Romulan Empire, why only Romulans?

Of the various times we've seen Romulan ships or personnel they've always been Romulan.

Has anyone used other species supposedly in the Empire with Romulans or on their ships?

In a game I'm in the PCs were surprised when they answered a hail from a warbird and say a human. He was from one of those colonies that kept passing back and force during the Rom/Terra war.

'Mixed in with the Romulans were the humans and other races which wore the garb of the Romulan military.' Game quote.

It would also fit with them being slightly based on the Roman Empire. The Romans would give their conquest Roman citizenship, with all its rights and duties, including military service.

Roman citinzenship was ony given to conquered territories very early on. Mid Republic on a person had to serve a hitch in "the forces" before he bacame a full citizen (about 20 years IIRC). He would also be granted a piece of land, usually in one of the provinces, by his commander after the time his time in service was up.

To apply this to the Romulans:

I have often thought about this, and it does make sense that the Romulans would do something similar. It even states it in the Way of D'era, a conquered (or client race, not everyone in the Empire had to be conquered) people can gain citizen status if they serve in the Romulan Military.

However, I would think they would be rather limited in what they could do...Romulan arrogance and the mania for secrecy would prevent high rank. The forum game I am running has such a character. He is the Regent of the Corill Princapality, he holds the (reserve) rank of Sub-Commander in the Romulan forces and is a full Romulan Citizen, though the Romulans give him pretty much free reign in running his territory...They came in voluntarily after all.

To tie this up I will say that yes you could very easily see non-Romulans in the service. If they are looking for high rank (ie ship command) I would think they would have to serve a very long time before the Romulans would give one of their subjects the "keys to the car." But it could be possible.

I have a hard time seeing Romulans let any none Romulans serve on their ships. . .too, what is the word? xenophobic? Doesn't look right. Hopefully you understand what I am trying to say.

They are too aragant. . .consider themselves too superior to other races to have any more contact with them than is needed. The Romulan Star Empire is not a confederation. . .the client states (and thus their races) are their soley to be exploited by the Empire. I don't believe that explotation would include impressment into the Romulan military. The idea that a none Romulan could fight as well, or be as noble as a Romulan! Never!

Of course your opinion may differ. ;)

Propaganda and Ideology, really isn't much difference between the Romulans, Federation and Klingons. Their people go about their business freely day-to-day. You only have some to fear, if you have something to fear, like else where.

Don't forget Ensign De'seva, Federation defector, he served in the Romulan Military as proved by his uniform when he returned to the Federation after 11 years serving the Empire.

This is not to say that the person would be constantly under watch and probably would never serve near any highly sensitive material. But, I can see non-Romulans in the service.

I concur Sir :D

If they do have some basis in Roman history. Then yes conquered/client/allied states would be allowed to have people serving in the military for a set period to achieve Romulan citizenship.

Also some states were given citizenship in 1 fell swoop as well. Such as the italian states of the Semite Tribes etc.

Thus in Trek, the core systems of the Romulans would be full citizens most likely. And increasing outwards from Romulus an ever increasing sphere of influence.

When the Romans started to become more powerful its neighboring allies, the small city states, asked for citizenship which was refused by the Romans. They went to war since they refused to give anyone their city's allegiance without them proving themselves. So once they conquered their neighbors they gave them citizenship although you must serve in the army if you could.
Only soldiers from the citizenship could be taken into service and they had to, most did out of a sense of duty. Near the end of the Roman Empire, the armed forces began using paid forces and mercenaries to fight.

If we translated this into the Romulan Empire, then humans and other races should be very, very...very rare. None should have a command rank of any kind. If we assume that they are part of the empire then some could be like 3/4 human and 1/4 romulan.

The Romulan Navy could demand that you prove that you have some Romulan ancestry and/or your family has served honourably the empire with of course the standard Tal Shiar background check.:)

Basically my point. Non-Romulans would be rare. If they are in the services then they are in low ranking postions and low priority sectors, most likely not on the RNZ or Klingon NZ. This being the reason that they are not seen alot of the time.

It does lead to intriguing possibilities, though. In my Tal Shiar campaign, I explicitly forbade anyone from being anything but pure Romulan. OTOH, I can totally see a few elements being utterly loyal to the Empire and accepting a lower-ranking role out of duty and loyalty. Some Tarquins may work with the TS Mind Warfare Division.

Conversely, I can see how the underground would be rife with non-Romulans.

Finally, Sela is half-human, and I'm sure the Empire knows this beyond doubt. Her loyalty is also beyond doubt, so she "acts" Romulan. Realistically, I think the Romulans would tend to value a Romulan's heart over his appearance. So an alien who clearly and consistantly acted according to d'Era would be a welcome member of Romulan society. Unfortunately, such aliens who really get it are rare.

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Originally posted by redwood973
I have a hard time seeing Romulans let any none Romulans serve on their ships. . .too, what is the word? xenophobic? Doesn't look right. Hopefully you understand what I am trying to say.

They are too aragant. . .consider themselves too superior to other races to have any more contact with them than is needed. The Romulan Star Empire is not a confederation. . .the client states (and thus their races) are their soley to be exploited by the Empire. I don't believe that explotation would include impressment into the Romulan military. The idea that a none Romulan could fight as well, or be as noble as a Romulan! Never!

