Add historical-reality-parameters.md
schema instrument for enslaved labour, legal discrimination, commercial sex, and public violence
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# Historical Reality Parameters
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### TheRON — OTIVM / CIVICVS Parameter Schema Instrument
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### Status: Internal only — not player-facing content
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### Date: 2026-04-28
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---
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## 0. Purpose and Scope
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This document is an internal schema instrument. It is not a scenario.
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It is not player-facing content. It will not be shown to participants.
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Its purpose is to map the parameter domains required for an economically
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honest simulation of Roman commercial life in approximately 14 BCE. Four
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domains are covered:
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1. Enslaved labour
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2. Legal and status discrimination
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3. Commercial sex
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4. Public violence and the arena
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These domains are not peripheral to Roman economic life. They are structural.
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A simulation that excludes them cannot model Roman economics accurately.
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A simulation that includes them as gratuitous spectacle has failed its purpose.
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**The principle governing this document:**
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These domains are modelled as parameters and economic forces. The simulation
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does not editorialise. It models. The participant encounters these as the
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MERCATOR encounters them — as the texture of the world they operate in,
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not as moral choices presented for approval. The facts no longer affect
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living beings. They belong to a historical period whose actors have all
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ceased to exist. The purpose of modelling them is contribution to accurate
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historical understanding, not sensation.
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**Method:** for each domain, this document identifies:
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- The structural role of the domain in the Roman economy
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- Existing parameters from `docs/architecture/parameter-registry.md` that
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are already affected by this domain, with the nature of the effect stated
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- New parameters required that are not yet in the registry
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- Sources
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---
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## 1. Enslaved Labour
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### 1.1 Structural role
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Slavery was not an anomaly in the Roman economy. It was its operating
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system. Estimates suggest enslaved persons constituted 15–30% of the
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Italian population in the late Republic and early Empire — potentially
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2–3 million people in Italy alone. In the commercial harbour economy of
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Ostia, enslaved labour was present at every operational level: BAIВLVS
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(porters), warehouse workers, ship crew members, accounting staff,
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household service, and skilled artisans.
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The MERCATOR operated inside this system whether or not he personally
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owned enslaved persons. He hired them, contracted their labour through
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their owners, competed against their output, and used infrastructure
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they maintained. His FACTOR might be enslaved or freedman. His access
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to certain services depended on this system.
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The Roman economy did not develop water-powered or steam-powered
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industrial production at scale despite possessing the engineering
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knowledge to do so. The reason is documented: human bodies were cheaper.
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This is not an inference — it is the economic consequence of a labour
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cost structure where the marginal cost of additional enslaved labour
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was lower than the capital cost of mechanical substitution. This
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consequence must be present in the parameter model.
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**Primary sources:**
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- Cato the Elder, *De Agricultura* — management of enslaved agricultural
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workers, cost structures, maintenance calculations
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- Columella, *De Re Rustica* — detailed labour cost accounting
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- Digest of Justinian, Book 21 — ACTIO EMPTI and sale of enslaved persons,
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warranty obligations, disclosure requirements
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- Varro, *Rerum Rusticarum* — classification of labour as *instrumentum
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vocale* (speaking tools), *semivocale* (semi-speaking: animals),
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*mutum* (mute: inanimate)
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**Secondary sources:**
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- Keith Hopkins, *Conquerors and Slaves* (1978)
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- Moses Finley, *The Ancient Economy* (1973)
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- Walter Scheidel, *The Cambridge Economic History of the Greco-Roman World*,
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Chapter 5 (2007)
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### 1.2 Existing parameters affected
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**`liquiditas`**
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A MERCATOR who owns enslaved workers holds capital in a non-liquid form.
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Their sale value is an asset; their maintenance is a recurring cost.
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The ratio of enslaved-to-hired labour in a commercial operation directly
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affects the owner's liquidity profile. The existing `liquiditas` parameter
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must accommodate a distinction between liquid capital and capital held in
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human assets.
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**`labour_cost` (stub — see §1.3)**
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Currently absent from the registry. Hired free labour (MERCENNARIUS)
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and contracted enslaved labour have different cost structures, different
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legal exposure for the contracting party, and different reliability
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profiles. These cannot be collapsed into a single cost parameter.
