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Star Trek: The Original Series

“Bread and Circuses”

Air date: 3/15/1968 Written by Gene Roddenberry & Gene L. Coon Directed by Ralph Senensky

Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan

Review Text

Looking for the missing crew of a freighter commanded by Captain Merik (William Smithers), the Enterprise landing party beams down to investigate a civilization that is best described as a "20th century Rome." Once there, Kirk, Spock, and Bones are caught and imprisoned, and scheduled to face death if Kirk doesn't agree to turn over the rest of the Enterprise crew for use in their televised, deadly arena games.

"Bread and Circuses" is a well-executed but completely by-the-numbers episode of TOS . The show engages most every TOS cliché in the book, including Kirk getting a babe, the Prime Directive being assessed, a planet that is Yet Another Parallel Earth™, and the holding of The Big Three hostage, where they must use resourcefulness to escape their impending doom. Most interesting is the good work between Spock and Bones, which wants to ask the question of just which of their personal feelings their acerbic banter arises from.

Rhodes Reason makes a good antagonist as Flavius, but given the setting of a conveniently parallel Earth (an overused premise, to be sure) the whole setup is strikingly underutilized beyond its most obvious action sequences.

Previous episode: The Ultimate Computer Next episode: Assignment: Earth

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Comment Section

58 comments on this post.

I've read some pretty disparaging reviews of this episode, and while some of the science is a little screwy, I think there's some truly wonderful character work in it. This is Kirk at his most Kirk-like...confident, in charge, watching out for his crew but trusting them as well. I was getting tired of too many angsty, doubt-ridden, weak Kirk moments. Kirk is a strong, totally in control leader all the way through, and it's awesome. Spock lets some emotion out--irritation, humor, anxiety--and gets called on it by McCoy, leading to a deeply emotional moment between the two as they share their concern for Kirk. McCoy is at his most bitchy and in Spock's face all the time, but still prods Spock to new levels of self disclosure. I'm not thrilled with the treatment of the Prime Directive--up till now, didn't we understand that the PD was absolute unless they had to defend themselves? How can there possibly NOT be an exemption for that? And I do sort of wish that Kirk hadn't sexed the slave...can he NEVER resist a woman EVER? I mean, she was a SLAVE, she can't give free consent! A new low for studly Kirk. The Sun/Son thing, indicating that Christianity arose within the Roman Empire in this reality as well, makes sense, and I understand why they couldn't really follow up on it. It was a neat little twist that could have been more, but it's okay that it wasn't. It didn't bother me. On a personal note, speaking as a woman, these men in these costumes are so hot I watched the episode 3 times in one day. Spock fighting in the arena in those tight pants? Whew... And I didn't realize McCoy was so tall, but he's almost as tall as Spock. Add the emotional intensity, and it was a pretty satisfying episode, despite the occasional plot ridiculousness. Anyway, good character work...

And they don't even care about their phasers, tricorders and communicators being left behind on a pre-warp planet... *shakes head*

What I found a bit hokey is that the premise of the story that involves a former starfleet captain being stranded on an alien planet where he breaks the PD, becomes the leader, and facilitates a dystopian society is repeated in two episodes that are only two places apart (Omega Glory).

@Alex: Technically, Merrick isn't THE leader in this episode. He's essentially a tool of Claudius Marcus, who is the leader. So, it's a little more believable. Tracy in "The Omega Glory" asserts authority over a much more primitive society and does so with superior technology.

One of the best lines in Star Trek's whole history: “You bring this network’s ratings down, Flavius, and we’ll do a special on you!”

DutchStudent82

ARGGG not AGAIN the "just like earth" crap. This must be why I barely can stand TOS, aside from it's hopeless outdated looks (starships with pushbuttons, pull out scanners, earpieces THAT big, really people?, and it's hopelessly outdated technobabble (or even worse, lack of it, compared to the much more loved TNG)) But come on.. even IF I buy into the story : -civ already knew about space, and spaceweapons and everything. -in that case there would be NO polution by using phase weapons in front of the consul (as long as it happens off-screen) hence : *a wide range stun blast with the enterprise, and than just beam up, all the tech, and all the team members, and our rotten ex-captain, and the consul (now he can enjoy jail in our society instead) would be a relatively clean cut in comparising. Would make for a short episode, but a far more logical and sensible one.

Agree with DutchStudent: this is one of those episodes where a simpler and more sensible solution is staring you in the face for the entire episode. As soon as they find Merrick, Scotty could have stunned the surrounding area and beamed up the good guys. Episode over. Not that I would have preferred that story, but they could have at least inserted some line of dialog as to why that solution (being so obvious) wasn't available. Otherwise the viewer is just distracted the whole time thinking: "why don't they just. . .?!?!?" Also, it seemed sort of unnecessary that Captain Merrick was left to perish on the planet. I was waiting for Kirk to order Merrick beamed aboard after they got back to the Enterprise. . . but instead they just left him there! What the heck, Kirk the jerk?

Their phasers were comfiscated by the runaway slaves, communicators/tricorder taken by the police. The only time kirk was given use of a communicator (besides ending) there were two submachine gun muzzles inches from his head. Beam merrick up? Why? He was dead.

Early in the episode, Spock points out that they're speaking English and how remarkable that is! At first it seems incredibly redundant, because we've had like a dozen episodes set on parallel Earths. But then it becomes clear that they have to be speaking English. It's not that they are speaking some other language which is translated -- I'm not clear on what the rules are supposed to be about the universal translator at this point anyway, and I forget what has been established. They can't be translating, because the English-specific homophone sun/son has to be maintained for that end reveal! Of course, wait, why does it need to be a dramatic reveal? Because, uh, look, it's Ancient Rome, in modern day, and so the rebels have to be Christians, right? It may be that I'm missing something here, and that there is Serious Social Commentary in the Rome stuff. The closest, I think, is a halfhearted message on the sensationalization of television and media -- that television is used to broadcast gladiator games seems to be in the same general category as the Battle Royale/The Hunger Games linking of television/propaganda with oppression tactics, or Fahrenheit 451's take on brainless TV as a tool of government control. Given that this is 1968 and the Civil Rights Movement was taking centre stage of the American world, the talking head of the television news channel mentioning that there is civil disobedience for no apparent reason and no one can understand it seems to be a slam at news commentators writing off demonstrations (and riots) as irrational rather than a result of inequality. Still, these themes fizzle out quickly. Incredibly, I think some of this episode's themes were better handled in The Gamesters of Triskelion. I know, I know! How can it be? But the gladitorial combat stuff was actually given focus and room to breathe. And that episode, however inconsistently and frustratingly it dealt with it, Shahna was allowed to have her own perspective, and was allowed to react to Kirk's using her and hitting her as a means of escape. In this episode, as has been pointed out above, Kirk sleeps with a hot slave girl (Drusilla, after Caligula's sister, among other Romans -- not to be confused with the vampire Drusilla from "Buffy"), and, apparently lifts a communicator off her...which then is immediately returned to him. Look, Kirk using sex as a way of escaping is standard practice; and his life is really on the line. But the episode leaves no room to point out that Kirk is still sleeping with a *sex slave*. There is no effort here, like there is with Shahna, to teach her the value of freedom. Because of the Prime Directive, right? Well, great how that works out! Maybe the better path of non-interference would be to not sleep with her, say you've got a headache, whatever, and swipe the communicator when she sleeps. She can't consent, and the fact that she seems a little oblivious to her inability to consent because she's been raised to be a slave is not really justification. Kirk's "They threw me a few curves" afterwards is not what I'd call "in good taste." The Spock/McCoy dynamic is the real thing of interest here -- how it starts off with their usual antagonism, and as the episode goes on seems to explode out of the *usual* boundaries of their sniping at each other, McCoy yelling at him in the middle of a gladiator combat after Spock's offer of help, and finally McCoy telling Spock frankly that Spock's afraid of living because his emotions might seep through. The big difficulty for me in it is that I don't quite understand why these circumstances are the ones that brought out this earnestness -- nor, indeed, McCoy's remark "I'm worried about Jim too." Maybe I'm too jaded to recognize it, but it didn't really seem as if this circumstance were any more likely to produce excessive worry than any other of their standard life-and-death situations. But really, this moment (and the buildup to it) does work for me more than it doesn't. I don't think McCoy is correct about Spock overall -- I think Spock doesn't want to die, for instance. But Spock's unwillingness to show anything that looks like it *might* be emotion, most of the time, does extend into dysfunctional territory at times, and I think that's related to his fear of his human side. When he maintains that he saved McCoy's life because the Enterprise would be less efficient without its ship's surgeon (or the many other times he's said something similar), I think he's talking B.S.: if nothing else, Vulcan philosophy values *all* lives, whether they are useful to the ship's operation or not. He pushes people away, except for Kirk, for whom he can let himself go a little bit because he can justify his friendship to Jim as being a part of his duty. With McCoy, he obviously values him greatly and vice versa -- and it's been explicit since, at least, "Amok Time" -- but they also continue to be at each other's throats, and it makes sense that the occasional flare-up will happen, in which their regular petty conflict escalates and actual feelings start to get hurt, even if Spock won't normally admit it, besides a weary "Really, doctor?" The episode has a few other pleasures. I like, for instance, the way Claudius Marcus values strength as a Roman virtue, and casually suggests that only the weak will die in the arena, and, as a result, admires Kirk's strength just as he mocks Merik's cowardice. The virtue that Claudius Marcus lacks, and is an essential part of the Christian (or "Son") movement that will overtake Rome, is the willingness to self-sacrifice. Merik at first seems like a villain, and I'm not entirely sure whether his portrayal is consistent throughout the episode. But eventually it becomes clear that he is a man defined by fear and inaction; that his becoming First Citizen is because he had not the strength to make his own decisions. So that he finds some sort of redemption at the episode's end, sacrificing himself so that Kirk et al. can escape, is an effective demonstration of the thing that this society lacks. I'm not really sure how the Trio beaming up is not a Prime Directive violation. It's true that Claudius Marcus already knows about that stuff, but, I dunno -- the rules about what is and isn't an actual violation when the world's emperor already knows about starships are consistently fuzzy, and it's hard to tell why exactly this departure is some kind of victory. It may be that I'm just not giving the episode enough credit, and failing to engage with it on its own terms. Anyway, I'd say 2 stars.

Yeah, TOS was really lame with the "parallel Earth" repeating theme. As Paul points out, just two episodes earlier they had "Omega Glory", about another planet whose history parallels Earth, right down to the names of countries and apparently the complete text of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Constitution, and a renegade starship captain who completely violates the prime directive and becomes a leader. Almost exactly the same plot, just cross out "US" and write in "Rome". And not long before they had "Patterns of Force", where a renegade starship captain introduces Nazism onto a planet. At least in that one they explained that it was the man from Earth who brought in all the exact copies of Nazi symbols and uniforms, etc, rather than it somehow mysteriously just happening. Though there was the curious fact that the persecuted minority -- I forget what they called them -- but they all had Jewish names. But what irks me is that they never explain how these parallel histories are supposed to have happened. If they said that another planet also had a nuclear stalemate like the US and USSR, that could be plausible. Or that another planet also had a powerful empire that had slaves and forced people to fight for the entertainment of the masses, okay. But when they have the exact same names of countries, titles for officials, flags, etc, you can't just toss that out with no explanation. Surely this would be wildly improbable. What natural force would lead planets all over the galaxy to have powerful empires that all just happened to be called "Roman"? You can't just ask me to accept that with no explanation.

Uh... ancient humanoid genetic seeding??

I cannot count the number of errors in the commenters here. First of all...Merrick was not a Star Fleet captain. He washed out of the Academy and joined the star equivalent of the Merchant Marine. Second of all Merrick was not left on the planet. The Roman Consul stabbed him and killed him. It was Merrick who stole the communicator, not the slave girl. As for the sex, Kirk was scheduled to be executed with a single thrust into the heart. The Roman Consul was granting him...as he said...a final night as a man just as the Gladiators of Rome had sex before their arena battles. I wish people would consult not only history but the actual episode itself before they make a fool of themselves in such self righteous egoism.

Kudos again to William B's commentary. The only fault I find in it is his casting, "Really, doctor?" as a question. I didn't remember it that way and just reviewed it on Hulu. Spock's inflection is down on the last syllable of "doctor" which, as I've always interpreted it since seeing the episode in its first airing as a kid back in the 1960's and continue to do today, is the equivalent of, "Stop trolling me, doctor." I know, "trolling" didn't have that connotation back then that it has today but the general sentiment is intact. Spock isn't inviting further conversation on the topic from McCoy. He's ending it. And, as he does in fact end it, McCoy then changes the subject to Jim.

"They threw me a few curves" - brilliant.

Did Gene Roddenbery or Ronald Reagan write this episode? Free health care and pensions turn people into willing slaves? I am glad I'm more than half done with TOS, because the overt sexism and American/religious proselytizing are becoming harder and harder to stomach. I hope there are at least a few good ones coming up in season three.

The only way I can stand these 'Parallel Earth' episodes is that I forced my mind to see them as a primitive Holodeck simulation training for the Enterprise. Of course these planets didn't exist! They are simulated as a training exercise for the crew.

