!

-Marcus Cassius Julianus
President of the Senate
Byzantium Novum