SPQR or S.P.Q.R., an initialism for Senatus Populusque Romanus (Classical Latin:[sɛˈnaːtʊspɔpʊˈɫʊskʷɛroːˈmaːnʊs]; transl. "The Senate and People of Rome"), is an emblematic phrase referring to the government of the Roman Republic. It appears on documents made public by an inscription in stone or metal, in dedications of monuments and public works, and on some Roman currency.
The full phrase appears in Roman political, legal, and historical literature, such as the speeches of Cicero and Ab Urbe Condita Libri (Books from the Founding of the City) of Livy.
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 phrase is translated literally as "The Roman Senate and People", or more freely as "The Senate and People of Rome".
The title's date of establishment is unknown, but it first appears in inscriptions of the Late Republic, from around 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 312–337 AD), the first Roman emperor to support Christianity.[citation needed]
This signature continued in use under the Roman Empire. The emperors were considered the de jure representatives of the people even though the senātūs consulta, or decrees of the Senate, were made at the de facto pleasure of the emperor.[citation needed]
Populus Romanus in Roman literature is a phrase meaning the government of the People. When the Romans named governments of foreign states, they used populus in the singular or plural, such as populi Priscorum Latinorum, "the governments of the Old Latins". Romanus is the established adjective used to distinguish the Romans, as in civis Romanus, "Roman citizen".[citation needed]
The Roman people appear very often in law and history in such phrases as dignitas, maiestas, auctoritas, libertas populi Romani, the "dignity, majesty, authority, freedom of the Roman people". They were a populus liber, "a free people". There was an exercitus, imperium, iudicia, honores, consules, voluntas 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.[citation needed]
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 centuriata, "committee of the centuries", whose will came to be safeguarded by the Tribunes.[citation needed]
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...).[citation needed]
Medieval use
Beginning in 1184, the Commune of Rome struck coins in the name of the SENATVS P Q R. From 1414 until 1517, the Roman Senate struck coins with a shield inscribed SPQR.
Even in contemporary usage, SPQR is still used in the municipal coat of arms of Rome and as abbreviation for the comune of Rome in official documents.[1][2] The Italians have long used a different and humorous expansion of this abbreviation, "Sono Pazzi Questi Romani" (literally: "They're crazy, these Romans").[3] SPQR is also part of the coat of arms of the Capital Military Command of the Italian army (Italian: Comando Militare Capitale).
In business, in English-speaking countries, SPQR is sometimes (humorously) used to mean "Small Profits, Quick Returns", often by people who have studied Latin at school.[4]
Civic references
"SPQH" in the Hamburg Rathaus, Germany"Senatus Populusque Cracoviensis" over the Waza Gate in Wawel Castle, Kraków, Poland"SPQN" on the Charles Bridge, Nuremberg, Germany"SPQG" at Sint-Christoffelkapel, Ghent, Belgium
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 deployment of the "SPQx" template in:
SPQR is often used to represent the Roman Empire and Roman Republic, such as in video games and movies.
In the 2000 movie Gladiator, the Roman general Maximus (portrayed by Russell Crowe) has "SPQR" tattooed on his upper arm, which he removes by scraping after he is sold into slavery.
^Woesinger (5 January 2007). "SPQA". Flickr. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
^"Webern-Brunnen" [Webern Fountain]. Basler Brunnenführer (in German). 1 January 2003. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
^International Council on Monuments and Sites (2003). "Evaluations of Cultural Properties"(PDF). UNESCO. pp. 39–42. Archived(PDF) from the original on 23 June 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
^"Crest of Brugge". Heraldry of the World. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
^Coslett, Paul. "St George's Hall". BBC Liverpool. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
^Corporation of London Records Office. "The City Arms"(PDF). cityoflondon.gov.uk. The Corporation of the City of London. Archived from the original(PDF) on 27 September 2011. The letters SPQL [Senatus Populusque Londinii – literally, The Senate and People of London] also occasionally appear in imitation of the SPQR of ancient Rome.
^Brunet, Alex (2013) [1839]. Regal Armorie of Great Britain. London: Forgotten Books. pp. 156–7.
^"Walking in Pomata". Tibursuperbum. Con il patrocinio del Comune di Tivoli Assessorato al Turismo. Archived from the original on 25 December 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
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