Romulan Star Empire The Romulan Star Empire ( or simply Romulan Empire ) was a major interstellar state encompassing the Romulan people and their subject worlds and species . The Empire was known for its xenophobic character and policies of extreme secrecy , subterfuge , and territorial expansionism . By the late 23rd century , the Empire counted among the great powers in its region of the Milky Way Galaxy . History . The Romulans originated from dissident Vulcan s who rejected Surak ' s philosophy of peace , during the Time of Awakening and emigrated from around the 4th century . They settled on the planets Romulus and Remus , subjugating the native Reman s in the process . ( ; ) The development of warp drive enabled the Romulans to expand their state into a Star Empire . ( ) In 2152 , the Romulans came into contact with the Human starship . ( ) Relations between the Empire and United Earth deteriorated as the " Enterprise " crew thwarted a Romulan plot to subvert the Vulcan High Command . ( ) Recognizing the growing threat posed by Earth , the Romulans attempted to incite war in the region by attacking civilian shipping using disguised drone s . The effort , however , backfired , as their involvement was exposed by " Enterprise " and spurred the formation of an alliance between the Humans , Vulcans , Andorian s , and Tellarite s , the nucleus of what would become the United Federation of Planets . ( ) Open war erupted between Earth and the Romulans in 2156 , ending four years later with a humiliating Romulan defeat at the Battle of Cheron . An ensuing peace treaty established the Romulan Neutral Zone , after which the Romulans had no substantial contact with Humans for a century . In 2266 , the Romulans tested Federation resolve by sending a Bird - of - Prey to attack Federation outpost s along the Neutral Zone . The defeat of the Bird - of - Prey by the averted war . ( ; ) During this period , the Romulans experienced a short - lived break in their enmity with the Klingons , resulting in a technological exchange between the two . ( ) The Romulans viewed the 2293 Khitomer Accords between the Federation and the Klingon Empire unfavorably , as it shifted the balance of power against them . ( ) Escalating hostilities between the Star Empire and the Federation culminated in the Tomed Incident of 2311 and the Treaty of Algeron . The Romulans again ceased meaningful contact with the Federation , though they continued to war intermittently with the Klingons . In 2364 , the Empire began to engage once more with the Federation , following a series of mysterious attacks on their Neutral Zone outposts . ( ) For the latter part of the 2360s , the Romulans were locked in a cold war with the Federation , launching repeated probes of Federation space and subversive actions . Most significantly , they attempted to break the Federation - Klingon alliance , resulting in the Klingon Civil War , and to exploit the Vulcan reunification movement to invade Vulcan . Both plans were unsuccessful . ( ) The Empire ' s position shifted when violent contact with the Dominion in 2370 presented a common threat to all Alpha Quadrant powers . The Romulans collaborated with Starfleet in a limited fashion to counter the Dominion threat , though ultimately they opted to sign a nonaggression pact with the Dominion in late 2373 . ( ) In mid - 2374 , the Romulans were brought into the Dominion War on the Allied side through an act of subterfuge by Benjamin Sisko and Elim Garak . ( ) Romulan participation marked a turning point in the war and was critical to the defeat of the Dominion , the following year . ( ) In the war ' s aftermath , Shinzon seized control of the Empire and attempted to launch a genocidal attack on Earth , only to be stopped by the . It was hoped , by members of both sides , that a lasting peace between the Romulans and the Federation would follow . ( ) In 2387 , the Empire suffered a major setback when the supernova of a nearby star destroyed Romulus . ( ) Territory . The Romulan Star Empire had borders with the United Federation of Planets , the Klingon Empire , and the Cardassian Union . The Federation - Romulan border was defined by a fixed border known as the Romulan Neutral Zone . ( , ) There was also a distant Romulan border near the outer edges of the Alpha Quadrant , in a region of space where Federation starship s operated on deep space missions in the 2370s . ( ) As an expansionist power , the Romulan Star Empire claimed vast tracts of space that were outside its effective authority , for example Sector 25434 . These claims were not recognized by other governments . ( ) Romulans seldom gave up territory once they had seized it . ( ) In the mid - 22nd century , the Romulans used cloak ed mine s to assert new territorial claims . ( ) The Romulans believed their destiny to be the domination of the entire Milky Way Galaxy . ( ) Government . The ruling body of the Romulan Star Empire was the Romulan Senate , with each senator representing a province . The Senate was led by the Praetor , followed by the Proconsul and then the Vice - proconsul . The Praetor also presided over the Continuing Committee , a powerful body that held authority over Senate members . Changes of government and attendant shifts in policy were not uncommon in the Empire . ( ; ; ) In 2373 , Q contemplated producing a child with the Romulan empress . ( ) The Romulan Senate dispatched ambassador s from time to time , for example Caithlin Dar to Nimbus III and Nanclus to the United Federation of Planets . ( ; ) Foreign relations . In external application , Romulan political agendas appeared largely unified over the centuries . Their goals focused on maintaining Imperial security through vigilance , and negating the perceived advantages of their rivals . Both goals were accompanied by a near - paranoid reticence to reveal information , even facts as basic as their racial identity , that might illuminate other Romulan ambitions or motivations . Short of war , the means to those ends have generally varied between favored methods : The Empire did resort to open warfare when it was deemed necessary , but in typical fashion , their reasons for war were less than candidly expressed , as in the Earth - Romulan War and the enigmatic Tomed Incident of 2311 . Unlike the Klingon objectives of the of 2267 , Romulans do not appear to have gone to war with neighboring powers under a flag of " expansion " , and no competition existed for the development of class M worlds