A branch of Vulcans who left for Romulus and formed the Romulan Star Empire.
The Romulans are a proud and secretive people who split from the Vulcans long ago, and whose culture reflects the same ancestry. They resemble the Vulcans in their pointed ears and eyebrows, though they usually have a very different attitude, being more passionate, suspicious and conspiratorial than their cousins.
Their government is the Romulan Star Empire, which is led by a praetor and supported by the Senate and a powerful military and intelligence apparatus known as the Tal Shiar. They value loyalty to the state and are prepared to wage secret wars and use deception to protect their interests, and their ships are often equipped with cloaking devices.
The Romulans first appeared in the original series episode Balance of Terror, where they are seen as enemies of the Federation. They later become more complicated players in the Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Picard, where their homeworld is destroyed by a supernova, and their people are scattered. In the Dominion War, they join the Federation as allies.