Imperium

File:Imperial eagle.jpg

The Imperial Aquila is the symbol of the Imperium

In the entire galaxy, the Imperium is the most powerful political entity. Most of the major alien races cannot compare in sheer numbers with the mass of humanity. Humanity is spread throughout the galaxy, on a million worlds.

Mankind is faced by alien threats from without and by the threats of mutation, dangerous psykers and heretics from within. Mankind and the Imperium survive only by virtue of the endurance, suffering, servitude and sacrifice of both mankind and its Emperor.

History of the Imperium

The Imperium was founded by the Emperor ("The Immortal Emperor", and the "Master of Mankind") and ended the "Age of Strife", a period of anarchy, lawlessness and senseless destruction that lasted for dozens of centuries and during which all but the faintest traces of the vast, advanced galactic civilization built by men in previous eras disappeared.

However, when the warpstorms of the Age of Strife subsided, the Emperor set forth to unite mankind under his rule, turning his hordes of techno-barbaric warriors into the first superhuman Space Marines.

After having secured the scientific posts and spacedocks of Luna, along with the factories and weaponshops based on Mars, the Emperor built a warfleet with which he undertook the Great Crusade, which lasted for two centuries and ended with the formal establishment of Imperial rule over all but the most scattered and distant human colonized worlds.

During this period, the Emperor employed his most potent soldiers, the Space Marines, and their born leaders, the Primarchs. These, coupled with the combined might of the Imperial Army/Navy (later the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Navy as separate organisations), made Mankind the preeminent force to contend with in the galaxy, as its teeming numbers fulfilled what many saw as Man's destiny to rule the galaxy.

The Imperium in the 41st Millennium

The Imperium is nominally ruled by the Immortal Emperor of Mankind. However, since his ascension to the Golden Throne following his confrontation with Horus, the duties of actually ruling the Imperium are carried out by the Senatorum Imperialis, the twelve High Lords of Terra. The identities and precise responsibilities of these High Lords vary, but members include a representative of the Inquisition, the Master of the Administratum, the Fabricator General of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and the Lord Commander Militant, supreme commander of the Imperial Guard.

Ultimately, the High Lords are in control of the entire Imperium, and are responsible for maintaining the functioning of the Imperium through the Adeptus Terra and the Imperial Commanders. In practice, given the galactic size of the Imperium, many of the outlying regions are left to fend for themselves without any involvement in the central government.

Organisation

The Adeptus Terra

See main article: Adeptus Terra

The Adeptus Terra (also known as the Priesthood of Earth) is the main government of the Imperium. It is the central organisation of the Imperium, consisting of most of the Imperium's official divisions, departments and organisations. Only the Ecclesiarchy and the Inquisition are not formally a part of the Adeptus Terra.

The Administratum

See main article: Administratum

The Adeptus Administratum is the main bureaucratic body and largest division of the Adeptus Terra. It is the primary logistical organisation of the Imperium, consisting of untold billions of bureaucrats and scribes. It assesses tithes, conducts population censuses, keeps records, plans infrastructure projects, and does a million other things. It is the Administratum that is primarily responsible for the continued smooth running of the Imperium.

The Departmento Munitorum

See main article: Departmento Munitorum

While the Administratum is primarily responsible for all logistical operations relating to the civilian side of the Imperium, the Departmento Munitorum is responsible for the logistics of the Imperial war machine, organising military tithes, troop movements and troop deployment. The Departmento is far more decentralised than the other divisions of the Adeptus Terra, establishing a presence on any world with a significant tithe-grade. Distress calls from an invaded world are processed by the Munitorum, and will be passed up the ladder of system-subsector-sector-Segmentum-Imperium HQ until a division with enough reach can raise the armies needed from neighbouring systems and respond.

Officio Assassinorum

See main article: Officio Assassinorum

The Adeptus Mechanicus

See main article: Adeptus Mechanicus

The Adeptus Mechanicus, the Tech-Priests of Mars, are the engineers and technicians of the Imperium, and create most of the Imperium's more advanced weaponry, build and maintain the Titan Legions and so on. They are in effect a political entity by themselves, containing their own hierarchy of laws and armies.

Prior to the founding of the Imperium, the tech-priests were an independent entity unto themselves, and had already settled various worlds throughout the galaxy with seed worlds for their own planned Empire. Their alliance with the Emperor was as much a matter of convenience as of conquest by him.

An inconspicuous but vital part of the Imperial machinery of war, the Officio Assassinorum trains and deploys assassins all over the galaxy, to seek out and eliminate dangerous individuals. The deployment of one of their operatives must be sanctioned by the High Lords of Terra. In times of outright war, assassins are typically deployed under the watchful eye and nominal command of an Inquisitor.

The Ecclesiarchy

See main article: Ecclesiarchy

The Adeptus Ministorum (also known as the Ecclesiarchy after its head, the Ecclesiarch), is the Church of the Emperor Deified. The Imperium and mankind is widespread and there are many variations of the Imperial faith. Most versions of the Imperial faith encourage productivity ("Work is Prayer"), adherence to duty, obedience to authority, thankfulness to the Emperor and other virtues.

