: Good morning! I’m glad we decided to keep our government here, because— as much as I love Athens— I guarantee I couldn’t find a cup of Turkish coffee this good anywhere west of the Golden Horn. We’ve been hard at work! Today we have one vote— on a rather unexpected matter— and a number of debates to run concurrently.
VOTE 2: ON THE STATUS OF POPE LANDO VIII
The International has, thus far, shown an eagerness to distance themselves from the Roman emperors and their blood-soaked legacies. Very well— let us attempt to redress some of the crimes of the medieval and early modern Roman emperors and empresses. Valeria the Apostle drove the Pope from the Vatican; Valeria the Apostle instigated a great persecution of Catholics throughout all Christendom; Trajan III Yaroslavovich hiratined the last Pope to reign in Italy and drive the institution of the papacy to Canterbury and ultimately a bleak exile on the Isle of Mann. I propose that we atone for these crimes by inviting Pope Lando VII and his curia to once again take up residence in Rome. Now, to make myself clear, I do not propose handing the city of Rome over to him, separating millions of Byzantine citizens from the Commune— what would be madness. But even permitting him to take up residency in the Vatican, we can send an important message of inclusivity to the Commune’s– and the world’s— Catholics.
##Support the Velocipedestrienne Nun to invite the Pope and the Catholic curia to live and work in Rome (not give him the province of Rome or anything)
With the fall of the Habsburg Monarch, Great Britain and its colonies are the only Catholic realms of any significance in the world. Note well that not once have they pressed the issue of the Pope returning to Latium— not in the glory days of the Victorian League, not when Great Britain invaded Italy during the Containment War, not when the Byzantine Republic and Great Britain negotiated an anti-NGF pact, not when they alone of all the nations of the world extended a branch of friendship to our Commune. This is because, frankly, they like the Pope on the Isle of Mann, right where they can see him. Now, the monarchy is pretty much out of politics over there, so I’m sure we could make a deal with Parliament and work all this out— but we’d have to make some sort of concession. Why rock the boat? In fact, I’ve gotten a telegraph from our ambassador in Edinburgh that the British government will do us a favor if we make this whole issue disappear.
##Support the Veteran Diplomat
In-game effects: In addition to affecting the Athens Commune’s religious policy, this will have a minor gameplay impact according to what’s decided in DEBATE 2.
DEBATES:
DEBATE 1 on the new name for Constantinople is still ongoing.
DEBATE 2 concerns the vote on the status of the Pope. If we invite the Pope back to Rome, we’ll need to do something nice for Great Britain. If we leave him on Mann, we can ask the British to do something nice for us. Discuss what those nice things might be.
DEBATE 3 covers another issue entirely— right now, the title for the leaders of communal republics (our new govtype) in ByzMod is still just “Chairman”, but that doesn’t feel very us. So let’s try to come up with a better title for Evgenia Exteberria and her successors. President? Premier? General Secretary? Hypatos? Empress. I guess this will also determine whether she’s the head of government (like a prime minister or whatever) or the head of state as well (like our presidents were).
VOTE 2: ON THE STATUS OF POPE LANDO VIII
##Support the Velocipedestrienne Nun to invite the Pope and the Catholic curia to live and work in Rome (not give him the province of Rome or anything)
NewMars
Ghetto Prince
Juvenalian.Satyr
##Support the Veteran Diplomat
Lord Cyrahzax
GunnerJ
Hitlers Gay Secret
Danny Glands
GSD
Akratic Method
StrifeHira
AJ_Impy
Caustic Soda
RagnarokZ
WhiskeyWhiskers
ThaumPenguin
Rejected Fate
Freudian
Meinberg
loquacius
Sky Shadowing
Rodyle
HiHo ChiRho
WeaponGradeSadness
Clayren
GoatLord
Ogianres
Magni
Lustful Man Hugs
Erwin the German
Lynneth
Redeye Flight
Flesnolk
Frontspac
Thordain
Soup du Jour
Vote closed!
Still waffling over city names and leader titles. I like Byznation and Cosmopolis the most, and it seems like everyone else does too! I like how the two names that emerged as most popular reflect an idealized antiquity and a romanticized future.
The titles I like the best, meanwhile, weren’t really taken up by anybody besides their original proposers, but I like how both Tribune and Grand Secretary reflect various aspects of our history (the populism of the Roman Republic, the Gracchi, plebians vs. patricians, etc. for Tribune; our civil service, China’s status as a major center of political innovation, the Mandate of the People, etc., for the Grand Secretariat).
Everyone loves First Citizen/Princeps, I guess, but I imagine that everyone at the International is able to crack open a history book and see just what that implies. We’ve had emperors styling themselves as princeps as recently as the later Roman Commonwealth, so it’s probably not going to fool anybody. 
Any thoughts? Maybe I should sleep on it?