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**`ius_accessus`**
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An enslaved person has no IVS_ACCESSVS in Roman law. They cannot
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enter contracts, appear as witnesses, or initiate legal proceedings
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in their own name. A MERCATOR conducting NEGOTIA through an enslaved
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FACTOR (institor servilis) has a specific legal exposure profile:
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the owner is liable for the FACTOR's commercial acts up to the value
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of the PECULIUM (the allowance granted to the enslaved person for
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commercial use). This is the *actio institoria* and *actio tributoria*
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framework. The `ius_accessus` differential between a CIVIS, a LIBERTUS,
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and a SERVUS is not a single ordinal scale — it is a legally structured
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set of distinct capabilities and incapacities.
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**`auctoritas`**
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A MERCATOR who treats enslaved persons visibly well or badly affects
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their AVCTORITAS differently depending on the social context. Excessive
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cruelty was considered poor form even in a slave-owning society —
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not on humanitarian grounds, but because it signalled poor management
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and social instability. The AVCTORITAS system must accommodate the
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social signalling dimension of how an actor manages labour.
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**`officia_burden`**
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Ownership of enslaved persons creates legal obligations (maintenance,
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the *actio de peculio*, liability for their commercial acts) that
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contribute to OFFICIA_BVRDEN. This is not modelled in the current
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registry entry, which frames OFFICIA_BVRDEN primarily in terms of
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social obligations.
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### 1.3 New parameters required
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**`labour_source`**
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```
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token: labour_source
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scope: actor
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layer: roman
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maturity: research_needed
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```
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The composition of an actor's labour force: proportion enslaved vs
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free hired vs freedman contracted. Affects `liquiditas` profile,
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`ius_accessus` exposure, legal liability, and operational flexibility.
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An actor with primarily enslaved labour has lower variable costs but
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higher capital locked in assets and higher legal exposure for their
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acts. An actor with primarily hired free labour has higher variable
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costs, lower asset lock, and cleaner legal separation.
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**`labour_cost`**
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```
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token: labour_cost
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scope: scenario
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layer: roman
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maturity: research_needed
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```
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The cost per unit of labour for a specific ITER or operational task,
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disaggregated by labour type. BAIВLVS day rate for free hired labour
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is documented in Diocletian's Edict (301 CE, later than our period but
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provides relative structure). Earlier estimates require interpolation
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from Cato and Columella. Research needed: Ostia-specific rates,
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1st c. BCE.
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**`peculium_value`**
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```
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token: peculium_value
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scope: actor
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layer: roman
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maturity: research_needed
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```
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The commercial allowance granted to an enslaved FACTOR for use in
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NEGOTIA. Sets the ceiling of the owner's liability under *actio
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tributoria*. Also the de facto working capital of an enslaved
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commercial agent. A FACTOR with a large PECULIUM is effectively
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conducting independent commercial operations on behalf of their owner.
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This is one of the mechanisms by which enslaved persons could
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accumulate capital toward self-purchase (MANUMISSIO).
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**`manumission_probability`**
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```
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token: manumission_probability
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scope: actor
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layer: roman
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maturity: research_needed
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```
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The probability that a skilled enslaved commercial agent will be
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formally freed (MANUMISSIO) within a defined time horizon, converting
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to LIBERTUS status. Relevant because LIBERTUS actors have a different
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parameter profile from both CIVIS and SERVUS actors. The transition
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from SERVUS to LIBERTUS is a background drift event of the highest
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magnitude — it changes IVS_ACCESSVS, AVCTORITAS floor, and social
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network access simultaneously. This transition is the origin story of
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the BACKGROUND-0002 (Freedman Trader) cast profile.
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---
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## 2. Legal and Status Discrimination
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### 2.1 Structural role
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Roman society was organised around legally encoded status hierarchies
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that directly governed commercial capability. These were not informal
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prejudices — they were written into law and enforced by courts. The
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relevant distinctions for the MERCATOR's world:
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**CIVIS ROMANVS** — full Roman citizen. Full legal capability: contract,
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witness, property ownership, legal action. The baseline.
