Actually, she was a Vulcan posing as a Romulan. She was apparently part of a small group of Vulcan isolationists.The exact opposite. Everything on screen indicates that it was telepathy plus emotions that led to the civil war and ultimately caused the Romulans to leave. It seems the species had a choice - keep emotions but lose telepathy or keep telepathy and lose emotions. Can't have both.
TNG' Gambit featured a (secret) Romulan getting her hands on a telepathic weapon from the time before Surak.