Hello all, Ric here and this is a video on the planet Romulus. Former Planet Romulus.
Where the Romulans are from, but not really because they’re originally from Vulcan.
Anyway, it’s no secret that the Romulans are my favourite Trek species, but despite
that, I’ve never really done a video on Romulus itself, which seems a bit of an oversight
on my part. So let’s get started on that. Romulus is located in sector Z6 of the Beta
Quadrant and it had a single sun, (although in some apocrypha it was a binary star system).
The star was called Eisn, or 128 Trianguli and while the exact distances are vague in
canon, Triangulum is a constellation making up many stars of varying distances and Romulus
appears to be about 50 lightyears away from Sol on maps. It is also known as the Romii
system. In terms of naming, it’s probable that, like Vulcan, the word Romulus was applied
by Humans to identify the system and the name stuck, or is universally translated into Romulus
for ease of storytelling. It has 5 planets, two of which share the same
orbital path, being “Trojan” planets. Romulus is the second planet in system and
the larger M class world, known as ch’Rihan in Romuluan or Rom A’Losh in old Vulcan.
The second planet is a Q class world called Remus, ch’Havran or Rav’s. Remus was far
less habitable, but incredibly dense in mineral resources including dilithium. Including this
delicate orbital balance, somehow Romulus also had two moons. It had a gravity of 1G,
and a diameter of 14,000 kilometres, while it had a 25 hour day.
Geographically it was a temperate world, very similar to Earth with vast oceans and a multitude
of landscapes. It did have large tracts of wetlands and marshes which saw the earliest
settlements on the planet by the precursors to the Romulans. I still want to make a video
covering the exodus from Vulcan at some point, so I won’t cover that here, sufficed to
say it was a very different climate from the ones that the early settlers were originally
used to; Vulcan. These bodies of water included the 10 seas
of Apnex, Garennah, Haverelar, Lerodan, Nelrek, the North and South Mendlanar, Sherdak, Vrekess
and the White Sea and five continents: Brel’kar, Folloss, Novok, Umrica and Valcaria. Brel’kar
was the largest continent by far and had the most civilization on it. There is a large
orbital defensive platform called Kaur’el Tennahrex which is basically their equivalent
of Earth’s Starbase One. Because of the relative youth of the planet
as a settled world, much of its terrain remains wild and unclaimed. To the north were vast
tundra and there were many plains and forests that were not frequented by the Romulan populace.
Other areas of interest include the Valley of Chula, which housed the Praetor’s summer
palace and a popular scenic spot. There are numerous mountain ranges from which the many
rivers stream flow and there are the Fire Falls of Gal Gath’thong with its Hallows
beneath. These were ancient crypts managed by Romulan blood priests. Hot deserts are
rare on Romulus, with the largest remaining being Ar’Hael which housed the Valley of
Fire. This desert possibly is the origin for the Aehallh Worms seen across deserts in Romulan
territory. The word is descended from the Old Romulan word for ghosts, in regards to
how they emerge from underground, and the desert’s name then might be an allusion
to mirages. Just speculation. The capital city was Ki Baratan, which is
the one we see several times in the series where the senate and Hall of State were located.
It was the most populated city and built atop one of the oldest settlements, making up a
segmented and walled circle of varying levels of technological development, such as the
Krocton Segment. The architecture of Romulus was a reflection of the nationalistic pride
and incorporated large, imposing slates of classical Romulan design replete with the
imagery of their heraldry, the Raptor. Their designs were modern interpretations of their
more medieval styles. In real life, the designs resemble Roman architecture, just exaggerated
in scale and it reminds me of the Imperial city of Oblivion, which shouldn’t be a surprise
as they both have similar real-world influences. Common throughout Romulan architecture were
hidden passageways, narrow alleyways and dead ends, all dating back to a time and tradition
where confusing assailants was a necessity. Almost every Romulan abode has a hidden backdoor
or escape route, but many are not functional, just a part of the traditional design. As
there is a vast amount of land still available for people to settle, Romulan aristocracy
would own both townhouses within the bigger cities and estates on their own grounds. Sometimes
town and cities would spring up around these too. Such estates were very much a matter
of personal design, with some grand manors being extreme examples of the Romulan philosophy,
having hedge mazes and an internal layout that was equally as complex. This was pretty
extravagant, even for the a Romulan. Other cities included Rateg, Dinalla and its surrounding
wildlife preserves, Kromtar Trel with its rich cultural institutions, and I’Ramnau.
