StarCitizen:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
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The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is a historical period which serves as a broad inspiration for the background of Star Citizen.<ref>Template:Cite RSI</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0">Chris Roberts On PC Gaming, Going To Space, Rock Paper Shotgun, Oct. 27, 2012</ref>
StarCitizen:Chris Roberts' games focus on a historical setting and then project it into the future. Wing Commander for example was based on WW2. In the case of Star Citizen, the era that has been chosen is the decline and the fall of the Roman empire. The SC equivalent of the Roman empire is the empire of Earth.<ref>"[...] much of the inspiration for the UEE comes from the late roman empire [...]", uo'aXy'an Lesson One: Introduction and Greetings, YouTube, 27 Oct 2017</ref><ref name=":1">The forgotten interview with Chris Roberts by Paul Dean, March 11, 2016</ref><ref name=":0" />
It gives an overall thematic binding, a big picture for an empire under financial and military strain reaching a breaking point.<ref>Star Citizen: Making Lore - A Loremaker's Guide Special Edition, YouTube, 28 Dec 2016</ref>
However it does not mirror Roman History. The players are expected to help write the History of the UEE and maybe try to steer it on a different course than that set by the Roman Empire. The game is to be a sandbox in which players can affect History.<ref>10 for the Chairman: Episode 11 (2014.03.10), YouTube</ref><ref>10 for the Writers: Episode 04 (2015.07.06), YouTube.</ref>
The laurels in the Star Citizen logo itself refer to the Roman Empire.<ref>"The laurels are for the Roman empire stuff that was bigger early on.", @banditloaf, Discord, 2/10/2025</ref>
Intent
The intent was to have a world that would allow to do a lot of things such as being a StarCitizen:mercenary, trader, explorer, pirate, miner, to allow opportunity for all those different proffessions.<ref name=":2" /> To allow nuance and complexity in a vibrant universe. Intrigue, intention in the structure of the government ruling that area of space. Different potential threats on the various borders.
StarCitizen:Dave Haddock and Chris Roberts thought about which area of History would be suitable.<ref>10 for the Chairman: Episode 10 (2014.03.03), YouTube</ref><ref name=":2" /> 16th, 17th, 18th century colonialism in North and South america with the conquest of natives, or the rise of the roman empire during the antiquity including for example the conquest of the Gauls and others were considered.<ref name=":2">Star Citizen: 4th Anniversary Livestream, YouTube, 18 Nov 2016</ref>
In an open-world setting, there’s different factions, different interests. There is war on one side, fighting against the barbarian hordes much like the legions did towards the end of the Roman empire. But there's also the opportunity for trade. One side wants to be about trade and diplomacy, the other side is more militaristic. During the decline and fall of the Roman empire, there were lots of things going on. Europe itself was created with all these different feudal countries when the Roman empire broke up. Chris Roberts felt like this was a good setting to pattern it after, to create an open-world galaxy that would have a lot of possibilities and options to do what you wanted to do.<ref>"“You sign up for a tour of duty within this galaxy-wide, falling Roman empire [... ]. On the western borders, some alien barbarian races are invading. On the eastern side is more benign trade.”", Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts returns to gaming with Star Citizen online game universe, GamesBeat, October 10, 2012</ref><ref name=":0" />
A lot of things change and the Romans had to deal with a big, spread out empire which definitely would be the case with an empire spread out in space. There is no true, instant FTL communications.<ref name=":1" />
Thus the original intent was to model humanity’s future society to the waning days of the Roman Empire, specifically that era where its resources were stretched too thin and a break was inevitable.<ref>Template:Cite RSI</ref>
Lore
Dateline StarCitizen:2942, humanity has expanded across many planets. Mostly in a militaristic fashion, just like the Romans did. Now it’s almost overextended. It’s cracking from constantly trying to keep the empire together and keep its spread-out borders safe.<ref name=":0" />
