Descents from Antiquity Study Group
As part of the mission of The Augustan Society, Inc., to promote the study of genealogy, the Board created the Descents from Antiquity Study Group. It is headed by a Coordinator named by the Dean of Studies, who serves at his pleasure.
Aims: To propose and prove or disprove proposed descents from antiquity. This will involve publishing proposed lineages as a tool to generate discussion and consensus. A final report on each link will be published in The Augustan Omnibus. More than one such link may be studied at any given time.
In future, other links may be proposed and studied. Given the nature of research on ancient topics, it may not be possible to prove or disprove all such theories, thus proposals may at times be left dormant until new research or new ideas make them worthy of further attention.
In support of cooperative efforts on this project, a set of charts called Descents From Antiquity was published (now out of print). This consisted of a set of genealogical charts, composed so as to indicate what data is known, what suspected, and what proposed. A Master Chart showed how the others interconnect. While plans were made to add a Sources booklet to gave brief citations to the data supporting each individual, and a Bibliography booklet to provide full bibliographic references to the items cited briefly in the Sources booklet, neither effort was completed.
Funding for the research expenses of this Study Group were defrayed by selling the Descents From Antiquity charts at a price greater than would otherwise be required. This higher price was also thought to discourage participation by those with only an idle interest, though that does not appear to have proved successful. A new price will have to be determined for any new kit based on page count and expenses to be defrayed.
A DFA Research Fund would be established under the Society Budget each year, the amount available for research being the lesser of the amount requested by the Study Group and the amount collected in the previous budget year. If it is desired to make the DFA Research Fund a continuing fund, carrying unspent balances forward, the Study Group must request this from the Board.
At present, all proposed links have been disproven, and a final report has been published. The resignation of the last Coordinator has terminated all work. This group could be reactivated at the request of any member, provided they had one or more proposed lineages to be studied.
