Whenever I travel to new places, I take photos of their manhole covers. Sometimes with my foot on the cover. hehe! The name of the city is usually found on the cover. And taking a pic of them makes for a nice memento of the trip.
Anyway, in Rome, I noticed that the text of the city name "Roma" or "Rome" wasn't on the manhole cover. Instead there's text on it whose significance I didn't know: "SPQR". I remember I was a bit puzzled to read that text there but took some photos of it just the same.
I thought it might be the name of a utility company in Rome, just like when I saw my ex-employer's client's company name on a manhole in Lisbon. The shot of the manhole above, I think it was a manhole at PIazza Venezia or around the Capitoline Hill. And I've since forgotten about it and the "SPQR" text on it.
Sooo... now 5 years later, I watch Ridley Scott's Gladiator for the nth time and checked out its trivia on the imdb.com website. Only to come across that text again, be reminded of my shot of the manhole cover, and learn what the text means. Lol!
In the movie, Russell Crowe/Maximus tried to remove an "SPQR" tattoo on his bicep (*pic below) and imdb gave some info re "SPQR".
Turns out "SPQR" is the initialism of the Latin for "Senatus Populusque Romanus" ("The Senate and People of Rome") and has been used by Rome throughout its history.
According to wikipedia.org: ""SPQR" is the initialism from a Latin phrase, Senatus Populusque Romanus ("The Senate and People of Rome"), referring to the government of the ancient Roman Republic, and used as an official signature of the government. It appears on coins, at the end of documents made public by inscription in stone or metal, in dedications of monuments and public works, and was emblazoned on the standards of the Roman legions. The phrase appears many hundreds of times in Roman political, legal and historical literature, including the speeches of Marcus Tullius Cicero and the history of Titus Livius."
And that is why I saw that on a manhole cover while there. Cool eh?
*from http://movieimage4.tripod.com/gladiator/
Anyway, in Rome, I noticed that the text of the city name "Roma" or "Rome" wasn't on the manhole cover. Instead there's text on it whose significance I didn't know: "SPQR". I remember I was a bit puzzled to read that text there but took some photos of it just the same.
I thought it might be the name of a utility company in Rome, just like when I saw my ex-employer's client's company name on a manhole in Lisbon. The shot of the manhole above, I think it was a manhole at PIazza Venezia or around the Capitoline Hill. And I've since forgotten about it and the "SPQR" text on it.
Sooo... now 5 years later, I watch Ridley Scott's Gladiator for the nth time and checked out its trivia on the imdb.com website. Only to come across that text again, be reminded of my shot of the manhole cover, and learn what the text means. Lol!
In the movie, Russell Crowe/Maximus tried to remove an "SPQR" tattoo on his bicep (*pic below) and imdb gave some info re "SPQR".
Turns out "SPQR" is the initialism of the Latin for "Senatus Populusque Romanus" ("The Senate and People of Rome") and has been used by Rome throughout its history.
According to wikipedia.org: ""SPQR" is the initialism from a Latin phrase, Senatus Populusque Romanus ("The Senate and People of Rome"), referring to the government of the ancient Roman Republic, and used as an official signature of the government. It appears on coins, at the end of documents made public by inscription in stone or metal, in dedications of monuments and public works, and was emblazoned on the standards of the Roman legions. The phrase appears many hundreds of times in Roman political, legal and historical literature, including the speeches of Marcus Tullius Cicero and the history of Titus Livius."
And that is why I saw that on a manhole cover while there. Cool eh?
*from http://movieimage4.tripod.com/gladiator/
