The abbreviation SPQR implies, in English, the Senate and the Roman individuals (or the Senate and the individuals of Rome), but what specifically these 4 letters stand for — in Latin — is a tiny significantly less clear. My take is that SPQR stands for the very first letters of the following words with “-que” added as the third: Senatus Populusque Romanus. That -que is added to another word does not mean it would not be heard as a separate unit of meaning. Spelled out banner stands in this way is the inscription on a frieze on the Temple of Saturn, at the foot of the Capitoline, which might date to a restoration in the third century A.D. [Filippo Coarelli, Rome and Environs]. Several feel the letters stand for Senatus PopulusQue Romanorum, which is what I thought until I realized that that would be redundant — translating as it would as “the senate and the individuals of the Roman individuals“. There are other variants, like Romae, instead of Romanus banner stands or Romanorum. The Romae could be a locative or a genitive. There is even a suggestion that the Q stands for Quirites in some kind. It seems probably that Romans utilised SPQR to stand for a lot more than one of these alternatives. What is your opinion? Do you have any evidence? Do you know of any makes use of of the abbreviation before the imperial period? Please post in the Readers Response to What Does SPQR Stand for or study earlier discussions.
banner stands