The inscription in the Arch of Titus

Modern coat of arms of Rome

Manhole cover in Rome with SPQR inscription

SPQR is an initialism from a Latin phrase, Senatus Populus que Romanus ("The Roman Senate and People"), referring to the government of the ancient Roman Republic, and used as an official signature of the government. It appears on coins, 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 standards of the Roman legions. The phrase appears many hundreds of times in Roman political, legal and historical literature, including the speeches of Marcus Tullius Cicero and the history of Titus Livius. Since the meaning and the words never vary, except for the spelling and inflection of populus in literature, Latin dictionaries classify it as a formula. The SPQR series is a collection of detective stories by John Maddox Roberts set in the time of the Roman Republic. ... SPQR is a board game designed by Richard Berg and Mark Herman, and released in 1992 by GMT Games. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 417 pixel Image in higher resolution (1000 × 521 pixel, file size: 46 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Roman Empire Roman... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1124x256, 62 KB) en:: Description: Rome, Arch of Titus, Inscription SENATVS POPVLVSQVE·ROMANVS DIVO·TITO·DIVI·VESPASIANI·F[ILIO] VESPASIANO·AVGVSTO Author: Vincent Ramos, Foto taken himself, upload to French wikipedia 13. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1124x256, 62 KB) en:: Description: Rome, Arch of Titus, Inscription SENATVS POPVLVSQVE·ROMANVS DIVO·TITO·DIVI·VESPASIANI·F[ILIO] VESPASIANO·AVGVSTO Author: Vincent Ramos, Foto taken himself, upload to French wikipedia 13. ... The Arch of Titus This article deals with the main arch of Titus on the Via Sacra. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Roma01. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Roma01. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... A manhole or maintenance hole is the top opening to an underground vault used to house an access point for making connections or performing maintenance on underground and buried public utility and other services including sewers, telephone, electricity, storm drains and gas. ... Look up acronym, initialism, alphabetism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... The Roman Senate (Latin: Senatus) was the main governing council of both the Roman Republic, which started in 509 BC, and the Roman Empire. ... Motto Senatus Populusque Romanus Roman provinces on the eve of the assassination of Julius Caesar, c. ... The main Roman currency during most of the Roman Republic and the western half of the Roman Empire consisted of coins including the aureus (gold), the denarius (silver), the sestertius (bronze), the dupondius (bronze), and the as (copper). ... The Roman Legion (from Latin , from lego, legere, legi, lectus — to collect) is a term that can apply both as a transliteration of legio (conscription or army) to the entire Roman army and also, more narrowly (and more commonly), to the heavy infantry that was the basic military unit of... Cicero at about age 60, from an ancient marble bust Marcus Tullius Cicero (IPA:Classical Latin pronunciation: , usually pronounced in American English or in British English; January 3, 106 BC – December 7, 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, political theorist, philosopher, widely considered one of Romes greatest orators... Titus Livius (around 59 BC - 17 AD), known as Livy in English, wrote a monumental history of Rome, Ab Urbe Condita, from its founding (traditionally dated to 753 BC). ... Inflection of the Spanish lexeme for cat, with blue representing the masculine gender, pink representing the feminine gender, grey representing the form used for mixed-gender, and green representing the plural number. ... Ordinary Magistrates Extraordinary Magistrates Titles and Honors Emperor Politics and Law Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome. ...

In modern usage, SPQR appears in the coat of arms of the city of Rome, as well as on many of the city's civic buildings and manhole covers. Benito Mussolini used it in his propaganda about the "New Roman Empire".^{[citation needed]} A modern coat of arms is derived from the medi val practice of painting designs onto the shield and outer clothing of knights to enable them to be identified in battle, and later in tournaments. ... Nickname: Motto: SPQR: Senatus Populusque Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 21 April 753 BC Government  - Mayor Walter Veltroni Area  - City 1,285 km²  (580 sq mi)  - Urban 5... Princeton University manhole cover, Princeton, NJ, USA Pick holes in manhole cover, Palo Alto, CA, USA Kraków manhole cover (note integral hinge) Painted manhole cover in Matsumoto, Japan. ... Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (July 29, 1883 – April 28, 1945) was the prime minister of Italy from 1922 until 1943, when he was overthrown. ... The Italian empire in 1940 The Italian Empire was a 20th century empire, which lasted from 9 May 1936 to September 1943. ...

