What is your Romulan Empire?

[Anwar]

I was inspired to do this by the "What is your Federation" topic.

If you were in charge of Trek, how would you choose to portray the Romulan Empire (which really hasn't been explored much)?

Here's my re-conceptualization:

I would make the Romulan "Empire" a semi-repressive democracy/republic where there are some Old Families in power in the Military and Government but for the most part they are all democratically elected officials and volunteers in the Army/Navy who earned their rank through service and ability. The Tal Shiar does exist, but it was originally created by the Elected Officials to make sure that the Aristocrats weren't subverting the will of the general populace; it grew in power to a semi-autonomous secret police/spy organization as the Romulans went off world and began conquering others.

The core difference between the Romulans and the Feds would be that the Rommies have a "Manifest Destiny" mindset and see the Federation as a legitimate rival to this while at the same time their ideological opposite. However they do treat the species in their Empire who joined voluntarily and those who collaborate as more equal with a right to representation (but still obeying the Romulans in the end).

 

[drazzz52923849]

Interesting. I do believe that their should have been a lot more romulan backstories in TNG. I think that the romulans are already somewhat portrayed as a manifest destiny Species but they are not too keen on any other species.

 

[The Wormhole]

In TOS they were basically Space Romans with Vulcan ears.

In the 24th century shows they were shifty untrustworthy bastards with a tyrannical intelligence agency which bullied the population.

I'd say it's possible to work both ideas together, though I would like to see some more noble Romulans like Mark Lenard's Commander from Balance of Terror.

 

[Anwar]

We only saw them twice in TOS, and only Balance of Terror used the "Space Roman" idea. And even THEN the only Roman references were the ranks like "Centurion" and "Praetor".

My idea for a re-conceptualization is to really make them more like Rome with a divide between the Old Families (descendants of the more powerful Vulcan dissidents that maintained their power and prestige) and the common Romulans. They share their "Manifest Destiny" ideals but have differing ideas on how to maintain their conquests and how to treat other species. The Tal Shiar ironically being a creation to keep the Old Families at bay, only now they have developed into far more.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

My take on the Rommies is this: the key to writing them lies in understanding how they can do what the Vulcans do - have a natural temperament that is so violently emotional that it would disrupt having any sort of society, yet overcome it to such an extent that their society is not only possible but very successful.

The Vulcans accomplish this by making a fetish of logic and emotional repression. The Romulans didn't like this solution, so what did they devise instead? They had to have devised something. The only thing I can figure out is xenophobia - the Romulans cohere as a society by being either viciously hostile towards outsiders or withdrawing into periods of total isolation.

The other important thing to know about Romulans is that the existence of Vulcans must tick them off something awful. If they have the "right" solution, for there to be a rival solution is a threat to the precarious social structure that keeps their empire going. I see both the Vulcans and Rommies as inherently unstable and fragile societies held together by the intelligence, perseverance and sheer will that Vulcanoids are capable of.

So this leads to a few conclusions: the Rommies could have a democratic society internally and still be violently militaristic externally. There's no need for a flat-out police state, but there would be a great deal of paranoia revolving around anything involving outsiders - diplomacy, space exploration, military combat. They are never going to get along with the Federation because the Vulcans are in the Federation. Attempts to negotiate with Romulans will always fail in the end, but if left alone and held at arm's length, they can be tolerable neighbors.

The core difference between the Romulans and the Feds would be that the Rommies have a "Manifest Destiny" mindset and see the Federation as a legitimate rival to this while at the same time their ideological opposite.

That's funny, I see the reverse. The Feds are the Manifest Destiny folks, continually expanding ideologically under the guise of "peaceful exploration." The Rommies are too wrapped up in their own internal psychic struggles to ever genuinely care about expansion throughout the galaxy.

 

[Mr Silver]

I would portray them as Vulcans essentially, but with Biological Differences, due to the Romulans originating in their own Continent on Vulcan, such traits would be

No Pon Farr
Very Limited Telepathic Abilities (1 in 100,000)
Cranial Ridges in at least Half of all Romulans (like in TNG and DS9)
Not as Physically Strong or Enduring as Vulcans

They would also be much more secretive, a few Vulcans would know of the shared Ancestory, but it wouldn't be common knowledge and certainly not a topic for outsiders, Romulans would have limited physical contact with the Federation and their Ambassadors would negotiate via Subspace, Romulus itself would be an Extreme-Right Democracy, where everyone was equal as Romulans, but influence was gained through Military Conquests, Status Of Family, there would be a strict policy on outsiders, the only permitted traders would be just as equally secretive races, such as the Breen, the Romulan sector would be flooded with Romulan Mines, that only authorised Vessels could get through and the Tal Shiar would be similar to the Founders, they would go undercover, surgically altered and learn about other Governments, another interesting twist would be that the Romulans fully welcome Vulcans to their Planet (as long as they aren't members of Starfleet) and treat them as equals

More or less a more Extreme and Mysterious version of the pre-existing Romulans

 

[Anwar]

On the flip side, that the Romulans we've seen have shown themselves to be not all that xenophobic (even in their first appearance) it's possible that Vulcan history is in fact revisionist and that they may not have been as psychotically violent as the current Vulcans say they were.