This episode started out for me as a "oh no, not another parallel Earth" but ended up better than expected. The parallel Earth thing seems to be contradicting something I swear Spock said earlier in the series about how low the odds, rare etc. etc. but I could be misremembering or he could have just been wrong or the writers retconned it, whatever, but after so many parallel Earths have turned up, especially within the last few episodes and with how he walks around talking about how it's a parallel Earth like it's special I was expecting a callback. Whatever. The costumes for the slaves were atrocious, was the costuming department on strike or something? They were obviously wearing mutilated sweatshirts and modern pants, would it have killed them to find or make some actual rags or something, or at least something that wasn't embarrassing to look at? They're in a modern day Rome, we get it, give them ratty track suits or skimpy slave gear or whatever, anything would've been better than what they did end up wearing. The chain pattern symbolizing that they were slaves was weird, too. They're already obviously wearing crap instead of gladiator gear. Why bother. The subplot with Kirk apparently sleeping with that slave girl was just there, didn't really add anything, just a nod that the writers had done some research and to fill Kirk's bang quota, and maybe to show the villain's character better ("have some funtime/AIDS with my personal concubine before we kill you"). At least we got one of our sort of rare "so dumb it's funny to the audience and painful to the crew" Kirk jokes out of it. (Too bad his friends weren't aware of his situation and able to respond accordingly.) Also, KIRK DIDN'T LOSE OR RIP HIS SHIRT ONCE IN THIS EPISODE. I'm not complaining, just shocked. Maybe Shatner had already filled his contractually obligated shirtless scene quota for the season. The hi-light of this episode was definitely the Spock/McCoy interactions. They're always snipping at and trying to one-up each other, it's nice to see that boil over once in a while. McCoy (both figuratively and physically) backing Spock into a corner and playing psychoanalyst, letting Spock know that he's got him pegged, only to back off just as quickly when Spock's obviously had enough, was nice to see. Too often McCoy ends up with the short stick in their battles of wits, and usually has to team up with Kirk to deliver an effective blow, so it was good to see him not only just hold his own, but thoroughly trounce Spock. It was nice to see the two retained a good dynamic even when (and perhaps because) Kirk's away. (Also, HUZZAH!, an episode that isn't just entirely Kirk-centric and lets other characters develop their personalities and relationships a bit more.) McCoy's character is too often underutilized in favor of Kirk and Spock adventures with McCoy playing the part of naysayer/third wheel. Scottie was amazing, as he usually is when handed command. They spent just the right amount of time focused on the Enterprise this ep: we know what they're doing to save the away team but no unnecessary lingering or filler scenes with them. I liked that they showed Spock actually testing the bars/trying to break out. The show makes a point to say he's much stronger than a human but it never seems to matter much. Yeah I know he usually doesn't try stuff like that because he's aware of how strong stuff is vs him and it's wasted effort etc. and this instance is more to indicate his mental state than his strength or to show escape attempts but I always have a lingering "why doesn't Spock just try to break them out, he's supposed to be strong, right?" in the back of my mind and it's nice to see lingering questions answered. (This one also answered my "Why doesn't Spock teach Kirk the neck pinch thing?" (he's tried, Kirk sucks and can't do it) question, so bonus points for that.) As a parting note, I have to point out that, while Kirk's friends were busy being a lot more agitated than usual about whether he was okay, Kirk himself was busy chilling with this week's half-naked blonde. Pretty hilarious.

20th century Rome where they speak modern English with 20th century colloquial English terms. WTF everybody knows they spoke Latin as the language of Empire! Such Bull Shit.

Great episode and much better than I remembered -- I'll go 3 1/2 stars or maybe even 4. Kudos for allowing the Spock-McCoy bantering to become self-aware for a bit; their scenes together are awesome. Loved the intriguing social commentary behind the televised gladiatoral fights, perhaps an extreme metaphor for football and other violent sports. The pacing, action, and dialogue is all great in this one -- nothing feels too dated. It's not the deepest Trek, but it's a fun hour with a few things to think about.

And we are back, once again, to a magical parallel Earth. You know, I hate to admit it, but maybe the network executives were right to try to cancel TOS after the second season. It really seems like they ran out of ideas in the end. I mean, look at the latter half of the season, starting after Tribbles (yes, I know, technically in second half, shut up): Four period pieces from random parts of Earth's past. Two "aliens take over the Enterprise to use it for their own objectives." One "Kirk outwits a computer", which was cliche by the end of the first season One "giant thingy in space!" episode, which was overused in the first half of the season One backdoor pilot. That leaves Private Little War and Gamesters of Triskelion as the only really unique ideas in the second half, and both of those were just as bad. Other than Piece of the Action, none of the other episodes really jumped out as really strong episodes, although admittedly some were watchable. Compare that to the first half of the season. We had absolute classics like Journey to Babel, Mirror Mirror, Doomsday Machine, Trouble with Tribbles. And, of course, Season 1 had plenty of great episodes too. It just seemed like they ran out of steam in the end. I know people like to say that Gene leaving and the slashed budget was the reason Season 3 was not as beloved as the first two, but honestly, it seems like they ran out of steam here. Maybe Season 3 wouldn't have been any better than what we had. Maybe this was the extent of the stories the original crew could tell. As for the episode itself, whatever. Both the potential onset of Christianity as a revolutionary concept and Merrick's cowardice and the Romans disgust of it, even as it worked to their advantage, were the only two interesting part of the episode. The rest of it just seemed by the book, as Saavik might say.

While watching this episode I thought of "Patterns of Force" which came out just a few weeks earlier. Substitute a modern day Roman Empire for Nazis and you have a very similar episode. It surprises me that the 2 Genes wrote this one. Obviously lots of similarities with other TOS episodes and it does seem as Skeptical says that by late S2, TOS was running out of ideas. Scotty's creativity is good here with the condition green message- not violating the PD. The usual banter between Spock/McCoy is always good as well. Too bad not much more is made of the Son worshipping and how that transformed Flavius - a lot of time spent on the usual fighting/keeping the Roman message strong etc. The Proconsul is an interesting character - he thinks very poorly of Merik who does as he's told. The whole giving him 1 more day as a man is quite sexist but perhaps consistent with the Roman Empire. Anyhow, nothing special here - the action sequences weren't that noteworthy. I'd rate it a weak 2.5 stars out of 4 - the usual interesting Trek ideas recycled in an interesting costume.

Skeptical makes a very good point about the originality of the end of the Second Season. Might it been because of the departure of Gene L Coon after The Trouble with Tribbles? (though he co-wrote and produced this episode, perhaps it was recorded earlier and transmitted later). I thought when John Meredyth Lucas took over as the producer, he maintained the feel of earlier Season 2 Trek well, and I quite enjoyed at least some of the stories. Running out of steam though? Quite possibly, even at this stage.

I agree with Trek Fan above, I really enjoyed this episode, having watched it several times over the years and again just now. Yeah, there are many many flaws. But Kirk at his most confident, the interactions between Spock and McCoy, Scotty's ingenuity, Merrick's redemption/revenge at the end--many great parts. I know I'm super naive in this (or maybe in denial), but I allow myself to believe that Kirk just made out with Drusilla.....

I thought this was an excellent episode. Here we have a hyper-conservative society which resembles "civilized Rome". The differences: the slaves are kept in check with welfare, medicine and televised violence. This is a brave statement. The rebels of this system, however, believe in a "sun God" which we later learn is essentially "Jesus". This, of course, echoes our history, in which Cesar and Rome stopped resisting Christian heretics and made Christianity the Empire's default religion (thereby spreading it across the world). The episode is right to portray Christianity as something oppositional to ancient Rome, but wrong to suggest that the introduction of Christianity is what civilized Rome and resisted Rome; rather, the early Christian cults were enfolded within Rome, assimilated to it and it to them, and so functioned as a rubber-stamp for subsequent Empire building. The Church at this time was not a good, reformist thing. Perhaps Gene Coon - who worked on this script - was a sincere Christian, so I'll forgive all this. The episode has some other interesting moments; Spock's intensity, skills and strengths during the fight sequences are tremendous; you really get the sense of a powerful, physically and intellectually superior being. Spock and Mccoy's scenes/banter is also excellent, and their friendship really comes across. Kirk's willingness to sacrifice himself and his friends is also noble. Scotty too is given a good little arc. I would say the episode's flaws are its superficial and sexist treatment of the female slave, and its incoherent approach to the Prime Directive (which, in the show's defense, was still being fleshed out at this point).

Just to echo Derek, who was echoing me, this episode is a perfect example of classic TOS chemistry. Many great bits include McCoy's delightful joke about the archangel Gabriel and griping at Spock while fighting for his life; Kirk's self-winking seduction game with the slave girl and decisive leadership; Spock's efforts to make sense of a deeply irrational society; the redemption of Merrick who is ironically a Starfleet dropout unlike the storied captain of "Omega Glory" and other burnouts we've seen; the delightfully suave Roman villain and heroic gladiators/slaves; Uhura's puzzling out of the "son/sun worshipers," etc. Yes, Season 2 is the Paralell Earth season, but it's FUN and thoughtful. And that's all I ask of Star Trek at times: a good time with some thought-provoking ideas, colorful variety of characters/situations, and a main cast that enjoys being with each other. And again, I love the social commentary of the televised gladiator games.

I love this episode if only for Bill in that t-shirt.

What's the problem with Kirk doing it with a slave who was more than willing to fulfill her duty? Are current Star Trek fans this weak and prudish?

"Where there's a sibling, there's quibbling." This tells it all, Spock and McCoy and their arguments, and underneath it all is affection, how they care for each other---like brothers---and for their commanding officer. It's just part of what makes "Star Trek" so human, and I enjoy the series all the more for it. They boldly went, and they took me with them, and I will remember it all forever.

A fine episode ,am very surprised at the bad reviews,on another note I always thought a good episode in the B&C vein is to have kirk and co land on a earth parallel planet and have the dinosaurs not gone extinct.No asteroid killed them off and they are the rulers and they look upon mammals as inferior.

hifijohn, you should check out the TOS novel "First Frontier". It has all the alternate-timeline Kirk vs. Dinosaurs action you could ever want. :)

Below average. So much stupid. Another ridiculous earth parallel. Awkward, unconvincing McCoy - Spock exchanges. Kirk having sex with a slave girl and joking about it later. But that's ok because she was thrilled to do it and was filled with desire for the totally irresistible Kirk. Ugh. The Sun/Son thing was a nice touch.

Well I really like it. Jammer's right, of course, this is the typical Star Trek episode. In fact, when I think of typical TOS episode, this is the story that comes to mind. Yet I love the lampooning of the TV industry, and it brings with it some fun commentary about how a country can use entertainment to control the masses. Obviously this a direct reference to Rome, but if we look at this in the 1960s context, it was most likely a slight against propaganda videos created in the Soviet Union to keep their unhappy peasant workers in check. The very first commenter, Strider, got it right here. This is a great episode to see Kirk act as Kirk. He's confident, he's clever, and he doesn't back down from Federation values. This is the type of Kirk we need to have. And even if this episode is thoroughly typical, show codifiers like this one reinforce the message that Gene was trying to give us. @William B You're in this one! Or at least your namesake is. I'm surprised you didn't mention that. Trent wrote: "the early Christian cults were enfolded within Rome, assimilated to it and it to them, and so functioned as a rubber-stamp for subsequent Empire building. The Church at this time was not a good, reformist thing" Two problems with this. First, Christians weren't exclusive to the Romans. They started in the Roman province of Judaea and spread both East and West. Also, whether The Church was a good or reformist thing is a matter of perspective, but historically it curtailed a lot of social problems in Rome like polygamy, incest, as well as child and animal molestation. Whether Christianity actually ended *violence* like this episode purports is, I agree, debatable, but that's entirely missing the point. What they were saying was planet 892-IV was starting to follow the path of Earth -- i.e. the spreading of Christianity was one step forward towards the path of eventually forming the Federation. That's why Kirk wanted to see the whole thing unfold, as he remarked in the ending.

Did anybody notice when the fight between spock/McCoy and flavious/Achilles ends and the pro consul say take them away, there is a shot of Achilles laying on the ground and in the updated version of the series his asscrack and ball sack have been blurred out. Really killed the inversion for me.

Glenn Quagmire

I totally would have had sex with Drusilla. At least twice in fact. Giggity. Problem is after the abolishment of slavery on the planet, Drusilla would go totally #metoo on Falvius saying she was forced to have sex with him, his friends, and even strangers. I totally would have gotten thrown under the #metoo bus (or chariot).

Wow, I really enjoyed this one a lot more than I remember. A solid 3 stars. This is TOS operating as a smoothly oiled machine after more than 50 episodes on air. Of course Kirk is fantastic, as @Strider notes at the top. And yes, the alternative Earth thing is getting a bit much at this point. But the twist is fantastic. 20th century Earth *if* the Roman Empire never fell. Feels a little like Man in the High Castle. Philip K. Dick, who wrote the novel on which the TV show Man in the High Castle was based (as well as Bladerunner, and many other movies - he was a genius), had a famous line in his novels: The Empire never ended. Think of “Bread and Circuses” as a thought experiment. Scifi has the ability to put a tiny spin on things - whether in a Mirror universe, or traveling through time like Doctor Who or Quantum Leap - that allows us to see our selves in a different light. Later generations of Trek had more tools to create the conditions for their thought experiments (e.g., holodecks). And I suppose just as holodeck-malfunction-episodes got annoying after a while, alternate Earth episodes got tired with TOS. But the set up is so short it doesn’t take much away from the rest of the hour. In any case, the gold here is what @Trent alludes to: the ideas that Star Trek plays with are very brave. We of course focus mostly on the “Circuses” part of the episode title. The 1960’s were a time of laugh tracks and television specials and other myriad ways to keep the people entertained, but more than that, to manipulate the audiences’ feelings using specially engineered inputs. I remember watching this episode as a kid, and the image of the dials being adjusted for “Boos” and for “Laughs” and for “Cheers” stuck with me for the rest of my life. It is hard to take any of television seriously after you’ve seen as a brutal a parody of television as “Bread and Circuses.” But even more brave is the “Bread” part of the episode title. There is a Christian prayer that says, “give us this day our daily bread.” One of the most famous stories in the Bible is the fishes and the loaves. Loaves of bread. And truly bread is integral to controlling the public. The central conversation of the hour takes place between Kirk, Spock, Bones and Flavius, KIRK: But if there have been slaves for over 2,000 years, hasn't there always been discontent, runaways? FLAVIUS: Long ago there were rebellions, but they were suppressed. And with each century, the slaves acquired more rights under the law. They received rights to medicine, the right to government payments in their old age, and they slowly learned to be content. SPOCK: Even more fascinating. Slavery evolving into an institution with guaranteed medical payments, old-age pensions. MCCOY: Quite logical, I'd say, Mister Spock. Just as it's logical that twentieth-century Rome would use television to show its gladiator contests or name a new car the Jupiter Eight. They used television - circuses - to distract the population from its troubles. And they used social security - bread - to sooth the brutalities just enough to avoid the rebellions that Kirk was asking about. Not many shows can ask if socialism might be an opiate for the masses. So much of this episode is stellar. The proconsul is played with a wonderful callous disdain for ordinary morality. And as @Outsider65 says, Scotty was awesome (I recommend all of @Outsider65’s write up). Just a very fun hour. With biting social commentary. Are you not entertained? https://youtu.be/L-l6tHeseDY