along the Romulan Neutral Zone . Romulans expressed little resentment for the negotiated Zone they zealously guarded , and following their conflicts , the Empire withdrew behind the safety of the buffer for many decades of self - imposed isolation from Federation affairs . ( ; ) After a clone intended to replace decorated Starfleet Captain Jean - Luc Picard , Shinzon , turned on the Romulans and committed a " coup " in 2379 , the Federation ( including Picard himself ) helped stop Shinzon ' s plans of interstellar domination . The Romulans at that point suggested that an era of warmer relations may be beginning with the Federation . ( ) Military . The Romulan military was a powerful and technologically advanced force encompassing both spacefaring and ground forces . ( ) Despite being defeated by Earth in the Earth - Romulan War of the 2150s , the Romulan Star Empire continued to be a powerful presence , not afraid to tempt Starfleet by entering the Neutral Zone . Romulan forces were a deciding factor in the Dominion War , whose entry in 2374 turned the tide of war in favor of the Allies . ( ; ) Romulan military operations were supported by the War Plans Council , a high - level government agency . ( ) Besides regular forces , the Romulan Tal Shiar also had its own fleet of starships , and were a ruthless and powerful organization within the Empire and beyond . ( ; ) Appendices . Background information . The double - headed bird of prey emblem of the Romulan Star Empire was first introduced in . The symbol was designed by Monte Thrasher . ( ) A Romulan emblem was seen in , though it was never used again . Paul Schneider , writer of , based many of the elements of the Romulan Star Empire such as Praetor , Proconsul , and the Romulan Senate on the Roman Empire . See Romulan - Background information for more information . Location . In dialogue , the Romulan Star Empire has been exclusively referred to as an Alpha Quadrant power . It has also been stated that the space of the Romulan Empire was surrounded by the territories of the Cardassian s , Klingon s and the Federation . The first time this fact began to be established occurred in , in the episode , where the Romulan Star Empire was identified as one of the great powers of the Alpha Quadrant . For the Dominion , there were four great powers in this quadrant : the Federation , the Klingons , the Romulans , and the Cardassians . With the Battle of the Omarion Nebula , two of these threats had been reduced in effectiveness – the Romulans and the Cardassians . By , the Cardassians were in an alliance with the Dominion and three powers , small and great , had signed non - aggression pacts with the Dominion . These powers were the Miradorn s , the Tholian s , and the Romulans . In the opinion of Odo , the Dominion was " making impressive inroads into the Alpha Quadrant . " In , it was revealed that the Dominion forces were crossing the Cardassian - Romulan border and were launching attacks against Federation ships from there . When Benjamin Sisko was attempting to persuade Senator Vreenak to consider having the Romulans join the offensive against the Dominion , Sisko said , " " I ' d pick the side most likely to leave us in peace when the dust settles . Maybe you ' re right . Maybe the Dominion will win in the end . Then the Founders will control what we now call Cardassia , the Klingon Empire and the Federation . So , instead of facing three separate opponents with three separate agendas , you ' ll find yourselves facing the same opponent on every side . There ' s a word for that . Surrounded . " " The association of Romulus with the Alpha Quadrant was carried over to . In , Captain Kathryn Janeway reminisced about what it would be like to live in James T . Kirk ' s era , with " the Alpha Quadrant still largely unexplored , " and " Romulans hiding behind every nebula . " In , a section of the Romulan border was identified to be located near the edges of the Alpha Quadrant . In , when it seemed that the would find a way back home , Tom Paris stated that he looked forward to encountering Cardassians , Ferengi , and Romulans again in the Alpha Quadrant . In , Chakotay identified the Romulan disruptor as an Alpha Quadrant weapon . In , in a simulation , several Alpha Quadrant species were fighting over mining rights to a planetoid , and Q Junior had to find a way to settle the dispute . The species listed were the Nausicaan s , the Bolian s , the Cardassians , the Romulans , the Ferengi , and the Bajorans . In virtually all reference works , however , the Romulan Star Empire has been depicted to be located in the Beta Quadrant , with a border only with the Federation and the Klingon Empire . These books include such works as the , " " ( p . 2 ) , " " ( p . 9 ) , " " ( p . 20 ) , " " ( p . 27 ) and " " ( pp . 45 , 55 , 56 , " et al . " ) . Even reference works that date back to a time before the Alpha and Beta Quadrant distinction was invented show the Romulans in the area that was later classified as the Beta Quadrant . These include such works as the " Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual " ( T0 : 02 : 07 : 00 ) and " Star Trek Maps " ( Chart A ) . Only one of these graphics was reused on - screen , as a display graphic on a PADD in . The information on the PADD , though , was completely illegible on screen . Apocrypha . In many novels of the TOS - era , such as in Diane Duane ' s " Rihannsu " series , the Romulans are synonymously called " Rihannsu . " Their home star is Eisn , known to Humans as 128 Trianguli . In the video game " " , the Romulans mostly play the villain role in the levels based on . However , in the game ' s last level , a temporal anomaly near Earth causes the USS " Defiant " to briefly appear in an alternate timeline where the Romulan Empire has conquered the Federation . In " Star Trek Online " , the Empire is in a state of inner turmoil after the destruction of their homeworld due to a supernova . They are now led by Empress Sela and blame the Federation for the destruction of their home planet , an event that led to a renewal of hostilities between the Romulan Empire and the Federation . Members of the Reman resistance and the Vulcan reunification movement have also established a Romulan Republic on " New Romulus " as a democratic state , allied with the Federation and the Klingon Empire in opposition to Sela ' s dictatorial regime . The new Romulan Republic play a major role in " STO " s first expansion , " Legacy of Romulus " .