Let's get the ludi factions back!

Marcus Livius Horatius wrote:

A few years ago when I was curule aedile we had several ludi factions. These factions competed in the games and competitions. Citizens could join a faction and represent their faction team. Individual wins for each faction were tallied up and a winning faction was declared for each ludi and an overall winning faction was announced at the end of the year. I was the magister of the White Faction or Factio Albata when we once overall for the year 2017. Unless there are specific reasons why we abandoned such factions I would like to restart them. I have established a group for Factio Albata. Whites join up! http://romanrepublic.org/roma/groups/factio-albata/ If you want to start your own faction you can do so at this link http://romanrepublic.org/roma/groups/create/step/group-details/ According to Tertullian, there were originally just two factions, White and Red, sacred to winter and summer respectively. Eventually, by the Augustian age, there were four factions, the Red, White, Green, and Blue.

What a great project! I just joined the Whites. Looking forward to helping bring glory to our faction!

Salvete! I would be proud to sponsor the creation of a Ludi faction! Paullus, if you’d like to assist me in the creation or anyone else please PM me! I’m currently at work right now so when I get home I’ll start outlining all the details. I look forward to helping bring this tradition back!

In the name of the veterans of the Roman Republic I have opened the Factio Russata! Dedicated to Mars, Minerva and Victoria, we’re primarily for those interested in the military side of Rome, or had a military background themselves! Feel free to join here! http://romanrepublic.org/roma/groups/factio-russata/

SALVETE!

What will soon be the best and most winning faction has been founded – THE BLUES.

Join up here if you like to win – http://romanrepublic.org/roma/groups/factio-veneta-the-blues/

VALETE!

Gaius Flavius Iustinus wrote:

I look at this excitement around the factions, and I cannot get rid of the question: “Why then was it necessary to disband the factions two years ago?”. The old faction had a history, they were founded by significant people, had some kind of history, continuity. Why get rid of what was in order to start over in two years. The Red faction used to be the most numerous and cohesive, it was a faction, the Sarmatians prevailed. Now the excitement will pass as always, but again I’ll think, why join the new faction of the Reds, if I stayed forever and yearn for the old factio russata, created at the dawn of the Roman Republic?

The old faction sat idly doing nothing for many ludi games long before it was disbanded. All the factions had this problem.  Will it be better this time around? Maybe? Maybe not? But not much was lost there. Just look at the old archives of the Reds – http://romanrepublic.org/roma/fora/forum/cultus-deorum-romanorum-d12-2/consortio-ludorum-factionum/factio-russata/

I think instead of grieving the loss of what was really a trivial thing in the life of the pre-2019 Roman Republic we should instead focus on what these new factions can become. What role should they play? Are they only for ludi? How do they fit into the culture we are developing? Things like that.

I also wouldn’t be opposed to the current Red faction simply adopting the history and structure of the previous Red faction.

That is my two denarii on the matter.