As a former Classics scholar, just let me get the irritations with this episode off my chest... 1. McCoy was wrong - there were sun worshippers in Ancient Rome! The Emperor Constantine was one, and merged sun worship (Sol Invictus) with 'son' worship (Christianity) to create a new state religion. Uhura partly redeemed this at the end, but the actual error wasn't. 2. If Merik was 'First Citizen' then he was 'princeps' i.e. Emperor. He was therefore highest in the land, and the Proconsul was subservient to him. 3. Rome didn't have proconsuls - they were governors of provinces outside Italy. Rome had Consuls - 2 of them who served for a limited period, to prevent too much power in one official's hands. 4. English? I don't think so! English came out of the Germanic tribes, with later growth from Norman French. In 2000 years, the Latin of Rome would most likely have evolved to Italian. I can understand why English would be needed for the episode , but it would have been much better to simply keep quiet about it! Having said all that, this was a tremendously entertaining episode : - brilliant banter between McCoy and Spock, with the latter's human half almost allowing the expression of vulnerability. - hilarious satire on 60s TV, down to mention of ratings, and the appearance of 'tradtional' Roman military uniforms to give atmosphere, not to mention the 'classical' backdrop. - good excitement and tension - good split between the renegade sun worshippers and the stern authorities of Rome. - clever use of code words between Kirk and Scott on the Enterprise. - the way the Proconsul knew all about Starfleet and how to manipulate Kirk to best effect, in his cynical way. - the emergence of a clear definition of the Prime Directive. - the 20th Century Roman police, with their uniforms and weaponry. Very good Trek episode - at least 3.5 stars

@ Jay "what irks me is that they never explain how these parallel histories are supposed to have happened." Au contraire, mon ami!! We were treated to Hodgkins Law of Parallel Development early in the episode. The first time they've tried to account for it, but not in any detail. @ Why? "20th century Rome where they speak modern English with 20th century colloquial English terms. WTF everybody knows they spoke Latin as the language of Empire!" Yes! Should perhaps have been Italian by the 20th Century. Did you see one of their public buildings carried the motto HONNEUR ET PATRIE - French!

@ Tidd, Cool reflections on the episode, thanks. For what it's worth, I think the writers were probably correct that sun-worship was not exactly the standard religious practice in Rome in the first few centuries AD. To whatever extent the Romans were actual adherents to the Greek religion, and perhaps you can answer this, I imagine it would have been at minimum gauche to deny the supremacy of Jupiter and the other gods. But in the episode's context I think they are also talking about how there wouldn't have been a widespread sun-worship movement. So even if the odd weirdo did adopt a more Egyptian religious aspect, it wouldn't have been a popular thing...right? For your point about English, maybe there's a semi-altered history element they're implying, where an English speaking PD violation led to an English speaking Roman empire (with proconsuls...). So it wouldn't be a precise parallel to Earth's Italy, but close enough in most respects.

@ Peter G Certainly in the first 2 centuries or so of the Empire, the traditional pantheon of Roman gods were the main thing, though there were also quite popular cults like the Mithras religion. However, by Constantine's time, the notion of a single god - e.g. the Sun - was growing more and more popular. In those terms Christianity became more and more open and adopted, until Constantine made it the state religion from (dates aren’t my strong point!) around 350 (ish)? As to English, did we have any record of a pre-Merik violation of the PD? I suppose there could have been, but you'd think the Proconsul would have mentioned it. Personally I think they should just have had everyone speaking English as per usual, and just kept quiet about it not being a derivation of Latin, or at least not compared to Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian.

@Tidd, just FYI, Constantine did not make Christianity a state religion. Also, Rome did indeed have proconsuls. During the Empire, they were basically governors. But before that, during the Republic, they were appointed by the Senate, and were often ex-Consuls. @Peter G., Bones was just flat out wrong when he said, MCCOY: Because, my dear Mister Spock, it is illogical. Rome had no sun worshipers. Why should they parallel Rome in every way except one? In fact, the transexual emperor Antoninus brought sun worship to Rome in a big way in 220 A.D. And the emperor Aurelian made sun worship an official roman religion about 50 years later. But worship of the son - Christianity - didn't become a state religion until 50 years after Constantine died. Finally as to English, I'd wager that by the 1960's there were way more people in countries that were once the Roman Empire, who spoke English, than who spoke Italian. Even by the time of Constantine, only a small fraction of Roman citizens spoke Latin. Which makes sense given how much of his life Constantine spent in Britain. Remember, he became emperor while he was ruling Britain. Constantine was not Italian. He was half Greek, half Balkan. He didn't even really like Rome, and built a capital city for himself in Turkey, closer to home. Really, all the major emperors for the last few hundred years of the Roman Empire, were non-Italians. If the Roman Empire had never fallen, as "Bread and Circuses" explores, what makes us think that they would have stuck with a Latin-derivative language?

@ Mal Yes, you're right about Constantine - my bad. But he did make Christianity a legally recognised religion, made its leaders (bishops) rich and powerful, and MAY have become Christian himself at some point (the jury's still out). "Rome did indeed have proconsuls. During the Empire, they were basically governors" What I said, didn't I? "as to English, I'd wager that by the 1960's there were way more people in countries that were once the Roman Empire, who spoke English, than who spoke Italian" Two things on that. One, the Roman Empire never collapsed in this episode , so English would not have had the chance either to develop via Saxon, Viking, and Norman invasions, or spread worldwide via a British Empire. Two, I used Italian as the most logical descendant of Latin - but actually Romance languages (Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Romanian) are still predominant throughout Europe and, if you add in South America, constitute a very high proportion of the languages of the modern world.

@Tidd, how I imagine "Bread and Circuses" if it had been a TNG episode, https://youtu.be/Fk1E986Szc4?t=37 :-)

@Mal HONNEUR ET PATRIE !!!

Yet another parallel Earth episode. It takes a mental leap to envision humans on other planets (TOS had no budget for alien makeup), but humans with identical history? The episode would be fine if it were the Twilight Zone since it asks us to imagine an alternative timeline. But as a trek episode, it just looks like they ran out of ideas and money. And didn't we just see an episode where a stranded captain makes himself the leader?

A detail that I picked up on rewatching - The slave clothing insignia of a chain that looks like the letters G-O-D is a great hint of what's to come. Wonder if this was in the script or was a directing decision?

Another I hadn't seen in over 30 years, and I really liked it. I definitely appreciated the lampooning of TV far more than I did when I was a teenager. "Bring does our ratings and we'll do a special on you!" Ha! I also despised Merrick much more this time and have as little regard for him as the proconsul does. No wonder the proconsul expected Kirk to be an idiot and beam everyone down. And I'm fairly sure Merrick is the proconsul's actual bitch.

And yes they did overuse the parallel Earth thing but at least they lampshaded here with Hodgkin's law. Of course, the real reason was the need to use human actors and the studio's backlot when possible. Though, curiously, not in this case. Humans, yes, but this one had the specific theme at the heart of the story.

Love McCoy's matter of fact uttering of "Jim" at the end of the episode as Kirk strides in to rescue the doctor and Spock. Yes, I know McCoy had to be somewhat quiet, but there's a tinge of inevitability in his voice that seems to say he knew Kirk would get them out.

Andy in Northern Va.

Yes, the whole parallel-Earth-(yet)-again thing is hackneyed to the point of being a TOS cliche. That said... What really sells this episode, to me at least, are the strong guest performances from Ian Wolfe as the wisened ex-Senator Septimus, Rhodes Reason as the reformed gladiator-turned-follower of Jesus Flavius Maximus, Logan Ramsey as the nasty Proconsul Claudius Marcus and of course, William Smithers as Merrick. Each of them brought real depth to their parts. For as briefly as any of them were on screen, viewers were able to come away with some sense of who they were, some depth of character that kept any one of them from being cardboard cut-outs. Silly premise, but I rather liked this episode.

Merick might have been dead but they did leave behind the rest of his crew. a lot of season twoi i hated but still love Mirror mirrirandcthe doomsday machine.

We MUST watch these episodes in PRODUCTION ORDER - not as they aired on TV. Then the "Parallel Earth" thing wouldn't be such a nuisance. @Strider I like your chutzpah. @JAMMER - dude your site is brilliant. But you should have these TOS episodes reviewed in production order - Just one man's opinion. But revisit the episodes in THAT order and you'll find a whole new take on the whole thing possibly...

If you can get past yet more “parallel earth” wackiness, Bread and Circuses has some decent things to say. Particularly the meta commentary on television as a medium and its role in the general complacency of the public. I took much of that specific part of this episode to be a bit of an indictment of the American pop culture consumer, which is alluded to in the title “Bread and Circuses.” A fairly ballsy statement considering those very consumers were the only people who could keep Star Trek on the air by, you know, consuming. I’m not sure what to make of the final sun/son revelation. On the one hand it seems almost a nonsequiter, as I didn’t see any indication that this pseudo-Roman society’s polytheistic religious beliefs were the source of their placid acceptance of cruelty and violence. Rather it seemed that consumer culture was the glue holding this society in a state of brutality. Perhaps the two Genes didn’t want to over-emphasize what seems like a pro-Christianity message in their script, so they focused more on the prime directive and consumerism elements of the plot up until the last minute. Which gave that final scene shades of The Omega Glory’s “say WHAT??” type ending twist. On the other hand, an examination or acknowledgment of the role Christianity played to the general development of human civilization would be a pretty rich topic. Particularly if the show firmly declares a christian-like value shift as a key component in the advancement of humanity towards a brighter, trekkian style future. And it seems like such a statement would be the ultimate message of the episode, yet it’s sort of treated as an afterthought. It’s an interesting narrative dynamic that I’m not sure totally worked. Some other thoughts: -I sincerely hope Kirk didn’t actually bang drucilla. That would not be cool since she’s a slave and all. -It was mentioned that other crew members from the Beagle were still on the planet having “adapted” to the Roman way of life. Are they going to get rescued, or not, or… -Merick gets a little redemption arc in the episode, too bad he didn’t get to punch the proconsul in the nose before he got stabbed. -Scotty nails it as temp-captain yet again. 2.5/4 shiny, new Jupiter 8s

I watched season 2 both in production order and by release date. In each instance, there were too many poorly written “parallel Earth” stories. If some deck chairs on Titanic were more poorly crafted than others, stacking these chairs in a continuous cluster as opposed to parceling them out across the ship…. The ship would still go down. I watched season 1 in production order. The Man Trap was the 6th episode produced, were one to include The Cage. Watching it as the sixth vs. the first episode didn’t make much of a difference. Watching in production order is not without merit; if one does som Tom Paris gets married before we see him wearing his wedding ring.

I like "the one with the Romans" because there's a lot of gun pointing in it. (lol) but at this point the audience can be told it's a different planet and they'll believe it from just costume groupings. There were no Roman citizen population or villagers depicted, they were all brutal guards with the exception of the television announcer and cameramen and Drusila, and the guards all wore white helmets (probably borrowed from some other movie props) and spoke in mono voices reminiscent of Storm Troopers. The Federation and the Enterprise command crew are looking pretty wimpy by this time, the prime directive does not excuse enduring the kinds of criminal acts, akin to Rojan killing crew members then it's like, can't we all just get along? But this time instead of defeating the corrupt society and pointing it in the right direction, the command crew merely escapes. Only then is the actual plot device revealed, they did not need to point the society in the right direction because it was going to anyway because of a grammatical homophone that prevented the Enterprise from realizing this was emerging Christianity until the end. The trend of someone besides Kirk getting the last word continues here with O'Hura taking the nod because she monitored the planet's media broadcast for the revelation.

Proud Capitalist Pig

I agree with Jammer -- as far as Star Trek episodes go, this one was pretty bog-standard and formulaic, going back to one of the most common tropes of this series: Twilight Zone-style “what if?” planets. “Bread and Circuses” is no more or less believable than any typical Twilight Zone episode is, which is why I can’t wrap my head around Star Trek fans’ utter refusal to suspend their disbelief about “parallel Earth” civilizations where everyone speaks actual English and might even have a perfect word-for-word copy of the U.S. Constitution. Personally, I don’t give two shits about how realistic this is. Star Trek isn’t a real future, folks. It’s a manufactured reality with particleboard sets. The point isn’t to have any semblance of scientific accuracy. It’s all about the effectiveness of the analogies, performances and storytelling that were fashioned as cheaply as possible. “Bread and Circuses” has some pretty prescient things to say about our present reality, as the great Star Trek and Twilight Zone episodes often do. Like these 20th-Century Romans, we too have Social Security payouts, welfare, Obamaphones and Medicare to keep the population docile, quiet, willing slaves. Television was (and still is) the opiate of the masses, but now we also have ThickTok, Discord and Snatchchat to keep everyone distracted and oblivious to how they’re being completely manipulated and fucked. While rival empires plot destruction, the masses take in Taylor Swift and Mr. Beast. They take their blow, coke and Ritalin. In the words of George Carlin, “Nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care” about their own impending doom. And to echo @William B’s callback to Fahrenheit 451, we won’t even have to burn the books now. No one reads books in the first place anymore. And I’m raking in the dough and laughing. Speaking of laughing, when Kirk makes the crack about Merrick washing out of the Academy in his “fifth year,” all I could think of then was that immortal line from Bluto in Animal House: “Seven years of college down the drain!” You see, another theme that’s been omnipresent in Star Trek: Season Two is the need to treat ambitious fuckups with suspicion: John Gill, unremarkable failed professor with delusions of grandeur. Dick Tracey, psychopathic failed Captain with delusions of grandeur. And now mere “Merchant Marine” Merrick, nothing more than a wannabe starship captain with… delusions of grandeur. You’ve got to love the 1960’s worldview: “Don’t try to be a trailblazer. Just shut up and take it!” Oh yeah... and mind your own damn business, too! Words of wisdom, folks. Spock and McCoy get some great moments here. It’s obvious now that McCoy’s needling and combativeness with Spock comes from a place of concern and friendship. He almost *wants* Spock to crack, as his “crazy medical mind” probably sees a certain value in psychological pressure valves. Star Trek never goes wrong when pairing these two together, and I’m game to continue this journey with them. Yes, it was the fall of Rome that contributed to the rise to mainstream Christianity, and while I thought it was a clever reveal and a clue that was always staring us right in the face throughout the episode (thanks to the power of homonyms), @Idh2023 is right about this whole point being ultimately treated like an afterthought with just a couple of lines paid to it at the end. It’s almost as if Gene Roddenberry was afraid about the network battle that probably would have resulted if he had *really* tried to drive this point home, but still couldn’t help himself and had to insert it ultimately as a “shocking surprise.” I suppose I do appreciate the effort, and I know full well how easy it is to get tripped up by homonyms. Just a few write-ups ago, @Peter G kindly pointed out to me that I wrote “prophet motive” when I meant “profit motive.” I did have a good laugh over that, and hell, I think “Prophet Motive” would be a kickass title anyway for some book or movie about a cult-leading charlatan neck-deep in chicanery or something. You can have that one for free. As far as Captain Kirk’s latest dalliance goes, guess how many fucks I give about whether or not Kirk had sexual relations with that slave, Drusilla Lewinsky. It’s just 1968 pulpy, schlocky sci-fi. Lighten up. “Bread and Circuses” is Star Trek’s equivalent of a McDonald’s burger. At McDonald’s, you know exactly what you’re getting, and it will be made according to normally strict corporate standards. It has a familiar taste, relieves your hunger quickly, and is even a comfort food for most people. But no one would really call a McDonald’s burger an exceptional gourmet delicacy. This episode was an entertaining ride with priceless dialogue and decent fight scenes, but it doesn’t pass the “take-home test.” Speak Freely: McCoy -- “You could hardly claim to be an angel with those pointed ears, Mr. Spock. But say you landed someplace with a pitchfork…” My Grade: B-

