Administratum

The Administratum is the administrative and bureaucratic division of the Adeptus Terra, consisting of untold billions of clerks, scribes and administrative staff constantly working to manage the Imperium at every level, from assembling war fleets to levying taxes. It is the largest of the departments comprising the Adeptus Terra, and ten billion Administratum adepts work in the Imperial Palace alone. Its billions of officials on Terra and throughout the galaxy are constantly carrying out population censuses, working out tithes, recording and archiving information, and the million other things that are necessary for the running of the Imperium. Such is its immense size, whole departments have been submerged by a sea of complex bureaucracy, becoming lost in loops of paper trails. Other departments have continued to dogmatically operate and carry out their founding function, even if the intent and requirement behind it no longer exists.

Of all the Imperium's divisions, the Administratum is regarded as the least prestigious, but its high ranking members are among the most powerful men in the Imperium; if the Adeptus Terra is the machinery that drives the Imperium, the Administratum is the grease and oil that ensures this machinery operates. Without the Administratum, the machine would splutter to a halt and the Imperium would fail. As a result, the Master of the Administratum is the most powerful member of the High Lords of Terra.

Many Administratum positions are considered hereditary. Typical Administratum Adepts labour within gargantuan vaults, sitting at logic-engines and can be considered learned by Imperial standards.

Like other non-combatant servants of the Adeptus Terra, the members of the Administratum wear a monastic style of dress, their habits varying in colour according to rank and area of responsibility.

While the Administratum is primarily responsible for all logistical operations relating to the civil aspects of the Imperium, the Departmento Munitorum is responsible for the logistics of the Imperial Guard, organising military tithes, troop movements and troop deployment. The Departmento is far more decentralised than the other divisions of the Administratum, establishing a presence on any world with a significant tithe-grade. Distress calls from an invaded world are processed by the Departamento, and will be passed up the ladder of responsibility: star system - Subsector - Sector - Segmentum - Imperium HQ until one of them with enough resources can deploy the needed reinforcements.

History

The Administratum was created as the Imperial Administration, and was under the control of Malcador, titled the Chief of the Imperial Administration.

Ranks of the Administratum

Among the Administratum as a whole there are countless ranks, titles and areas of responsibility, including:

• The Master of the Administratum
• Adeptus (or Adept)
• Prefectus (or Prefect)
• Masters
• Ordinates
• Curators
• Scribes
• Ciphers
• Subordinates
• Menials

Sources

• Codex Imperialis
• Dark Heresy Rulebook, p.44
• Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader