Intelligence and super-intelligence Republican's taken from historical period (9)
I believe the answer is:
espionage
'intelligence' is the definition.
(espionage is a kind of intelligence)
'super-intelligence republican's taken from historical period' is the wordplay.
'super intelligence' becomes 'esp' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'republican' becomes 'R' (abbreviation in US politics).
'taken from' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'historical period' becomes 'iron age' (I've seen this before).
'ironage' with 'r' removed is 'ionage'.
'esp'+'ionage'='ESPIONAGE'
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for espionage that I've seen before include "007's game" , "intelligence" , "hush-hush work" , "seeking information" , "secret work" .)