It seems like we know more about the Klingons, the Cardassians and even the Ferengi then the Romulans. What kind of society did the Romulans have? They have a Senate, which suggests an elected legislature, but other stories have suggested Romulus is a police state, so are they a democracy or a dictatorship?
What kind of civilization do the Romulans have?
- Thread starter The Overlord
- Start date
Probably something like the Roman Empire, which maintained the outward appearance and trappings of a republic (with a Senate elected from among the people and which was supposed to speak for the people) but was, in actually, an autocracy, run by the Emperor. The Senate was little more than a body to rubber stamp his policies.
I wouldn't go so far as to call it a police state, that's clearly what Cardassian society is modeled on. But, there are certainly elements of a police state with the Romulans.
I wouldn't go so far as to call it a police state, that's clearly what Cardassian society is modeled on. But, there are certainly elements of a police state with the Romulans.
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^ Just like in the Roman Empire. 
Are the Remans the only slaves they have? The Romulan empire is supposed to be huge, but we never really here about any place they have conquered.
I don't like thinking of them as just a copy and paste Roman Empire (run by elves) but in outer space.
For a civilization to be of spacefaring caliber for thousands of years...and despite how we choose to translate their titles (centurion, praetor) they must be more sophisticated than some ancient Earth civilization. If they were simply Romans, their civilization would have collapsed a millennium ago, or long before they ever left Vulcan.
I also don't like using their beings aliens as an excuse to somehow lock them in Roman Empire mode forever - i.e. "Well, humans may not have made the Empire work, but for Romulans, they'll be that way until the suns burn out."
They've been written with a Roman and Asian (Chinese, Japanese, North Korean) feel...at times they've been Soviets, Brits, and I think maybe Jewish and French.
But I think that all these specific ethnic labels that get thrown around try to squeeze them into preexisting molds to figure them out, and I think I like them as they are and just want more of them.
For a civilization to be of spacefaring caliber for thousands of years...and despite how we choose to translate their titles (centurion, praetor) they must be more sophisticated than some ancient Earth civilization. If they were simply Romans, their civilization would have collapsed a millennium ago, or long before they ever left Vulcan.
I also don't like using their beings aliens as an excuse to somehow lock them in Roman Empire mode forever - i.e. "Well, humans may not have made the Empire work, but for Romulans, they'll be that way until the suns burn out."
They've been written with a Roman and Asian (Chinese, Japanese, North Korean) feel...at times they've been Soviets, Brits, and I think maybe Jewish and French.
But I think that all these specific ethnic labels that get thrown around try to squeeze them into preexisting molds to figure them out, and I think I like them as they are and just want more of them.
Why? The Roman Empire fell because it was run by idiots who destroyed their own economy by inflating the currency to the point where it was next to worthless. Then, when the Empire was threatened by organized "barbarians," they had no way to pay their soldiers to protect the Empire. Not to mention the fact that they allowed their military to also degenerate. By the fourth or fifth century A.D., the Roman Legions in western Europe simply weren't the well-organized, well-equipped, disciplined fighting machine they had been in the first century.
Maybe the Romulans weren't that stupid.
Let's also not forget that the Roman Empire existed in some form for almost 1,500 years.
antiquityscion
Commander
Like the Tal Shiar, for example? A bit more than a Praetorian Guard, I would say!
I always thought of the Cardassians being loosely modeled after Nazi Germany.
I think one caveat to what you said earlier about the Romulan government would be it depends on who the emperor\empress or praetor is. We do know the Romulans have had both. I would wager depending on the regime, the Emperor\Empress could be in control, but in others the Praetor is. Depending on how much military backing the Praetor has, he or she could be either in charge with the Emperor\Empress as a figure head, or simply a magistrate, if there is a strong Emperor\Empress.
As for the senate, I think it also depends on how weak or strong both or either the Praetor or Emperor\Empress is, too. As an example, there was a period of time under the Roman Republic, where Consuls had term limits then were shipped off to be a proconsul in the outer territories of the Roman Empire (basically a governor), and a lot of power actually rested in the Senate.
