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What Does SPQR Stand For?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The acronym SPQR is short for the Latin phrase “Senatus Populusque Romanus.” There are several translations of this phrase into English, depending on who you ask. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some might say it means The Senate and the People of Rome, and others might say it’s a more formal translation of The Roman Senate and People. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whatever translation you believe is more accurate, both express that the Roman Republic and, later Roman Empire comprised two equally essential bodies: the Roman Senate and its citizens, who entrusted them to make the right decisions for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Did Rome Start Using SPQR?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
While the Roman Republic came into existence around 509 BC, the first concrete appearances of SPQR in tangible artifacts are not dated until around 80 BC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While there is debate on whether or not SPQR existed before 80 BC, historians generally accept that there was not. So why the symbol SPQR would appear around this time has a lot to do with what was going on during the dying days of the Roman Republic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Optimates vs. Populares: The Beginning of Rome’s Woes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Without getting too much into a deep dive into several hundred years of Roman history, by the year 91 BC, there started to become a steep divide in the Republic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coined by German historian Theodor Mommsen in the mid-19th century, one can divide the Roman people into two camps: the optimates and the populares. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though not observed during the time of political parties as the modern world would view them, these two distinct types of thought dominated the social and political discourse of the time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to optimates, power should remain vested in the Senate, and nothing could usurp them. Those following these beliefs felt that the Senators were elected for a reason and that the Roman citizenry should trust the political process they had built for themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After all, it was their way of government they believed separated them from the barbarian tribes that surrounded the Republic’s borders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the other hand, the populares believed that the citizenry at large should have a greater voice than the Senate or at least have Senators that were more in tune with the needs of the common person. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Though not the primary grievance of the populares, one of the constant rallying cries was the grain distributions advocated by politicians such as Gaius Gracchus in 123 BC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, there were many other issues that the populares disagreed with the optimates about. Still, traditionally grain distributions to the masses were a chief complaint on the number of people eligible, the quantity, quality, and price. <\/p>\n\n\n\n From 123 BC to about 91 BC, the divide between the optimates and populares continued to grow among the Roman population and other Latin peoples. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Only some people were considered full Roman citizens despite controlling the entirety of the Italian peninsula by 91 BC. During the Samnite wars, the early Republic decided to confer Roman citizenship on those tribes who aided them or surrendered without a fight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Those people that opposed them were not granted citizenship. Over the next several hundred years, those Italian allies not considered full citizens were tired of the tax burden and manpower they provided to the Roman army with little to show for it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Chief among their proponents was a statesman named Marcus Livius Drusus. Drusus advocated for more rights for Latin peoples, if not outright citizenship. Though never proven, it is highly suspected that an agent of Rome assassinated him. Upon his death, the various Italian allies started to revolt, and the Social War started. <\/p>\n\n\n\n During the Social War, two generals rose to prominence. First was the famed General Gaius Marius, and the second was his fromer subordinate Sulla. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Though getting off to a rocky start, the Roman army eventually decimated most of the rebelling tribes. However, before the war concluded, troubles were brewing in Rome’s eastern provinces. <\/p>\n\n\n\nAdding Fuel to the Fire: The Social War <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The First Mithridatic War and Sulla’s Civil War <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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