History of the Syntagma
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The Syntagma was the original name for the Constitution of TWC. Originally created in 2003, this document governed the creation and existence of the Curia, Citizenship, and at times was the basis for elected staff up to a short-lived elected administrator position. Its effective influence varied based on the ownership at the time. Under its new name, its influence has waned significantly.
Contents
The First Syntagma
This documented was drafted by Boris Pavlov Grozny in 2003 and enacted with the support of Siblesz and the grudging acceptance of the Black Prince, early administrators of TWC at the time of passage.
The role of Civitate (citizen) was added through an emergency bill, which declared:
So as to curtail the number of trespasses, spam and intrusions to our government by those not deemed to uphold it, the following emergency act is to be enacted immediately:The Curators, which include the Triumvirate, Praetors and Quaestors, shall choose a congress of Civitates, a number that is to be determined by them and will hold the votes and represent the members which are not Civitates. This Senatus is to be determined by the Curators and be self inclusive thereof. The election will be based solely on a judgment of the possible Civitates Character, Posting Ability, and Seniority. These will be the Civitates which will vote on matters pertaining to the forum.
The Emergency Act was eventually replaced by a more formal amendment. The basic process for citizenship then strongly resembles the process in use today.
After many further amendments, the Syntagma was replaced by a new version written by Sulla.
Sulla's Syntagma
This version was written wholly by Sulla and enacted on the 7th June 2005. It can be found here: https://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=30302
It was subsequently amended and reworked by the Legislative Reforms spearheaded by Profler and the Black Prince.
This document introduced Staff elections. The staff would consist of an administrator appointed by the site Imperator (the authority of Ogre's Net) and an administrator elected by the Curia. This, combined with four Praetors (global site moderators) represented an early form of the Hexagon Council who would make decisions collectively in case the Consuls disagreed with each other. Lower moderation ranks (Quaestor and Urbanis Legio) were to be drawn from Civitates and ratified by Curia vote.
In the time of this Syntagma, there were deep conflicts between staff who felt the document was too restrictive and an activist Curia who pushed for stronger democracy. The eventual breakdown in relations led to the forming of the Decimvirate Panel to revise the Syntagma.
The Decimvirate Syntagma
This panel was convened in December 2005 by the new Administrator, HorseArcher to review and modify the Syntagma. The panel consisted of 5 Curially appointed representatives and 5 staff representatives, working towards a copy of the Syntagma that would appeal to both parties of thought (staff efficiency vs curial idealism).
Notice the term 'constitution' in use, though it would not become the primary term until years later.
The Syntagma created by the Decimvirate came into force on the 9th January 2006 and can be found here: https://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=41530
This version was replaced in May 2006.
ON's Syntagma
Enacted May 22nd 2006 with the blessing of Ogre's Net. A copy can be found here: https://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=52967
This copy introduced a different naming scheme, moving from conventional Roman Empire theme to a more East Roman Empire style (Imperator -> Basileus, Consuls -> Exarchs and so on). Staff elections were distinctly absent in this copy. This edition was later amended with the creation of Artifex, which has since become a distinct rank of citizenship. This Syntagma came at the height of extreme tensions between the Curia-based community and Ogre's Network.
It was repealed on August 30th by imb39, the new site owner as part of sweeping reforms.
The Reforms & the New Constitution
This section is a stub and is in need of revision, both for accuracy and clarity.
Imb explicitly states that the ON Syntagma was repealed on the 30th August as part of the post-ogre reforms: https://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=52637
For a time, no Syntagma was in place; it was suspended pending extensive reforms initiated by the new site owner.
I do not recall the site being without a constitution for so long, though i know the reform process took over a month.However, there are few records in the Tabularum from the reform process. The voting on the new reformed CdeC concluded on September 15th, so the reformed Syntagma must have been in force by this point
—the Black Prince, original author of this section of the article
There appears to be a form of Syntagma that existed between August 2006 and March 2007, but direct evidence is needed to corroborate this.
Following the reforms and beginning on March 5, 2007, the Syntagma would be called the Constitution. Its original draft included ideas and proposals from imb39, Wild Bill Kelso and Professor420 with compilation and editing by the Black Prince.
Notes and conclusions
The years of the Syntagma are the years when the Curia had its greatest influence, first as a novelty introduced to an otherwise typical gaming forum and then as a concentration of dedicated community members who found purpose in resisting the 'imperial' behavior of Ogre Network Administrators. In the years after, the Curia struggled to find purpose and lost ground to a more trusted and efficient staff. Elected members of staff have not been seen since the Syntagma, though drawing staff from the ranks of citizens remained in practice for years later.
See Also
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