Historical context

The date of origin of the phrase is not known, but its meaning places it generally in the Roman Republic. The two legal entities mentioned are the Senatus and the Populus Romanus. The populus is sovereign and the combination is so as well, but the Senate alone is not. Under the monarchy neither was sovereign. The phrase can be dated therefore to no earlier than the foundation of the Republic. Motto Senatus Populusque Romanus Roman provinces on the eve of the assassination of Julius Caesar, c. ...

This signature continued in use under the Roman Empire. The emperors were considered the representatives of the people even though the senatus consulta, or decrees of the Senate, were made at the pleasure of the emperor. Motto Senatus Populusque Romanus (SPQR) The Roman Empire at its greatest extent. ...

Populus Romanus in Roman literature is a phrase meaning the government of the Republic. When the Romans named governments of other countries 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". The locative, Romae, "at Rome", was never used for that purpose. 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, judgements, 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. Locative is a case which indicates a location. ...

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, "committees of the hundreds", whose will came to be safeguarded by the Tribunes. Consul (abbrev. ... Ordinary Magistrates Extraordinary Magistrates Titles and Honors Emperor Politics and Law Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, either before it was mustered or more typically in the field, or an elected... Ordinary Magistrates Extraordinary Magistrates Titles and Honors Emperor Politics and Law Tribune (from the Latin: tribunus; Greek form tribounos) was a title shared by 2-3 elected magistracies and other governmental and/or (para)military offices of the Roman Republic and Empire. ...

In more official contexts therefore Senatus Populusque Romanus was used for signing-off purposes. The singular was used for the nominative case. The plural could be used in other cases: senatu populoque consentientibus, "the senate and people ratifying" (an ablative absolute construction). In society SPQR was often "bully" language, the same as threatening to report or prosecute someone today. Cicero used it to good effect. The nominative case is a grammatical case for a noun. ... In linguistics, the ablative case is a noun case found in several languages, including Latin, Sanskrit and in the Finno_Ugric languages. ...

Modern variants

The usage has been revived in modern times, throughout Europe and beyond. SPQ- is sometimes used as an assertion of municipal pride and civic rights.

• Reggio Emilia has SPQR in its coat of arms, standing for "Senatus Populusque Regiensis"
• In Benevento, one can find SPQB, standing for "Senatus Populusque Beneventanus," on manhole covers.^[1]
• SPQA can be found at one of the major theatres and some of the bridges of Amsterdam.^[2]

• There have also been reports of SPQ* from London, Lucerne, Lübeck, Olomouc, Liverpool (on various gold doors in St George's Hall), Brussels ("SPQB" found repeatedly on the famous Palais de Justice, and over the main stage of La Monnaie/De Munt opera house), Antwerp (e.g. City hall), Verviers (Grand Theâtre), Bruges, Vienna ("Senatus Populusque Viennensis"), Florianópolis ("Senatus Populusque Florianopolitanus"), Palermo, and Florence ("Senatus Populusque Florentinus").^[3]

• The SPQR logo also appears at the base of "The Angel of Independence" statue in Mexico City. Its relevance there is not clear.

Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 521 pixelsFull resolution (1203 × 783 pixel, file size: 660 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) stemma di Reggio Emilia foto mia made by me, may 2005 SPQR --Paolo da Reggio 21:01, 29 May 2005 (UTC) File historyClick on a... Country Italy Region Emilia-Romagna Province Reggio Emilia (RE) Mayor Graziano Delrio (from July 1, 2004) Elevation 58 m Area 231 km² Population  - Total 141,383  - Density 612/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Coordinates Gentilic Reggiani Dialing code 0522 Postal code 42100 Frazioni see list Patron San Prospero  - Day... Benevento is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, 50 km northeast of Naples. ... Serge Sudeikins poster for the Bat Theatre (1922). ... volcanic rock. ... Nickname: Motto: Heldhaftig, Vastberaden, Barmhartig (Valiant, Determined, Compassionate) Location of Amsterdam Coordinates: , Country Province Government  - Mayor Job Cohen (PvdA)  - Aldermen Lodewijk Asscher Hennah Buyne Carolien Gehrels Tjeerd Herrema Maarten van Poelgeest Marijke Vos  - Secretary Erik Gerritsen Area [1][2]  - City 219 km²  (84. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see Lucerne (disambiguation). ... Lübeck ( pronunc. ... town hall with astronomical clock Olomouc (German Olmütz, Polish OÅ‚omuniec, Latin Eburum or Olomucium) is a city in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic. ... Location within England Coordinates: , Sovereign state United Kingdom Constituent country England Region North West England Ceremonial county Historic county Merseyside Lancashire Admin HQ Liverpool City Centre Founded 1207 City Status 1880 Government  - Type Metropolitan borough, City  - Governing body Liverpool City Council Area  - Borough & City 43. ... St. ... Nickname: Map showing the location of Brussels in Belgium Coordinates: , Country Belgium Region Brussels-Capital Region Founded 979 Founded (Region) June 18, 1989 Government  - Mayor (Municipality) Freddy Thielemans Area  - Region 162 km²  (62. ... For other uses, see Antwerp (disambiguation). ... Antwerp City Hall The City Hall (Dutch: Stadhuis) of Antwerp, Belgium, stands on the western side of Antwerps Grote Markt (Great Market Square). ... Center of Verviers Verviers is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. ... Geography Country Belgium Community Flemish Community Region Flemish Region Province West Flanders Arrondissement Bruges Coordinates , , Area 138. ... “Wien” redirects here. ... Nickname: Location in Brazil Coordinates: , Country Region State Santa Catarina Founded March 23, 1726 Government  - Mayor Dario Elias Berger (PSDB) Area  - City 436. ... For other uses, see Palermo (disambiguation). ... Florence (Italian: ) is the capital city of the region of Tuscany, Italy. ... El Ángel de la Independencia (The Angel of Independence), most commonly known by the shortened name El Ángel, is a monument located on a roundabout over Paseo de la Reforma in downtown Mexico City. ... Nickname: Motto: Ciudad en movimiento Location of Mexico City in central Mexico Coordinates: , Country Federal entity Boroughs The 16 delegaciones Founded c. ...

SPQR in popular culture

• In the movie Gladiator, Maximus has SPQR tattooed on his left shoulder.
• In the movie Titus, the radio microphone into which Saturninus speaks has the call letters "S.P.Q.R."
• The experimental band This Heat wrote a song entitled "S.P.Q.R" which appears on their 1981 album Deceit.
• SPQR, in strategy game Rome: Total War, stands for the only Roman faction that is unplayable by human players. They have to choose between Roman families Brutii, Scipii and Julii.

Gladiator is a 2000 historical action drama film. ... Titus (1999) is a 1999 film adaptation of Shakespeares revenge tragedy Titus Andronicus, about the downfall of a Roman general. ... This Heat were a British progressive rock band widely considered a missing link between progressive rock (especially krautrock) and such later experimental genres as post-punk, post-rock, and noise rock. ... Deceit is the second album by This Heat. ... Rome: Total War is a grand strategy computer game where players fight historical and fictious battles during the era of the Roman Republic, from 270 BCE to 14 CE. The game was developed by Creative Assembly and released on September 22, 2004. ... The Brutti were an ancient people of southern Italy, occupying the interior of Bruttium (modern Calabria). ... Scipio (plural, Scipiones) is a a Roman cognomen representing the Cornelii Scipiones, a branch of the Cornelii family. ... Julius (fem. ...

References

is the 318th day of the year (319th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 336th day of the year (337th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 318th day of the year (319th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

SPQR

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