Internal Revenue Service investigation of Nova Roma

On Nov. 29, 2012, Robert Woolwine, "Consul" called for candidates to the "elections" for 2013. Part of the notice was the fact that whomever is elected "consul" for 2013 should be available for face to face meetings with the United State's Internal Revenue Service. Nova Roma Inc. is being audited for 2010. The first meeting was scheduled for early December.

A reliable source informs us that the matter may not be so much the banking irregularities as the issue of whether Nova Roma Inc. actually deserves its tax-exempt status. It seems that the problem may be a combination of not actually performing any of the tax exempt activities they claim, and also of a pattern of failing to abide by the by-laws that Nova Roma, Inc. was required to file.

Whatever the reason, this issue highlights the fact that Nova Roma Inc. is basically a US based operation, not the worldwide one they claim to be. 

"We Don’t Have A Process At All"

Another title for this post might be "How to avoid learning about Rome".

We have chronicled here the shady dealings of the Nova Roma "senate", the expulsion of many leading pagans and the sharp decline in membership. Now let's take a look at one reason that membership has taken a sudden dive.

The new year brings new "magistrates", and two of those magistrates ("praetors") are charged with oversight of the Nova Roma discussion groups. This means managing the hand-full of Yahoo groups that Nova Roma uses as the base of their virtual "country". Whereas most normal people would say that forum moderators set forum guidelines, in Nova Roma the "praetors" "promulgate" an "Edict of Moderation".

Before we go on, it is important to understand that there are two Yahoo groups that are used for general discussion. The "Main List" (ML) that is open to "citizens" only and the "Forum Hospitum" (FH) which is open to anyone. Message archives of both these Yahoo groups are closed to non-subscribers, and the "Forum Hospitum" rules include this not very hospitable note:

WARNING: Discussion of any matters internal to Nova Roma, such as Nova Roman politics and issues, is not permitted. Failure to abide by this prohibition could result in warnings or moderation or revocation of membership of this list.

In other words, criticism of the "government" is not allowed.

Event Cancelled - Lack of Interest Cited

The Nova Roma "Big Event" that had been scheduled for this year is officially cancelled, and lack of interest is cited.

Of course, one wonders how much interest a Thanksgiving party* in Phoenix, Arizona, USA could really generate in a group that is supposed to be about Roman culture, but in this group even Roman culture garners little interest, as cited in the cancellation announcement by "Statia Cornelia Aeternia":

"There are many reasons why this decision was made, but the most effected [sic] reason was very mundane. Despite [sic] the chosen location of the Conventus didn't seem to appeal to many cives, the observation of the lack of participation with the Ludi all of them overall [sic], and now this household is going to be moving to another residence which co-relates [sic] in the time of the Conventus, which in all honesty is the biggest reason."

Despite the extremely poor English (and no quarter is given here as the writer is an American adult) the reasons that are given can be summarized as:

1. Nobody wants to come to Phoenix
2. Nobody is participating in the Roman things anyway
3. I am moving that weekend

That Phoenix, Arizona, USA is not as big a draw as say, Rome, Italy or Merida, Spain for an annual meeting of a Roman group actually seems to surprise these people. The "lack of participation with the Ludi all of them overall [sic]" simply confirms what we have been saying; this organization is a sham. As the members do nothing "Roman" at all, least of all any educational or religious activities (e.g., "lack of participation with the Ludi"), their tax-exempt status is undeserved. Finally, we can see that this "international organization" depends on exactly one person to organize its main live event of the year, what they call a "conventus". 

* Yes, Thanksgiving party. It was scheduled for November 24 - 27 (Thanksgiving weekend in the USA) at the (presumably tiny) Shriner hall in Phoenix. The main event? "Thanksgiving Dinner". Really.