SPQR: Flag pole in Piazza Venezia

Last week I saw SPQR on flag poles in Piazza Venezia.

Senatus Populusque Romanus

"The Senate and the People of Rome"

It originally referred to the government of the ancient Roman Republic, and used as an official signature, appearing on coins, civic inscriptions, and on the standards of the Roman legions. Today, SPQR is the motto of the city of Rome and appears in the city's coat of arms, the city's civic buildings, manhole covers, billboards and even on flag poles!

SPQR: September 10

Today I noticed a new plaque with SPQR near the Colosseum.

It commemorates the victory of Abebe Bikila, the Ethiopian Marathon winner of the XVII Olympiad, held in Rome 50 years ago. The world watched as this champion ran barefoot through the streets of Rome.

Senatus Populusque Romanus

"The Senate and the People of Rome"

It originally referred to the government of the ancient Roman Republic, and used as an official signature, appearing on coins, civic inscriptions, and on the standards of the Roman legions. Today, SPQR is the motto of the city of Rome and appears in the city's coat of arms, the city's civic buildings, manhole covers, billboards and even on commemorative plaques!

SPQR: Car Sharing

Today I saw SPQR on the back of a Fiat Panda in Trastevere. It is part of the fleet of "Car Sharing" vehicles that now dot the city of Rome.

Io Guido means "I drive."

On the car door is a stylized rendition of the

Piazza Campidoglio designed my Michelangelo.

This sign shows the other “car sharing” locations

throughout the city of Rome.

SPQR

Senatus Populusque Romanus

"The Senate and the People of Rome"

It originally referred to the government of the ancient Roman Republic, and used as an official signature, appearing on coins, civic inscriptions, and on the standards of the Roman legions. Today, SPQR is the motto of the city of Rome and appears in the city's coat of arms, the city's civic buildings, manhole covers, billboards and even as car sharing vehicles!

SPQR: Piazza Trilussa

You can see the letters SPQR on this ribbon, attached to a wreath placed by the mayor of Rome at a memorial to the poet Trilussa.
This memorial is in Piazza Trilussa, along the Tiber River in Trastevere. Trilussa was the pen name of Carlo Alberto Salustri (1871-1950) who is known for poems written in the Roman dialect. ("Trilussa" is an anagram of “Salustri”.)
This is a view of the piazza with the fountain built by the Borghese Pope Paul V.

Senatus Populusque Romanus

"The Senate and the People of Rome"

It originally referred to the government of the ancient Roman Republic, and used as an official signature, appearing on coins, civic inscriptions, and on the standards of the Roman legions. Today, SPQR is the motto of the city of Rome and appears in the city's coat of arms, the city's civic buildings, manhole covers, billboards and even on memorial wreaths!

SPQR: another tattoo

SPQR: Seen in traffic!

This past week while stopped at a traffic light

I noticed this tattoo of SPQR.

I was able to get a picture before the light changed.

Senatus Populusque Romanus

"The Senate and the People of Rome"

It originally referred to the government of the ancient Roman Republic, and used as an official signature, appearing on coins, civic inscriptions, and on the standards of the Roman legions. Today, SPQR is the motto of the city of Rome and appears in the city's coat of arms, the city's civic buildings, manhole covers, billboards and even as tattoos!

SPQR: Tattoo

This afternoon I saw an arm with a SPQR tattoo. It was on a man who was part of the ritual re-enactment at the Temple of Hercules in honor of the 2,763rd anniversary of the founding of Rome.

SPQR are the first letters of the words in the Latin phrase Senatus Populusque Romanus, "The Senate and the People of Rome." It originally referred to the government of the ancient Roman Republic, and used as an official signature of the government, appearing on coins, civic inscriptions, and on the standards of the Roman legions. Today, SPQR is the motto of the city of Rome and appears in the city's coat of arms, the city's civic buildings, manhole covers, billboards and even as tattoos!

SPQR: Arezzo (Tuscany)

I found SPQR with this image of Romulus and Remus nursing from the she-wolf in Arezzo during our recent trip to Tuscany.

It was part of the base for a statue of Guido d'Arezzo.

Guido was a Benedictine monk who was born in Arezzo in 991. While a young monk on the Adriatic coast he noticed that singers had difficulty remembering Gregorian chants. He came up with a method for teaching the singers to learn chants in a short time. However, he attracted the hostility of the other monks at the abbey for doing this, and moved back to his home town of Arezzo. Arezzo had no abbey, but the bishop invited him to train and conduct the large group of cathedral singers. While at Arezzo, he developed new technologies for teaching, such as staff notation and solfeggio, the "do-re-mi" scale. The syllables for "do-re-me" were taken from the initial syllables of each of the first six musical phrases of "Ut queant laxis," the chant hymn for the feast of John the Baptist.

SPQR are the first letters of the words in the Latin phrase Senatus Populusque Romanus, "The Senate and the People of Rome." It originally referred to the government of the ancient Roman Republic, and used as an official signature of the government, appearing on coins, civic inscriptions, and on the standards of the Roman legions. Today, SPQR is the motto of the city of Rome and appears in the city's coat of arms, the city's civic buildings, manhole covers, billboards and, of course, bases for statues.

