Aeterna Roma – Eternal Rome.
"Welcome to Rome, the Eternal city. In a place where the streets are running thick with wine, blood, scandal, ambition, and lust, events happen so quickly that rising to power one day and falling the next is expected. Sweet words, honeyed speeches, and purses of money might milk your way to the top, but one wrong move and it's all over. This is a place where one forges alliances to survive and where enemies can seem as friends until they stab your back. A place where lust and wine are entwined so quickly that marriages are made and dissolved in months. A place where the new young Caesar fights his own Senate for power while trying to find those he can trust.
Where will you go in such a place as this?"
Where will you go in such a place as this?"
Aeterna Roma
is an Alternate History play by post game set in Ancient Rome. Aeterna Roma began in April of 2008, the idea of creators Kate (who has since left us) and Gothic. It has gone through many changes over the years - such as new administrators, new servers, and, of course, a myriad of new players. Nonetheless, many things remain true for AeRo. The plots stay fun and original, the staff stays friendly and helpful, and the member-base keeps growing.
Along with real-time, AeRo has continued the same storyline, with in-game developments starting in 51 AD and continuing up until the present. Some characters have aged and gained themselves a place in the world of Roma, some have retired into history, and others have died the victims of war or political maneuvering. Within AeRo, there is a place for everyone.
The Staff:
- Gothic: Remaining founder and head Admin
- Chris (aka Mr. AeRo): Member of AeRo v1 and co-Admin (and only male staffer!)
- Tanith: Super Moderator
- Riv/Traci: Super Moderator
- Bastet: Super Moderator
- Jimmie: Super Moderator and TV Tropes Editor
Aeterna Roma also currently has an official vlog, run by the lovely Sammich. It can be found here.
Aeterna Roma contains examples of:
- All Jews Are Ashkenazi: The Jewish characters, despite being of mainly Idumean and Sephardi origin, are portrayed by Ashkenazi playbys. This has more to do with the fact that finding mainstream images of other Jewish ancestry outside of Ashkenazi is sadly difficult than any desire by the players.
- Alternate History: AeRo's timeline veers from actual history after Caligula's assassination.
- Arranged Marriage: Doesn't always happen, but the paterfamilias was responsible for marrying off the eligible young maidens.
- Bilingual Bonus: Quite a few, mostly in Latin. But there are also members with characters from foreign nations who might include their respective languages in posts.
- The Caligula: The man himself has been long dead, but the emperors and potential emperors the story has gone through haven't been the sanest of guys.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: Since this is Ancient Rome, the more heroic or noble characters commonly mistreat their slaves, rape the enemy, and plot to take out the competition as they see fit.
- Fantastic Racism: Toward anyone of non-Roman descent, and quite a few people who are mixed.
- Gorgeous Period Dress: If you're rich enough. Come on!◊
- Happiness in Slavery: Despite popular belief, the vast majority of slaves, especially household slaves, were treated very well: they were educated, given fine clothes, and sometimes seen as part of the family. One could even make the argument for some that their lives in slavery were better off than the lives they led before being made a slave. Because of this, most slaves were quite comfortable with their lot in life and led rather normal lives.
- Made a Slave: The fate of the majority of slave characters in various ways, especially those captured during war.
- The Mafia: A number of gangs run the underground markets of Rome, such as the Syndicate and the Mandatum.
- Odd Couple:
- Efrem the reckless aristocrat with Piso the once-stern pedagogue.
- Justinus the equite party boy with Akila the beleaguered Egyptian.
- The Queen's Latin: Not stated outright, but many of the players attempt to write dialogue that sounds unmistakably British even when the player him/herself is not British.
- Rule of Cool: The reason why some elements of history are forgotten or changed for the benefit of the players.
- Shown Their Work: While certain aspects of history and culture must be stretched for creative freedom, those who write information detailing historical and cultural parts of Rome clearly know what they're doing and spend a great deal of time doing research.
- Translation Convention: The characters are shown to be speaking English since this is an English-speaking board, but sprinkles of Latin and other languages can be thrown in for extra flavor.
