this be one of the best of the early star trek episode and with kirk and his crew venture into the unknown to do battle with an enemy know only by name . imagine their surprise when they find out that the dreaded romulans be racial offshoot of the vulcan . young mr. stile and well play by paul comi and be one of the few truly unlikable character in the star trek universe . his barely disguise hatred of mr. spock be eerily similar to the post 9/11 hatred and suspicion many american have of people of arab or middle eastern origin . the atmosphere of war time paranoia be all too real . then there the romulans represent theyre the ultimate federation nemesis . the klingons be nasty but basically harmless while more of a nuisance than a serious threat . the romulans and however and mean business represent theyre the ancient roman reborn in the space age while in spite of their vulcanoid feature theyre clearly mean to remind u of imperial rome and with name like decius and title like centurion and praetor . the chain mail armor be really cool . familiar guest star mark lenard and who go on to play spock dad sorek as well a the klingon commander in star trek represent the motion picture be an appropriately grizzled and war weary commander and a character who bear a striking resemblance to laurence olivier crassus in spartacus . also and his questioning of the empire unquenchable thirst for conquest reminds me of the similar misgiving marcus aurelius ( richard harris ) express at the beginning of gladiator . a must both for trekkies and sword and sandal epic fan .