In the 4th century, as the Vulcan people engaged in a number of devastating wars, a new movement
arose led by the philosopher and scientist Surak, which promoted peace and mental discipline.
Although most Vulcans were persuaded to end their fighting, others, referred to as those
who march beneath the Raptor’s wing, refused to submit, and continued their war, killing
Surak with Atomic weapons. But those who followed the Raptor banner could
not turn back the reforms spreading through Vulcan society, and so abandoned the planet.
These Vulcan exiles settled on a number of planet in the Beta Quadrant, with some becoming
known as the Debrune Civilization. While others still continued on to form the
Romulan Civilization, populating the planet of Romulus as well as conquering the nearby
planet of Remus and enslaving the native Reman population.
Eventually they formed a strong central government and sent their ships to colonize surrounding
space, forming the Romulan Star Empire Although they may have once been ruled by
an Empress, the Romulan Senate became the ruling branch of government, with Senators
representing a province within the Empire. The leader of government was titled Praetor,
who worked with a Proconsul and Vice Proconsul to administer the Senate. The Tal Shiar, also
gained prominence over the years, acting as a highly secretive espionage organization,
steadily gaining influence and power within the Empire.
The Romulan people themselves developed a xenophic society, with many believing their
species superior to all others in the galaxy. Devotion to the state was highly encouraged
with military and political service the fastest paths to influence and power. Romulans also
practiced a Caste System and continued to support slavery even when as neighboring civilizations
banned the practice. Although Romulans rejected Surak’s teachings,
they developed their own form of mental discipline, with reserved personalities, preferring to
calculate and scheme behind the scenes rather than declare their intentions openly.
As a result they often preferred to wage war and conquer their enemies, rather than negotiate
a treaty, and were not often trusted when a peace was declared.
As they spread throughout the Beta Quadrant and into the Alpha Quadrant, they encountered
a number of powerful factions, observing them from a distance and devising plans to reduce
their power in order to secure Romulan as the greatest superpower in the area.
Having infiltrated Vulcan High Command, the Empire become aware of a new movement of political
cooperation and unity within the Alpha Quadrant, led the Humans of Earth.
Fearing a potential alliance between these powers, the Romulans began a shadow war, attempting
to destabilize the peace process and push the factions to war.
But their plans were discovered and exposed by the crew of the USS Enterprise, leading
to the formation of an alliance between the Humans, Vulcans, Andorians and Tellarites,
which would eventually become the United Federation of Planets.
The Romulan Empire then declared war on Earth in 2156 and fought a campaign for four years,
until they were finally defeated the Humans and their allies at the Battle of Cheron in
2160. The Romulans then negotiated a treaty, establishing
a Neutral Zone between the powers and retreated into their territory, and would not have contact
with humans for a hundred years. They returned to galactic politics in the
2260s, establishing relations with foreign powers, while also maneuvering for influence
and control. They built 2 embassies with the United Federation of Planets, though the two
powers could not achieve a lasting peace, engaging in skirmishes and many years of cold
war. They did however create friendly relations
with the Klingon Empire for a time, though the 2 civilizations had grown to despise each
other by the 24th century, with the Romulans involved in several plots to undermine the
Klingon government. Romulans also established relations with the
Cardassian Union, achieving a level of polical and cultural cooperation they could not achieve
with the others. Although both sides spied on each other regularly, they continued to
work together well into the 24th century, engaging in a joint military operation which
saw a combined Cardassian and Romulan fleet enter the Bajoran Wormhole to launch a surprise
attack against the Dominion, who were beginning to threaten expansion into the Alpha Quadrant.
The official governments of Cardassia and Romulus denied authorizing the attack, with
the intelligence organizations of the Tal Shiar and Obsidian Order organizing the rogue
offensive. But when their plan failed and the fleet was
destroyed, relations between the powers cooled, and by the time of the Dominion War, they
no longer had diplomatic ties. At the outbreak of the Dominion War in the
late 24th century, the Romulan Star Empire signed a non-aggression treaty with the Dominion,
and sat back, watching as the Federation and Klingons attempted to stop their military
expansion into the Alpha Quadrant. However with the Cardassians joining the Dominion,
the alliance was unable to make significant gains against the invading enemy.
And so the Federation officer Benjamin Sisko, commander of Deep Space Nine, worked with
a former Cardassian spy named Garak, to assassinate a Romulan Senator, framing the Dominion for
the crime. Believing it to be an act of war, the Romulans joined the Federation-Klingon
alliance, and together they beat back the Dominion, defeating their forces and signing
the Treaty of Bajor in 2375. A veteran of this war, was a man named Shinzon,
a clone of Jean Luc Picard, the Romulans had developed with the hopes of having him infiltrate
the Federation in the future. However the plan was abandoned and Shinzon sent to the
planet of Remus to work as a slave laborer, There he developed an affection for the native
Remans who like him were enslaved to the Romulans. And so after returning from his service in
the war, he organized a coup d’etat, to Free the Reman people, allying with Romulan
senator Tal’aura and commanders Suran and Donatra, to kill the entire Romulan leadership
as they gathered for a meeting in 2379. Shinzon then took control of the government and prepared
his ship to launch a genocidal attack against the Federation. However they were stopped
by the crew of the USS Enterprise E which engaged Shinzon a the Battle in the Bassen
Rift, which saw the death of Shinzon, and the Federation android Data sacrificing himself
to destroy the ship headed for Federation space.
After the death of so many of their leaders, the Romulan government struggled to re-establish
stability, further disrupted by the massive disaster of 2387, when Ambassador Spock was
sent to stop a supernova from destroying Romulus, but failed, seeing the planet destroyed.
Nero, the captain of a Romulan Mining ship, survived the disaster, but was so grief stricken
from the loss of his homeworld and family, he attacked Spock’s ship launching them
both through a black hole into the past, arriving in 2233, where they would influence a new
timeline, radically changing history.