SPQR, eagles and standards: the symbols of Rome explained through the pieces
Four letters on a manhole cover, an eagle on the pommel of a dagger, a red crest running from ear to ear. Rome's symbols are everywhere in this city and almost nobody explains them, so here is what we tell people who ask in the shop at Via Cavour 280, a five-minute walk from the Colosseum. The history first, kept to what the ancient sources actually support. Then the pieces on our shelves that carry these symbols, all of them modern, replica or reproduction work, sold as such at the current site price.
What SPQR means, and where you still see it in Rome
SPQR stands for Senatus Populusque Romanus, "the Senate and the People of Rome": the formula the Republic used to name the state, and one the emperors kept. Written out in full, it opens the dedication on the Arch of Titus at the edge of the Forum, cut under Domitian around AD 81–82. In full or as four letters it turns up on coins and inscriptions across the empire. It is on the coat of arms of the Comune di Roma, which is why you find it on manhole covers, drinking fountains, lamp posts and litter bins. A good part of the SPQR you photograph in Rome is modern casting.
The eagle and the standards of the legion
A legion marched behind an eagle. According to Pliny the Elder, Gaius Marius made the aquila the sole standard of the legion in 104 BC, retiring the wolf, boar, horse and minotaur. The aquilifer carried it, and losing it was a disgrace a unit did not live down. Of the three eagles lost with Varus in the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9, Germanicus recovered two; the third came back only in AD 41. The standards Crassus lost at Carrhae in 53 BC returned from the Parthians in 20 BC. Below the eagle came the signa of the centuries, poles stacked with discs and crescents, carried by the signifer. Then the vexillum, a square cloth hung from a crossbar, for detachments and cavalry. One honest note: SPQR on every banner is mostly a cinema habit; the ancient evidence is inscriptions and coins.
The scutum and what was painted on it
The legionary's shield was the scutum: tall, curved, built from layers of wood, faced with leather, with an iron boss at the centre. Held edge to edge it made a wall; raised overhead it made the testudo. The face was painted with a purpose: Vegetius writes that each cohort had its own device so a soldier could find his unit in the confusion. Jupiter's winged thunderbolt is the design that keeps returning on the shields of Trajan's Column. The only near-complete rectangular scutum to survive, a third-century piece found at Dura-Europos in Syria, is painted with Victories, an eagle and a lion. Red, gold and a thunderbolt are not a modern invention.
The centurion's crest
A centurion commanded a century, about eighty men. Vegetius, a late Roman writer describing the legion of earlier times, says centurions wore silvered crests transversely, from ear to ear, so they could be recognised. Surviving helmets and reliefs show that the crests of the ranks, when worn at all, ran front to back. For Vegetius that crosswise crest was the point of a centurion's helmet: it let his men recognise their officer more easily. The red on modern replicas is a convention, not a record.
The symbols on our pieces, one by one
Prices as shown on each piece's page.
- SPQR pugio with eagle pommel (€65). The legionary's belt dagger as a decorative replica: dark metal, gold-toned details, an eagle's head on the pommel, the four letters along the blade and a laurel motif worked into the scabbard.
- Centurion helmet with steel stand (€80). Steel with brass details and a red crest; a small display piece, about 40 cm in circumference and about 20 cm high on its steel stand.
- Centurion helmet, collector edition (€200). Same design, larger: wearable, about 80–85 cm in circumference.
- Roman scutum (€220). Painted replica: Jupiter's thunderbolt in gold on a red field, purely decorative.
- Julius Caesar bust (€109). Bronze-effect resin made in Italy; on the breastplate a Medusa and an eagle, in the style of the armour of his day.
- Augustus of Prima Porta (€149). Bronze-effect resin made in Italy, after the marble in the Vatican Museums, whose breastplate shows the return of Crassus's standards.
- Roma SPQR mosaic (€5,000). Stone tesserae and 24-karat gold leaf, 28x36 cm, framed; its page gives the Vatican as the place of making, with the artist's stamp and signature. It shows the SPQR shield and the word ROMA.
Choosing one: gift or shelf piece
For someone who reads history, the pugio or the scutum comes with a story to tell, and the pugio travels easily in checked luggage. Where a helmet would be too much, Caesar and Augustus sit on a shelf or a desk and everyone recognises them (more in our emperors guide). For steel, weight and polish, read the helmet page, then come and lift them: we are open every day from 10:00 to 20:00. Online you can buy them through our Etsy boutique: free tracked shipping in Italy; for other countries Etsy shows the cost before you pay, and blades ship only to the 12 countries listed on their page. Dispatch in 1–2 working days, 14 days to return the piece. Company order? See the corporate gifts guide; chess, the chess set guide.
Common questions
Is SPQR a fascist symbol?
No. SPQR is two thousand years older than the regime and it is the emblem of the city of Rome. The city used it before, during and after the twenty years of Fascism, when Rome was run by the regime's Governatorato, and it still goes on new manhole covers today. The regime did draw on Roman imagery, above all the fasces, the bundle of rods and axe carried before magistrates, which it adopted as its emblem and which echoes in its name. Nothing on this page carries a fasces: every piece here carries the symbols of the Republic, the legions and the city.
Can I take a pugio or a gladius home?
Both the pugio and our gladius replicas are sold as decorative pieces, and that is what their pages say. Even so, a metal blade never travels in cabin baggage: put it in checked luggage or let us ship it, tracked, at the rates above. Rules on importing replica blades vary by country and we cannot promise what your customs will do, so check before you fly if in doubt.
What is the difference between the two centurion helmets?
Both are steel replicas of the same design, with brass details and a red crest. The €80 version is a small display piece, about 40 cm in circumference and about 20 cm high on its steel stand; the €200 collector edition is larger and wearable, about 80–85 cm in circumference. Side by side in the shop the difference is obvious.
Where can I buy these pieces?
In the shop at Via Cavour 280, a five-minute walk from the Colosseum, open every day from 10:00 to 20:00, or online through our Etsy boutique. Shipping is free in Italy; for other countries Etsy shows the cost before you pay, and blades ship only to the 12 countries listed on their page.
Every piece in this guide lives in the boutique at Via Cavour 280, a five-minute walk from the Colosseum — visit us, or buy it online on Etsy.
Open every day 10:00–20:00
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