S.P.Q.R.

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mongkonmode
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S.P.Q.R.

Post by mongkonmode »

Vi en la peli " S.P.Q.R. " Que significa?

I saw in the movie when Caesar goes anywhere, there 's somethin' and S.P.Q.R. on it. What does it represent for?

Kip
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spqr

Post by Kip »

SPQR I believe is The Senate and People of Rome

I hope I get this right...

Senatus Populusque Romae

...if not, I need more practice. :roll:

Sort of like United States of America USA or The Peoples Republic of China PRC

amans
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Re: spqr

Post by amans »

Kip wrote:SPQR I believe is The Senate and People of Rome

I hope I get this right...

Senatus Populusque Romae

...if not, I need more practice. :roll:

Sort of like United States of America USA or The Peoples Republic of China PRC
Almost correct, Kip: it's The Roman Senate and People:

Senatus Populusque Romanus

:)

Thucydides
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Post by Thucydides »

Which of course was complete rubbish. But the Romans were good at propaganda.

Kip
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spqr

Post by Kip »

Almost correct, Kip: it's The Roman Senate and People:

Senatus Populusque Romanus
Well I guess being "almost correct" is better than "not correct". :oops:

aemilius
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Re: spqr

Post by aemilius »

amans wrote:
Almost correct, Kip: it's The Roman Senate and People:

Senatus Populusque Romanus

:)
I think that more correct will be:

The Senate and the Roman people.

amans
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Re: spqr

Post by amans »

aemilius wrote:
amans wrote:
Almost correct, Kip: it's The Roman Senate and People:

Senatus Populusque Romanus

:)
I think that more correct will be:

The Senate and the Roman people.
Interesting point. As both senatus as well as populus are masculine, and as word order is no guarantee, we cannot really tell for sure which word Romanus does indeed modify. It can modify senatus, or populus, or, as I tried to suggest: both. I don't think Latin usage would necessarily require Romani in the plural to do this, albeit it is, of course, grammatically more correct.

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Post by nostos »

'tis my avatar.

Bardo de Saldo
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Post by Bardo de Saldo »

I'll go for:

The Senate and the People of Rome. What do I win?

By The People they meant the Popular Assembly, which shared political power with the Senate.

Analogy:

Houseoflordus Commonusque Britannicus.

amans
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Post by amans »

nostos wrote:'tis my avatar.
And an inscription seen on some manhole covers :wink:

edonnelly
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Re: spqr

Post by edonnelly »

amans wrote:I don't think Latin usage would necessarily require Romani in the plural to do this, albeit it is, of course, grammatically more correct.
My understanding is that attributive adjectives (like this case) generally (and correctly) agree in number with the nearest noun, while predicative adjectives would be plural when modifying more than one noun.

I think that "The Roman (Senate and People)" and "The Senate and the Roman People" are identical in latin, and thus technically ambiguous. We have the same problem in English, as illustrated here in the forum recently:
Bert wrote:
Carola wrote:with the help of the wonderful Paul and William
Why is Paul wonderful but not William.

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benissimus
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Re: spqr

Post by benissimus »

edonnelly wrote:
amans wrote:I don't think Latin usage would necessarily require Romani in the plural to do this, albeit it is, of course, grammatically more correct.
My understanding is that attributive adjectives (like this case) generally (and correctly) agree in number with the nearest noun, while predicative adjectives would be plural when modifying more than one noun.

I think that "The Roman (Senate and People)" and "The Senate and the Roman People" are identical in latin, and thus technically ambiguous. We have the same problem in English, as illustrated here in the forum recently:
Bert wrote:
Carola wrote:with the help of the wonderful Paul and William
Why is Paul wonderful but not William.
Not that an adjective can't agree with the nearest noun anyways, but in this case the phrase "senatus populusque" is viewed as a joint entity. Hence a verb is also singular when this phrase is the subject.
flebile nescio quid queritur lyra, flebile lingua murmurat exanimis, respondent flebile ripae

cadoro
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Post by cadoro »

Was Julius Caesar presenting that standard when he marched against the Roman Senate? Interesting Irony.

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Post by Andrus »

Hi all,
Cadoro wrote: Was Julius Caesar presenting that standard when he marched against the Roman Senate? Interesting Irony.
Probably yes, since his official reason to march against Rome was to restore the People Tribunes rights. As Marco Anthony and other Tribune were expelled from senate when tried to veto the proclamation of Caesar as public enemy.
Thucydides wrote: ...But the Romans were good at propaganda.
True and none Roman was better at it then Caesar.

I don’t know where but I did read somewhere that SPQR stood for Senatus Populus Quiritis Romanus and not for Populusque.

Andrus

P.S- Went to goole and find this link:

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/G ... tions.html

Where it can be seen SENATVS POPVLVSQVE ROMANVS without the spacing between the words :wink:

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