Gladiator

The Gladiator

The Gladiator. Hollywood depicts him as untamed, skillful and courageous; a soldier devoted to Rome in spirit, but defiant of corrupt leadership. He is a hero, yet a renegade and villain to Roman officials who see him as a threat to their leadership.

As his hate for the Roman Empire under a dishonorable leadership climaxes in the film, he scrapes off the letters SPQR, which have been tattooed into his arm. These are the markings of the Roman Empire; the letters reflect honor in his culture, and the removal of such letters were symbolic of treasonous behavior.

At one point, a fellow slave asks our hero if officials will be mad if he erases those letters, to which the Gladiator responds by smiling, anticipating their anger. The Gladiator knows removing the letters is comparable to removing oneself from the Roman culture entirely.

From the movie, we come to realize that the letters SPQR are important...but we never really find out what they mean. The erasure of the branding are enough to brand someone a traitor.

So what do these letters, whose removal inspire contempt and symbolize defiance, actually mean? How are these letters - which have inspired everything from strong ambition, to movies, to video games - important in the Roman culture?

SPQR is short for a Latin phrase - "Senatus Populusque Romanus", meaning the "Senate and the People of Rome."

The words were symbolic of Rome's identity as a state belonging to the people and the Senate, whose members were selected by the Roman citizens.

So great was the marking SPQR, that its very letters inspired foreign nations and protected Roman citizens, whom other cultures wouldn't harm because of their affiliation with the great city.

SPQR Today

While gladiators and senators boasted the letters of the Roman Empire nearly two thousand years ago as markers of pride and citizenship, today, SPQR is still an important marking of the Eternal City.

On a recent trip to Rome, we began to understand how an ancient tradition has met modern times.

Following the umbrella that kept bobbing up and down among the crowd of international travelers, we meandered through the Roman Forum area, staring at the half-fallen columns of formerly great Roman temples and buildings. As we walked through the labyrinth of ancient scraps of once-great buildings and temples we saw archways and buildings whose aged facades showed the letters of a once-great Roman Empire.

Our tourguide explained to us the meaning of the letters, but, sadly, as much of the ancient Roman artifacts and buildings had been destroyed, so, too, had the letters SPQR been nearly erased...and if it weren't for today's Roman leaders calling for a remembrance of Rome, the ancient letters may hardly be important today.

When you travel to Rome, you'll see the letters SPQR almost everywhere. If you look down, you'll see them on manhole covers; if you look up, you'll spot them on buildings. The letters appear on pamphlets and papers, menus and taxis.

By order of Rome's mayor, the letters are written on public buildings and other sites to symbolize Rome's ancient and current call for an empire and city of the people. The letters remind one of Rome's once-great strength as an empire, and its place in today's world as a the Eternal City.

Playing Games

As if inspiring culture and movies weren't enough, SPQR has inspired games as well.

Check out this Internet site if you want to get a jump start on your trip to the SPQR. You can play an interactive mystery game based on the traditions of the SPQR. It's an online interactive mystery game, like Myst, set in the time of great rulers, heroes and buildings.

Back in the SPQR

And while the movies and games provide good ways to prepare for a trip to Rome, or a remembrance of a trip to the Eternal City, certainly the best way to understand how a simple phrase can survive thousands of years after great marble buildings have toppled, is a trip to the actual city of Rome itself.

As these ruins of ancient Rome show, not much of the great Empire still remains; but through the letters SPQR, Romans and tourists will hardly soon forget to whom Rome truly belongs: the people.