This was the first episode of Star Trek to air in high definition.
The stained glass windows seen in Tarquin's castle are taken from Shinzon's dining room on Romulus from Star Trek Nemesis.
Tarquin was a family of Roman kings in the 6th century BC. They were not of the same ethnicity as the Romans they ruled, as they came from the neighboring region of Etruria, whose people (the Etruscans) were later assimilated into the Roman culture and ceased to exist as a distinct identity. The Tarquins were held up in Roman history as the worst examples of brutal tyrants, prompting the English wit D.H. Lawrence to quip "The Etruscans were vicious. We know it, because their enemies and exterminators said so." Tarquin was also the namesake of another science fiction icon, the cruel Admiral Wilhuff Tarkin in the original Star Wars movie, Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977).
This episode was directed by Roxann Dawson, who played B'Elanna Torres in Star Trek: Voyager (1995).
After The High Ground (1990) which was written by Melinda M. Snodgrass and directed by Gabrielle Beaumont, this was the second episode of the "Star Trek" franchise to be completely written and directed by women, Phyllis Strong and Roxann Dawson respectively. All other "Star Trek" episodes directed by women were either written by men or co-written by a team of male and female writers.