SPQR

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SPQR is an initialism of a Latin phrase Senātus Populus que Rōmānus ("The Roman Senate and People", or more freely as "The Senate and People of Rome"; Classical Latin: [sɛˈnaː.tʊs pɔpʊˈlʊs.kᶣɛ roːˈmaː.nʊs]), referring to the government of the ancient Roman Republic, and used as an official emblem of the modern-day comune (municipality) of Rome. It appears on Roman currency, at the end of documents made public by inscription in stone or metal, in dedications of monuments and public works, and was emblazoned on the vexilloids of the Roman legions.

The phrase commonly appears in Roman political, legal and historical literature, including the speeches of Cicero and Ab Urbe Condita Libri ("Books from the Founding of the City") of Livy.

Translation

SPQR: Senātus Populusque Rōmānus. In Latin, Senātus is a nominative singular noun meaning "Senate". Populusque is compounded from the nominative noun Populus, "the People", and -que, an enclitic particle meaning "and" which connects the two nominative nouns. The last word, Rōmānus ("Roman") is an adjective modifying the whole of Senātus Populusque: the "Roman Senate and People", taken as a whole.

Thus, the sentence is translated literally as "The Roman Senate and People", or more freely as "The Senate and People of Rome".

Historical context

The title's date of establishment is unknown, but it first appears in inscriptions of the Late Republic, from c. 80 BC onwards. Previously, the official name of the Roman state, as evidenced on coins, was simply ROMA. The abbreviation last appears on coins of Constantine the Great (ruled AD 312-337), the first Christian Roman emperor.

The two legal entities mentioned, Senātus and the Populus Rōmānus, are sovereign when combined. However, where populus is sovereign alone, Senātus is not. Under the Roman Kingdom neither entity was sovereign. The phrase, therefore, can be dated to no earlier than the foundation of the Republic.

This signature continued in use under the Roman Empire. The emperors were considered the representatives of the people even though the senātūs consulta, or decrees of the Senate, were made at the pleasure of the emperor.

Populus Rōmānus in Roman literature is a phrase meaning the government of the People. When the Romans named governments of other countries they used populus in the singular or plural, such as populī Prīscōrum Latīnōrum, "the governments of the Old Latins". Rōmānus is the established adjective used to distinguish the Romans, as in cīvis Rōmānus, "Roman citizen". The locative, Rōmae, "at Rome", was never used for that purpose.

The Roman people appear very often in law and history in such phrases as dignitās, maiestās, auctoritās, lībertās populī Rōmānī, the "dignity, majesty, authority, freedom of the Roman people". They were a populus līber, "a free people". There was an exercitus, imperium, iudicia, honorēs, consulēs, voluntās of this same populus: "the army, rule, judgments, offices, consuls and will of the Roman people". They appear in early Latin as Popolus and Poplus, so the habit of thinking of themselves as free and sovereign was quite ingrained.

The Romans believed that all authority came from the people. It could be said that similar language seen in more modern political and social revolutions directly comes from this usage. People in this sense meant the whole government. The latter, however, was essentially divided into the aristocratic Senate, whose will was executed by the consuls and praetors, and the comitia centuriāta, "committee of the centuries", whose will came to be safeguarded by the Tribunes.

One of the ways the emperor Commodus (180-192) paid for his donatives and mass entertainments was to tax the senatorial order, and on many inscriptions, the traditional order is provocatively reversed (Populus Senatusque...).

Beginning in 1184, the Commune of Rome struck coins in the name of the SENATVS P Q R. From 1414 and 1517, the Roman Senate struck coins with a shield inscribed SPQR.^[1]

During the regime of Benito Mussolini, SPQR was emblazoned on a number of public buildings and manhole covers in an attempt to promote his dictatorship as a "New Roman Empire".

Modern use

Modern manhole cover in Rome with SPQR inscription.

Today SPQR is still the municipal symbol of the city of Rome.

Civic references

A modern recreation of a Roman standard.

SPQH - Hamburg Rathaus

SPQx is sometimes used as an assertion of municipal pride and civic rights. The Italian town of Reggio Emilia, for instance, has SPQR in its coat of arms, standing for "Senatus Populusque Regiensis". There have been confirmed usages and reports of the employment of the "SPQx" template in;

