Romulan Star Empire

The Romulan Star Empire is an expanse of inhabited star systems in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, adjacent to both the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire. The empire traces its origins back as early as the 4th century, with the initial colonization of Romulus. Today, however, the Empire has all but collapsed, stemming from the destructing of Romulus in the late 24th century. Many of the worlds formerly held by the RSE now swear allegience to the Romulan Republic.
==Government==
The Empire is governed by the Romulan Senate, which is overseen by the Praetor. A series of comittees and subcomittees handles the day-to-day operations.
In more recent years, the Empire has been controlled directly by an Empress, with the position of Praetor all but dissolved, and the Senate relagated to a background role.  
===Recent Heads of State===
*Praetor Neral - 2360s-2370s
*Praetor Hiren - late 2370s-2379
*Praetor Shinzon (only for a short period in 2379 after the Reman coup d'état)
*Praetor Tal'aura - 2379-2384
*Praetor Chulan - 2385-2387 (last praetor of the pre-Hobus Romulan Star Empire))
*Praetor Taris - 2388-2403 (first praetor of the newly constituted Romulan Star Empire)
*Praetor/Empress Sela - 2403-2408 Praetor, 2408-2409 Empress
==Military==
===Imperial Fleet===
The Romulan military appears to be very similar to most in construction, with positions and ranks analogous to those in Starfleet and KDF. However, the titles are more in line with that of pre-Federation Vulcan.
Some known ranks of the Romulan Military:
*General
*Admiral
*Commander - equivalent to a Starfleet Captain
*Subcommander - equivalent to a Starfleet Commander
*Centurion - equivalent to a Starfleet Lieutenant Commander
*Lieutenant - equivalent to a Starfleet Lieutenant
*Sublieutenant - equivalent to a Starfleet Ensign or Lieutenant, JG
*Uhlan - equivalent to a Starfleet enlisted officer.
===Tal Shiar===
A quasi-secret organization both part of and separate from the Romulan military, the Tal Shiar is responsible for maintaining the security of the Empire.  Largely independent, the Tal Shiar reports directly to the Praetor, and operates much like Cardassia's Obsidian Order.    Operatives will often be surgically altered for infiltration, and are trained to resist interrogation if they cannot kill themselves prior to capture.
===Starships===
The Romulans use several different starship classes.  Both the Imperial Fleet and Tal'shiar control ships of these types.
See Romulan starships
==History==
Much of the Empire's history is shrouded in mystery, but the Federation has encountered them repeatedly since the mid 22nd century. The Empire has been both an enemy (as in the Earth - Romulan Wars), and an ally (as in the Dominion War).
More recently, the Empire has been embroiled in internal conflicts, as factions struggle to gain power in the vacuum following the destruction of Romulus in the Hobus Supernova.  Praetor Taris disappeared shortly after, leaving Sela to pick up the pieces.   With the vacuum of power, the Tal Shiar stepped in to restore order, causing several elements to look for a new leader.   For some, D'tan was that leader, and a fairly large group soon declared their independence as a Romulan Republic.
Empress Sela, of course, condemned these elements and labled them terrorists.   The Tal Shiar immediately launched a smear campaign against D'tan and the Republic.   Rumors of Iconian and Elachi involvement spread far and wide as the Tal Shiar began attacking neutral colonies.  
Eventually, the Tal Shiar overstepped their bounds, and both Starfleet and the Klingon Defense Force took action.   This action resulted in a series of defeats for the Tal Shiar, including the death of Hakeev.  The Tal Shiar and the Empire have been relatively quiet since then.
Category:Governments