On the western side, there’s a couple of [[StarCitizen::Category:Alien Races|alien races]] that are the equivalent of the Goths and the Vandals and such that are encroaching and raiding and causing havoc on the western side. On the eastern side, there’s a couple of more friendly alien races humans are trading with. There’s a schism between the eastern and western parts of the empire of Earth.<ref name=":0" />
The Vanduuls represent the Visigoths and the Vandals,<ref>"like the Roman legions trying to fend of the Visigoths... If they flew spaceships and existed in 2942!", Chris Roberts Reddit AMA comment about who will be fought against</ref><ref>10 for the Chairman: Episode 69, YouTube, 10 Nov 2015</ref> The StarCitizen:Xi'an represent the asian: Persian and Chinese empires, The StarCitizen:Banu the traders from North Africa, the Barbary Coast, the Middle East.<ref name=":2" />
The two major planets in the empire are StarCitizen:Earth, which is the historical capital humans started from, and StarCitizen:Terra, an Earth-like planet that was discovered a couple of hundred years into the expansion. What Terra has, besides being larger and nicer than Earth, is a nexus of jump points. That StarCitizen:star system has numerous ways in and out, going to different star systems. It’s very connected in terms of communication and trade, whereas Earth itself is not, having only a couple of jump points in. Terra’s become more and more autonomous as time has gone on, so it’s the equivalent of Constantinople versus Rome. They’re much more focused on trade, because the neighbors of Terra on the eastern side are more advanced, they’re not necessarily so aggressive.<ref name=":0" />
The Terran side of the empire of Earth is much more in favor of diplomacy and trade and less about showing up with your forces and conquering, which is how Earth originally expanded. The game starts before there’s a proper split, but there will be a split between the two sides, and then there will be an in-game event similar to the sack of Earth further on.<ref name=":0" />
Ivan Messer gained power thanks to the StarCitizen:Tevarin Wars similarly to how Julius Caesar did thanks to the Gallic Wars.<ref name=":2" />
UEE Citizenship can be bought similarly to the old roman way.<ref>"That is part of the idea - the Roman system was the inspiration", Chris Roberts Reddit AMA</ref><ref>10 For the Chairman Episode 23. June 2nd, 2014, YouTube</ref>
List of Roman names in the Star Citizen universe
| Name | Meaning |
|---|---|
| StarCitizen:Aemilia | Specific familly name, and road. |
| StarCitizen:Anóna | |
| Apollo | Roman adaptation of the Greek god Apollon |
| StarCitizen:Augustus | Specific title, given to a specific Roman emperor |
| Bacchus | God of wine |
| Castra | Military camp or fort |
| Centauri | Centaur, also the centaur constellation |
| StarCitizen:Centurion | Commander of a century |
| Evocati | Elite retired soldiers recalled to service |
| StarCitizen:Gladiator | Arena fighters |
| StarCitizen:Gladius | Short sword |
| Hadrian | Specific emperor |
| [[StarCitizen::Category:Hercules series|Hercules]] | Roman adaptation of the greek hero Heracles |
| StarCitizen:Imperator | Emperor |
| StarCitizen:Invictus | Unconquered |
| StarCitizen:Legionnaire | Specific standard infantry |
| StarCitizen:Legatus Exercitus | Legate of the army, legion commander. |
| StarCitizen:Legatus Marinuum | Legate of the Marines |
| StarCitizen:Legatus Navium | Legate of the Navy |
| StarCitizen:Lorica | Leather corselet; a corselet of any material; a hauberk, cuirass, coat of mail |
| Magnus | Great |
| Quintus | Common Roman name |
| StarCitizen:Rubicon | The Rubicon river is a point of no return |
| Senate | Modeled after the Roman senate |
| StarCitizen:Terra | Earth, land |
| Tiber | The Tiber river |
| StarCitizen:Terminus | God of boundaries |
| Veritas | Truth |
| StarCitizen:Vestal Water | Vestal virgins, priestesses of Vesta |
| Vesper | Evening star |
| Virgil | The famous poet |
| Virgo | Virgin |
| StarCitizen:Vox Populi | Voice of the People |
Trivia
- Asimov's Foundation was also inspired by the decline and fall of the Roman Empire<ref name=":1" />
See Also
References
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