The First Time The Republic Became An Empire

Star Wars

Jun 20

For over 25,000 years, the galaxy was governed by a single overarching entity that spanned its vast systems and countless planets: the Galactic Republic. For millennia, it served as the central governing body, where planets came together to deliberate the affairs of the day. Historically, it was seen as a beacon of democracy, light, and life during the galaxy’s golden age.

That was until it began to decay—until the day it fell under the sway of the Sith and was transformed into the Galactic Empire, a regime so terrible and evil that, even in its short twenty-five-year span, it left a scar on the galaxy that could never be healed.

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However, those familiar with the wider history of the Star Wars galaxy would know that Palpatine’s reign as Emperor was not the first time the Republic became an empire. In fact, in the now-decanonized Star Wars Legends, the Republic underwent a phase of imperialization millennia before the events of The Phantom Menace—a transformation that lasted far longer under a single dynasty that ruled for a thousand years.

This is the story of how a human supremacist cult turned the galaxy into a theocracy, ruled by one dynasty for a millennium. This is the era simply known as the Era of the Pius Dea.

A Humanoid Republic from Birth

While, in theory, the Galactic Republic was meant to treat all species equally regardless of their origin, this has not always been the case. In practice, worlds dominated by humans have tended to gain special privileges over time compared to those dominated by non-human life.

In the beginning, the Galactic Republic was born from the essential Core Worlds: Coruscant, Corellia, Alderaan—just to name a few. What all these planets had in common was that they were all primarily home to humans.

Humans were very much at the literal and figurative core of political and geographic life in Star Wars. The original Core Worlds that formed the Republic were all located in the galaxy’s core region. As the core, they were among the most industrialized and wealthy planets in the galaxy. Because of this, they held more power than any others at the start—especially in terms of technological progress.

Using the technology of hyperspace travel, the Core Worlds began expanding outward beyond the core. They sought to collect resources and establish new colonies. As humans expanded, they began interacting with alien species native to the worlds they attempted to colonize. While some encounters led to treaties and negotiations, others turned into violent conquests. Galactic expansion was, more often than not, a messy and chaotic process.

As a result, certain groups within the Republic began to believe that the human race was inherently superior. With more and more planets joining the Republic, strain began to emerge over where true power should lie. Some factions wanted to keep power concentrated within the human species. One such group was the Pius Dea.

Forging the Theocracy

The Pius Dea began on Coruscant, the very heart of human life in the galaxy and operated in secret for several centuries trying to influence Republic politics until came the one who would chart a course for it’s future Contispex I.

Under his leadership Contispex I became the Chancellor of the Republic in around 11,900BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin). Through a conspiracy they managed to assassinate the previous Botham Chancellor at the time. What greater irony though was that not only did they assassinate Bothan but they also blamed it on aliens. Once Contispex became chancellor he began to maneuver bureaucrats allied or part of the movement into key positions consolidating his power.

Slowly but surely members of the Pius Dea began to infiltrate and take over various ministries and government organs throughout the republic until they were finally in control of just about every important organization. Not only that the Pius Dea had it’s own private military forces that would be used to aid the galactic republic in terms of forming a new armada for future conquest.

The pinnacle of said consolidation was how in time such positions in the Republic became hereditary and passed on from one family member to another. Such was when Contespex the I passed power to his own son Contespex II and his family would be ‘elected’ chancellor for over a thousand years, as they bean to expand Republic borders into the outer rim taking on the various alien species who they considered to be inferior to them.

Thus began the Pius Dae Crusades

Let the Crusades Begin

Much like during the era of the Galactic Empire, the Pius Dea era saw a massive expansion of the Galactic Republic throughout the Outer Rim. Under the Contispex dynasty, the Republic expanded and colonized large portions of the galaxy, claiming it was launching crusades against alien lifeforms that threatened the Republic.

However, its religious zeal and ferocity earned it many enemies. One key ally during this period was the Jedi Order, which had previously splintered from the Republic but decided to reengage. With the Jedi’s aid, a broad anti–Pius Dea coalition was formed.

Ironically, centuries later, the Jedi would attempt to overthrow another malevolent government that controlled the Republic—only to fail. But that is a story for another time.

When the final assault against the Pius Dea began, most of the Republic Navy defected, allowing the Jedi to seize control of the government and facilitate a peaceful transition. They purged the government of Pius Dea's human supremacist elements and destroyed their supreme temple on Coruscant. The Pius Dea ideology died out within a generation and eventually became nearly extinct.

Legacy

Human supremacy in the Galactic Republic is and continues to be something that remained even after the pull of the Pius Dea.

The Galactic in itself was based on some of the same human supremacist ideas that made up the Pius Dea, with human supremacy being a major factor in it’s formation. Though Palpatine own Empire did not last as long as the reign of the Contispex dynasty he must have looked to this era of Republic history along with the ancient sith empires as how to build up his own evil legacy on the galaxy far far away.

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