Lucia Valeria Secunda Ianuaria and Publius Valerius Secundus Festus on Saturnalia, 2001

Welcome to the home of Gens Valeria Secunda, a clan within the Micro-Nation of Nova Roma. Nova Roma is a Micro-Nation, a small landless nation state, dedicated to the revival and reconstruction of ancient Roman religion, the Religio Romana, and culture. Nova Roma, like ancient Roma (Roma Antiqua), is a mosaic of people from different cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds all united by a shared love of ancient Roman culture. As Nova Romans are currently spread out broadly around the globe the majority of activities focus around the Yahoo e-lists dedicated to both the nation state as a whole and the specific interests of the Nova Romans. You will find interests as varied as ancient Roman food and cooking, politics, military reenactment, politics, art and music all represented in the e-lists.

The society of Roma Antiqua was broken into three broad social classes, the Patricians, The Equestrian Order and the Plebeians. The Patricians were the inherited nobility of ancient Roman society. Only Patricians could serve as Senators and to be a Senator one needed to own a million sesterces worth of land. As Roman social welfare largely came out of the personal pocket of the elite only Patricians could afford to run for high offices and afford the public services that came with these high offices. The Equestrian Order was a group of wealthy businessmen. In order to be a member of the Equestrian Order one had to own 400,000 sesterces of land. Equestrians could afford to run for high offices and sometimes had far greater wealth than Patricians, without the ancient lineage or prestige that came with such a lineage. In short the Equestrian Order was the ancient equivalent of the Nouveau Riche.

Which brings us to the Plebeians. The Plebeians were the lowest social class in Roma Antiqua, with few privileges. There was one high office, that of the Plebeian Aediles, that only Plebeians. could serve in and this office was used as a check against illicit practices by the Patrician class. Plebeians lived under a wide range of socioconomic conditions, eveything from very well off just shy of Equestrian, to starving poor. Plebeians were employed in a wide range of vocations including owning small shops, laundries, bakeries, bars, restaurants, working in a variety of skilled trades including jewelry making, plumbing, black smithing and carpentry. Plebeians. made up the majority of Roman society.

Gens Valeria Secunda is a Plebeian gens. Fortunately in Nova Roma, there are few differences between Plebeians and Patricians, with the greatest difference being that Plebeians can be Plebeian Aedilies and Patricians cannot. Otherwise each group may hold any other elected office and both groups enjoy the same rights and responsibilities conferred by Nova Roman citizenship.

The name Valeria Secunda comes from "Valerius" to be strong and "Secunda" or second which makes gens Valeria Secunda the "Second Strength Clan" of Nova Roma. The name comes from an inscription on a Freedman's (freed slave) tomb:

Aurelia Nais, a freedwoman of Gaius, sold fish in the warehouse of Galba. Gaius Aurelius Phileros, a freedman of Gaius, and Lucius Valerius Secundus, a freedman of Lucius, paid for this.

This inscription is from As the Romans Did: A Sourcebook of Roman Social History second edition by Jo-Ann Shelton, Oxford University Press, 1998. The original inscription is taken from a collection of Roman inscriptions, Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarium.

The head of the Gens in Ancient Roma was the Paterfamilias, or the "Father" of the clan. In Nova Roma either a man or woman may head a gens, hence a female head of gens is a Materfamilias, or the "mother" of the clan. The Materfamilias of gens Valeria Secunda is Lucia Valeria Secunda Ianuaria pictured above with her husband, Publius Valerius Secundus Festus.

Gens Valeria Secunda primarily aims to be a haven for scholars, artists, writers and philosophers of all things Roman. Members of Gens Valeria Secunda are expected to be active contributing members to Nova Roma in whatever capacity they feel drawn to. They may be priests, scholars, politicians, poets, philosophers or just ordinary citizens, but all should feel the same love and passion for Roman culture. As Materfamilias, I want my family members to be encouraged to express their individual talents and to do well in what ever they endeavor to do.

Whatever you choose to do, do it well!

While the Materfamilias is a practitioner of the Religio Romana, gens members may be practitioners of any faith they choose as long as they are respectful of other's religions, including a respect for the ancient Roman deities and the rites of the Religio Romana.

Communication is vital to maintaining a healthy family, so I will do my best to help everyone stay in touch and help guide Gens members in the directions they wish to pursue. Gens members are encouraged to contact the Materfamilias if they have any difficulties.

Those who wish to Join Gens Valeria Secunda must contact the Materfamilias prior to filling out an application on the Nova Roma web site. This is not because the Gens is in any way an "elite" family, but simply to save the applicant needless time wading through the application process simply to find there are few Gens members with common interests, or that you are looking for a Gens geographically close to you only to find after acceptance that the Materfamilias is in another country. Or that you really don't like the goals of the Gens. Ensuring a good fit within a Nova Roman family is essential to personal growth within Nova Roma.