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**LATINVS** — Latin status. Commercial rights but restricted political
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and full legal rights. Many LIBERTI were LATINI IVNIANI — freed but
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without full citizenship.
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**PEREGRINUS** — foreign free person. Commercial activity permitted
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under *ius gentium* but restricted Roman law access. Significant in
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Ostia, a port city with large foreign populations.
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**LIBERTUS / LIBERTA** — freedman/woman. Citizen status in most cases
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(if freed formally by a CIVIS) but socially marked by servile origin.
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Could not hold most public offices. Subject to ongoing *operae* (labour
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obligations) to former owner. In practice, freedmen dominated Roman
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commercial and craft activity.
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**SERVUS** — enslaved person. No legal personhood. No contract, no
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witness, no property (technically — PECULIUM was a practical workaround).
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**Women** — regardless of status, Roman women had restricted commercial
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legal capability without a male guardian (TVTOR) in most circumstances.
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Exceptions existed; they were exceptions.
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**Non-Roman ethnic and religious communities** — Jews, Egyptians, and
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other identifiable groups faced specific restrictions, social hostility,
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and periodically legal exclusions that affected commercial activity.
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This is not modern racism but it had comparable commercial effects:
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restricted access to certain markets, inability to use certain legal
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instruments, exclusion from some COLLEGIA.
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**Primary sources:**
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- Gaius, *Institutiones* — systematic treatment of legal status categories
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- Digest of Justinian, Books 1, 4, 40 — citizenship, manumission, legal capacity
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- Cicero, *Pro Balbo* — citizenship as commercial prerequisite
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**Secondary sources:**
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- Jane Gardner, *Being a Roman Citizen* (1993)
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- A.N. Sherwin-White, *The Roman Citizenship* (1973)
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- John Bodel, *Epigraphic Evidence* — freedman commercial activity
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### 2.2 Existing parameters affected
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**`ius_accessus`**
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The existing registry entry describes this as an ordinal scale (low /
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medium / high). This is insufficient. IVS_ACCESSVS is not a continuous
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variable — it is a structured set of legal capabilities that differ
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categorically between SERVUS, LATINVS, PEREGRINUS, LIBERTUS, and CIVIS.
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The schema must accommodate legal status as a discrete category, not
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an ordinal score. The ordinal representation is a simplification that
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will produce wrong results in legal dispute scenarios.
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**`auctoritas`**
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The existing registry notes AVCTORITAS as partially observable and
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socially constructed. The legal status layer adds a floor and ceiling
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to AVCTORITAS that is structurally imposed, not just socially earned.
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A LIBERTUS cannot exceed a certain AVCTORITAS threshold regardless of
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commercial success, because certain social expressions of AVCTORITAS
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(holding office, certain COLLEGIA membership) are legally closed to him.
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A CIVIS of low commercial achievement still has a higher AVCTORITAS
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floor than a successful LIBERTUS in formal legal contexts.
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**`information_quality`**
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Access to commercial information in Rome was heavily mediated by
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social networks that were themselves status-stratified. A PEREGRINUS
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in Ostia had access to information networks within his ethnic community
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but reduced access to Roman citizen networks. A LIBERTUS had access
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to his former owner's network (CLIENTELA) but was excluded from others.
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The `information_quality` parameter must accommodate network access
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constraints derived from legal and social status.
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**`negotiatio`**
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Negotiation capability was not purely a personal skill — it was
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mediated by legal standing. A SERVUS negotiating on behalf of an
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owner could achieve certain outcomes but was legally constrained in
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others. A PEREGRINUS negotiating with Roman citizens was operating
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under *ius gentium*, not Roman civil law, with different remedies
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available if the counterparty defaulted.
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### 2.3 New parameters required
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**`legal_status`**
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```
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token: legal_status
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scope: actor
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layer: roman
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maturity: canonical
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```
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The actor's formal Roman legal status. Discrete categories, not ordinal:
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`civis_romanus`, `latinvs`, `peregrinus`, `libertus`, `liberta`, `servus`.
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This is the foundational parameter that determines the structure of
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`ius_accessus` for each actor. It does not drift — it changes through
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specific legal events (manumission, citizenship grant) which are
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recorded as events in the time-series.
