The tribune laughed, fiddling with a ring on his right hand trigger finger. "Everyone always asks that. During the great collapse, before the imperium, our forefathers descended into madness, but there were a few who's minds were not too far gone. They established Rome again on Nova Roma, or new Rome. We rebuilt much of what was lost, and conquered several neighboring systems. When the imperium showed up, they could not take us by force. But we could not resist them forever, so in the interest of peace we became a autonomous republic under the imperium of man."