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Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges (episode)

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This article is written
from the Real World
point of view
This article is written
from the Real World
point of view
"Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges"
DS9, Episode 7x16
Production number: 40510-565
First aired: 3 March 1999
← 163rd of 173 produced in DS9 →
← 164th of 173 released in DS9 →
  {{{nNthReleasedInSeries_Remastered}}}th of 173 released in DS9 Remastered  
← 561st of 726 released in all →
Written By
Ronald D. Moore

Directed By
David Livingston
Unknown (2375)
← Arc: Section 31 and Julian Bashir (2 of 3) →
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  Arc: {{{wsArc2Desc}}} ({{{nArc2PartNumber}}} of {{{nArc2PartCount}}})  
  Arc: {{{wsArc3Desc}}} ({{{nArc3PartNumber}}} of {{{nArc3PartCount}}})  
  Arc: {{{wsArc4Desc}}} ({{{nArc4PartNumber}}} of {{{nArc4PartCount}}})  
The USS Bellerophon in orbit of Romulus.
The USS Bellerophon in orbit of Romulus.

Attending a medical conference on Romulus, Dr. Bashir is caught up in an elaborate scheme involving Section 31 to keep the Romulans on the Federation's side in the war.

Contents

[edit] Summary

In the replimat, knowing Dr. Bashir is preparing for a conference on Romulus, Elim Garak reminisces about his former Romulan assignment as a gardener of sorts in a Cardassian embassy and notes to Bashir how everything on Romulus is grey: the buildings, architecture, the people, even the Romulan heart. He expresses distaste at how dull and unimaginative they are. That night, Bashir wakes to find Section 31 operative Sloan in his quarters. Sloan tells him that he will be called upon to perform an intelligence assignment on Romulus, alluding to Bashir's affection for romanticized spy stories in a holosuite, but providing the dear doctor something real to take up this time. He leaves and Bashir chases after him with a phaser, but only finds Ezri in the corridor. In Sisko's office, the captain explains that he and Vice admiral William Ross want Bashir to pretend to go along with Sloan's assignment.

Bashir boards the USS Bellerophon, an Intrepid-class ship that is transporting the conference delegates to Romulus. He makes conversation with Ross and Senator Cretak before Sloan appears, undercover as a civilian delegate. In private, Sloan shows Bashir a hologram of Koval, the head of the Tal Shiar intelligence agency and a candidate for a vacant seat on the Romulan Senate's powerful Continuing Committee. Koval is suspected in the death of Admiral Fujisaki of Starfleet Intelligence, and is opposed to the Federation-Romulan alliance. Sloan wants Bashir to observe Koval for confirmation of the rumor that he is afflicted with Tuvan Syndrome. Bashir discusses the matter with Ross, who would rather see Cretak fill the vacancy, but expresses reservations about the Federation appearing to meddle in Romulan politics.

At the conference, Koval approaches Bashir and asks him about the Dominion's Quickening virus. Bashir invites him to the presentation on it he will give later. Cretak, who witnesses the encounter, jokes that Bashir should be recruited by Starfleet Intelligence, because Koval rarely speaks to anyone, especially her. She volunteers a few insights into Romulan life and how much the Tal Shiar has permeated their society.

Bashir gives his presentation about the Quickening, and afterwards Koval asks him if he knows how it could be introduced into a population. Back on the Bellerophon, Bashir tells Sloan about the encounter, and that because of certain subtle symptoms, he believes Koval does have Tuvan syndrome. Sloan shows considerable interest in the illness, and asks how it could be accelerated. Bashir explains to Ross his fear that Koval is about to be assassinated, and his suspicion that Sloan has a Romulan accomplice who will carry it out. Ross tells him that Sloan will be arrested. Later, Bashir overhears that Ross collapsed and is unconscious. He is unable to contact DS9, and cannot trust anyone on the Bellerophon, so he goes to Cretak. She is appalled by the assassination plot, but gives in to Bashir's request to access classified information that may reveal Sloan's accomplice and prevent the murder.

In an attempt to delay the assassination, Bashir tells Sloan that he may have been wrong about Koval's diagnosis because he has only studied the disease's effect on Vulcans, and needs a tissue sample to confirm it. Sloan has Bashir's hand treated with a microcellular adhesive that will collect the sample. Bashir approaches Koval and shakes his hand. Koval asks to speak to him in private, and Bashir follows but discovers that he has been brought to an interrogation room.