Study Roman history. It's Rome after it becomes an Empire. The institutions of democracy (borrowed from the Greeks) were in place, but the ultimate authority laid with the head-of-state.
I would say Romulan society is pretty tightly controlled by secret police.
If one was to use Unification Part II as evidence, it seems as if there's very little free speech and everyone kind of tows the line. The Tal Shiar is most likely the most powerful institution within the Romulan Empire.
The Romulan Senate is probably elected in some manner not unlike the elections in the soviet Union with one person on the ballot. And I kind of get the impression its likely the Senate is a very powerless institution, with the majority of power wrested in the Preator, and various committees not unlike a Politboro in the Soviet Union.
Society itself and everyday life is probably not unlike most other places, just gotta watch what you do and say, fear is a big factor in everyday life on Romulas.
If one was to use Unification Part II as evidence, it seems as if there's very little free speech and everyone kind of tows the line. The Tal Shiar is most likely the most powerful institution within the Romulan Empire.
The Romulan Senate is probably elected in some manner not unlike the elections in the soviet Union with one person on the ballot. And I kind of get the impression its likely the Senate is a very powerless institution, with the majority of power wrested in the Preator, and various committees not unlike a Politboro in the Soviet Union.
Society itself and everyday life is probably not unlike most other places, just gotta watch what you do and say, fear is a big factor in everyday life on Romulas.
The empire fell because they'd been at war forever and had overextended themselves. They became fat and lazy and let others work ever more poorly till barbarians overpowered them. I would argue not that the Romans were 'idiots' but all too human. If you base your civilization on conquest, you're going to degenerate upon accomplishing your goal. Roman youth didn't care that they weren't soldiers or philosophers anymore - just that they had bread and circuses and the occasional weak barbarian to conquer. Generations of deterioration because the Roman heart knew only duty and battle and not what to do with itself once they were accomplished.
The Romulans may not be human, but let's fetishize them into beings more perfect than us. No, they should not get stuck in perpetual stagnation so that we can envy farce. They too would have abandoned the Imperial Roman way of life with time. They'd outgrow it. And they'd have to if they're going to develop technologies as sophisticated and powerful as nukes and warp. WE don't war with nukes for a reason, and it's not because we don't gave pointy ears but because we'd be dead. Romulans are not so different.
The Romulans may not be human, but let's fetishize them into beings more perfect than us. No, they should not get stuck in perpetual stagnation so that we can envy farce. They too would have abandoned the Imperial Roman way of life with time. They'd outgrow it. And they'd have to if they're going to develop technologies as sophisticated and powerful as nukes and warp. WE don't war with nukes for a reason, and it's not because we don't gave pointy ears but because we'd be dead. Romulans are not so different.
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I like this idea.
Between the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, "Romans" were a power for about a thousand years, pretty good really.
But that was just the capital world, not the Romulans people in total, if they could have stabilized things, the Empire might have continued.
Think of if Washington DC were destroyed, the American people would simply construct a new capital somewhere and continue to have a country.
Between the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, "Romans" were a power for about a thousand years, pretty good really.
But that was just the capital world, not the Romulans people in total, if they could have stabilized things, the Empire might have continued.
Think of if Washington DC were destroyed, the American people would simply construct a new capital somewhere and continue to have a country.
True, it all depends on how it was run. If it was more akin to a democracy it could have survived. However if it was more authoriatrian and subjuctaed worlds. Those worlds might see it as an opportunity to rebel and over throw the Romulans.
Read Diane Duane's fantiastic Rihannsu novels. Later canon Trek contradicted a few details (like Remus) but they flesh out the Romulans in a way tv/film Trek could never ever hope to. Loads of Romulan political stuff.
My Enemy, My Ally
The Romulan Way (includes the epic Vulcan/Romulan split)
Swordhunt
Honor Blade
The Empty Chair
They were collected as The Bloodwing Chronicles a few years ago.
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