SPQR, an abbreviation for (; en, "The

Roman Senate The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

and

People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

"; or more freely "The Senate and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

"), is an emblematic abbreviated phrase referring to the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

of the ancient

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

. It appears on Roman currency, at the end of documents made public by an inscription in stone or metal, and in dedications of monuments and public and civil works. The full phrase appears in Roman political, legal, and historical literature, such as the speeches of

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

and ''

Ab Urbe Condita Libri The work called ( en, From the Founding of the City), sometimes referred to as (''Books from the Founding of the City''), is a monumental history of ancient Rome, written in Latin between 27 and 9 BC by Livy, a Roman historian. The wor ...

'' ("Books from the Founding of the City") of

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

Translation

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, '' Senātus'' is a nominative singular noun meaning " Senate". '' Populus que'' 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 Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

") is an

adjective In linguistics, an adjective (abbreviated ) is a word that generally modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Traditionally, adjectives were considered one of the ma ...

modifying the whole of '' Senātus Populusque'': the "Roman Senate and People", taken as a whole. Thus, the phrase is translated

literally ''Literally'' is an English adverb. It has been controversially used as an intensifier for figurative statements. History The first known use of the word ''literally'' was in the 15th century, or the 1530s, when it was used in the sense of "in ...

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 Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...

(ruled 312–337 AD), the first Roman emperor to support

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. 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 Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

. The emperors were considered the ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

'' representatives of the people even though the '' senātūs consulta'', or decrees of the Senate, were made at the ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' pleasure of the emperor. ''Populus Rōmānus'' 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 ''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 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

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...

s and

praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vari ...

s, and the ''comitia centuriāta'', "committee of the centuries", whose will came to be safeguarded by the

Tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on th ...

s. 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 The Commune of Rome ( it, Comune di Roma) was established in 1144 after a rebellion led by Giordano Pierleoni. Pierleoni led a people's revolt due to the increasing powers of the Pope and the entrenched powers of the nobility. The goal of the ...

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. During

the regime ''The Regime: Evil Advances/Before They Were Left Behind'' is the second prequel novel in the ''Left Behind'' series, written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. It was released on Tuesday, November 15, 2005. This book covers more events lea ...

of Benito Mussolini, SPQR was emblazoned on a number of public buildings and

manhole cover A manhole cover or maintenance hole cover is a removable plate forming the lid over the opening of a manhole, an opening large enough for a person to pass through that is used as an access point for an underground vault or pipe. It is designed t ...

s in an attempt to promote his dictatorship as a "

New Roman Empire The Italian colonial empire ( it, Impero coloniale italiano), known as the Italian Empire (''Impero Italiano'') between 1936 and 1943, began in Africa in the 19th century and comprised the colonies, protectorates, concessions and dependencie ...

Modern use

Even in contemporary usage, SPQR is still used in the municipal coat of arms of Rome and as abbreviation for the

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

of Rome in official documents. The Italians have long used a different and humorous expansion of this abbreviation, "''Sono Pazzi Questi Romani''" (literally: "They're crazy, these Romans"). SPQR is also part of the coat of arms of the Capital Military Command of the Italian army (Italian: ''Comando Militare Capirale''). 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.

Civic references

''SPQ'' 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 . There have been confirmed usages and reports of the deployment of the "SPQ" template in;

Popular culture

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 shoulder, which he removes by scraping after he is sold into slavery.

Use by white nationalists

Some members of

white nationalist White nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a raceHeidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks. "Chapter 7: White nationalism in America". In Perry, Barbara. ''Hate Crimes''. Greenwoo ...

groups use the abbreviation SPQR on flags, on their person (such as

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing ...

s) and other forms of identification. However, the Anti-Defamation League does not include SPQR in its hate symbol database, and the organization's

Mark Pitcavage Mark Pitcavage is a historian and analyst of far-right wing groups. He works with the Anti-Defamation League and was the creator of the now-archived Militia Watchdog website. The site has been an archive since 2000 when Pitcavage took the position ...

said that the abbreviation is used "just as much or more often by nonextremists than extremists".

Gallery

File:Arch.of.Titus-Inscription.jpg, The inscription in the

Arch of Titus The Arch of Titus ( it, Arco di Tito; la, Arcus Titi) is a 1st-century AD honorific arch, located on the Via Sacra, Rome, just to the south-east of the Roman Forum. It was constructed in 81 AD by the Emperor Domitian shortly after the death of ...

File:Rome SPQR 1979-08-06.jpg,

Manhole A manhole (utility hole, maintenance hole, or sewer hole) is an opening to a confined space such as a shaft, utility vault, or large vessel. Manholes are often used as an access point for an underground public utility, allowing inspection, m ...

cover in Rome with SPQR inscription File:Stemma reggio emilia municipio.jpg, SPQR in the coat of arms of Reggio Emilia File:3492 - Milano - Galleria Vittorio Emanuele - Stemma di Roma - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 22-June-2007.jpg, Detail from the mosaic floor in the

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II () is Italy's oldest active shopping gallery and a major landmark of Milan in Italy. Housed within a four-story double arcade in the centre of town, the ''Galleria'' is named after Victor Emmanuel II, the first ki ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

File:Wenceslas Hollar - Superiority of the warrior class (State 2).jpg, "Superiority of the warrior class", by

Wenceslaus Hollar Wenceslaus Hollar (23 July 1607 – 25 March 1677) was a prolific and accomplished Bohemian graphic artist of the 17th century, who spent much of his life in England. He is known to German speakers as ; and to Czech speakers as . He is particu ...

File:Arch of Septimius Severus Top Inscription.JPG,

Arch of Septimius Severus The Arch of Septimius Severus ( it, Arco di Settimio Severo) at the northwestern end of the Roman Forum is a white marble triumphal arch dedicated in 203 A.D. to commemorate the Parthian victories of Emperor Septimius Severus and his two sons, ...

top inscription File:Fellini plaque, Via Veneto.jpg, Dedicatory plaque to Federico Fellini on

Via Veneto Via Vittorio Veneto (), colloquially called Via Veneto, is one of the most famous, elegant, and expensive streets of Rome, Italy. The street is named after the Battle of Vittorio Veneto (1918), a decisive Italian victory of World War I. Federico F ...

File:20080423 Rotterdam Stadhuis Burgerzaal Pricker SPQR1.jpg, Mural in the Burgerzaal of Rotterdam City Hall

References

External links

Instances of "Roman Senate and People"
on Perseus.edu
Lewis & Short dictionary entry for populus
on Perseus.edu
Polybius on the Senate and People (6.16)
{{Ancient Rome topics , state = collapsed Ancient Roman government Latin mottos Initialisms