• Alkmaar, Netherlands, SPQA on the facade of the Waag building, now cheese museum.
• Amsterdam, Netherlands, SPQA at one of the major theatres and some of the bridges^[2]
• Antwerp, Belgium, SPQA on the Antwerp City Hall^[3]
• Basel, Switzerland, SPQB on the Webern-Brunnen in Steinenvorstadt^[4]
• Benevento, Italy, SPQB on manhole covers^[5]
• Bremen, Germany, SPQB in the Bremen City Hall^[6]
• Bruges, Belgium, SPQB on its coat of arms^[7]
• Brussels, Belgium, SPQB found repeatedly on the Palais de Justice,^[8] and over the main stage of La Monnaie
• Catania, Italy, SPQC can be found on manhole covers
• Dublin, Ireland, SPQH on the City Hall, built in 1769
• Florence, Italy, SPQF^[5]
• Florianópolis, Brazil, SPQF^[5]
• Freising, Germany, SPQF, above the door of the town hall
• Ghent, Belgium, SPQG on the Opera, Theater and some other major buildings. In 1583, during the Dutch Revolt, Ghent struck coins with a shield inscribed SPQG.^[9]
• Hamburg, Germany, SPQH on a door in the Hamburg Rathaus^[10]
• Hanover, Germany
• Haarlem, the Netherlands, SPQH on the face of the town hall at the "Grote Markt"
• Hasselt, Belgium, SPQH
• Kortrijk, Belgium, SPQC, city hall
• Lazio, Italy, SPQS, coat of arms and flag (the second "S" stands for "Sabinus", referring to the Sabines)
• Leeuwarden, Netherlands, SPQL on the mayor's chain of office^[11]
• Liverpool, England, SPQL on various gold doors in St George's Hall^[12]
• City of London, England, SPQL^[13][14]
• Lübeck, Germany, SPQL on the Holstentor^[15]
• Lucerne, Switzerland
• Milan, Italy, The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V struck coins at Milan with the inscription S P Q MEDIOL OPTIMO PRINCIPI.^[16]
• Modica, Italy, SPQM is on the coat of arms
• Molfetta, Italy, SPQM is on the coat of arms^[17]
• Naples, Italy, Coins struck during Masaniello’s 1647 revolt showed a shield inscribed SPQN.^[18]
• Nuremberg, Germany, SQPN ("Norimbergensis") on the Fleisch Bridge (one of the major bridges over river Pegnitz in the inner city)
• Olomouc, Czech Republic, SPQO on its coat of arms^[5]
• Palermo, Italy, SPQP^[19]
• Penne, Abruzzo, Italy, SPQP^[19]
• Rotterdam, the Netherlands, SPQR on a wallpainting in the Rotterdam City Hall
• Siena, Italy, SPQS^[20]
• Solothurn, Switzerland, SPQS on the Cathedral of St Ursus and Victor
• Terracina, Italy, SPQT^[21]
• Tivoli, Lazio, Italy, SPQT^[22]
• Valencia, Spain, SPQV in several places and buildings, including the Silk Exchange^[23] and the University of Valencia^[24] Historic Building.
• Verviers, Belgium, SPQV on the Grand Theatre^[25]
• Vienna, Austria^[5]

Popular culture

The letters "SPQR" can sometimes be seen displayed on London market trader's stalls, meaning "Small Profits, Quick Returns"; a reminder not only of their trading philosophy, but also of the Londoner's sense of humour.^[26]

Some northern Italians, critical of the alleged corruption and waste of the Italian government in Rome, say that SPQR stands for "Sono Porci Questi Romani", which translates as "These Romans are pigs".

MPQN, standing for Metallica Populusque Nimus, appears on the cover of the Metallica live DVD Français Pour une Nuit, which was recorded in the Arena of Nîmes, a remodelled Roman amphiteatre.^[27]

In the Asterix and Obelix comics, Obelix often calls the Romans crazy: "Ils sont fous ces romains" (literally: "They're crazy, these Romans"). In the Italian editions, this is translated as "Sono Pazzi Questi Romani", abbreviated as SPQR.

In the cover of the Spanish Mort & Phil comic album La historia del dinero,^[28] Mort is carried on a litter as a Roman emperor, while his partner Phil holds a Roman standard topped by an umbrella with the tituli SPOR and SI LLUEVE (A pun, since Es por si llueve means "Just in case it rains" in Spanish).

In The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan, SPQR is tattooed on the arms of members of the Roman Legion.

The SPQR series is a collection of historical mystery stories by John Maddox Roberts set in the time of the Roman Republic.

S.P.Q.R. Records was an American popular music record label, a subsidiary of Legrand Records, which flourished in the 1960s and included Gary U.S. Bonds among its artists. The label was founded by Frank Guida, who is believed to have adopted the name in allusion to his Italian origins.^[29]

In the internet meme Polandball, the Roman Empire is represented by SPQRball.

Gallery

• 
  The inscription in the Arch of Titus
• 
  Manhole cover in Rome with SPQR inscription
• 
  SPQR of in the coat of arms of Reggio Emilia
• 
  Detail from the mosaic floor in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan
• 
  "Superiority of the warrior class. State 2." Etching by Wenceslaus Hollar, (University of Toronto)
• 
  Arch of Septimius Severus top inscription
• 
  Dedicatory plaque to Federico Fellini on Via Veneto
• 
  Wallpainting in the Burgerzaal of Rotterdam City Hall

References

Further reading

• Beneš, C.E. (2009). "Whose SPQR? Sovereignty and semiotics in medieval Rome". Speculum. 84: 874–904. doi:10.1017/s0038713400208130. 

External links

Look up SPQR in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to SPQR.

• Instances of "Roman Senate and People" in www.Perseus.edu
• Lewis & Short dictionary entry for populus on www.Perseus.edu
• Polybius on the Senate and People (6.16)
• SPQR street light lamp in Rome.

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