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**`ethnic_community`**
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```
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token: ethnic_community
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scope: actor
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layer: roman
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maturity: provisional
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```
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The actor's cultural and ethnic community affiliation, where distinct
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from Roman citizen status. Affects `information_quality` within community
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networks, access to community-specific commercial infrastructure (e.g.
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Jewish merchant networks, Egyptian grain traders, Syrian traders in
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Ostia), and exposure to community-specific legal restrictions and social
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hostility. Not a racial category — a social and legal one.
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**`tutor_required`**
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```
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token: tutor_required
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scope: actor
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layer: roman
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maturity: provisional
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```
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Boolean. Whether the actor legally requires a male guardian (TVTOR)
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to execute certain commercial transactions. Applies to women actors.
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Affects `ius_accessus` for specific transaction types. A woman MERCATRIX
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(female merchant — attested in inscriptions) conducting NEGOTIA without
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a TVTOR faces legal exposure on certain contract types.
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---
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## 3. Commercial Sex
|
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|
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### 3.1 Structural role
|
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|
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Commercial sex in Rome was a licensed, taxed, legally categorised
|
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industry. This is not a peripheral fact — it is documented in
|
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municipal records, legal texts, and archaeological evidence across
|
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the Roman world including Ostia.
|
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|
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Key structural elements relevant to the simulation:
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**MERETRIX** — a woman registered as a prostitute with the AEDILE
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(municipal official). Registration was required by law (Lex Iulia
|
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de adulteriis, 18 BCE — near our simulation period). It conferred
|
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a specific legal status: the MERETRIX was exempt from adultery law
|
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(applying only to respectable women) but permanently infamis —
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legally disgraced, stripped of certain legal protections.
|
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**LENO / LENA** — the brothel-keeper (male / female). A commercial
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operator. Subject to the INFAMIA legal sanction, which removed certain
|
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legal protections and rights. Taxed: the VECTIGAL MERETRICVM was a
|
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municipal revenue source.
|
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|
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**FORNIX / LUPANAR** — the physical location. In Ostia, archaeologically
|
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attested in harbour and market districts — precisely the areas the
|
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MERCATOR operates in.
|
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|
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**Commercial relevance to the MERCATOR:**
|
||||
- The LUPANAR was part of the harbour economy. Its proximity to docks,
|
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warehouses, and taverns is not coincidental — it served transient
|
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labour populations: sailors, porters, travelling merchants.
|
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- Expenditure in this sector is a legitimate economic flow that affects
|
||||
the actor's `liquiditas` and OFFICIA_BVRDEN profile.
|
||||
- The LENO as commercial actor had specific legal constraints that
|
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affected contract enforceability.
|
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- Association with this sector affected AVCTORITAS and FAMA differently
|
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depending on the actor's status and the visibility of the association.
|
||||
|
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**Primary sources:**
|
||||
- Digest of Justinian, Book 3.2 — INFAMIA, legal consequences of
|
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MERETRICIA profession
|
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- CIL (Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum) — Pompeii price lists (later
|
||||
than our period but structurally informative)
|
||||
- Plautus comedies — commercial and social references (earlier period,
|
||||
informative for social norms)
|
||||
|
||||
**Secondary sources:**
|
||||
- Thomas McGinn, *Prostitution, Sexuality, and the Law in Ancient Rome* (1998)
|
||||
- Sarah Levin-Richardson, *The Brothel of Pompeii* (2019)
|
||||
- Rebecca Flemming, *Medicine and the Making of Roman Women* (2000)
|
||||
|
||||
### 3.2 Existing parameters affected
|
||||
|
||||
**`liquiditas`**
|
||||
Expenditure in this sector is a recurring cost parameter for actors
|
||||
whose social patterns include harbour district activity. It is
|
||||
economically indistinguishable from expenditure on food, wine, or
|
||||
lodging in the simulation's accounting model — it is a cost that
|
||||
reduces available capital. It must not be treated as categorically
|
||||
different from other consumption costs in the schema.