SPQR: Fontana delle Anfore

Today on my way home, while passing through Piazza dell'Emporio, I noticed SPQR on the Fontana della Anfore.
This fountain was completed in 1927 by Pietro Lombardi after he won a competition the city of Rome had in the 1920s for new neighborhood fountains. This fountain is in Testaccio, below the Aventine Hill near the Tiber River
These cobblestones are around the base of the fountain. Two weeks ago I fell while crossing the Piazza. The result was an injured knee that took me to the emergency room. Nothing was broken, but I had to stay home from work and rest my leg for seven days.

SPQR are the first letters of the words in the Latin phrase Senatus Populusque Romanus, "The Senate and the People of Rome." It originally referred to the government of the ancient Roman Republic, and used as an official signature of the government, appearing on coins, civic inscriptions, and on the standards of the Roman legions. Today, SPQR is the motto of the city of Rome and appears in the city's coat of arms, the city's civic buildings, manhole covers, billboards and, of course, fountains.

SPQR: Urbino

During our January trip to Urbino I discovered SPQR on a soldier's shield in a 15th century wall painting of the Oratorio of San Giovanni Battista. The scene is set on Golgatha, where a crowd has gathered for the crucifixion of Jesus. The presence of Rome in Jerusalem is very evident.

SPQR are the first letters of the words in the Latin phrase Senatus Populusque Romanus, "The Senate and the People of Rome." It originally referred to the government of the ancient Roman Republic, and used as an official signature of the government, appearing on coins, civic inscriptions, and on the standards of the Roman legions, not only in the city of Rome, but everywhere in the world under the influence of Rome. Today, SPQR is the motto of the city of Rome and appears in the city's coat of arms, the city's civic buildings, manhole covers, billboards and fountains.

SPQR: Piazza Iside

SPQR on a fountain in Piazza Iside, a site that was once part of a sanctuary to the Egyptian goddess Isis. The cult came to Ancient Rome with Greek sailors and Egyptian immigrants and was popular with women and working classes, including slaves. You can see the ruins of the sanctuary behind the fountain, on the slopes of the Esquiline Hill, near the Colosseum.

SPQR are the first letters of the words in the Latin phrase Senatus Populusque Romanus, "The Senate and the People of Rome." It originally referred to the government of the ancient Roman Republic, and used as an official signature of the government, appearing on coins, civic inscriptions, and on the standards of the Roman legions. SPQR is the motto of the city of Rome and appears in the city's coat of arms, the city's civic buildings, manhole covers, billboards and fountains.

SPQR: Santa Maria in Ara Coeli

This crest is displayed to the right of the front door of the church designated as the Church of the Senate and the People of Rome, Santa Maria in Ara Coeli. It is on the Capitoline Hill next to the buildings of the Roman City Government that are around the Campidoglio, the Renaissance piazza designed by Michelangelo.

This is the brick facade of the church, seen between the white marble of the Monument to Victor Emmanuel II and one of the buildings of Michelangelo's Piazza. (For more about the church see the post below.)

SPQR are the first letters of the words in the Latin phrase Senatus Populusque Romanus, "The Senate and the People of Rome." It originally referred to the government of the ancient Roman Republic, and used as an official signature of the government, appearing on coins, civic inscriptions, and on the standards of the Roman legions. SPQR is the motto of the city of Rome and appears in the city's coat of arms, as well as on many of the city's civic buildings, public fountains, manhole covers, billboards and even some churches.

SPQR: Baths of Caracalla

SPQR on the top of a sidewalk billboard in front of the Baths of Caracalla, opened in 216 AD. In ancient Rome it accommodated 8,000 people a day. Today it is one of the largest and best preserved of the ancient thermal complexes and during the summer it is used for opera productions.

SPQR are the first letters of the words in the Latin phrase Senatus Populusque Romanus, "The Senate and the People of Rome." It originally referred to the government of the ancient Roman Republic, and used as an official signature of the government, appearing on coins, stone and metal inscriptions, and on the standards of the Roman legions. SPQR is the motto of the city of Rome and appears in the city's coat of arms, as well as on many of the city's civic buildings, public fountains, manhole covers and billboards.

SPQR: Free Water

Today was very hot in Rome and the "B Line" of the subway system is not air conditioned. The city was distributing free bottles of water to help all of the riders stay cool. Of course, the city's coat of arms with SPQR was proudly displayed on the bottles of sparkling water.

I got my free bottle of water as I left the Piramide station,

near the Porta San Paolo.

SPQR are the first letters of the words in the Latin phrase Senatus Populusque Romanus, "The Senate and the People of Rome." It originally referred to the government of the ancient Roman Republic, and used as an official signature of the government, appearing on coins, stone and metal inscriptions, and on the standards of the Roman legions. SPQR is the motto of the city of Rome and appears in the city's coat of arms, as well as on many of the city's civic buildings, public fountains, manhole covers and water bottles!

SPQR: Ponte Mazzini

SPQR on the base of a lamp post on the Ponte Mazzini.

The Ponte Mazzini was built between 1904-1908 crossing the Tiber River from the Historic Center into Trastevere, near the Regina Coeli Prison.

SPQR are the first letters of the words in the Latin phrase Senatus Populusque Romanus, "The Senate and the People of Rome." It originally referred to the government of the ancient Roman Republic, and used as an official signature of the government, appearing on coins, stone and metal inscriptions, and on the standards of the Roman legions. SPQR is the motto of the city of Rome and appears in the city's coat of arms, as well as on many of the city's civic buildings, public fountains, and manhole covers.