Koval uses a Romulan mind probe to find out what Bashir knows, but his genetic enhancements allow him to resist. He and Cretak are brought before Praetor Neral and the Continuing Committee. Bashir describes Section 31, Sloan, and the assassination plot. However, Koval brings in a physically abused Sloan and reveals what Bashir does not know: that Section 31 does not exist. Sloan was a Starfleet Intelligence agent and Admiral Fujisaki's protégé, and invented Section 31 so that Starfleet would not be blamed for his personal revenge on Koval. The committee finds Cretak guilty of treason and remands Sloan for further interrogation. Sloan grabs a guard's disruptor but Koval shoots first and vaporizes him.

On their way back home Bashir confronts a recovered Ross and insists that the admiral knows that Sloan is alive. Off the record Ross confirms that Sloan's death was a faked by beaming away before being hit. Section 31 does exist and Koval is a Starfleet agent who will soon be in a more powerful, and informative, position. Ross declares "inter arma enim silent leges." Bashir is disgusted by the comparison of the idealistic Federation with realist Rome. The admiral justifies his cooperation with Section 31 by citing the growing wartime casualties under his command.

Back on DS9, Bashir wakes to find Sloan again. Sloan explains that he chose Bashir for his conscience, which would cause him to try to stop the assassination, and play into the charade. He praises the doctor but explains that other people, who are less ethical, are necessary to protect the idealists. After he leaves, Bashir calls security but, realizing that there's no point, cancels the call.

[edit] Memorable Quotes

"Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges."
" 'In time of war, the law falls silent.' Cicero. So is that what we have become; a 24th century Rome, driven by nothing other than the certainty that Caesar can do no wrong?!"

- William Ross and Julian Bashir


"Very enlightening. You almost made it comprehensible."
"The next time I'll do the lecture with hand puppets, just for you."

- Luther Sloan and Julian Bashir, about Bashir's medical lecture


"The Federation needs men like you, Doctor. Men with conscience, men who can sleep at night. And you're also the reason that Section 31 exists: to protect men like you from a universe which doesn't share your sense of right and wrong."

- Luther Sloan, to Julian Bashir


"The phrase 'never say die' was originally from a nineteenth century poem based on Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. It has since passed into the vernacular as an exhortation never to give up, no matter what the cost."

- Luther Sloan, to Kimara Cretak


"This war isn't over and you're already planning for the next."
"Well put."

- Julian Bashir and Luther Sloan

[edit] Background Information

[edit] Title

  • "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" is a Latin proverb, meaning literally "Through arms, the laws become mute" (although in the episode, Bashir translated the phrase as "In times of war, the law falls silent"). It is a variant of the phrase "Silent enim leges inter arma," originally from the Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero's speech "Pro Milone" ("For Milo"), where it was meant as a defiant reference to armed men trying to intimidate Cicero during his defense of Titus Annius Milo on a politically-tinged murder charge. The case hinged on the meeting of Milo, a praetor and leader of one political mob in Rome, and his enemy, Tribunis Plebis and fellow mob leader Publius Clodius Pulcher. Milo was accused of killing Pulcher during a scuffle between their retinues. Pulcher had been supported under the table by the triumvir Julius Caesar, a political enemy of Cicero's and the most powerful man in Rome at the time, and so the case was seen as one that put Cicero, recently returned from exile at the hands of Pulcher, at some personal risk. Therefore, Cicero gave a greatly watered-down version of the speech he had intended to give to spare himself from Clodian and Caesarian retribution. Cicero lost, and Milo was exiled to Gaul. Because of this history, it is also an obvious reference to the less-than-lawful methods of Luther Sloan and Section 31, who acted as a law unto themselves, and the seeming willingness of the Federation and otherwise honorable Federation officials such as Admiral William Ross to overlook these methods in the name of Federation safety.
  • Writer Ronald D. Moore arrived at the title of the episode when browsing at a book store. He found a copy of a book by William Rehnquist dealing with habeas corpus, and its suspension during the American Civil War. On the book jacket, Moore discovered a blurb in which Abraham Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus is described as "a classic case of the old Roman dictum Inter arma silent leges." As he was working on this episode at the time, he felt the phrase would be perfect as the episode's title. He sent the phrase to the show's research consultant, Joan Pearce, who provided a longer version and told Moore he could arrange the words as he saw fit, since word order did not matter in Latin. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion; [1])
  • This episode is one of seven Star Trek episodes with Latin names. The others are "Sub Rosa", "Dramatis Personae", "Ex Post Facto", "Non Sequitur", "Terra Nova" and "Vox Sola".

