Old Empire (Dune)

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The Old Empire is a fictional galactic empire in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The term has been applied to two distinct eras in Dune history.

[edit] Pre-Butlerian Jihad

The original Old Empire was a Great Empire of Man which preceded the Butlerian Jihad and the Corrino-led Padishah Empire. The Old Empire stood for many thousands of years, ruled by emperors, of whom the last came from House Boro.

According to the Legends of Dune series by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, the Old Empire was a feudal regime. This differs from earlier indications by Frank Herbert that it was lack of computers following the Butlerian Jihad which led to man entering a "second middle age". However it could be argued that since space-folding was first discovered by Norma Cenva in 174 B.G. (ca. 12,826 A.D.), it took an immense length of time to travel between different star systems, which could have led to a second rise of feudalism.

The people of the Old Empire in time came to depend on artificial intelligence, which eventually led to their overthrow by the Twenty Titans. The Titans ruled for some 900 years (called the Time of Titans) before they were overthrown themselves by the sentient computer network Omnius. Omnius and his thinking machines remained in control of the universe for a millenium before mankind defeated them in the Battle of Corrin, ending the Butlerian Jihad.

[edit] The Padishah Empire

Over 10,000 years later, Paul Atreides deposed the 81st and last Corrino Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV. Paul's son, the God Emperor Leto II, ruled with an iron fist for over 3,500 years. His death effectively abolished the Imperial throne, and threw humanity into chaos. The breakdown of Leto's empire, severe famine on many worlds and the introduction of Ixian navigation machines caused billions of people to leave the settled worlds, striking off into unknown space in an event known as The Scattering.

Beginning in Heretics of Dune, 500 years after Leto II's death, some of the people that had fled into the unknown began to return. The originating universe, which still revolved around spice production on the planet Rakis, was referred to as the Old Empire in comparison to the "Lost Ones" returning from The Scattering. In Heretics, Sheeana asked if the Honored Matres would come to Rakis. Darwi Odrade responded: "I'm afraid so. They want to control the core of the Old Empire because they see us as an easy conquest." In Chapterhouse Dune, Odrade had at her disposal "spies and agents throughout the Old Empire, [and] countless workers who looked to the Sisterhood to protect them from Honored Matres."