Any Latin Scholars Out There?

[Ed Rooney]

I have an image of an ancient drinking fountain in Rome that has S P A carved in it that I need to keyword. Now we all know what S P Q R mean, but . . . S P A? I know about the town/area of Belgium, Spa. It was a famous bath location in Roman times, whose name may have come from the Latin word “spagere” meaning “to scatter, sprinkle or moisten.” But I'm on thin ice with that information.  

[Inchiquin]

I used to be a Latin scholar but that was 50 years ago.

 

Any idea of the age of the fountain? If it's from the Christian era I'm wondering if it could have been dedicated to Sanctus Petrus Apostolus?

 

Alan

[John Mitchell]

Could it be this?

[Ed Rooney]

It's a carved marble ancient drinking fountain on the Via della Conciliazione. I can post the image tomorrow if everything passes QC. [Wrong! It turned out to have been built in 1605 to 1621] This is not one of the many nasoni, the newer drinking fountains. It predates Italian. [Wrong again!] I lived in Rome and speak Roman Italian. This defiantly dates back to the BC/AD time, give or take a few hundred years [How could I be so wrong?].

 

Thanks, Alan and John. I'll look up Saint Peter.

 

This is what comes of multitasking.  

[peterjones]

A 30 second Google search confirmed this: SPA= Sanus per Aquam translated as Health through Water.

 

As a word spa could be derived from the Latin "spargere" to scatter, sprinkle or moisten"

 

I frequently use the search engines for my keywording if I am unsure.

 

HTH.

[Ed Rooney]

Yeah, that sounds good, Peter, probably better than having to do with Saint Peter. But I think it means "holy water." Both the Jesuits and the Franciscan monks tried to teach me Latin. They would be happy I recall that one word. 

 

Oh, sorry . . . I dropped a 'T' in there.

 

(Hmm. 30 seconds on Google . . . while I called two Roman friends, one in Rome who lives near that fountain -- sporco miseria!)

[Lastrega]

Googled the street name and fountain.....

 

Is this it?

 

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=hp1jhPwR8zcC&pg=PA321&lpg=PA321&dq=via+della+Conciliazione+fountain&source=bl&ots=WhHENfJVfQ&sig=bhEzN9gW2MucbqIdMe9OEzagm3Y&hl=en&sa=X&ei=spgpVO2qNoHKaN_IgvAF&ved=0CEIQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=via%20della%20Conciliazione%20fountain&f=false

 

Sorry about the mad link length...

 

Says sacro palazzo apostolico in that book.

[John Mitchell]

Yeah, that sounds good, Peter, probably better than having to do with Saint Peter. But I think it means "holy water." Both the Jesuits and the Franciscan monks tried to teach me Latin. They would be happy I recall that one word. 

 

I didn't get beyond grade nine in Latin, but isn't sanctus the Latin word for "holy," as in sanctimonious (holier than thou)?

[Ed Rooney]

Yep, that's the fountain -- thanks!

 

Yeah, I'm not helping anything with my misspelling, John. 

[Mal Knight]

Ed, try this

 

The abbreviation SPQR means, in English, the Senate and the Roman people (or the Senate and the people of Rome), but what exactly those four letters (S, P, Q, and R) stand for -- in Latin -- is a little less clear. My take is that SPQR stands for the first letters of the following words with "-que" added as the third: Senatus Populus que Romanus.

 

I hope this helps a bit

 

Regards

 

Mal

[Lastrega]

You are welcome. Extremely jealous that you speak Italian, I am just learning.

 

Seems I am learning a lot of stuff!

[Ed Rooney]

So . . . as it turns out, it's Italian (or Latin) and dates from 1605-1621, when Paolo Borghese was Pope. It stands for Sacro Palazzo Apostolico, referring to the building it's attached to. 

 

Thank you all for the many varied and colorful translations. Next we should try to discover the true origin of the term "Mafia."  

[Russell Watkins]

So it's not "Snap -> Photo -> Alamy" then?

[Ed Rooney]

Ed, try this

 

The abbreviation SPQR means, in English, the Senate and the Roman people (or the Senate and the people of Rome), but what exactly those four letters (S, P, Q, and R) stand for -- in Latin -- is a little less clear. My take is that SPQR stands for the first letters of the following words with "-que" added as the third: Senatus Populus que Romanus.

 

I hope this helps a bit

 

Regards

 

Mal

 

I fear you didn't read my original post fully, Mel. S P A is what I was in need of a meaning for. As I said, I lived in Rome, and anyone who has lived in Rome understands what SPQR means in Latin, Italian and English. But I thank you for your answer. 

 

Ciao, Edo