Or, the Romulans used the conquered Remans and their psychic powers to somehow calm their violent rages. A symbiotic relationship between the two, in that the Romulans use the Remans as calmatives and the Remans are allowed to feed off these emotions and have a share in the Empire the Romulans build.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

On the flip side, that the Romulans we've seen have shown themselves to be not all that xenophobic (even in their first appearance) it's possible that Vulcan history is in fact revisionist and that they may not have been as psychotically violent as the current Vulcans say they were.

That's actually true - but not as interesting as the psycho Rommies angle so I'm sticking with that one.

 

[Mr Silver]

I guess you could have the Romulans as descendants of Vulcans who discovered the "Psychotropic" effects of Trellium-D a few thousand years too early, banished from the Planet, the Romulans eventually established their own Society, Economy and took jobs as Politicians and Businessmen...

An event repeated on Earth by the Hippy movement in the 1960's...

 

[Avon]

i'd have them as a super-super paranoid version of the federation

 

[C.E. Evans]

After the destruction of Romulus, I see the Romulan Empire collapsing into civil war and once again adopting a policy of isolationism while it sorts things out...

Prior to that--and prior to the assasination of the Romulan Senate in Star Trek X--I saw the Romulan Empire as a totalitarian government that invested more of its resources into its military than anything else. Geographically, I think the Empire may rival the Federation in size--due to aggressive expansion--but the number of actual member worlds may be smaller. Within the Romulan Empire, only Romulans are actually allowed into any positions of power within the government (including the military), while Remans and other subjugated races did serve as laborers and even pressed into military service as "cannon fodder" during many of the Empire's military campaigns, IMO...

 

[indolover]

To me, it's an oligarchy, but a meritocratic one.

There are no classes/castes per se, but one has to earn their place in the ruling class, and it is this class that dominate all aspects of Romulan society. The Tal Shiar exist to enforce the oligarchy and force all Romulans to be loyal to it.

I think though that only Romulans can ever hope to be part of the ruling class, since Romulans seem quite racist/speciesist. How they view Klingons and Remans (and even humans) is evidence of this IMO.

 

[barnaclelapse]

I'd have them break out into song A LOT. That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

 

[Paradon]

I would make them to mirror that of the Roman empire, which used military power to expand their influence. Unfortunately, using military to expand their influence was the cause of their downfall. If they had been a more peaceful nation, they would have still been around. When a country is at peace itself and neighbors, it is always follow by prosperity and abundant of wealth. Just like we were in the 50's. I think (just like the Romans) the Romulan Empire will eventually collapse due to them focusing whatever resource they have on weapons of war.

 

[Captain Rob]

I was inspired to do this by the "What is your Federation" topic.

If you were in charge of Trek, how would you choose to portray the Romulan Empire (which really hasn't been explored much)?

Here's my re-conceptualization:

I would make the Romulan "Empire" a semi-repressive democracy/republic where there are some Old Families in power in the Military and Government but for the most part they are all democratically elected officials and volunteers in the Army/Navy who earned their rank through service and ability. The Tal Shiar does exist, but it was originally created by the Elected Officials to make sure that the Aristocrats weren't subverting the will of the general populace; it grew in power to a semi-autonomous secret police/spy organization as the Romulans went off world and began conquering others.

The core difference between the Romulans and the Feds would be that the Rommies have a "Manifest Destiny" mindset and see the Federation as a legitimate rival to this while at the same time their ideological opposite. However they do treat the species in their Empire who joined voluntarily and those who collaborate as more equal with a right to representation (but still obeying the Romulans in the end).

Sounds alot like pre-WWI Emperial Germany with Kaiser Whilhelm and "The Iron Chancellor" Otto von Bismark.

 

[Hound of UIster]

Make them SpaceRomans or SpacePrussians.

 

[Anwar]

Make them SpaceRomans or SpacePrussians.

That's the thing, it's easy to SAY "Space Romans" or "Space Prussians" but those two civilizations have such histories it's near impossible to do it. Something more precise is needed.

Captain Rob said I made them Imperial Germany Pre-WWI. Well, that's something more specific than "Space Prussians" and I thank him for it.

 

[Mysterion]

Diane Duane's Rihannsu.

 

[Shatnertage]

I'd have them shoot the shoulder pads into a supernova.

 

[Anwar]

They were okay for the 80s. And they DID change them for DS9 into the tighter, streamlined look that Lovok had on.