Romulan Star Empire
INTRODUCTION
Encompassing over half a million square light years of space, the Romulan Star Empire is a large interstellar empire dominated by a single species. While slightly larger that the Klingon Empire in terms of total volume of space dominated the Romulans control fewer systems because stars are less dense in the region spanned by the Star Empire. Moreover, the Romulan systems tend to be mineral poor. This has led to some differences in technology. For instance the Romulans use a quantum singularity, an artificial miniature black hole, for primary power generation rather than a dilithium mediated matter-antimatter reactor. Each ship of the Star Empire is also correspondingly more costly to build and so virtually all are protected by cloaking devices.
HISTORY OF CONTACT
Relations between the Federation and the Star Empire have traditionally been strained. First contact in 2156 led to a war and the establishment of the Romulan Neutral Zone in 2160. The Romulans and Klingons entered into an alliance in 2268 which resulted in the exchange of military technology and spacecraft designs. The Romulans have gone into several periods of isolation when there was no contact with the Federation. The most recent of these was from 2398 until 2406 during a Borg invasion of Romulan space. It is still not clear what precipitated or ended the Borg invasion.
In 2407, the Romulans joined the Federation in the founding of Deep Space Station 12 to explore the Herod II wormhole in the Neutral Zone. When the Dominion invaded the Beta Quadrant in 2408 and attacked Starbase Gamma, the Romulan Star Empire joined the Federation to repel the invaders. Later that year, a formal agreement was reached that there would be a total cessation of hostilities between the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire for the duration of the Dominion situation. In 2413, with no visible threat from the Dominion for several years, the resolve of both sides to support the entente had begun to weaken.
In 2420, renewed Dominion activity on the far side of the Herod wormhole led to a renewed focus on cooperation. Joint missions into the Gamma Quadrant became an almost routine occurrence and the military presence at DS-12 was increases. Construction began on Starbase Masada, a much-enlarged facility to replace what had been, essentially, a communications node on the Gamma-Quadrant side of the Herod wormhole.
CULTURAL HISTORY
Romulans are an off-shoot of the Vulcan race. Current intelligence suggests that they left Vulcan over a thousand years ago in protest of Vulcan's move toward logic and pacifism. They are a passionate and fierce race and they have demonstrated such during the course of involvement with Starfleet.
Relations between the Federation and the Star Empire have traditionally been strained. First contact in 2156 led to a war. Little is known of Romulan history before the war erupted between then-Earth forces and the Romulans. The end result of the costly war was the establishment of the Neutral Zone by proclamation of the Treaty of Algeron in 2160. An approximate one light year wide zone that completely divided Romulan Space from what was now Federation space.
Nothing is known of the Romulans from 2160 until 2266 when a Bird-of-Prey crossed the Neutral Zone in a test of Federation defenses. It is believed that the Commander of the Romulan vessel feared an outbreak of another war but still carried out his orders with honor and resolve, a credit to his race.
The next years were marked by a sort of "cat-and-mouse" game. In 2267, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) crossed the Neutral Zone as the result of a classified accident which forced the crossing. Then, again in 2268, another border crossing by the Enterprise, this time to run a covert mission to steal advanced and valuable cloak technology used by Romulans.
During this same time frame, the Star Empire is believed to have entered into an alliance with the Klingons. A sharing of technologies and starship designs led to the current Klingon bird of prey before the alliance broke down and the Romulans resumed their usual practice of trying to destabilize the Klingon government.
The Romulans have gone into several periods of isolation when there was no contact with the Federation. There was little contact for decades until the Tomed Incident in 2311, in which thousands of lives were lost, triggered an isolationism of the Romulans that lasted until 2364. A newer and much larger class of warbird, nearly twice the size of a Galaxy-Class starship, the d'Deridex-Class, crossed the Neutral Zone to investigate the destruction of some of their colonies.
The only exception to this isolationism seems to be the Narenda III incident of 2344. This brutal attack by Romulans on the Klingon outpost was stymied when the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701C), commanded by CAPT Rachel Garret, answered the outpost's distress call. Even though the Enterprise-C was lost to battle, she paved the way for closer Federation/Klingon ties, as her sacrifice for Klingon warriors struck a chord with the now-famous Klingon sense of loyalty and honor.
Later determined to be Borg attacks, hostilities were again resumed by the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire. In 2365 war was narrowly averted during an incident of the planet of Iconia (Iconia data is classified).
In a display of Romulan cunning, Alidar Jarok defected in a Romulan scout ship to warn the Federation of what he believed was a "destabilizing installation on Nelvanna III in the midst of the Neutral Zone. The Romulan scoutship's, Pi, incursion into the Neutral Zone lead to a rescue attempt by the well-known CDR Tomalak's warbird, also in 2366.
During the late 2360's Ambassador Spock chose to go under cover and at great personal risk to support the idea of reunification between Vulcans and their lost cousins. Various classified Starfleet personnel were involved in the incident to determine the Ambassador's motives. In response, the Romulan government instituted a policy of wiping out the "rebel faction" and even used the movement as a cover in an attempt to invade Vulcan. Further reports on this incident are classified.
The most recent of period of Romulan isolationism was from 2398 until 2406 during what is now known was a Borg invasion of Romulan space. It is still not clear what precipitated or ended the Borg invasion.
In 2407, the Romulans joined the Federation in the founding of Deep Space Station 12 to explore the Herod II wormhold in the Neutral Zone. When the Dominion invaded the Beta Quadrant in 2408 and attacked Starbase Gamma, the Romulan Star Empire joined the Federation to repel the invaders. Later that year, a formal agreement was reached that there would be a total cesation of hostilities between the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire for the duration of the Dominion situation. In 2413, with no visible threat from the Dominion for several years, the resolve of both sides to support the entente is beginning to weaken.
DATABASE OF ROMULAN SHIPS
- Technology Overview
- Battlecruisers:
- Heavy Cruisers:
- Light Cruisers:
- Destroyers:
- Frigates:
OUTSIDE LINKS
NOTES
- For visuals of the rank insignia of the Romulan Star Navy, click here.
CREDITS
- The bulk of the Romulan fact pages were compiled by Gary Knerr and edited by Noah Rains and Scott Lusby.
- The technical information contanied herein is courtesy of Star Fleet Engineering, courtesy of Alton Reich except where individually noted.
