The Decenallia
It was Kallistos Alexandros who pointed out that a good word for a ten-year celebration is the Decenallia, and a Decenallia is being planned for AncientWorlds. You may be surprised to realize it, but it was ten years ago that a new Internet site called ANCIENTSITES was created by Jot Ariston and Decimus Aemilius, based on their online "SPQR" games that had debuted in 1995. At first, the authors were simply trying to create an online video game that would permit gamesters to "walk" through the reconstructed streets of ancient Rome. However, a small, deeply disturbed group of historical gamesters took up residence online, and that group was the genesis for the idea of an entire ancient community, based on both friendship and history.
To celebrate the tenth anniversary of AncientSites/AncientWorlds, we're forming a Decenallia Committee and asking that everyone who was an AncientSites member sign up so we can honor ten years of commitment (well, more or less). Many of us remember the "dark" year from March 30, 2001 (when AncientSites went belly-up in the Dotcom crash) to January, 2002, when we started beta-testing AncientWorlds. But since most of 2001 was taken up with Jot's plans for AW, we're going to count that in our ten years.
So if you've a tale to tell, memories to share, and a persona that has gone straight from AS to AW, please sign up so that we can draw on you as a resource for planning the Decenallia, which will be held July 20-22, 2007. If you want to work with the teams, check with Kallistos Alexandros, Topi Tupac, or Caily Etana on the Steering Committee to help. There will be more news in the next ACTA edition!
AW's Sitewide Best Homes Contest!
Just a reminder: the 2007 Best Homes of Ancient Worlds contest is heading to an ancient region near you. Click the Sign Up! link to enter your homesite now! The final day to sign up is April 8th. Judging will begin immediately afterwards.
Our Guest Editorial
by Aelfwine Scylding
This March, Germania has unceremoniously invaded - as usual - the preparations for the latest Symposion. There was a good reason for this, since the guest was Bryan Ward-Perkins, author of the recent book "The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization", and we Germanics volunteered a joint hosting together with the Romans. But let's not talk of the attempts at conquering *cough* but of the success of the initiative. It was my first Symposion so I cannot make a comparison with the others, but I can say that questions flew like arrows and that Professor Ward-Perkins, under the guise of Romulus Augustulus, faced them graciously, not to mention bravely. The topic of his book was controversial: did the Roman Empire really "fall", and if so, how hard? (his answers: "Yes", and "A lot".) It was a whole week of intellectual discussion culminated in a small party in Ravenna. We all hope that Romulus will show up again someday in Ancient Worlds!
Oh, and on the subject of Ravenna, hot from Google news, is:
Astonishing Discovery Near Ravenna, Italy: The Answer to Centuries of Questions?
by Foolish Ostrogoth
Stunning news from Italy. Workers digging in the marshy terrains of the Po Valley to build a much-needed tract of railroad that will directly connect Ravenna to Bologna have unearthed something that could change the face of history. When the bulldozers hit hard stone the work was stopped and experts were called.
"I could not believe it at first," says Aprile Pesce, the renowned archaeologist who has taken charge of the digs. "And yet there it was, before my very eyes. Of course we're only the beginning, but we can already say this is the discovery of the millennium!"
The revelation was disclosed live on national daily newscast TG1 at 8 pm sharp, April 1st. With a certain flair for showmanship, Professor Pesce unveiled the first recognizable piece hauled from the digs: the base of a massive column.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he stated. "The Fall of Rome will not be a vague, debatable concept anymore. We can finally show you the authentic, original fragments of the Western Roman Empire itself after the crash!"
Historians all over the world are hurrying to Italy to catch a glimpse of the wondrous relics. Some already fear that a whole field of study will become obsolete, but others are more upbeat. "It's not the end," Pesce says confidently. "It will take decades to study the fragments and know exactly how the Empire did fall. Meanwhile, there are still a lot of books to be written – luckily."