"“Bread and Circuses” is Star Trek’s equivalent of a McDonald’s burger. At McDonald’s, you know exactly what you’re getting, and it will be made according to normally strict corporate standards. It has a familiar taste, relieves your hunger quickly, and is even a comfort food for most people." Ah, so you are saying that this episode is itself the eponymous bread and circuses to keep the Trek fans from revolting. "Like these 20th-Century Romans, we too have Social Security payouts, welfare, Obamaphones and Medicare to keep the population docile, quiet, willing slaves." Not sure if you're aware, but Ancient Rome did in fact have welfare in the form of free wheat, so there's another parallel for you. Oh yeah, and the fact that money owned politics.

I have to disagree with the take that it’s no biggie if Kirk hooked up with Drusilla. While one can argue Kirk had to prove his machismo while in the grips of this pseudo-Roman, dominance oriented society, the idea that banging some hot girl when you have the chance, regardless of circumstances, is something to handwave away as mere pulp entertainment grinds against the gears of agreed values as a means of guiding moral/ethical behavior. The basic notion of a “hero” is that they wouldn’t do such a thing, not that they’d shrug it off because, hey bruh, lighten up, she was only kinda coerced into it or whatever. The choice to even imply that Kirk and Drusilla had them some sex was a poorly thought out script error. A moment of simply lousy writing in an otherwise fun episode.

So technicalky all class m planets would probably be paralkel earths i have no problem there but i'm amazed this season how many alien cultures mimick American values and history. Come on Canada can get one planet cant we?

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Bread and circuses (1968).

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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/StarTrekS2E25BreadAndCircuses

Recap / Star Trek S2 E25 "Bread and Circuses"

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Original air date: March 15, 1968

After coming across the wreckage of the S. S. Beagle , Kirk, Spock and Bones beam down to the surface of the nearest planet. This planet is a class M planet remarkably like Earth down to the land/water ratio. Atmosphere and radio signals hint a technological advancement equal to 20th century Earth. They beam down to a part of the wilderness close to city limits, thinking it deserted when they're taken captive by slaves on the run. After Kirk impresses them with his communicator, they take him in and tell him about the Empire. Apparently, they get very angry when slaves worship a different god. Kirk and company gather the runaway slaves to be "sun" worshipers. It seems the civilization on this planet is a reflection of a modern day Earth where Rome never fell.

When Kirk and company are captured and taken to the city, they find out what happened to the crew of the Beagle . Merik was convinced by a local not to spread knowledge of their people, and was offered a life of luxury as First Citizen in return for selling out his entire crew to fight in the gladiator pits.

The Fan Nickname for this episode is "The One with the Space Romans ".

Tropes and Circuses:

• 30-Second Blackout : Scotty causes one to help Kirk and company escape.
• Affably Evil : Proconsul Claudius Marcus. While he's shown to be annoyed by Kirk's defiance, he never takes it personally, even arranging for a night of pleasure for Kirk with his personal slave girl before his execution the following day. On thinking that Kirk has persuaded the girl to steal back his communicator, Marcus says he won't punish her for that , and he will see that Kirk and his friends are given a swift execution.
• Aliens Speaking English : The fact that the locals speak English with 20th Century Earth idioms is noted. Though that doesn't explain why Latin isn't the dominant language instead. It's pretty much just there to make the sun/son homophone work.
• Alternate Universe : Though only in the "What if Rome never fell?" sense. Instead of an alternate history Earth, we have a planet so similar to Earth it somehow evolved a Roman Empire, a Christian-like religion, and the Madsen submachine gun.
• Ancient Rome : This planet's hat.
• Spock claims that about six million people died in WWI and eleven million in WWII. Low-end estimates place the number of dead in the first at about fifteen million, and of the second at an astounding seventy million, with the Soviet Union and China each losing far more than eleven million by themselves. The lowest estimate for Soviet deaths is nearly double eleven million.
• Kirk, Bones and Spock all spell out what the Prime Directive is, even though they presumably know what that is.
• Scotty also spells out what Condition Green is for his Log.
• Bones is about to be killed in the arena, so Spock disables his opponent and comes to his rescue.
• Kirk is about to be executed on live television when Flavius charges in with a sword and Scotty kills the power.
• Biting-the-Hand Humor : The sequence with the televised gladiator game show gets in a good few jabs at network television and the pursuit of ratings. This episode was made when Star Trek was facing cancellation at the end of the season, and the show's makers were not feeling charitable toward the network.
• Blood Sport : Barbarians (i.e., people not of this planet) and slaves fight to the death in gladiator pits. It's treated like Monday Night Football .
• Bread and Circuses : Look at the title.
• Bronson Canyon and Caves : Bronson Canyon is the place where Kirk and Co encounter the rebel slaves.
• Covert Distress Code : Kirk tells Scotty "Condition Green, everything's fine." However, "Condition Green" is their code for "I'm in trouble, but don't do anything to help." Scotty has to figure out a way to help Kirk without breaking the Prime Directive. He does.
• Cut the Juice : Scotty has Enterprise overload the power grid as a show of force . Cue the lights going out in the studio giving Kirk a chance to escape.
• Deadpan Snarker : When an armed man points at Spock's pointed ears and says "What do you call those?" He calmly replies "I call them ears." When asked if he's trying to be funny, he flatly replies, "Never."
• Defiant to the End : Merik's last move is to throw Kirk his communicator.
• Discretion Shot : When Kirk and co. are watching a televised gladiatorial combat, the losing gladiator falls to the ground and out of shot just before he's stabbed, so the death blow is not visible. Stands out because of the conflict between the priorities of the real TV network and the in-universe TV network, which would have insisted the camera follow the falling gladiator so the audience isn't deprived of the money shot. While he does fall out of shot, we then cut away to Uhura flinching in horror, so presumably there was an In-Universe close-up of the killing. Uhura also loses the television signal just as Harrison is about to be stabbed.
• Does This Remind You of Anything? : Claudius Marcus, proconsul of the slave-owning Roman Empire, has a Southern accent.
• Don't Make Me Destroy You : Spock to the gladiator he's fighting, who unlike Flavius is seriously trying to kill his opponent. Spock isn't bluffing either—on seeing Bones is about to get killed, he takes down the gladiator easily so he can rush to defend his colleague.
• Repressive, but Efficient : Though the Pax Romana is apparently worldwide and has lasted for many centuries, and slaves are treated well enough that it's not worth their while to rebel (provided they're not exposed to subversive religions preaching freedom and equality).
• Enforced Plug : While looking through a magazine, Kirk notices an advertisement for the Jupiter 8 automobile. Later the gladiator contest Name The Winner is brought to the audience "by Jupiter 8 dealers from coast to coast!"
• A Father to His Men : Averted with Merik, who betrayed his own men to save his own life. Those who failed to adapt to Roman society ended up in the arena—the last of them is shown being killed just as the Enterprise arrives.
• Famous, Famous, Fictional : Spock: Situations quite familiar to the 6,000,000 who died in your First World War , the 11,000,000 who died in your Second , the 37,000,000 who died in your Third ...
• Before Kirk beams down he has a discussion over how the M-class planet is exactly like Earth in some ways, but different in others.
• Proconsul Marcus notes that one of the communicators has gone missing, and muses that maybe Kirk persuaded Drusilla to steal it for him . Turns out Merik has it instead.
• Forced to Watch : Kirk is handcuffed and forced to watch Spock and Bones (along with Flavius) fight to the death. He annoys the proconsul by refusing to yield and pretending he's not bothered by any of this. Merik turns out to be more affected as it brings back memories of his own men dying.
• Flynning : To the point where, during the arena fight, Bones is able to look away from his opponent and hold a conversation with Spock, while his opponent stands there carefully hitting his shield. Justified in that: A) The fight is broadcast for entertainment, and B) his opponent had befriended them earlier and doesn't want to harm them.
• Gilligan Cut : Just as Bones and Spock find something to agree about — their concern for their captain — we cut to Captain Kirk eating Grapes of Luxury with a Beautiful Slave Girl .
• Gladiator Games : The games are televised as entertainment, with well-known contestants featured in magazines. At one point Flavius isn't fighting hard enough and he's threatened with "We'll do a special on you!"
• God Guise : Lampshaded by Bones when he jokes that he'd like to screw the Prime Directive, beam down to a planet and claim to be the Archangel Gabriel.
• Grudging "Thank You" : Spock tells Bones to hurry up with what he's trying to say while he looks for a means to escape their cell. "I'm trying to thank you, you pointy eared hobgoblin!" Bones blurts out.
• Happiness in Slavery : Previous slave revolts were crushed, but conditions for slaves have improved over the centuries (including medical benefits and pensions) so that slavery has become an institution .
• Heel–Face Turn : Merik eventually decides to aid Kirk, redeeming himself, though he has little time to enjoy it.
• Heroic Sacrifice : Flavius rushes in to save Kirk from execution at the last minute. He's killed for it, but the attempt is just what Kirk needed to escape (helped by Scotty's blackout of the city) - at the end, McCoy notes that Kirk mentioned his sacrifice in the captain's log .
• Hilarious Outtakes : Including one of the guards doing a Prat Fall as he rushes into the room, and William Shatner being abducted on-set by Ted Cassidy as a practical joke.
• Hit Me, Dammit! : Flavius is trying to avoid killing Bones and getting whipped for his trouble. Flavius: At least defend yourself! McCoy: I am defending myself! Flavius: Not like that, you fool! Hold your weapon higher!
• Claudius Marcus has a touch of this; because he respects Kirk's courage , he feels obliged to give Kirk a proper death, to the point that when his guards have Kirk's team surrounded at gunpoint, he insists they use their swords instead of just gunning them all down on the spot (though at the same time, using their guns would cause more deaths than just their targets; the soldiers are in each other's line-of-fire, Claudius included) .
• Marcus also knows that while the Enterprise has the power to rescue their men by force or lay waste to the entire planet, they won't do so because they've sworn to uphold the Prime Directive .
• I Have Your Wife : Kirk is told if he doesn't do as Merik did, Bones and Spock will be forced to fight to the death in the gladiator pits. Even threatened with this and with guns to his head, Kirk still refuses. Claudius Marcus is impressed by this show of character. Merik is rightfully ashamed.
• Inexplicable Cultural Ties : The Hand Wave we get is something called Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Development.
• Involuntary Battle to the Death : What could possess a man to battle another man to the death? Whips! Massive whips!
• Killed Mid-Sentence : Merik: Starship, lock in on this. Three to beam— (gasps as a Reveal Shot shows that the Proconsul has just stabbed him)
• Laugh Track : In the televised gladiatorial combats, the crowd's cheers and boos are mechanically produced. Bones even looks around in confusion when he hears the canned boos.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal : After Kirk impresses Claudius Marcus with his courage and integrity, Claudius Marcus can't help repeatedly mentioning how much better that makes him than Merik, who betrayed his oath and his crew to survive. Having his nose rubbed in his failings inspires Merik to help Kirk, at the cost of his own life.
• Mr. Fanservice : Just look at the damn picture.
• No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine : Claudius Marcus invites Kirk and company to eat with him, before he forces him into a Sadistic Choice at gun point.
• No Sense of Personal Space : Marcus is very happy taunting Kirk when the latter is handcuffed and trying to pretend Spock and Bones fighting other gladiators doesn't bother him.
• Not Distracted by the Sexy : While they do have a Sexy Discretion Shot later, Kirk initially shows little interest with Drusilla and her telling him she's his slave.
• Not So Stoic : Bones says the reason Spock is Not Afraid to Die is because he would no longer have to worry about losing his emotional control. Spock's lack of a snappy comeback implies he's hit a nerve. However when Bones goes on to say he wouldn't know what to do with a genuine feeling, Spock just gives a sardonic, "Really?" and Bones admits that he's worried about Kirk too.
• No Such Thing as Space Jesus : A subversion in the literal sense, as the planet is implied to have had an actual Jesus. ( If that's his name. He's called the Son of God, and Kirk calls him Christ note  Christ is a title meaning "an anointed one" and implying he's a descendant of King David , but we never hear his real name.) Beyond that, what exactly their version of him did, other than emphasize a commitment to total peace and a philosophy of love and brotherhood, doesn't get much coverage.
• The Oathbreaker : Kirk condemns Merik as one because he sold out his entire crew just to save his own life and gain luxuries. Merik doesn't deny a word of this, as he's long-resigned himself to it, although later Kirk's display of character helps bring him out of that... enough that at the end, his last act is to help them escape at the cost of his own life.
• Opponent Instruction : Spock and McCoy get forced into the arena to convince Kirk to submit to the villains' plans. Despite preferring a pacifistic approach, Spock keeps his opponent at bay easily, but McCoy, not being a Combat Medic , can barely manage. His opponent, a fairly Nice Guy who doesn't actually want to hurt him, starts trying to coach him during the match. Flavius: At least defend yourself! McCoy: [waving his arms in frustration and leaving himself vulnerable] I am defending myself!
• Playing Sick : They try the old faking sick trick. It works okay, despite Kirk not warning McCoy in advance that he was going to be the sick one, but they're quickly recaptured by another set of guards.
• Prime Directive : Unfortunately Merik has told Proconsul Marcus about it, so he knows Kirk can't just beam down a hundred men with phasers to blast him out. Scotty however has no problem with Loophole Abuse ; he decides to Cut the Juice as an Intimidation Demonstration , giving Kirk a chance to escape.
• Redemption Equals Death : In the end, Merik decides to help Kirk, Spock and McCoy escape, and is immediately killed for it by Claudius Marcus.
• Reluctant Warrior : Spock and McCoy are thrown into a death match against gladiator-style warriors on a new planet. While the alien opponent is coming at him with a sword, Spock constantly plays defensive, choosing to dodge the blows while insisting that he "does not want to injure" him, leading to the watching crowd concluding that "the pointy-eared barbarian" is about to get killed. However, when he notices that the much less action-oriented McCoy is in danger, Spock deals with his opponent in the space of a second and darts over to save his frenemy.
• Sarcasm Mode : McCoy while in the arena. Spock: Do you need some help, Doctor? McCoy: Whatever gave you that idea?
• Schizo Tech : Gladiator fights with swords are broadcast on television.
• Sexy Discretion Shot : Kirk makes smoochy face with Drusilla the Sex Slave . Pan up to chandelier. Pan down to Kirk sleeping alone. A line that was cut had Kirk drinking wine and saying "good," eating something and saying "excellent," and then — "And you?" and Drusilla says "Superb, I'm told."
• Shoot Out the Lock : After Spock fails to get through the carbon-steel bars of the prison cell with his Vulcan strength, Kirk shoots out the lock with a submachine gun. Kirk: Obsolete but effective.
• Scotty decides to kill the power as a show of force, as per The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) .
• Snark-to-Snark Combat : Spock and Bones are at it again! Even in the heat of combat, they manage to snark each other.
• Space Romans : The whole planet.
• Stern Sun Worshippers : The crew of the Enterprise are extremely surprised to find that the "Children of the Sun" are a peace-loving, egalitarian movement that is persecuted by the Roman Empire government. They discuss that most sun-cults are the exact opposite. The episode closes with the reveal that they are not worshippers of the sun , but rather son (of God), i.e., Jesus.
• Stock Footage : Stock footage shots of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco are used to depict the Roman capital. Given the use of Roman architecture in Western civilisation to portray power and authority, it works well.
• Sword and Gun : The Proconsul's Praetorian Guard are each armed with a gladius and a Madsen M-50 submachine gun. When they find themselves in a potential crossfire, they resort to their swords instead.
• Teleportation Rescue : Averted at first; having been warned about teleporters by Merik, Marcus marches in his guards to hold Kirk at gunpoint before allowing him to complete his transmission to Scotty. Merik later makes the call on Kirk's behalf, and by the time the guards pick up their submachine guns (having put them aside earlier) they're already beaming out.
• Think Nothing of It : Spock's reaction to Bones' Grudging "Thank You" .
• Thwarted Escape : Kirk tells Maximus to let the First Consul know that his old friend "Jim Kirk" is in prison. Unfortunately it works too well; when they later overpower the guards, they rush out into the corridor and find the First Consul and Proconsul waiting for them, along with all their bodyguards.
• Unusual Ears : Which gets Spock pegged as a 'barbarian'.
• Villain Ball : Claudius Marcus and Merik take Kirk and company aside and Explain to them that the crew of the Beagle were stranded in the planet after the ship broke up. Merik made arrangements with Marcus to integrate himself and a few willing members of his crew into Roman society, while keeping the secret of aliens from the general populace. The rest of the crew was executed in gladiatorial games, but that's the local culture and the solution is in line with the prime directive, if cruel. It kind of sucks that the planet practices slavery, but Kirk's mission is fulfilled and Marcus broadly agrees with the prime directive and had no interest getting his hands on alien tech. Then, Marcus demands that the Enterprise crew beam down so that they can be killed in gladiatorial games. Why? Because it would make great sport!
• Vitriolic Best Buds : Spock and McCoy, as usual. It gets lampshaded when Flavius, after seeing them argue, asks Kirk if they're enemies, and Kirk replies that even they don't know for sure.
• We Come In Peace : Flavius first instinct is to kill these uniformed strangers. Septimus: Keep always in your mind, Flavius, that our way is peace. McCoy: For which we are grateful, for we are men of peace ourselves.
• What Happened to the Mouse? ?: Merik said some of his crew were able to adapt to Roman society, but doesn't specify how. Did Kirk just leave them there, without checking to see for himself what their statuses were? There may have been some that wanted to get home, but were now trapped and did what they had to to survive.
• Whip of Dominance : Anyone who tries to get out of the gladiatorial combat gets whipped back into action.
• Star Trek S2 E24 "The Ultimate Computer"
• Recap/Star Trek: The Original Series
• Star Trek S2 E26 "Assignment: Earth"

