The first part of the name "Palpatine" suggests two English words: "palpable" and "palpitate."
"Palpable" refers to things that can be touched or felt. In addition to things that can be physically touched, "palpable" also refers to feelings that are so intense they seem to make themselves physically felt. For instance, one might experience a palpable feeling of fear or anger.
To "palpitate" is to tremble; it most commonly refers to "heart palpitations," when the heart beats intensely and irregularly. One's heart can palpitate for medical reasons, or because one is experiencing an intense emotion or feeling.
Both "palpable" and "palpitate" are derived from the Latin palpare – "to feel." Since the Sith "rely on their passion for their strength," as Anakin says in Revenge of the Sith, it is apt that Palpatine, the preeminent Sith Lord, has a name that links him to intense feeling. The Jedi, in contrast, are always concerned with detaching themselves from their passionate feelings – and to accomplish this goal, they detach themselves from the material world that provokes such feelings. It is on this palpable world – the world that can be felt and touched – that the Sith focus their attention.
The name "Palpatine" also suggests the Palatine Hill, the centermost of the seven hills of Rome. When Rome became an Empire in 27 BC, its first Emperor, Augustus Caesar, built his palace on the Palatine Hill. "Palpatine" is an apt name, then, for the man who turns the Galactic Republic into the Galactic Empire and declares himself its first Emperor. Palpatine is the Emperor who (at least initially) rules the palpable world from its centermost part – Coruscant, in the Core Systems.
EXPLORE FURTHER…
Characters: Palpatine
GO DEEPER INTO THE ARCHIVES…
Concepts: materialism / names / Sith
Influences: Greco-Roman
READ MORE ABOUT…
Follow The Jedi Archives on…