Tauron: the Old Colony

Tauron, known as "The Old Colony" and originally named Taurus, was a planet in the Cyrannus star system, orbiting the star Helios Alpha. It was one of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, named after the Taurus tribe who had resided on Kobol, though its citizens may not have been affiliated with that tribe. A rich and industrious world defined by hardship and fierce pride, Tauron suffered famine, civil war and a recognized genocide of its native people before being exterminated in the Fall of the Twelve Colonies. (Twelve Colonies map, Caprica; Caprica, "Pilot"; Battlestar Galactica (miniseries))

Settlement and early history#

Early in the colonial era, Tauron was colonized for the rearing of livestock. The city of Minos began in the middle of a cattle trail. Not as aggressively developed as other worlds of its time, Tauron suffered from famines brought on quickly by conflict, forcing people to eat dirt to survive. The term "dirt-eater" lived on afterward as a racial slur against native Taurons, who were known as the Ha'la'tha in their own language. (Twelve Colonies map, Caprica; The Caprican, "Racism: An Unacceptable Aspect of Caprican Life"; Caprica, "The Dirteaters")

For centuries, Tauron endured colonization by Virgon and Leonis as those worlds expanded their interplanetary empires. Tauron independence eventually resumed in a popular revolt known as "Our Day", yet cultural distinctions between the native Ha'la'tha and Tauronised settlers persisted. The government was predominantly represented by the settler community, which held strong ties to neighbouring worlds such as Caprica. (Twelve Colonies map, Caprica; The Caprican, "Racism: An Unacceptable Aspect of Caprican Life")

Civil war and genocide#

An uprising by native farmers against the government, nearly a century before the Fall, quickly led to the two-year Tauron Civil War. In its aftermath the government relied on urban units known as the Heraclis, whose wide-ranging powers in suppressing a further rebellion led to the mass execution and starvation of many Taurons. The Twelve Worlds recognized the act as a genocide. It produced a wide body of Ha'la'tha refugees who settled across the Cyrannus star system, from Caprica to Sagittaron, and became linked to organized crime. The complicity of those worlds in the regime's continued strength was not forgotten. Another uprising followed decades later, with the Ha'la'tha better prepared and supported by gun-running across the Twelve Worlds; in Caprica, Joseph and Sam Adama lose their parents to the government's violence on Tauron. (Twelve Colonies map, Caprica; Caprica, "Pilot"; "The Dirteaters")

The Cylon War and the Fall#

When the Cylons rebelled against mankind, spawning a twelve-year war, Tauron formed part of the United Colonies of Kobol, an arrangement that allowed all planets to receive equal military support. On the final day of the Cylon War, Cylon forces abducted civilians for unknown ends, events glimpsed in Razor; the official map places this attack on Tauron. Despite this, the map describes Tauron as one of the richest and most industrious colonies, known for its pride and for vast wealth concentrated among a few, though on screen it is more often treated as poor and troublesome. (Battlestar Galactica: Razor; Twelve Colonies map, Caprica; Caprica, "Pilot")

Little is recorded of Tauron over the following forty years of peace, though it was infiltrated by humanoid Cylons. At the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, Tauron faced large-scale nuclear bombardment by basestars, followed by an equally massive landing force of Centurions that successfully exterminated the remaining survivors. (Battlestar Galactica (miniseries); Twelve Colonies map, Caprica)

Geography#

The capital of Tauron was Hypatia. Its other major cities were Tauron City and Minos, the latter having grown from a stop on an early cattle trail. Notable attractions included Minos, the Olympia Hippodrome and the Great Tauron Plain. (Twelve Colonies map, Caprica)