There are so many palaces going up everywhere, it's a bit boggling, but several of our cives are showing creativity in building not just a home, but rather a "civic structure" for their 'hoods. A few samples by your roving reporter as she flits around AncientWorlds, just to show what creativity can do!
Helia Lupus has built a Temple of Wisdom in Athens;

Heraklia Aelius has opened up The Loving Cup Bar and Vintnery on the Aventine in Rome;

Asenath Amenhotep has opened a dynamite Great House in Mennefer.

Build YOUR Major Civic Improvement and drop us a line at the ACTA - we'll be glad to give you some free publicity before you run for that City Council Seat!

Groups in the spotlight

Macintoshium is a brand-new group not of any, but of ALL worlds for those who've fallen in love with Macs (of whom your 'umble Reporter is a new afficianado). If you're an old Mac hound, like founder Jot Ariston (all of SPQR was done on a Mac!) or a newbie, check this group out for helpful hints and "how-to's" with our usual AW mix of ancient history and high technology.

Heading Up a 'Hood

What's all this about heads of 'hoods? (the names vary; in Celtia it's one name, in Egypt, another). Here, for example, is one of our new Roman scribes, Decius Aelius,is the Praefectus (Rome's name for city leaders) for the Island of Orgtygia district of Syracuse in Sicily. Decius is a good example of the kinds of qualities the scribes hope to find for 'hood development. First rule: You have to live in the 'hood you want to develop. Second rule: hopefully you can bring any or all of these talents to your adopted hood: you're great with html, you're a good history researcher, you've got crazy and wacky ideas for building a community feeling, you have important friends in High Places (just kidding), and you want to not only help 'build' the city. Perhaps most important from Admin's viewpoint, you want to develop that city, not to be king or queen of your little castle, but to leave it a vibrant community for those who come after you! So if you have always had a deep love for Weasel on the Scone in, say, Britannia, get in touch with that world's scribes and make your interest known. But remember - you have to live it, to build it!

The ‘hoods concept’ was inaugurated on October 1, 2004, with the creation not just of an unspecified “city” called Rome, or Athens, or Machu Picchu, but with eight “worlds” of Rome, Hellas, Mesopotamia, and more: and each with cities and districts within them. Handled largely by the scribes and volunteers, for two years we have built and developed cities throughout the ancient world, and City Builders innumerable throughout AW have researched, sought for graphics, and begun painting ‘neighborhoods’ where eventually AW cives could give their ancient lives a “local habitation and a home.” On September 4, 2006, Jot finally flipped the switch so that our citizens can ‘purchase’ homes wherever their hearts desire and build a home there. A last-minute plea made this a feature open not only to patrons (the original idea) but to citizens, and from September 4, home-building has been ongoing throughout AW!

As of this writing, the home page of AW shows the following "properties", and the sound of building is heard throughout the lands:

For more than home-building is behind the 'hoods idea. In the ancient world, citizens who wished to contribute to their cities built temples, markets, gave public gardens (like Julius Caesar), organized the sea-front, and left lasting testimonials that they had lived in their cities. Already citizens are a-building public spaces. Because in the end, the 'hoods are about communities within. As a citizen of "Athens," you may not know all your neighbors. As a resident of Skambonidal in Athens, you'll meet your neighbors, from palace to pit house. We hope, as 'hoods are populated, our cives will celebrate with quizzes, feasts, and other "citizen events" and make many new friends.

Many, many thanks to all the Admin and regular patrons and citizens who have built the ‘hoods in which we now build our homes. Incalculable hours of research, uploading graphics, reorganizing districts, trying to find out where in some dim Roman provincial town the main streets ran – these are the marks of honor of the City Builders. Thank you, from all of us!

The Annual Site-Wide Trivia Contest was held on September 4 (interestingly, the same day the ‘hoods went live) and as usual, made nervous wrecks of the referees and provided ferocious fun for the highly competitive world teams! 24 questions (3 from each of our 8 worlds) ran the gamut between harvest festivals in Egypt to how Aeneas got to the Underworld!

From Question # 1, it was a heart-stopping dead heat between Americas’ Apo Mayta Huacac and Germania’s team of Eirikr Knudsson and Aeflwine Scylding, with Americas taking first place by a hair and Germania a hard-fought second. Third place went to Rome’s team (Aulus Sergius; Balbas Scriptor; and newcomer Antonia Sempronius). Honorable mention to Hellas’ team of Ioannes Nestor and Kallistos Alexandros and Celtia’s Jacques Elliot Cruithni ! After the battle, drinking riots and parties showed only minor casualties and a good time was had by all. With this kind of world-wide trivia talent, we hope to do it again, soon!

A New ACTA Look

Back in 2002, Maximius Flavius designed the "main home" page for the ACTA DIURNA index. New html and coding techniques has led our new editor, Alerissa Nestor, to revamp the page and you can now see the Home Page in all its glory. Thanks to Alerissa for an unerring eye and a lot of elbow grease!

Your Own History Quiz

With so many new AW members, how many of you know where this amazing place came from, or that it will be celebrating its tenth year online in 2007? For answers, go to the Official History of AncientWorlds for clues.

There's more news, so keep reading!

Heraklia