At the centre of Ki Baratan was the Plaza of Endless Sky, an elevated 2 kilometre dais
upon which the Imperial Palace, Citadel, and the Hall of State resided. From what we see
on screens, Ki Baratan does not look anywhere near as large as it is described, so maybe
it’s just a scaling issue with on-screen depictions. Nearby to this was the Boulevard
of Heroes where monumental statues existed, dedicated to some of the Empire’s most notable
individuals. The Citadel Var’Therldun was the headquarters of the Tal Shiar and had
an equally shady reputation as it was said to hold dungeons, torture chambers and all
sorts of things you’d expect to find in a building owned by the Tal Shiar. The organisation
monitored the entire planet or at least did much to sow the opinion that it was always
listening. This exacerbated the sense of Paranoia and unease among the populace, as the secret
police might catch wind of something you said, and whisk you away as a disenter.
Despite the Neutral Zone being established to prevent a Federation presence within their
space, the Star Empire did invite other species to their homeworld for official purposes.
Aside from meetings and such events, other powers maintained embassies on Romulus, such
as the Cardassians. The Romulan Imperial Senate took session in
the Hall of State, but this was not done to an easily predictable schedule. This was done
to foil potential assassination plots, as the meeting times were often changing. The
head of the senate was the Praetor, whose word was law and under them were the positions
of Proconsul, Vice Proconsul and then the numerous senators. Romulus has a turbulent
history with its Praetors, with several notable ones like D’Deridex who kind of went insane
and started the Earth-Romualn War who was obsessed with his legacy. In 2377, Praetor
Neral allied the Star Empire with the Federation against the Dominion, and two years later
he was bumped off by Senator Hiren who usurped the position. He was then assassinated by
Senator Tal’Aura to make way for Shinzon, who seized the position after the coup and
was a Human raised by Remans. Star Trek Nemesis. As you can see, Romulan politics is incredibly
messy and literally cut-throat at times with the Romulans focusing just as much on each
other as against outside threats. This was the predominant factor in limiting their control
and reach for most of their history and would prove to be the biggest obstacle, resulting
the messy destruction of their home world and death of many citizens. The Romulan-Vulcan
unification movement was building momentum, not just in the capital, but throughout Romulus.
In 2387, the Romulan Star exploded in an unexpectedly violent, subspace event. Signs were detected
five years prior to the event, but the senate chose to approach it quietly to avoid panic.
The senate decided it would continue its games and subterfuge in order to evacuate its useful
and compliant citizenry, while leaving behind those who it deemed were trouble makers. Of
course, they did this after ensuring their own safety. Shame then that the senate was
rescued by Nero, who spaced them for their actions.
Romulus was a grand planet and I wish we’d got to explore it more thoroughly before it
was destroyed, however as verdant and lush as it was… It was mostly a veneer and beneath
its beauty the Romulan paranoia festered, hindering its true potential. The planet too
was free of much pollution and industrialisation, because that was all relegated to Remus, so
its grandeur was tainted by that too. Many Romulans survived the destruction of their
homeworld, but the one good thing to come out of its loss, is the removal of the corrupt
senate. And hopefully an end to their manipulations, although we see that the Tal Shiar has survived
and shows no sign of releasing its hold over its people, or schemes in galactic affairs.
So that about covers the planet Romulus. With Remus, there’s not much to talk on. It’s
bleak, dark, polluted and full of mines. Probably won’t do a video on that. Thanks for watching
this video on Romulus and I’ll see you next time for another lore, review or gameplay
video. Jolan Tru!