Of course your opinion may differ. ;)

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Maybe they can't fight as well or be as noble, but as front-line shock troops (read: cannon fodder) in the Romulan ground forces, they could certainly die just as well as full-blooded Romulans in ugly close-combat situations.

Client/conquered races would be great sources of expendable infantry, or for hazardous duty on Romulan starships. There's a bad radiation leakage in Engineering? Send in the alien conscripts to clean it up! No need to risk "real" Romulans on such dangerous and unpleasant work...

On a slight tangent, What about the Klingon Navy? We have yet to see anything other than Klingons (and a few major characters) on a Imperial ship.

I think I agree with the "shock troop" / "cannon fodder" as brought up earlier: Non-Romulan empire citizens could serve in the military to gain citizenship, but they'd be given pretty crappy jobs, likely. Station support staff, or ground troops, or that sort of thing.

Would be interesting to see a few, though!

The Doc

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Originally posted by Phoenix
On a slight tangent, What about the Klingon Navy? We have yet to see anything other than Klingons (and a few major characters) on a Imperial ship.

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Sure we have... in TOS we saw the conquerred yet loyal "Mop-head" race manning Klingon ships. :)

At least that's how I explain it in my campaign. (I like the mop-heads better, they seem more cunning and devious than the ridge-heads).

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Originally posted by J.P. Gill
Sure we have... in TOS we saw the conquerred yet loyal "Mop-head" race manning Klingon ships. :)

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You know, what popped into my head was the idea of a Klingon version of The Beatles...

"Can't buy me... PAAAR-MACH!"

:D

Hugh

Oh, this is interesting. I wish I had more time to reply. In general, I agree with the common sentiment. Yes, there are non-Romulans in Romulan service, and they are REALLY rare. One possible exception: other Vulcanoids might get citizenship a lot more easily, and be accepted as defectors more easily, too. A few Debrune planets might well have gotten citizenship quickly after they were re-contacted. Chances are they would end up so completely Romulanized that they would really just be standard Romulans, but a few local customs might survive, as might interesting adaptations to local conditions -- ie. high gravity, low gravity, low light, high light, extremely hot or cold conditions, &c.

The result might be very tall Romulans, very short Romulans, various degrees of visual and aural sensitivity, blond or very dark coloring, and so on, not to mention some really weird local cults and heretical forms of D'era.

If memory serves, in "Face of the Enemy" we did see a human member of the Empire who had decided to, at long last, return to the Federation.

Uhlan De'seva defected from the Federation 20 years before.

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Originally posted by SIR SIG

...the Italian states of the Semite Tribes, etc.

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Uhh... I think you many mean the Samnite Tribes, Sir Sig.

Certainly Italian Catholics and Jews are both sufficiently steeped in guilt that there's not a functional difference... but there is a historical one.

;)

If I understand the Romulan psyche correctly, (and I believe I do or else I wouldn't be posting this :D ) service in the Imperial military is both a duty and a privilege. It is a duty because every Romulan is required to do a tour of duty on his or her Serona, and it is a privilege because the military are the ones who expand the borders, protect the Empire and most actively advance D'era. The military is a meritocracy; with good work comes renown and promotion and recognition. It is the easiest and fastest way to gain social rank and political influence.

After performing their duties in the Serona, most Romulans return home to begin their normal lives. Some sign on for additional tours of duty, choosing to make a career out of military service. Make no mistake, Romulan military life is a difficult and dangerous life, but those who take that path can reap significant rewards. The biggest downside is that you live your life under an even greater microscope than common citizens.

For racially non-Romulans, being allowed to perform a Serona is a tremendous show of good faith. In essence, that individual is being told, "we have accepted you to the point that we would entrust you with the defense of our Empire." The reward for loyal service is generally citizenship.

As I understand it, the Romulans we see on TV getting involved with the Federation etc are career military types. Romulans and non-Romulans who are doing their Serona are never officers and are rarely placed in a position of any real importance. You'd never see anyone on Serona duty on the bridge or in engineering, for instance. And once the Serona is complete, I imagine the Romulans' legendary xenophobia tends to kick in. There probably isn't too much incentive for non-Romulans to remain beyond their Serona, and I imagine that those few who do are probably either specialists in a field (R&D, engineering, etc) or never really get the opportunity to advance through the ranks that much. Every Romulan does his/her duty to the Empire, but it takes someone special to make a career out of it, so can we afford to place the fate of the Empire in the hands of someone who may not understand D'Era?

I realize this is a long and convoluted answer, but as I said, the Romulans are big on merit. You don't end up on the bridge of a D'deridex-class warbird because you're lucky, you end up there because you did something worthy and someone else saw you do it. For most non-Romulans, citizenship is reward enough for duty, and those few who choose to continue probably never get the opportunity to make a difference. After all, there are certainly Romulans who are more deserving.

Sudden other thought: those non-racial Romulans who want to serve the Empire might be better used as undercover agents...

SPOILERS!! SPOILERS!!! AVERT YOUR EYES NOW!! - - IIRC, nemesis may have something in it about usng Remans as "shock troops" in the Dominion War.

OT: One of my favorite alien races from anywhere are the Pfhor from the Marathon games. They used client races in military/administrative/etc. stuff.