In Rome you read it very often, it appears in numerous monuments especially of Ancient Rome, but what does SPQR mean? This acronym is fundamental for the history of the Eternal City and its diffusion has reached all over the world and, from the time of the ancients, up to the present day, to the point that today it appears in the symbol of the Municipality of Rome. But what exactly does SPQR mean? This acronym sees its origins in the times of the Roman Republic, when the two main figures of power were the
The widespread diffusion of the acronym SPQR and its important history has led to it being part of popular culture as well. For this reason it has sometimes been reused in other forms, for satirical, creative or other reasons. Giuseppe Gioachino Belli, in a sonnet entitled SPQR, uses it with the meaning of "Soli Preti Qui Regneno", that means "Olny Priests Reigns Here".
The meaning used instead in the French comic Asterix is different, in which, as known, Caesar's Gallic war is revisited from the point of view of the Gauls Asterix and Obelix (with slightly different results from how it really went...), and in this case the famous acronym is used to say "Sono Pazzi Questi Romani", that means "These Romans Are Crazy".