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Review of “Bread and Circuses” Remastered

| June 7, 2007 | By: Kevin Ganster 36 comments so far

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What is the source of this, and when did Gene say it???

B&C also has the distinction of being the original series episode most preoccupied with religion. Given Roddenberry’s professed secular humanism, it gets surprisingly sympathetic treatment. Roddenberry once wrote: “I condemn false prophets, I condemn the effort to take away the power of rational decision, to drain people of their free will—and a hell of a lot of money in the bargain. Religions vary in their degree of idiocy, but I reject them all. For most people, religion is nothing more than a substitute for a malfunctioning brain.” Well! Not very IDIC of him, is it?

Nicely done review of what was probably, in spite of its many flaws, the best of the “Strange Old World”/parallel earth episodes that seemed to dominate parts of the second season. Let me just further note that the sharply-written taken on 20th century television (“Bring down this network’s ratings, Flavius, and we’ll do a ‘special’ on you!”) took satire in this franchise to heights it has rarely equaled since, and that for all of the sympathetic treatment of the “Sun Worshipers” as principled pacifists (not very reminiscient of even early Christians in that respect, truth be told), the show did not flinch from also depicting them as provincial and blissfully ignorant of the larger universe around them. Very courageous writing for the time, and one of the best examples of Roddenberry’s idea of using science fiction to comment on subjects that couldn’t be approached on network television more conventionally.

Excellent review Kevin and some good insights on the characters and the religious overtones. And I like the shout out to Uhura who gets her Twilight Zone moment reveal on the ‘son’ worshipers

One of my favorite Star Trek episodes. B&C, along with C.S. Lewis’ space trilogy, inspired me as a youth to write SF with a Christian bent (something I still do, including two episodes of a direct-to-DVD miniseries now in production). Glad to see it in the first batch of remastered episodes!

The quote from GR is actually two combined extracts from a discussion on religion from pages 118-119 of Gene Rodenberry, The Last Conversation, by Yvonne Fern. Published Pocket Books. The book features an extended conversation with GR before his passing, which reveals his brilliant intelligence and insights into the human condition. I have re-read it several times over the years. I’m very grateful to Ms. Fern for this book!

Should have wrote “Published by Pocket Books…”

It’s great to analyze this one. For all its (minor) flaws, it holds up better than many TV shows made today that are nothing more than stiff actors (David Caruso) connecting splosions and morbid murders beneath heavily processed film and lighting. This episode was written. Thoughts live here. Words are used to great effect. Actors look at the page and clearly can’t wait to get in front of the cameras. Nice review, Kevin. 1 Chris — hit Wikipedia.org and you’ll find lots more of Roddenberry’s anti-relious quotes. I’m not 100% sure he was an atheist, despite his protests. There are so many religious and themes of messiahs, resurrection and redemption in his later pilots, The Questor Tapes, Earth II and Genesis II, and even Earth: Final Contact. Anyone’s welcome to jump on that string… I have no problem if he was. I also giggle when Shatner, a Jewish actor, considers Christ and smiles.

Good review. Roddenberry: the last interview has his views, of course. And ome could ask; Why does everybody in the galaxy speak english? But that’s a necessity of TV. That and how obtrusive carrying universal translators everywhere would be.

UHURA I’m afraid you have it all wrong, all of you. I’ve been monitoring some of their old-style radio waves, the empire spokesman trying to ridicule their religion, but he couldn’t. Well, don’t you understand? It’s not the sun up in the sky. It’s the son of God.

KIRK Caesar … and Christ, they had them both. And the word is spreading only now.

McCOY A philosophy of total love and total brotherhood.

SPOCK It will replace their imperial Rome, but it will happen in their 20th century.

KIRK Wouldn’t it be something to watch, to be a part of? To see it happen all over again?

Enough said.

I think you need to re-read your history of the early Christian martyrs. Nero made human candles of hundreds, if not thousands, after Rome burned. Nero himself is thought to have set the fire as an excuse to slaughter the Christians and their rival allegiance, not to mention to clear land for his building program.

^7 I have long believed that moment to be one of Shatner’s finest. Not only do I think it possible he might truly agree with the sentiment, it points to an age, not so long ago, when it was possible to see the good in all without front-loaded political ideologies as in today’s neo-Leninist Political Correctness.

Christ reformed Rome through his death and set the stage for the world as we know it today. It is a shame that fallen Man could not use this inestimable gift more perfectly, but the world of Bread and Circuses is the world we would have absent Christ’s visit to us some 1,980 years ago. If Paul nee Saul, a killer and proud of it, could be convinced to repent of his bloody ways and preach the Word, perhaps it is possible for the rest of us.

As for Roddenberry’s ever-changing view of religion and Christianity in particular, well it seems self-serving to me. He is a known adulterer; a playboy before it was fashionable; he dabbled in drugs; an ego-maniac by anyone’s standards… Born a Methodist, married in a Budhist ceremony, later a blind, zealous follower of John Dewey’s Secular Humanism, one forms the impression that Roddenberry hated himself more than he hated God, and spent his whole life trying to stick it in God’s eye. In the end, he destroyed only himself and those poor slobs who took their cues from his dreary and banal television programming (e.g., ST:TNG etc.).

As for TOS, it could not help but be infused with the Christian ethos, it being a product of its time. And that is the ultimate irony of the would-be atheistic Gene Roddenberry, The Man Who Would Be His Own God.

On the origins of religious secularism and related issues often seen in Roddenberry Trek: http://www.belcherfoundation.org/programming_the_judicial_machines.htm

Under “Quibble and Bits,” I would add: What about the remainder of the crew of Merik’s ship? Merik states that those of his crew who have adapted to this world are still alive…Maybe Kirk sent a team of red shirts down to pick them up…?

And what about the phasers, communicators, tricorder, medical kit, etc. left behind by Kirk, Spock and McCoy?

Steve Johnson

The beam out is one of my favorite scenes in all of Trek.

I like Kirk’s statement in “Who Mourns for Adonais?”: “Mankind has no need for gods. We find the one quite adequate.”

As a young, Christian teen watching this episode in the 70s, I saw it as a validation of my beliefs.

Later, I realized that for all of Hodgkins Law acting on this one planet, you could look at this episode as rather a repudiation of the truth of Christianity. After all, it doesn’t seem as though Christ appeared on (or at least was an obvious influence on) all the other worlds the Enterprise visited. What conclusion can we draw from that? Christ is only the Son of God on a couple of planets in the galaxy? Christ was only necessary for the salvation of two planets? Earthlings are to preach the Christian gospel to all the planets bereft of God? What?

I realize that religious discussion on a Trek forum is as loaded as political discussion, but discussion of the subtext of this episode is almost impossible without mentioning religion! For what it’s worth, I’m still a Christian, but I respect the rights of all to believe as they choose. I’m not here to proselytize, just calmly chat about Trek.

Scott B. out.

#14 is consistent with IDIC; #10 is not.

I also wanted to say I think this is the best review I have read on this site, and there have been some good ones. It was devoted to the episode and not to an attempt to show the writer’s cleverness or wit. It was respectful of the material while being critical of it; it used criticism in a mind-expanding use of the word. The review shed light on the distinct strengths of the episode, which makes viewing it a better and deeper experience. The review surveyed all the aspects of the episode, from characters, ideas in the story, and production values. All in all a superb review. Thank you Mr. Ganster!

#13, “We find the one quite sufficient”. I thought of the same thing when I read the above review. I hadn’t remembered that line until I saw the episode recently. It’s nice to know that religion (of some monotheistic variety) hasn’t been completely swept away in the future.

I always loved Larry Norman\’s song, U.F.O. – lyrics applicable to some of the above comments:

He\’s an unidentified flying object you will see Him in the air He\’s an unidentified flying object you will drop your hands and stare you will be afraid to tell your neighbors they might think that it\’s not true but when they open up the morning papers they will know they\’ve seen Him, too

He will come back like He promised with the price already paid He will gather up His followers and take them all away

He\’s an unidentified flying object He will sweep down from the sky He\’s an unidentified flying object some will sleep but will not die He\’s an unidentified flying object coming back to take you home He\’s an unidentified flying object He will role away your stone

and if there\’s life on other planets then I\’m sure that He must know and He\’s been there once already and has died to save their souls

He\’s an unidentified flying object you will see Him in the air He\’s an unidentified flying object you will drop your hands and stare He\’s an unidentified flying object coming back to take you Home He\’s an unidentified flying object He will role away your stone

I don’t think it was me – only that last verse, but not the last chorus, was supposed to be bold.

