Roman revivalists... in [Space] - Page 2

Agemegos · 04-06-2010, 03:41 AM

Suppose it's about AD 2164. The Earth a bit overpopulated and slightly run-down, and setting up utopias in orbital habitats and Moon colonies has run into snags (they are hard places for any high degree of individual liberty). Terraforming Mars &c. is going to take centuries at least. There's a lot of conflict about: high-tech weapons, even high-tech improvised weapons, in a crowded world with worldwide news and communications make for a lot of scary stories in the news. And defence and security precautions have become irksome, even oppressive.

Suppose further that about 70 years ago a bunch of space enthusiasts used a one-way 'just-as-fast-as-light' gadget to found a colony at Tau Ceti. Since then there has been a small but steady exodus, and a total of 23 colonies have been established by a range of different enterprises from the government of China to the New Vinland Company by way of a splinter group of the international Scouting Movement. As yet the total emigration rate has been small: 10,000 people per year, or one in 1.5 million of the world's population. But recently (AD 2159) news arrived from the Tau Ceti colony that in 2147 its population had reached 100,000, and it had founded a university. Emigrating suddenly seems like not such as completely mad idea as all that.

Prolepsis: the two paragraphs preceding are background, not themselves what I want to discuss. Okay?

A bunch of admirers of the ancient Roman Republic decide to found a political utopia, and buy the colonisation rights to a habitable planet orbiting CD -37°10500 A.

Now, these people may be crackpots, but they aren't stupid. They are admirers of some Roman institutions, particularly the cursus honorum and the non-incumbency principle. But they are aware that the republican constitution had defects which led to the fall of the republic. Also, no-one is going there involuntarily, so the plebs are going to insist on constitutional protections. So naturally they believe that they have worked out what went wrong with Rome, and have adopted a mended version of the constitution of the Roman Republic. These enthusiasts are by no means all scholars, but they include some scholars, and are inspired by the work of scholars.

Question: What version of the Roman constitution are these enthusiasts likely to take as their starting-point? That is, what was the pinnacle of Roman constitutional development from a modern point of view?

Question: What are the main defects in that constitution, and how are our friends going to repair them?

Naturally, the project isn't going to work, and there will be tears before bedtime. But the plan has to be plausible enough to attract an average of 200 self-funding volunteers per year at least until the news gets back of how it has gone wrong.

Please, please, I beg. Do not de-rail this thread into a discussion of the American republic. Please?

04-06-2010, 03:41 AM	#1
Agemegos Join Date: May 2005 Location: Oz	Roman revivalists... in [Space] Suppose it's about AD 2164. The Earth a bit overpopulated and slightly run-down, and setting up utopias in orbital habitats and Moon colonies has run into snags (they are hard places for any high degree of individual liberty). Terraforming Mars &c. is going to take centuries at least. There's a lot of conflict about: high-tech weapons, even high-tech improvised weapons, in a crowded world with worldwide news and communications make for a lot of scary stories in the news. And defence and security precautions have become irksome, even oppressive. Suppose further that about 70 years ago a bunch of space enthusiasts used a one-way 'just-as-fast-as-light' gadget to found a colony at Tau Ceti. Since then there has been a small but steady exodus, and a total of 23 colonies have been established by a range of different enterprises from the government of China to the New Vinland Company by way of a splinter group of the international Scouting Movement. As yet the total emigration rate has been small: 10,000 people per year, or one in 1.5 million of the world's population. But recently (AD 2159) news arrived from the Tau Ceti colony that in 2147 its population had reached 100,000, and it had founded a university. Emigrating suddenly seems like not such as completely mad idea as all that. Prolepsis: the two paragraphs preceding are background, not themselves what I want to discuss. Okay? A bunch of admirers of the ancient Roman Republic decide to found a political utopia, and buy the colonisation rights to a habitable planet orbiting CD -37°10500 A. Now, these people may be crackpots, but they aren't stupid. They are admirers of some Roman institutions, particularly the cursus honorum and the non-incumbency principle. But they are aware that the republican constitution had defects which led to the fall of the republic. Also, no-one is going there involuntarily, so the plebs are going to insist on constitutional protections. So naturally they believe that they have worked out what went wrong with Rome, and have adopted a mended version of the constitution of the Roman Republic. These enthusiasts are by no means all scholars, but they include some scholars, and are inspired by the work of scholars. Question: What version of the Roman constitution are these enthusiasts likely to take as their starting-point? That is, what was the pinnacle of Roman constitutional development from a modern point of view? Question: What are the main defects in that constitution, and how are our friends going to repair them? Naturally, the project isn't going to work, and there will be tears before bedtime. But the plan has to be plausible enough to attract an average of 200 self-funding volunteers per year at least until the news gets back of how it has gone wrong. Please, please, I beg. Do not de-rail this thread into a discussion of the American republic. Please? Last edited by Agemegos; 04-06-2010 at 05:45 AM.