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, and serving at his pleasure. The web page for this project is here.
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. At present, all proposed links have been disproven, and a final report awaits publication in The Augustan Omnibus.
Other links may be proposed from time to time. 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 DFA Resource Kit was published. 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, a Sources booklet gave brief citations to the data supporting each individual, and a Bibliography booklet provided full bibliographic references to the items cited briefly in the Sources booklet. A short Introductory booklet was also included. Production of the DFA Resource Kit was assigned to the Communications Department.
This DFA Resource Kit is, and will always be, a work-in-progress, and as such it should not be cited or referred to by others. It contains, by its very nature, speculative data that has not yet been confirmed. At present, this kit is unavailable, as there are no proposed lines under study. It may be that future proposals will be of smaller scope and such an elaborate structure will not be of value.
Funding for the research expenses of this Study Group were defrayed by selling the DFA Resource Kit 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.
The DFA Research Fund will 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.
The Coordinator has established the DFA Procedure to guide the work of this group.