It is worth noting that the Ecclesiarchy did not exist formally until about 3000 years after the Emperor's ascension to the Golden Throne. Prior to this it was simply the largest and strongest of the various Emperor-cults in the Imperium, which eventually grew to absorb or destroy competing cults. Once several High Lords of Terra converted and joined this cult, it was only a matter of time before it became recognized, adopted, and eventually declared the state religion of the Imperium.

The Inquisition

See main article: Inquisition

Independent of the rest of the Adeptus Terra are the Holy Orders of the Emperor's Inquisition. They are the ultimate judicial and police authority, answering only to the Emperor and to themselves.

Imperial Commanders

In addition to the Adeptus Terra and the militaries, the High Lords also command the Segmentum Commanders, who each oversee one of the five galactic regions known as the Segmentae Majoris: Segmentum Solar, Segmentum Pacificus, Segmentum Obscurus, Segmentum Tempestus and Ultima Segmentum. Each Segmentum Commander oversees his sector Commanders, who in turn oversee subsector Commanders, who oversee Imperial Commanders, also known as planetary governors. The higher ranks in this system are usually combined with a basic planetary governorship as well as interplanetary duties. This system is the means by which the Imperium, which is largely a confederacy, maintains control of the separate planets that make it up.

An Imperial Commander is the Imperially instituted ruler of a world. However, because of the distances involved and the unstable nature of warp communication, Commanders generally operate very autonomously. This allows quite a lot of variation in the governments of Imperial worlds. Many governorships are hereditary (examples of this include Segmentum Commanders of Segmentum Tempestus and the royals of Volpone), but it is also possible for a planet to have an elected Commander (such as the Electors of Tanith), a tyrant Commander who rules by force of arms, or anything in between. So long as the Commander fulfills his duties to the Imperium, his rule will generally go unquestioned by central authorities.

A rare few Commanders preside over feral or medieval worlds where the Imperium has not seen fit to introduce modern technology. These Commanders usually remain distant on orbital installations, only occasionally visiting the planet to control mutation and heresy, as well as collect the modest tithes these planets pay.

The Imperial duties of a Commander include paying the planetary tithe to the Administratum, controlling mutation, insurrections and heresy on his world and maintaining a planetary defence force capable of defending the planet in the event of invasion. The Planetary Defence Forces (abbreviated to PDF) should be able to halt attacks from most foes, or at least hold out until reinforcements arrive, which could take a period of months or even years.

A relatively small number of Imperial worlds are not ruled by a Commander, but are overseen by an alternate organisation such as the Adeptus Terra, Imperial Guard or Space Marines. These include the Forge Worlds of the Adeptus Mechanicus, whose inhabitants toil without pause to manufacture the weapons of the Emperor's armies (including Mars, Gryphonne IV and Fortis Binary), the Cardinal worlds of the Ecclesiarchy, which are given entirely over to education and worship of the God-Emperor (Ignatius Cardinal, Ophelia VII), and the Space Marine Chapter planets (Fenris, Macragge, Baal, Medusa).

Language

Imperial, or Low Gothic is the Imperium's official language. It represents the common tongue of the Imperium's widely dispersed humans. Unsurprisingly many dialects exist. For most civilized Imperial worlds, Low Gothic is the inhabitants' first language. While Low Gothic is widely understood, High Gothic, the Imperium's hieratic tongue, is understood by few. High Gothic is represented in the game as a form of Latin.

Imperial Dating

The Imperium uses a dating system to deal with the vast amount of time that it has existed. It is no less accurate than real life dating systems but extended beyond the sensible limits of real life systems. It is investigated in the Imperial Dating System.

Forces of the Imperium

The Imperium is threatened by several major alien species, and is also under continual attack by the forces of Chaos, and at least one extragalactic species (the Tyranids).

The Imperium's military forces include the following:

• Imperial Guard
• Imperial Navy
• Space Marines
• Adeptus Custodes
• The psychic blank Sisters of Silence

The forces of the Inquisition are charged with combating threats both within and without. Most Inquisitors belong to one of three orders:

• The Ordo Malleus (Daemonhunters) - with its military arm, the Grey Knights
• The Ordo Hereticus (Witch Hunters) - with its military arm, the Sisters of Battle
• The Ordo Xenos (Alien Hunters) - with its military arm, the Deathwatch Space Marines.

The Adeptus Mechanicus also contribute forces to the military power of the Imperium:

• Titan Legions of the Collegia Titanica
• Skitarii

Enemies of the Imperium

Apart from the enemies within (the heretics, traitors and mutants), the forces of the Imperium battle against the following enemies:

• The forces of Chaos
• The Eldar and Dark Eldar
• The Tyranid Hive Fleets
• The various Ork 'Waaagh!'s
• The Tau Empire
• The Necrons

Organizational structure of the Imperium

File:Imperium organisation.gif

Organisation of the Imperium

Quotes Imperium

Imperial Quotes - contains a selection of the quotes made by various Imperial officials.