Fontes
Foundations
Neo Rome’s proposed charter is a contemporary civic text. Its inspiration is historical. Its authority, if any, will rest on the consent of those who adopt it.
The Roman Legal Inheritance
Neo Rome takes inspiration from the legal tradition collected under Justinian. Its proposed Code adapts selected civic principles for a voluntary contemporary association.
The compilation associated with Justinian is often called the Corpus Iuris Civilis. Two of its parts are easily confused. The Codex Justinianus is a collection of imperial constitutions. The Digest, or Pandects, is a compilation of excerpts from earlier jurists. They stand beside the Institutes and the later Novels. They are distinct works within one legislative project.
The present Codex Novae Romae is a short founding charter written in MMXXVI. It is not a revised edition of Justinian’s compilation, and it does not claim to be a restatement of Roman public law as a whole.
The Continuity Principle
Digest 3.4 treats actions brought in the name of a universitas—a corporate, municipal, or collegiate body—and actions brought against it. The title concerns procedure, representation, and the legal personality of such bodies.
In Digest 3.4.7.2, Ulpian writes that, for the body of decurions and for other associations, it does not matter whether all members remain, some remain, or all are changed. Where the body is reduced to a single member, the better view is that this person may sue and be sued, because the right of all has come to rest in one, and the name of the association remains: et stet nomen universitatis.
Latin text (Digest 3.4.7.2)
In decurionibus vel aliis universitatibus nihil refert, utrum omnes idem maneant an pars maneat vel omnes immutati sint. sed si universitas ad unum redit, magis admittitur posse eum convenire et conveniri, cum ius omnium in unum reciderit et stet nomen universitatis.
S. P. Scott’s English rendering treats the same point: membership may change entirely, and even a reduction to one member leaves the association able to act, because its name remains.
Source: iurisprudentia.de, Dig. 3.4 (Mommsen/Krüger Latin; Scott 1932 translation). The Latin of the critical editions is the text Neo Rome cites.
The cited passage provides no procedure for restoring the Roman Empire and establishes no legal succession for Neo Rome. It addresses the identity of a corporate or municipal body for purposes of suit. The continuity claim is Neo Rome’s contemporary civic and philosophical position.
Neo Rome’s Thesis
Neo Rome extends this idea into a philosophical proposal: Roman civic life can be renewed through the voluntary adoption of shared institutions and obligations.
The proposition is that civic form can be undertaken again: people may assemble, adopt a governing code, and accept offices and duties. That undertaking is voluntary. It operates inside existing legal orders. It does not assert inherited imperial authority, recognized sovereignty, or exemption from national and local law.
The MMXXVI Revision
Neo Rome’s proposed charter centers voluntary membership, equal standing, accountable administration, and public rules. Each future provision should make its contemporary authorship and adoption status clear.
MMXXVI names the year 2026 and the edition of this founding draft. Dates of publication, amendment, and adoption will be recorded when those events occur. Until then, the Codex remains a proposed text, open for development.