Old-Timey, your armchair psychoanalysis of Gene Roddenberry–not to mention your less-than-(Christian?) charitable assessment of the character of the man who brought so much enjoyment and inspiration to millions, including yourself–is, to put it in terms no more polite than you deserve, a crock.

As for the history, once again I believe you’re rather confused. My point was not that the early Christians weren’t severely persecuted by the Roman authorities–indeed they were–but that they weren’t for the most part the sort of gentle pacifists depicted in “Bread and Circuses.” Indeed, once they converted the emperors Constantine and Theodosius to their cause and established Christianity as the new state religion, followers of the Galilean proceeded to persecute “heretics” (and even each other) in doctrinal disputes that date from the earliest days of the Roman Church, in a manner that would have mortified their gentle Savior, just as it surely would have amused His tormentors. No wonder Julian the Apostate tried to turn Rome back to paganism–as a learned man, schooled in the Bible as well as the greatest works of classical literature and philosophy, he couldn’t abide the hypocrisy of a religious movement that claimed everything of importance lay in the next world while at the same time amassing treasure and state power in this one. A military genius and Rome’s last great general, he won an unbroken series of victories in the field until one his own generals, a Christian, reportedly murdered him.

We’re agreed that what we are now is very much the result of what they did then. I’m just not sure how as a Christian that’s anything for you to be proud of.

Religion was a HUGE part of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Bajorans, Klingons, Ferengi… all three races had numerous episodes dealing with their religous beliefs. Even Sisko’s father quotes the bible in one episode. Religion certainly has its place in Trek.

Trek is actually in favour of logic and science. Gods and worship in Trek are often ridiculed, especially in Star Trek the Next Generations ‘Who Watches The Watchers?’.

Favourite Trek line ever comes from ST5

“What does God need with a starship”?

When Trek does delve into religion, science inevitably provides an answe, the prophets were wormhole aliens and gods in general are always powerful (often malevolent) aliens.

I had always assumed that, in Star Trek, that every member of Starfleet carried (or had implanted) a Universal Translator that allowed them to instantly speak and understand most languages. In fact, given the reactions of the crew in certain situations, I had also assumed that the Federation did not speak English. How many times did we see a telepathic species send a message to the bridge, only to see a conversation similar to this:

“Amazing… the message was sent in Vulcan.” “No Mr. Spock. It was perfect English.” “You’re both wrong. It was Swahili.” “But… I heard it in Russian!”

The fact that everyone on board still spoke (and thought) in their mother tongue, and that to hear it (including English) from an alien was a big deal, I assumed that there was a common language adopted by the UFP, spoken by all races, assisted by the Universal Translators.

They allude to this further in ST:VI when Kirk mentions to the alien on Rurha Penthe that, “the Universal Translator’s been confiscated” (indicating he had it with him when he beamed from the Enterprise to Kronos 1). It also appears that while the UTs are effective, that they can be easily identified when in use, which led to the humous Klingon translation scene in that same movie.

So… the citizens of Maga Roma didn’t necessarily speak English… but the crew (and viewers) all understood what they were speaking due to the UTs.

It’s good to have a Babelfish in one’s ear!

#23 — In the unedited version of the episiode, Spock notes not once, but twice, that the inhabitants are speaking English, another example, he says, of Hodgkins Law of Parallel Plantery Development.

I have to admit I was preparied to dislike your review but I have to admit you were right, dead on right on all accounts! This is one of my favorite episodes- in the top 3- and you did it proud, Thanks for a great job.

For the most part, Star Trek has leaned more to the secular humanism (humanoidism?) side than the Christian. The moralistic elements were there (we will not kill, today) at least in the series’ . The movies were a little less concerned with those ideals (I have had…enough…of…you…). Speaking of saviors, Vulcan had its own version of Christ in the form of Surak. Witness Spock’s reaction to his image in “The Savage Curtain.” Surak saved Vulcan from savagery with non-violent logic. It begs the larger question of, if there really are aliens, how this concept applies to them. Does each race have its own version of Christ? Would the aliens be so different that concepts like sin and salvation do not apply to them but only to humans? As far as what language they speaking in Star Trek: In “Tomorrow is Yesterday”, Capt. Christopher states to Kirk: “You speak English.” Kirk says “that’s right”.

This was a superb review, enhancing my enjoyment of the episode. Thanks for the time and effort spent writing it.

Ditto Granger!

Great review of a very fun episode!!!!!!!!

Great review! As for Shatner “agreeing with the sentiment” about being excited about another Christ, Shatner is Jewish so I have my doubts about that.

In either Whitfield’s The Making of Star Trek or Gerrold’s The World of Star Trek there’s a line about there being an assumption that universal translators are “sewn into the pants leg” of uniforms (no idea where they are on Starfleet miniskirts) and are constantly translating alien/foreign languages into something understandable by the crew. Trek at least tried to address this issue but they were inconsistent about it.

I do think the anti-religious bent in TOS and much of later Trek (see TNG’s “Who Watches the Watchers”) is very clear and DS9’s approach was kind of the exception that proves the rule. In any case, this is definitely one of my favorite episodes.

After the Altman “Patterns of Force” catastrophe a couple weeks ago, I admit I was concerned about this review and whether the reviewer would address Trek’s most direct examination of Christianity without diatribes, insults, or political commentary. I am happy to say that Kevin Ganster’s funny, thoughtful, and even-handed review completely assuaged my fears. Bravo.

One wonders how much of the episode Roddenberry actually had anything to do with, given the contrast between B&C’s generally positive portrayal of Christianity and Roddenberry’s supposed anti-religion beliefs. Look at Kirk’s face, the tone of his voice, when he utters the line “Wouldn’t it be something to watch, to be a part of? To see it happen all over again?” It’s perhaps the Shat’s best moment as an actor – he conveys an almost startling impression of awe and reverence. Combined with the above-mentioned line from “Who Mourns For Adonis,” it does offer some evidence that the 23rd century may not be as entirely free of faith as some “humanists” may like to think.

It would be interesting to key some of Roddenberry’s famous anti-religion quotes to the specific times in his life when he expressed them, and put them back into the context to get the whole story. Might be illuminating.

I’m assuming Roddenberry came up with the basic story for Bread & Circuses and Coon wrote the script. As for the Who Mourns For Adonais? line, remember that the “we find the one sufficient” was added at the request of the network standards and practices division–the original line was simply “We’ve grown too old for gods.”

This is one of my favorite TOS episodes, but watching it again, I was cringing at the oil lamps used for lighting. Wha? 20th Century Rome with oil lamps? Not very efficient lighting, inconvenient, and dangerous.

Just a nitpick.

Great review and quite an insightful set of comments. This ep plays better than I remember it. TOS could pull something like this off- something Voyager could NEVER get away with.

This is a pretty good episode. Sure, the parallel evolution of a Roman Empire that doesn’t fall is absurd… just as the “Miri” planet with identical continents was absurd. Or a gangster planet that came about from imitating a book.

But it works. They weren’t trying to write a series that would still be cross-examined 40 years later and fit in with a complicated tapestry of future history, they were trying to write an imaginative TV series and incidentally trying to keep costs down by using stuff that already existed on backlots.

Something that struck me was, the slave costumes would be a rather simple and yet subtle touch at a Trek convention. Grey t-shirt with that chain symbol, gray paints, dark shoes, and you’re ready to go! And you could always add a sword to help people “get it.”

“In Trekdom, science always triumphs over religion, and is often ridiculed in a way reminiscent of Roddenberry’s above quote. ”

Star Trek often ridicules science?

The History Of The Romulans, And Their Place In The Star Trek Universe

"Star Trek" is home to countless alien races, but few have as enduring a presence in the franchise as the Romulans. They're the most persistent adversaries of the Federation, so much so that blue-tinted Romulan Ale remains under trade embargo. This hostility makes it all the more ironic that they resemble humanity's first alien allies, the Vulcans , sharing their pointed ears and arched eyebrows.

The in-universe origin of the Romulans is that they were Vulcans, millennia ago. In that distant past, the Vulcans were a warlike people, far from the cold logicians that fans know. That changed when (in Earth's 4th century), the philosopher Surak taught his people to embrace logic and master their emotions. Not all Vulcans accepted Surak's teachings; "Those Who March Beneath The Raptor's Wings" were eventually exiled from Vulcan. These dissident Vulcans settled on the twin planets Romulus and Remus, evolving into the Romulans and personifying a violent path not taken by their Vulcan cousins.

"Star Trek" is big on allegory — the interstellar powers represent the geopolitics of the 20th century. The Federation is the United States of America, a democracy of many member states. As the Federation's most pressing rival, the Klingon Empire is the Soviet Union. The Romulan Star Empire is China, a "sleeping dragon" superpower.

So, why have the Romulans endured as a crucial part of "Star Trek" history — and what does their role in that history look like?

Romulans in the Original Series

The Romulans were created by writer Paul Schneider, debuting in the season 1 episode "Balance of Terror." The episode features the Enterprise reacting to the destruction of outposts along the Romulan Neutral Zone; the culprit is a Romulan ship armed with a cloaking device. The Romulans flee back home while the Enterprise pursues its invisible quarry in a cat-and-mouse game.

This episode established the Romulan Star Empire had fought humanity in a devastating war a century ago. The war ended with a Neutral Zone established between the two parties' territories. Notably, no human had ever seen a Romulan in this time (or at least, no human who survived to tell about it). That means the Enterprise crew is stunned when they discover their adversaries are identical to Vulcans. The Romulans' exact backstory isn't spelled out, but Spock (Leonard Nimoy) speculates they are a Vulcan offshoot who retained his ancestors' warlike ways.

Schneider modeled the Romulans on the Romans; their twin homeworlds are named for the mythical founders of Rome and they employ ranks like "Centurion." Interviewed for "The Captains' Logs" by authors Edward Gross and Mark Altman , Schneider explained: "I came up with the concept of the Romulans which was an extension of the Roman civilization to the point of space travel, and it turned out quite well."

The Romulans' ship, dubbed a "Bird of Prey" due to the hawk painted on its underbelly, also created an association between the Romulans and birds. By "Star Trek: The Next Generation," their imperial insignia had evolved into a stylized raptor. Their ancestors' moniker, "Those Who March Beneath The Raptor's Wings," was probably extrapolated from this connection too by writer André Bormanis (the name first appears in "Star Trek: Enterprise" episode, "Awakening," written by Bormanis).

Further appearances

"Balance of Terror" is one of the most acclaimed episodes of "Star Trek: The Original Series." It was even semi-remade for the season 1 finale of "Strange New Worlds," titled "A Quality of Mercy." The unnamed Romulan Commander (played by Mark Lenard, who would go on to play Spock's father, Sarek) is an especially well-remembered villain, predating Khan Noonien Singh as the first worthy adversary of Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and the Enterprise. Even with his last words, he retains dignity and honor: "I regret that we meet in this way. You and I are of a kind. In a different reality, I could have called you friend."

Despite this dynamite debut, the Romulans made only two more appearances in "The Original Series." They are the antagonists of the season 2 episode "The Deadly Years," about the Enterprise crew succumbing to premature aging. However, only their ships are seen, not the Romulans themselves. They make a second and final onscreen appearance in season 3's "The Enterprise Incident" ( written by the legendary D.C. Fontana ). In this episode, Spock seduces a Romulan commander (Joanne Linville) while Kirk poses as a Romulan officer to steal her ship's cloaking device.

According to "The Art of Star Trek" by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, "Romulans were originally intended to be more of an ongoing threat to the crew of the Enterprise, but the make-up requirements proved too expensive. Klingons were cheaper." Note how, in "Balance of Terror" and "The Enterprise Incident," Romulan extras often wear ear-concealing helmets — an easy way to bypass make-up expenses.

The Romulans had only minor roles in the six theatrical "Star Trek" films featuring the original cast. They were rejected as villains of the third film, "The Search for Spock," again in favor of the Klingons (this is why the Klingons in that film have a cloaked ship called a Bird of Prey).

The Rihannsu

During the 1980s, the Romulans took center-stage in "Rihannsu," a five-novel series written primarily by Diane Duane (Peter Morwood co-authored the second, "The Romulan Way.") Published from 1984 to 2006, the novels invented a culture and language for the Romulans wholesale; they are technically not "Trek" canon but remain acclaimed for their world-building.

"Rihannsu" ("The Declared") is the Romulans' native name for themselves, akin to how German people call their nation "Deutschland," the Japanese call theirs "Nippon," etc. They are driven by "D'era," an expansionist impulse akin to Manifest Destiny, and "Mnhei'sahe" (ruling passion), a complex code of conduct that is foremost a rejection of the Vulcan system of logic.

"Mnhei'sahe" is weighed by one's personal strength and devotion to the Empire. Romulans seek power not for personal benefit per se, but because greater power serves the Empire. Selflessness is an alien concept to the Romulans; do things for the sake of your own Mnhei'sahe and others will benefit in the process. "Mnhei'sahe" spreads its claws even into simple Romulan social interactions, where the ideal outcome is for both parties to depart with their honor intact.

Much of Duane's other additions are inferences based on "Balance of Terror" and "The Enterprise Incident." Akin to Rome, the Romulans are an Oligarchic Republic; a Praetor is elected by the Senate itself, not the people at large. "The Enterprise Incident" showed a Romulan woman with a high military rank. So, "Rihannsu" gave the Romulan society a matriarchial tilt; a Romulan's family lineage is derived from their mother, not their father.

Much of "Rihannsu" is a holdover from the suggestion in "Star Trek: The Original Series" that Romulans were a warrior culture. For instance, their society has a semi-feudal system with a strong emphasis on family affiliation. Canon material would take a different path, showing Romulans as militant but not exactly honorable.

The Next Generation

In "Star Trek: The Next Generation," the Klingons were now good guys (mostly). They also became the go-to warrior race of "Star Trek"; Klingon society took on Viking and Samurai characteristics, where war, personal honor, and feudal affiliation were everything.