|
||||
|
||||
**`auctoritas`**
|
||||
Visible association with the sector affected AVCTORITAS differently
|
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by social class. A high-status actor (Lentulus) visible in a LUPANAR
|
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faces AVCTORITAS and FAMA damage. A low-status actor (Felix, Varro)
|
||||
faces no particular consequence — it was unremarkable for their
|
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social level. This is a `perceived_vs_true` interaction: the social
|
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cost is mediated by who observes, not by the act itself.
|
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**`fama`**
|
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The FAMA parameter must accommodate sector-specific social visibility.
|
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Certain locations and associations produce FAMA effects only if observed
|
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by status-relevant witnesses. The BALNEA rumour network
|
||||
(`rumor_velocity`) carries some of this information; the schema must
|
||||
model that rumour content has differential impact by observer status.
|
||||
|
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**`officia_burden`**
|
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Not applicable for the MERCATOR as consumer. Applicable if modelling
|
||||
the LENO as a commercial actor type — ownership of a LUPANAR creates
|
||||
specific legal and operational obligations.
|
||||
|
||||
### 3.3 New parameters required
|
||||
|
||||
**`infamia_flag`**
|
||||
```
|
||||
token: infamia_flag
|
||||
scope: actor
|
||||
layer: roman
|
||||
maturity: canonical
|
||||
```
|
||||
Boolean. Whether the actor carries the legal status of INFAMIA —
|
||||
legal disgrace that removes certain protections and rights. Applies
|
||||
to: LENO, LENA, MERETRIX, gladiators, actors, and others defined by
|
||||
Roman law. Affects `ius_accessus` (certain legal actions barred),
|
||||
`auctoritas` (formal ceiling reduced), and `clientela` (certain
|
||||
patron-client relationships unavailable). Not the same as low FAMA —
|
||||
INFAMIA is a legal status, FAMA is a social perception.
|
||||
|
||||
**`sector_visibility`**
|
||||
```
|
||||
token: sector_visibility
|
||||
scope: relation
|
||||
layer: roman
|
||||
maturity: provisional
|
||||
```
|
||||
The probability that an actor's commercial or social activity in a
|
||||
specific sector is observed by status-relevant witnesses and enters
|
||||
the rumour network. Modulates `fama` effects for activities that have
|
||||
differential social consequences by observer. High `sector_visibility`
|
||||
in the harbour district late at night produces different FAMA effects
|
||||
than the same activity unseen.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## 4. Public Violence and the Arena
|
||||
|
||||
### 4.1 Structural role
|
||||
|
||||
Public violence in Rome was not an anomaly or a failure of civilization.
|
||||
It was a deliberately maintained social institution with specific
|
||||
economic, political, and social functions. The relevant forms for the
|
||||
MERCATOR's world:
|
||||
|
||||
**LVDI** — public games, including gladiatorial combat (MVNERA),
|
||||
animal hunts (VENATIONES), and chariot racing (LUDI CIRCENSES).
|
||||
Sponsored by magistrates, wealthy patrons, and the Emperor. The sponsor
|
||||
(EDITOR MVNERUM) gained AVCTORITAS and CLIENTELA in proportion to the
|
||||
scale and quality of the event. This was not entertainment in the modern
|
||||
sense — it was a mechanism for redistributing social capital from
|
||||
wealthy to popular, cementing political alliances, and demonstrating
|
||||
the sponsor's power and generosity.
|
||||
|
||||
**Gladiatorial schools (LVDI GLADIATORUM)** — commercial operations.
|
||||
A LANISTA (gladiatorial trainer/manager) purchased, trained, and hired
|
||||
out gladiators. This was a profitable but INFAMIA-carrying business.
|
||||
Gladiators themselves were often enslaved persons or condemned criminals,
|
||||
but also included free volunteers (AVCTORAMENTVM) drawn by pay, status
|
||||
within the arena world, and — occasionally — the release from debt.
|
||||
|
||||
**Capital punishment** — public execution (SVPPLICIUM) was a regular
|
||||
civic event. Criminals, slaves, and enemies of the state were executed
|
||||
publicly in ways that served as both deterrent and spectacle. This is
|
||||
not tangential to the commercial world — condemned criminals included
|
||||
defaulted debtors in some circumstances.
|
||||
|
||||
**Commercial relevance to the MERCATOR:**
|
||||
- Attending, sponsoring, or being seen at LVDI was an AVCTORITAS and
|
||||
CLIENTELA event, not merely entertainment.
|
||||
- The LANISTA as commercial actor operated within specific legal
|
||||
constraints (INFAMIA) while conducting profitable trade in human
|
||||
combat capacity.
|
||||
- The economic demand generated by LVDI — for animals, equipment,
|
||||
food, temporary labour, lodging — was a commercial opportunity the
|
||||
MERCATOR could service.
|
||||
- The EDITOR MVNERUM role was a form of `liquiditas` expenditure that
|
||||
produced `auctoritas` returns — one of the clearest Roman examples
|
||||
of converting money into social capital.
