SPQR

SPQR

SPQR is an abbreviation for Senātus Populusque Rōmānus. The full phrase appears in Roman political, legal, and historical literature. During the regime of Benito Mussolini, SPQR was emazoned on public buildings and manhole covers.

About SPQR in brief

Summary SPQRSPQR is an abbreviation for Senātus Populusque Rōmānus. The full phrase appears in Roman political, legal, and historical literature. The title’s date of establishment is unknown, but it first appears in inscriptions of the Late Republic, from c. 80 BC onwards. The abbreviation last appears on coins of Constantine the Great, the first Roman emperor to support Christianity. During the regime of Benito Mussolini, SPQR was emazoned on a number of public buildings and manhole covers in an attempt to promote his dictatorship.

Even in contemporary usage, SP QR is still used in the municipal coat of arms of Rome in the name of the comune of Rome. The Roman people appear very often in law and history in such phrases as dignitās, maiestās and auctoritāS. The Romans believed that all authority came from the people. People in this sense meant the whole government, but the latter was divided into the aristocratic Senate and the comitia centuriāta, whose will came to be safeguarded by the Tribunes.