Some Words from the Gamemaster

First, the Gamemaster noted the absence without explanation of five senators from the last meeting of the Senate before spring break. Such absences are unacceptable; they are a breach of the senators' duty to Rome, to the Senate, to the members of their faction, to history, and to themselves. The Gamemaster assures the Senate that such breaches will lead to History's negative evaluation on absent senators, as well as to the Gamemaster's negative evaluation of class participation.

Second, the Gamemaster has some comments on senatorial decorum. While you should expect and accept some vocal expressions of dissent and disagreement in a body as large and fractious as the Senate, senators should accord one another a courteous hearing, in the interests of maintaining a civil and efficient meeting.

Some silent communication through written messages is to be tolerated, as well. Some members of the Senate have expressed the opinion that other members of the body have resorted to frequent written messages during Senate meetings as a substitute for adequate preparation before the meetings. The Gamemaster urges all members to communicate with their fellow members on matters of strategy and tactics before senate meetings. If you must communicate with other members during a meeting, do so without distracting other senators, in particular, those senators who are trying to listen to speakers.

(And by the way, preceptors have the Gamemaster's permission in advance to communicate with senators and with the Gamemaster as they find fit and necessary. Senators should ignore the presence of preceptors and should not comment on their presence in the Senate; preceptors represent the "spirit of history" and are invisible to the senate until they choose to address individual senators).

The Gamemaster will not tolerate any further attempts to intercept messages on the floor of the Senate nor will he tolerate wrestling matches over scraps of papyrus. As a salutary reminder of this policy, the Gamemaster hereby publishes the contents of the (unsigned) message which he confiscated in the last meeting: "Antony-- you need to offer to attack Octavian so you can have control of some forces-- pretend like you're against him."

The Senate has two more weeks to meet, and many problems yet to confront; so make a better History!