The Romulans are an enigmatic offshoot of the Vulcan race, residing on planets Romulus and Remus. The ancient Romulans left Vulcan about a millennium ago, possibly in rebellion against Surak's philosophy of logic and pacifism. The romulans are capable of considerable tenderness, they can also be violent in the extreme. Romulans have also been characterized as having great curiosity, while maintaining a tremendous self-confidence that borders on arrogance. The leader of the empire was called the Praetor. In interstellar relations, the Romulans have generally preferred to react to actions of a potential adversary, rather than committing themselves beforehand. A bitter war between the Romulans and Earth forced around 2160 resulted in the establishment of the Romulan Neutral Zone, violation of which was considered an act of war. The neutral zone remained unviolated until 2266 when a single Romulan ship crossed into Federation space in a test of Federation resolve. The Romulans entered into a brief alliance with the Klingon Empire around 2268, when an agreement between the two powers resulted in the sharing of military technology and spacecrafts designs. By the mid-2280s, Klingons were using ships described as Birds-of-Pray (a Romulan term) that were equipped with cloaking devices very similar to those developed by the Romulans. The Romulans again went into isolation in 2311, following the Tomed incident, not to emerge until 2364, when early indication of Borg activity were detected. The Romulans pursued a long-term policy of using covert means to destabilize the Klingon government going back at least the 2340s. In 2367, Romulan operative Sela attempted to use mental conditioning of Starfleet officer Geordi La Forge to assassinate Klingon governor Vagh, a move calculated to spark distrust between the Klingons and the Federation. Later that year, Sela formed a covert alliance with the Duras family in an effort to wrest control of the Klingon High Council from Gowron. The attempt was unsuccessful, but it triggered a Klingon civil war in early 2368, with Sela providing materiel support to the Duras forces. An underground movement emerged in the late 2360s, seeking to promote reunification of the Romulans with their distant Vulcan cousins. When the Romulan government became aware of this movement in 2368, Proconsul Neral tried to use it to as a cover for an attempted invasion of planet Vulcan. The invasion was thwarted by the Federation Starfleet. Ambassador Spock chose to remain undercover on Romulus to continue work toward reunification.

  

Romulan Warbird