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary sources:**
|
||||
- Suetonius, *Lives of the Twelve Caesars* — sponsorship economics,
|
||||
scale of games
|
||||
- Cicero, *Pro Sestio*, *De Officiis* — AVCTORITAS logic of public
|
||||
sponsorship
|
||||
- CIL — inscriptions recording EDITOR MVNERUM, costs, and social returns
|
||||
- Digest of Justinian, Book 3.2 — INFAMIA of LANISTA
|
||||
|
||||
**Secondary sources:**
|
||||
- Keith Hopkins and Mary Beard, *The Colosseum* (2005)
|
||||
- Fik Meijer, *The Gladiators* (2003)
|
||||
- Donald Kyle, *Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome* (1998)
|
||||
|
||||
### 4.2 Existing parameters affected
|
||||
|
||||
**`auctoritas`**
|
||||
The EDITOR MVNERUM mechanism is the clearest Roman example of direct
|
||||
`liquiditas` → `auctoritas` conversion. The existing registry entry
|
||||
does not describe this pathway explicitly. It must be added: spending
|
||||
on public sponsorship (LVDI, public feasts, building dedications) is
|
||||
a direct investment in AVCTORITAS that bypasses the slow accumulation
|
||||
through repeated commercial reliability. It is also irreversible —
|
||||
a patron who sponsors games cannot unsponsor them, and the AVCTORITAS
|
||||
gained decays if not maintained by further sponsorship.
|
||||
|
||||
**`clientela`**
|
||||
Public games generated CLIENTELA directly. Attendees who received
|
||||
free admission or gifts (MISSILIA — tokens thrown to the crowd)
|
||||
entered a diffuse client relationship with the sponsor. This is a
|
||||
mass CLIENTELA acquisition mechanism — distinct from the individual
|
||||
cultivation described in the existing registry entry. The schema must
|
||||
accommodate both forms.
|
||||
|
||||
**`officia_burden`**
|
||||
The EDITOR MVNERUM role created specific obligations: to the audience
|
||||
(expectation of future games), to the performers contracted, to the
|
||||
animals suppliers, to the venue. Once entered, the role generated
|
||||
ongoing OFFICIA_BVRDEN whether or not the actor wished to continue.
|
||||
|
||||
**`liquiditas`**
|
||||
Sponsoring LVDI was a major capital expenditure. The scale ranged from
|
||||
modest municipal games to the multi-day spectacles of the Imperial
|
||||
period. For a working MERCATOR, even modest sponsorship represented
|
||||
a significant `liquiditas` commitment with an uncertain `auctoritas`
|
||||
return — because the social capital gained depended on attendance,
|
||||
weather, the quality of the performance, and the political climate.
|
||||
|
||||
### 4.3 New parameters required
|
||||
|
||||
**`sponsorship_investment`**
|
||||
```
|
||||
token: sponsorship_investment
|
||||
scope: actor
|
||||
layer: roman
|
||||
maturity: provisional
|
||||
```
|
||||
Capital committed by an actor to public sponsorship (LVDI, public
|
||||
feasts, building dedications). Produces `auctoritas` return at a
|
||||
rate modulated by event scale, attendance, and political climate.
|
||||
The return is delayed (AVCTORITAS accrues after the event, not during
|
||||
the expenditure) and uncertain (bad weather, poor performance, or
|
||||
political interference reduces return). Irreversible once committed.