The Romulans became less and less the noble Roman-esque adversaries that Schneider had conceived of, with "TNG" instead highlighting their duplicity (with the cloaking devices) and isolationism. Thus, the stereotypical traits of Romulans became paranoia, deception, and xenophobia.

The Romulans were reintroduced in "TNG" season 1 finale, "The Neutral Zone," where it's said they had stayed out of galactic affairs for much of the 24th century. The episode (where several of their colonies are destroyed by the to-be-revealed Borg) awakens them. Creator Gene Roddenberry had initially not wanted to use the Romulans, but poor reception to the Ferengi meant the Federation needed a new adversary. Thus, the Romulans became the most frequent alien antagonist in the series; the Federation and Klingons were united as their enemies. Recurring Romulan villains included Tomalak (Andreas Katsulas) and Sela (Denise Crosby).

The most notable additions to the Romulans in "TNG" included V-shaped forehead ridges (dimorphic evolution from their Vulcan cousins), the D'deridex Class (enormous green warships descended from the Birds-of-Prey from "The Original Series"), and the Tal Shiar, Romulus' secret police.

Romulan highlights in "TNG" include "The Defector" (a Romulan military officer defects to the Federation) and "Reunification" (where Ambassador Spock has begun a push on Romulus for the two peoples to be one again).

The Next Generation (cont'd)

The Romulans weren't as prominent in "Deep Space Nine" as in "The Next Generation," but that series featured them finally uniting with the Federation. While the Federation and Klingons fight a losing war with the expansionist Dominion, the Romulans initially stay on the sidelines.

In the season 6 episode, "In The Pale Moonlight," Captain Sisko (Avery Brooks) and Garak (Andrew Robinson) falsify evidence of the Dominion's plans to invade Romulus and try to sway Senator Vreenak (Stephen McHattie). When their deception is revealed, Garak (with Sisko none the wiser until it's done) pulls a move the Romulans would be proud of: he assassinates Vreenak and frames the Dominion. Thus, the Romulans join the war as allies, and remain so until the series' end.

The Romulans finally got a silver screen spotlight in "Star Trek: Nemesis," the final "TNG" theatrical film. The Romulan Senate is assassinated by a bio-weapon and a new Praetor, Shinzon (Tom Hardy), seizes power. It turns out Shinzon is a failed clone of Picard, the product of an aborted spying operation. The biggest wrinkle "Nemesis" introduces to the Romulans is the Remans. Playing on the pre-established twin planets Romulus and Remus, the grey-skinned Remans are a slave race, toiling as forced laborers and shock troops.

The film skimps on the details of Reman history, so viewers can surmise they evolved on Remus and were subjugated by the Romulans. However, the novel trilogy "Vulcan's Soul" by Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz builds on the Remans displaying telepathy like the Vulcans (which the Romulans have always lacked). In this telling, the Remans were Vulcan exiles who refused to give up their telepathy and so were oppressed by the future Romulans; their appearance stems from the poor living conditions on Remus.

Looking to the past

"Star Trek: Enterprise" was a prequel set in the 22nd century, beginning before first contact between humans and Romulans. That event was depicted in the season 2 episode "Minefield," when the Enterprise stumbles into Romulan territory and is disabled by a cloaked minefield. True to canon, only the Romulans' ships are seen in the episode.

The Romulans finally took a larger role in season 4. The three-parter, "The Forge/Awakening/Kir'Shara" was about a Vulcan conspiracy to invade the Andorians. The ending revealed that Vulcan Administrator V'Las (Robert Foxworth) was in league with the Romulans and secretly working towards reunification. A subsequent three-parter, "Babel One/United/The Aenar," featured the Romulans as the explicit villains. A Romulan drone-ship, equipped with a holographic projector and controlled by Admiral Valore (Brian Thompson), attacked ships throughout the Alpha Quadrant to ferment dissent (the story begins with it destroying an Andorian ship while disguised as a Tellarite one, it later destroys a Rigellian freighter while disguised as Enterprise, etc.). However, the attacks only wind up bringing the targeted races together.

"Enterprise" established a firm timeframe for the Earth-Romulan War: 2156 to 2160. Moreover, the war was revealed as the event that brought the Federation together; Humans, Vulcans, Andorians, and Tellarites united in a military alliance against Romulan expansionism and never broke apart. The Romulans' increased presence in season 4 was building up to the war, but unfortunately, "Enterprise" was canceled before subsequent seasons could depict it. Thus, the Earth-Romulan War remains undepicted onscreen, confined to novels "Beneath The Raptor's Wings" and "To Brave The Storm" (both by Michael A. Martin).

The home world destroyed

Romulans were again the villains of a "Star Trek" film in director JJ Abrams' eponymous reboot. In the year 2387, Romulus and Remus are destroyed when their star goes supernova, shattering the Empire. Spock manages to contain the explosion with the substance Red Matter, opening a wormhole that sends him back in time to the 23rd century. Following him is the Romulan mining vessel the Narada, captained by vengeful Captain Nero (Eric Bana) — his name is another allusion to ancient Rome . 

The Narada's presence creates an alternate timeline; Nero and his men destroy Vulcan with Red Matter before being defeated themselves. Nero and the Narada's crew stand out from other Romulans thanks to their shaved heads and tattoos; the admittedly non-canon comic "Star Trek: Countdown" suggests this is part of a mourning ritual. Normally the tattoos would fade, but Nero and his crew burnt them into their skin to ensure they'd never forget the loss of their home.

"Star Trek" returned to the "TNG" era with "Picard" and followed on from this point. It turns out that Starfleet offered to help evacuate Romulus, but after an attack on Mars, reneged on the plan; Picard himself resigned in disgust. The Romulans are far from extinct though. The Empire has collapsed into warring factions, one of which is the Romulan Free State. According to "Star Trek: Discovery," Vulcan/Romulan reunification will have become a reality by the 31st century. The groups remain culturally divided, but they again exist on the same planet, renamed from Vulcan to "Ni'var" (meaning two combined into one).

Romulan worldbuilding

Michael Chabon, showrunner of "Picard" season 1, also shared (via Medium) worldbuilding notes on the Romulans . These presumably influenced his onscreen depiction of them. Chabon writes that the Romulans are such secretive people that there is nothing more intimate to them than the truth; marriages have three participants because there must be third-party verification in everything.

The Romulan government is organized like an espionage network, with multiple competing cells, while Romulans all have four names: the common name (used for familiarity), imperial name (the state-recognized name), open name (for outsiders), and their true name (used only for close intimacy). Chabon suggests that a rumored reason for the Romulans' secrecy is the abundance of camouflaged predators on their adopted homeworld; their cloaked warbirds are modeled on a raptor whose plumage blends into the horizon.

Not all depictions of the Romulans totally align — compare Duane's Rihannsu to Chabon's Romulans. However, they all draw upon "The Original Series" and make inferences from there. "Star Trek" writers and fans aren't much different; they both take canon material and expand on it with some imagination.

"Star Trek" and its spin-offs are streaming on Paramount+.

Romulan Star Empire

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The Romulan Star Empire (or simply, the Romulan Empire ) has been a major galactic power since the 22nd century and is the traditional government of the Romulan people and their subject worlds and species.

For most of recorded interstellar history, the Empire has been known for its xenophobic character and policies of extreme secrecy and territorial protectionism. The Hobus supernova of 2387 , and the ensuing destruction of Romulus , threw the Empire into a great deal of turmoil, encompassing several civil wars, territorial separation, reunification and re-constitution.

Since then, a new capital was established on Rator III , where Sela eventually proclaimed herself Empress in 2408 . However, after her disappearance in 2409 , the status of Rator III as capital was challanged by Romulan and Reman fugitives who strive for an eventual re-unification with the Vulcans and have founded a new faction - the Romulan Republic - on New Romulus .

• 3.1 Current head of state
• 3.2 Former heads of state
• 4.1 Starships
• 4.2 Ground Forces
• 4.4 Gallery
• 8 External links

Culture [ | ]

Romulan society is secretive and xenophobic. Romulan intellectuals thrive on deceit and subterfuge, and they favor more of a cunning approach to battle rather than sheer brute force, and this is reflected in the fact that most Romulan vessels have cloaking technology.

History [ | ]

Emblem of the Romulan Star Empire.

• Hakeev oversees Imperial Forces during the invasion of Virinat from his flagship, the I.R.W. Khnial . ( “Flight from Virinat” ) In a broadcast to the citizens of the Romulan Star Empire, Sela blames the Romulan Republic for the destruction of the colony on Virinat . ( “Shadow Play” )
• Tal Shiar have taken over Gasko Station and work on Borg technology there. ( “Gasko Blues” )
• A Tal Shiar fleet that engages the player in orbit of Nimbus III , which hosts the Tal Shiar facility Installation 18 . ( “Installation 18” )
• Listening Post Hephaestus is discovered, where Hakeev and Janek are present spying on various powers in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. Janek raises concerns over the lives lost during their operations on the planet.
• It is discovered that Hakeev and the Tal Shiar are working for the Iconians , who have put Hakeev in charge of an arena on Nopada Prime in order to test the weaknesses of Alpha Quadrant species. ( “Coliseum” )
• In 2409 Romulan and Reman fugitives under D'Tan and Obisek , opposing Sela and the Tal Shiar , are motivated by the new vacuum of power. Together they found the Romulan Republic , a peaceful faction open towards the Federation and the Klingons, with New Romulus as its capital.
• In order to dissuade the Federation from its alliance with the Romulan Republic, Sela holds a peace conference between the Star Empire and the Federation in the Agrama System ; however, the conference is a cover for an attack on Vulcan . ( “Empress Sela” )
• Sela and Colonel Hakeev attempt to brainwash Romulan Republic players into working for the Tal Shiar. ( “Mind Game” )
• In the Delta Corvi System the I.R.W. Leahval attempts to take fugitive Reman Vrimek into custody. ( “Cloak and Dagger” )
• In the Iconia System , Sela demands Federation players to deliver Taris to the Star Empire her role in the destruction of Romulus . However, the player instead transfers Taris to the U.S.S. Belfast to be given a Federation trial. ( “Taris” )
• Obisek kills Hakeev following the Reman Resistance's victory over the Tal Shiar in the Brea System . Sela then engages the attackers in the I.R.W. Leahval . After Sela is defeated she disappears as a mysterious vessel tows the Leahval through an Iconian gateway . The resulting power vacuum plunges the Empire even deeper into civil war and causes more elements of the remaining Imperial fleet to break away and defect. ( “Cutting the Cord” )
• Khiana of the Tal Shiar attempts to do a deal with D'Tan in order to influence the Romulan Republic and secure new leadership of the Tal Shiar, which has been in chaos in the absence of Sela and Hakeev. ( “Hidden Camera” )

Politics and government [ | ]

Empress Sela

The Romulan Star Empire used to be ruled by the Romulan Senate and the Continuing Committee , both of which were overseen by the Praetor . In 2408 , the Romulan Star Empire was transformed into a monarchy ruled by self-proclaimed Empress Sela on Rator III . She enjoyed the support of the Empire's noble houses but it is not clear if the Romulan Senate has been dissolved by the latest reforms.

Current head of state [ | ]

• Vacant since Empress Sela 's disappearance in 2409 and detention by the Romulan Republic in 2410

Former heads of state [ | ]

• Praetor/Empress Sela - 2403-2408 Praetor, 2408-2409 Empress
• Praetor Taris - 2388-2403 (first praetor of the newly constituted Romulan Star Empire)
• Praetor Chulan - 2385-2387 (last praetor of the pre-Hobus Romulan Star Empire)
• Praetor Tal'aura - 2379-2384
• Praetor Shinzon (only for a short period in 2379 after the Reman coup d'état)
• Praetor Hiren - late 2370s-2379
• Praetor Neral - 2360s-2370s

Military [ | ]

The military arm of the Empire is known as the Romulan Star Navy . It is overseen by the Tal Shiar .

Starships [ | ]

Ground Forces [ | ]

Bosses [ | ], gallery [ | ].

Romulan ground forces

Centurion - an officer

Centurion Medic

Commander of Romulan ground forces

Space [ | ]

• Romulan Star Empire sectors
• Romulan Star Empire systems
• Romulan Star Empire planets

Notes [ | ]

• The Romulan Star Empire is based on the Roman Empire . The former capital planets Romulus and Remus are named for the founders of Rome .
• In Star Trek: Picard, the Romulan Star Empire no longer exists: instead, there is a successor known as Romulan Free State.

See Also [ | ]

• Romulan Republic

External links [ | ]

• Romulan Star Empire at Memory Alpha , the Star Trek Wiki.
• 1 Gold-Pressed Latinum
• 3 Playable starship

The Untold Truth Of Star Trek's Romulans

Star Trek   gives good bad guy. Since  Star Trek: The Original Series'  ( TOS)  premiere in 1966, Gene Roddenberry and his colleagues have brought us lots of memorable recurring antagonists. There are the warlike Klingons, the trickster Q, and the relentless Borg — but before most of  Trek 's repeat villains came the Romulans. 

Only appearing in a few of the original series' episodes and making minor appearances in the original crew's films, the Romulans were nonetheless remembered when the  Trek  franchise was revived with  Star Trek: The Next Generation   ( TNG ). For most of their time onscreen, the Romulans have been Cold War -like opponents. They plot, they assassinate, and they threaten, but they rarely make open war on Starfleet. But when they do open fire? Well, nine times out of ten, the Romulans only let slip the proverbial dogs of war after their work in the shadows has made their victory seemingly inevitable. 

Unlike Starfleet, the Romulan military and secret agents have few moral qualms about dealing with other species, and their mercilessness helps breed paranoia within their ranks. They'll do anything to get ahead, and assume everyone they meet is just as willing. Their paranoia sometimes proves more than accurate, as even some of the most idealistic members of Starfleet have taken a break from their usual ethical high ground when dealing with the sons and daughters of Romulus. 

For more about one of  Star Trek 's oldest powers, keep reading for the untold truth of the Romulans.

