Did the Romulans Need to Keep Their Emotions in Check?

[The Mighty Monkey of Mim]

T'Pol referred to early Vulcans as "an extremely violent race," with "paranoia and homicidal rage" being common. Earlier, Spock called that time "savage, even by Earth standards." While that doesn't mean that every Vulcan was a bloodthirsty murderer, it does suggest that early Vulcans probably made Klingons look tame in comparison. But the general sentiment is that Vulcan society was headed towards self-annihilation if it wasn't for Surak.

Ah, yes. Looking them up, those references would be "Impulse" (ENT) and "Balance Of Terror" (TOS). Good catches both.

 

[locutus101]

I know that they didn't follow Surak, but they have had to have had a philosophy of keeping some of their emotions in check. Otherwise, they would have mood-instability or seem to have bipolar disorder.

It seems obvious to me that Romulans don't keep their emotions in check, which probably explains why they are so nasty all the time.

 

[Arpy]

Not everybody's human. If Vulcans could learn to control their emotions as human do, they and the Romulans would become redundant as characters. Ditto the Klingons. Some people are nerdier than others, some are colder, some are more emotional, etc. We don't all need to be the same to matter, and it is more illuminating exploring our differences than retelling the same tales.

As aliens, I love seeing Vulcans or Klingons be subtly, fundamentally, different; you get to go on the outlandish journey without pressure to match it. In the real world, we get to watch athletes or musicians, physicians or dare I say politicians perform feats that we know on some level we ourselves can not duplicate. Michael Jordan might as well be a Romulan, for the chances that in any possible world I'd outplay him.

 

[TheSubCommander]

All murderous bipolar psychos? Maybe not. Comparable to humans? Probably yes. But to be fair, in "All Our Yestedays" (TOS), Spock's Vulcan ancestors of five millennia earlier were described as "warlike barbarians who nearly killed themselves off with their own passions" and T'Pol in "Shockwave, Part II" (ENT) said they "discovered how to suppress their volatile emotions only after centuries of savage conflict," and during pon farr they "still go mad" and "kill to win their mates" even in their enlightened modern era as per "Amok Time" (TOS), so it's easy to get that impression.

T'Pol referred to early Vulcans as "an extremely violent race," with "paranoia and homicidal rage" being common. Earlier, Spock called that time "savage, even by Earth standards." While that doesn't mean that every Vulcan was a bloodthirsty murderer, it does suggest that early Vulcans probably made Klingons look tame in comparison. But the general sentiment is that Vulcan society was headed towards self-annihilation if it wasn't for Surak.

I think those Vulcans who resettled on Romulus simply found another path other than logic, or else they would have destroyed themselves too. Perhaps by developing a fascist society, the Romulans used fear to maintain order (fear of the authorities, fear of speaking out against the government and being imprisoned, fear of your friend betraying you, fear of some stranger accusing you of not being a loyal Romulan, etc.). That kind of creates a strict society where hardly anyone makes a move that might be remotely viewed as being out of line, perhaps.

It's true that was said by Spock and T'Pol. And it must be remembered that when Spock says "by human standards," that could mean 23rd century standards. Not necessarily Genghis Khan standards. You have to remember that there is a certain amount of elitism coming from the Vulcan point of view in the 22nd-24th centuries. To Vulcans, humans are still a bit barbaric, even in the 23rd centuries. Also, I think there is a certain amount of unspoken shame on the part of modern Vulcans, regarding their past.

That is not to say that they weren't pretty savage, and I do buy the idea that an ancient Vulcan could make a Klingon look tame. But so would some humans, depending on the era you talk about. Quark even gives Nog a speech about his opinion:

Let me tell you something about Hew-mons, Nephew. They're a wonderful, friendly people, as long as their bellies are full and their holosuites are working. But take away their creature comforts, deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers, put their lives in jeopardy over an extended period of time and those same friendly, intelligent, wonderful people... will become as nasty and as violent as the most bloodthirsty Klingon. You don't believe me? Look at those faces. Look in their eyes. [\quote]

 

[C.E. Evans]

It's true that was said by Spock and T'Pol. And it must be remembered that when Spock says "by human standards," that could mean 23rd century standards.

Or by Human standards in general. Even the Vikings may have been appalled.

 

[matthunter]

The RPG sourcebook "Way of D'era" has Romulans suborning their emotions for the most part to "Duty", whether that's to family, career or the overall aims of the Empire (guess which one is meant to come first?). However, the worst excesses of the pre-Surak era aren't present amongst Romulans since they aren't subject to the harsh existence of Vulcan (Romulus is a paradise) and the long exodus in cramped ships taught them that internacine struggles were pointless.

 

[Nyotarules]

But maybe they're been overcompensating for generations because of their bloodthirsty past, to the extent that they've built up their emotions to be much scarier than actually are?

Fear is a huge motivator. Vulcans having almost destroyed themselves with a nuclear war, perhaps the devastation scared them into following that Surak bloke. In my head canon the war destroyed a huge majority of the population making it easier to unite the planet under one philosophy for milennia. Plus being a land based planet, its easier to spread the gospel around.
Vulcans swapped being ruthlessly violent for being ruthlessly logical. A race of extremists, they cannot do anything moderate lol

 

[Nyotarules]

It's kind of our thing in Star Trek. Vulcans are logical. Romulans are sneaky. Klingons are violent. Humans are emotional.

Or as Soval said humans are all three! I bet Vulcans 'envy' humans for doing in less than one century what it took them milennia to do, unite and stop acting like murderous beasts lol