The Praetorian Edict of 2348 (known as the Expansion Directive outside the Star Empire) was a Romulan Star Empire directive to improve the Star Empire's exploration capabilities. (Ship Recognition Manual, Volume 5: Starships of the Romulan Star Empire) As part of the edict Exploration Command upgraded its fleet of Deresus-class heavy scouts. A side effect of this was that the Romulans refined their ideas for the quantum singularity drive.