[edit] Story and Script

  • Obviously, this episode was spawned by "Inquisition", particularly Sisko's instruction to Bashir at the end of that episode that if he meets Sloan again, he is to pretend to join Sloan's cause. Initially, the plan was for Bashir to fool Sloan and to expose him, but early in the writing process, Ron Moore took the script in an entirely other direction; rather than Bashir duping Sloan, Bashir thinks he's duping Sloan, but in reality, Sloan is duping him. As Moore explains, "The trick we came up with here was to really lead him along and make it look to the audience like he's ahead of the game. Make the audience believe he's figuring it all out, and then telling them, 'No - they've figured him out'." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
  • When confronting Admiral Ross at the end of the episode, Bashir asks, "Is that what we have become? A 24th-century Rome?" His question has several layers of meaning: on the surface, it questions Ross' use of the Cicero quotation to justify his actions, yet it also draws attention to the fact that the political institutions of the Romulan Empire all take their names (and, vaguely, structure) from those of the Roman Empire; Bashir could be in effect asking whether the Federation is willing to become the next Romulan Empire.
  • The plot of this episode shares many points with the 1963 John Le Carré novel The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. In the book, a discredited British spy is used to prop up the brutal head of East German intelligence (who is secretly a British agent) at the cost of two innocent lives.
  • Ira Steven Behr was a little disappointed with how this episode ultimately turned out; "We thought we'd do a show about the compromising of Bashir. Unfortunately, it doesn't do that. At the end, Bashir winds up making this angry, pointed speech to Ross, which is a lot less interesting than the situation at the end of "In the Pale Moonlight". There a man is trying to deal with his own culpability. And this is a show that demanded, I felt, Bashir's culpability. And he gets to walk away clean, with him being the one pointing the finger. It takes the show down a notch, and keeps it from reaching the level we wanted." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
  • The ship on which Bashir travels is called the Bellerophon. In Greek mythology, Bellerophon was the hero who slew the beast Chimera. "Chimera" was the name of the episode which was produced directly before "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges".
  • The nineteenth-century poem Sloan refers to (but does not identify completely) as the source of the phrase "never say die" is "The Merchant of Venice: A Legend of Italy" by Richard Harris Barham, writing under the pseudonym Thomas Ingoldsby.

[edit] Continuity

  • Sloan references the group of genetically engineered humans from the episode "Statistical Probabilities".
  • Koval asks Bashir about the Teplan blight (which he calls "the Quickening"). This is a reference to the episode "The Quickening". Interestingly, Neral and Bashir both state that the Quickening occurred on Boranis III, which contradicts the earlier episode, where Boranis III is mentioned as a planet where Bashir had previously cured a plague before he tackled, or had even heard of, the Teplan blight.
  • Elim Garak's life as a gardener on Romulus was first mentioned in "Broken Link".
  • This is the first time in Star Trek that we see a Federation starship (the Bellerophon) visit Romulus.
  • Romulus is not seen again until Star Trek Nemesis.

[edit] Production

[edit] Cast

[edit] Video and DVD releases

This volume uses the production order for this and "Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang" - this episode was filmed first but broadcast second. It appears first on the video release.

[edit] Links and References

[edit] Guest Stars

[edit] Special Guest Star

[edit] Co-Stars

[edit] Uncredited Co-Stars

[edit] References

Bajor sector; Bellerophon, USS; biogenic weapon; Continuing Committee; Department of Cartography; Dividices, IRW; Dominion War; embassy; etymology; Federation hospital ship; Frame; gardener; Fujisaki; Genorex, IRW; Greer, Wendell; Hornet, USS; Jepella; kali-fal; leukocyte; Merchant of Venice, The; microcellular adhesive, Pensho; praetor; proconsul; Quickening; Rigelian; Romulan ale; Romulan Conference; Romulan mind probe; Romulan Star Empire; Romulus; Rotarran, IKS; Section 31; set'leth; sociology; Tal Shiar; Tuvan Syndrome; UFP; Velal

[edit] External links

Section 31-related episodes
ENT: "Affliction" • "Divergence" • "Demons" • "Terra Prime"
DS9: "Inquisition" • "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" • "Extreme Measures"


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"Penumbra"
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