|
||||
|
||||
**`arena_demand_index`**
|
||||
```
|
||||
token: arena_demand_index
|
||||
scope: city
|
||||
layer: roman
|
||||
maturity: provisional
|
||||
```
|
||||
The current commercial demand generated by scheduled or recent LVDI
|
||||
in a city — for animals, equipment, food, lodging, and temporary
|
||||
labour. A city in the week before major games has different commercial
|
||||
conditions from a city in a quiet period. Affects `food_price_index`,
|
||||
`porter_availability`, `storage_fee_index`, and `dock_congestion`.
|
||||
|
||||
**`lanista_flag`**
|
||||
```
|
||||
token: lanista_flag
|
||||
scope: actor
|
||||
layer: roman
|
||||
maturity: provisional
|
||||
```
|
||||
Boolean. Whether the actor is operating as or in partnership with a
|
||||
LANISTA (gladiatorial school operator). Applies INFAMIA consequences
|
||||
(see `infamia_flag`) while enabling access to specific commercial
|
||||
networks (arena supply chains, condemned labour pools). A commercial
|
||||
actor who avoids this sector loses certain opportunities; one who
|
||||
enters it gains opportunities at AVCTORITAS cost.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## 5. Cross-Domain Parameter Summary
|
||||
|
||||
New parameters introduced by this document, for addition to
|
||||
`docs/architecture/parameter-registry.md`:
|
||||
|
||||
| Token | Scope | Layer | Domain | Maturity |
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||
| `labour_source` | actor | roman | enslaved labour | research_needed |
|
||||
| `labour_cost` | scenario | roman | enslaved labour | research_needed |
|
||||
| `peculium_value` | actor | roman | enslaved labour | research_needed |
|
||||
| `manumission_probability` | actor | roman | enslaved labour | research_needed |
|
||||
| `legal_status` | actor | roman | legal discrimination | canonical |
|
||||
| `ethnic_community` | actor | roman | legal discrimination | provisional |
|
||||
| `tutor_required` | actor | roman | legal discrimination | provisional |
|
||||
| `infamia_flag` | actor | roman | commercial sex / arena | canonical |
|
||||
| `sector_visibility` | relation | roman | commercial sex | provisional |
|
||||
| `sponsorship_investment` | actor | roman | arena | provisional |
|
||||
| `arena_demand_index` | city | roman | arena | provisional |
|
||||
| `lanista_flag` | actor | roman | arena | provisional |
|
||||
|
||||
**Existing parameters requiring schema revision:**
|
||||
|
||||
| Token | Required revision |
|
||||
|---|---|
|
||||
| `ius_accessus` | Must become a structured legal capability set, not an ordinal scale. Keyed to `legal_status`. |
|
||||
| `auctoritas` | Must accommodate: status-imposed floor and ceiling; direct `liquiditas`→`auctoritas` conversion via sponsorship; INFAMIA ceiling constraint. |
|
||||
| `officia_burden` | Must include: liability for enslaved persons' commercial acts; sponsorship obligations once entered. |
|
||||
| `information_quality` | Must accommodate: network access constraints derived from `legal_status` and `ethnic_community`. |
|
||||
| `fama` | Must accommodate: `sector_visibility` modulation — FAMA effects are observer-dependent, not universal. |
|
||||
| `liquiditas` | Must distinguish: liquid capital vs capital held in human assets (enslaved persons). |
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## 6. Schema Discipline
|
||||
|
||||
These parameters must not be encoded differently from any other parameter
|
||||
in the schema. They are historical facts about a specific period and
|
||||
place, not editorial content. The same precision, confidence tagging,
|
||||
and source citation standards apply here as to cargo weights and customs
|
||||
duties.
|
||||
|
||||
Uncertainty is a first-class record. Where source data is thin —
|
||||
particularly for labour cost rates and PECULIUM values specific to
|
||||
Ostia in 14 BCE — the parameter is marked `maturity: research_needed`
|
||||
and the confidence tag reflects the gap. A gap honestly documented is
|
||||
more useful than a false precision.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
*Historical Reality Parameters — internal instrument, 2026-04-28*
|
||||
*Not player-facing. Schema use only.*
|
||||
*The simulation models. It does not editorialise.*
|
||||
*TheRON — single contributor. AI assistants implement, document, flag — do not direct.*
|
||||
Reference in New Issue
Block a user