Their creation was inspired by ancient Rome

According to commentary on the  TOS  season 1 Blu-ray, the idea for the Romulans came from writer Paul Schneider, who wanted worthy adversaries for Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and was inspired by the Roman Empire . 

Romulans make their first appearance in the  TOS  season 1 episode "Balance of Terror." We learn that after a bloody conflict with the Romulans, a peace treaty was forged between them and the Federation via subspace radio. The treaty establishes a neutral zone in which neither side's ships are allowed to enter. A map is displayed to the  Enterprise  crew that shows the planets Romulus and Remus on the opposite side of the zone. 

Romulus was the legendary founder of Rome. In Roman myth, Romulus and his brother Remus are born to a mortal woman, Rhea Silvia, who mates with Mars — the god of war. Left for dead by their uncle Amulius' servants, the twins are saved by a wolf. They're eventually raised by shepherds and, upon growing to adulthood and learning the truth about who they are, they kill their uncle and seek a place to start their own kingdom. There are different versions of how it happens, but at some point in the tale Romulus usually kills Remus in a dispute over where their new kingdom is to be founded. 

Considering the treachery and violence we've seen the Romulans are capable of, if nothing else Schneider picked fitting names for their worlds. 

Romulans are an offshoot of Vulcans

When the  Enterprise  first encounters Romulans, they're the first humans to actually see the race, and their physical similarities to Vulcans leaves some crew members questioning Spock's (Leonard Nimoy) loyalty. Their similar features aren't a coincidence — Romulans are an offshoot of the Vulcan species.

Centuries before the events of Star Trek  when the Vulcans begin to purge their emotions in pursuit of pure logic, not everyone plays ball. Some Vulcans reject the new ideas, and after a bloody war they leave to create their own society on Romulus and Remus. 

Romulans, however, are not   just Vulcans on a different planet. Millenia of genetic drift created many subtle variations in their physiological makeup. They still share pointed ears, but there are some obvious differences, like the prominent ridges on Romulans' foreheads. There are less obvious differences too, which Dr. Crusher learns in the  TNG  episode "The Enemy," when she unsuccessfully tries to heal an injured Romulan by treating him as if he were a Vulcan.

Predictably there are Romulans like TNG 's Sela (Denise Crosby) who feel nothing but contempt for Vulcans. But some feel a strong kinship toward their less passionate cousins. In the  TOS  episode "The Enterprise Incident," the Romulan Commander (Joanne Linville) admires and and is attracted to Spock. In the  TNG  two-parter "Unification," it's feared that Spock has defected to Romulus, when in fact he's there meeting the members of a growing movement of Romulans who wish to reunite with their Vulcan ancestors. 

One of the first onscreen Romulans was Spock's dad... kind of

If you're more familiar with the original crew movies than with  TOS , or more familiar with  TNG , then you may be surprised to learn who played the first onscreen Romulan Commander: Mark Lenard, who would later appear in "Journey to Babel" as Spock's father Sarek. Lenard reprised the role of Sarek in  TNG , in a number of the original crew movies, and even lent his voice to Sarek in  Star Trek: The Animated Series . But before he played Sarek, he played the unnamed Romulan Commander in "The Balance of Terror." 

Speaking to  Starlog  (via MyStarTrekScrapbook ) in 1984, Lenard said the Romulan Commander role was the second time he'd gone up for a part on  TOS . And while the second time proved the charm as far as getting on the series was concerned, it would take a third try before he got to meet any of the series regulars. In "Balance of Terror," all of the communication between his character and the  Enterprise  crew takes place on a viewscreen, so there was never any need for him to be in the same space. It wasn't until he returned as Sarek that he was able to meet the intrepid crew.

Lenard wasn't the only Romulan in that episode to return later as a Vulcan. Lawrence Montaigne, who plays the ambitious Romulan officer Decius in "Balance of Terror," returns as the Vulcan Stonn in season 2's "Amok Time." 

The Romulans boast a number of secret cabals

One of the reasons so many Romulans remain loyal to their government is the Tal Shiar — a powerful secret police that conducts clandestine operations both inside the Romulan Empire and against Romulus' rivals. They kidnap, torture, assassinate, and don't lose much sleep over any of it. 

The Tal Shiar is first mentioned in  TNG but becomes more visible in  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ( DS9 ), when we witness how resilient the organization is. In the two-part DS9  story spanning "Improbable Cause" and "The Die is Cast," the Tal Shiar join forces with the Cardassians' secret police — the Obsidian Order — in a sneak attack on the Dominion. The whole thing turns out to be a trap and their fleet is decimated. The events wipe out the Obsidian Order and help lead to the overthrow of the Cardassian government. The Tal Shiar, on the other hand, are still one of the most powerful parts of the Romulan government when we meet their leader Koval (John Fleck) in the  DS9 s eason 7 episode "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges."

More recently in  Star Trek: Picard ,   we learn the Tal Shiar is a part of an older organization called the Zhat Vash — something so secret some Tal Shiar members believe it's a myth. The Zhat Vash is dedicated to wiping out all synthetic life, and it's embedded in governments all over the galaxy, including the highest ranks of Starfleet.

A favorite episode proves Starfleet isn't above using Romulan tactics

The Romulans are often depicted as unduly paranoid in contrast to the well-intentioned heroes of Starfleet. In a fan-favorite episode –  DS9 's "In the Pale Moonlight" — Starfleet proves that sometimes the Romulans should  be paranoid. 

Captain Ben Sisko (Avery Brooks) commits himself to convincing the Romulans to enter the war against the Dominion. He enlists the enigmatic Cardassian Garak (Andrew Robinson) to retrieve Dominion plans to invade Romulus. When that doesn't work out, Garak sells Sisko on the idea of creating a fake holographic record of the Dominion leaders discussing the invasion of Romulus. Sisko invites the Romulan Senator Vreenak (Joseph McHattie) to DS9 to show him the recording, but the senator sees through the lie. Not long after an enraged Vreenak leaves the station, we learn his ship has been destroyed and the Tal Shiar believes the Dominion is behind it. Sisko realizes Garak never meant for the fake holo-record to work, but instead always planned to assassinate Vreenak and pin it on the Dominion. Sisko is enraged and even attacks Garak in his shop, but in the end — because he's desperate to defeat the Dominion — he keeps the truth to himself. 

The entire story is told from Sisko's point of view as he reads it into a log entry. In the final moments of the episode, as soon as he finishes the tale, he orders the computer to delete it. 

Romulans make Star Trek's most famous beverage

Apparently, when Romulans aren't plotting to dominate the galaxy, they like to party. Sprinkled here and there throughout the  Trek  franchise is Romulan Ale — a  very  strong alcoholic drink that is illegal in the Federation, yet Starfleet officers keep getting their hands on it anyway. 

The first time the beverage is mentioned is in 1982's  Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan when Bones (DeForest Kelley) brings a bottle of it to James Kirk for his birthday. Kirk is noticeably surprised at how strong the drink is. Regardless, he somehow doesn't have a problem serving it during a diplomatic dinner aboard the  Enterprise  in 1991's  Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country — a detail that is used against him and McCoy when they're framed for assassinating the Klingon Chancellor. Ben Sisko serves what appears to be replicated Romulan Ale to a Romulan senator in the  DS9  episode "In the Pale Moonlight," though the senator refers to it as "kali fal," which may or may not be the Romulan name for the blue drink. At the wedding reception for Riker and Troi in 2002's  Star Trek: Nemesis , Worf (Michael Dorn) complains that "Romulan ale should be illegal" as he nurses a headache. "It is," Geordi (Levar Burton) reminds him.

As far back as the TOS  episode "The Enterprise Incident," the Romulan Commander shares a blue drink with Spock as she's trying to seduce him, though we never hear its name. 

In 1995, they wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas

In 1995, the Romulan Empire made its first appearance on a Hallmark commercial. No you didn't misread that. Promoting a Romulan Warbird Christmas ornament, Hallmark released a commercial depicting the pointy-eared aliens kidnapping a Hallmark cashier to interrogate her about how she'd "pirated" the design of the ornament from the Romulans. 

And they didn't just get any actors to show up in costume and makeup. The cheerful cashier's interrogators are mostly  Star Trek  actors who had already played villains on at least one  Trek  series. Martha Hackett — the Romulan woman in the commercial — is probably more well known to  Trek  fans as the Cardassian Seska on  Star Trek: Voyager . But she'd also played the Romulan officer T'Rul in the two-part  DS9  episode "The Search." The introduction of the Defiant  includes a cloaking device on loan from the Romulan Empire and it's T'Rul's job to run the cloaking device and keep its secrets from Starfleet. 

Considering neither T'Rul nor any other Romulan is shown on board the  Defiant  to safeguard their cloaking secrets after "The Search," they apparently weren't any better about protecting their secrets than they are at interrogating Hallmark cashiers.

Romulans are in lots of first drafts, but fewer final drafts

When it comes to the Trek  movies, the Romulans usually play second fiddle if   they show up at all. Romulans were the chief antagonists of J.J. Abrams' 2009  Star Trek  reboot, but before that they failed to take center stage in any of the movies. The closest they got was 2002's  Star Trek: Nemesis ; their homeworld and government are important to the plot, but the main villain is Shinzon (Tom Hardy) — a clone of Picard — and a race of former slaves called the Remans. 

But it isn't for lack of trying. The Romulans were originally meant to take a larger role in a number of  Trek  films. Remember the Klingons in 1984's  Star Trek III: The Search for Spock ,   led by the ruthless Commander Kruge (Christopher Lloyd)? According to a 2002 issue of  Star Trek: The Magazine , it was originally going to be the Romulans who clash with the  Enterprise in orbit of the Genesis planet — not Klingons. They were  originally planned as the villains for 1998's  Star Trek: Insurrection , but were ultimately replaced by the face-stretching Son'a. In Michael Piller's unpublished book Fade In , the  Trek  writer wrote that Patrick Stewart — among others — was very much against the inclusion of the Romulans, who the actor felt were "unexciting." Stewart worried that using the Romulans would make it appear as if "we just couldn't come up with any new bad guys." 

The process of turning an actor into a Romulan has evolved

The look of the Romulans, the process of creating that look, and the resources devoted to it have all changed significantly since their first appearances. In  TOS , Romulans look almost identical to Vulcans, and the cost of adding latex pointy ears to actors made them too expensive to use on background actors. On the  TOS  season 1 Blu-ray commentary, we learn that in "Balance of Terror," only two of the Romulan actors were actually given the ears while the rest of the Romulans are made to wear helmets hiding their ears.

Romulans show up a lot more once  TNG  comes around, and their reintroduction comes with a new design. Prominent brow ridges were added to Romulan prosthetics. According to the reference book  Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 , this was both to make the Romulans appear more menacing and to help differentiate them from their Vulcan cousins.

As of the 2020 premiere of  Star Trek: Picard , hi-def technology changed things. On  The Ready Room  – the  Picard  after-show — prosthetic designer Vincent Van Dyke said that "every single background performer, all the way to the foreground hero characters" not only are fitted with ears, but "laced brows." Every single Romulan actor on  Picard  wears a prosthetic piece that includes eyebrows which have been painstakingly laced — one hair at a time — into the prosthetic. Long gone are the days of fitting the extras with skullcap helmets. 

In Star Trek: Picard, the Romulans become both friends and foes

One of the unique things about  Star Trek: Picard is that while it gives us plenty of Romulan villains, we also meet possibly the most sympathetic Romulan characters to ever appear in any  Trek  production.

When we find the retired Picard running his family vineyard, he's accompanied by two Romulans who treat him like nothing less than family. Laris (Orla Brady) and Zhaban (Jamie McShane) are former Tal Shiar agents who live with Picard, cook for him and — when a Zhat Vash squad comes gunning for the retired admiral — risk their lives for him. Their loyalty springs largely from Picard's efforts to evacuate the Romulan Empire. Both are fiercely protective of Picard, particularly Laris. 

At the same time, the Romulans have not all left their more villainous impulses behind. Along with Picard's Romulan friends, the newer series introduces us to the seductive Narek (Harry Treadaway), his ruthless sister Narissa (Peyton List), and the fanatical Zhat Vash whose agents have the unsettling ability to spit out a corrosive liquid that kills both themselves and anyone unlucky enough to be nearby. 

Star Trek: Picard forces 2009's Star Trek to make more sense

One of the interesting side effects of  Star Trek: Picard and its stronger focus on the Romulans is that it manages to reach back in time and force 2009's  Star Trek to make more sense. 

A lot of fans — even those who enjoyed J.J. Abrams' reinvention of the  Trek  franchise — weren't overly impressed with Eric Bana's Nero. The Romulan villain goes into the past and, among other things, destroys Vulcan. Nero does what he does purely for vengeance, to get back at the Federation for the supernova that destroyed Romulus and killed his family. To some fans, Nero's motivations didn't add up. After all, the Romulan supernova is a natural phenomenon. How could Nero blame the Federation, the Vulcans, or anyone else for not helping, particularly when you consider how hostile the Romulans have been to, well...  everyone ? 

But with  Star Trek: Picard and the backstory it presents, Nero's quest for vengeance comes into focus. In  Picard  we learn that Starfleet committed to helping evacuate the Romulan Empire and then, after the unexpected synthetic revolt on Mars, backed out of the endeavor. From Nero's point of view, it's one thing to stand by and do nothing; it's quite another to offer help and then to withdraw it at the 11th hour. It makes Nero's rage much easier to relate to, though his actions are no less monstrous. 

Terran salute

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James T. Kirk renders the Terran salute

The Terran salute was an often-required gesture of respect to fellow and superior officers (especially the captain ) in the mirror universe .

During the 2150s , it began with the right fist pressed against the left side of the chest, and then extended straight out parallel to the ground. ( ENT : " In a Mirror, Darkly ", " In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II ")

By the 2260s , the right arm was used, and the palm was opened as the arm was extended, giving it the appearance of a more traditional Nazi salute. It also resembled the salute purportedly used by the Roman Empire in Earth 's ancient history . The salute was occasionally accompanied with the phrase " Long live the Empire! ". The salute ceased to be used when the Terran Empire fell. ( TOS : " Mirror, Mirror "; DS9 : " Crossover ", et al. )