{"id":9424,"date":"2023-11-16T12:35:15","date_gmt":"2023-11-16T11:35:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.learnancientrome.com\/?p=9424"},"modified":"2023-11-16T12:35:15","modified_gmt":"2023-11-16T11:35:15","slug":"what-language-do-they-speak-in-ancient-rome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnancientrome.com\/what-language-do-they-speak-in-ancient-rome\/","title":{"rendered":"What Language Do They Speak In Ancient Rome"},"content":{"rendered":"
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At the start of the first century BC, Latin was given official status by law in Rome, and the Latin language became one of the most widely-spoken languages of the ancient world. Latin was the language spoken by the Ancient Romans and was the official language of the Roman Empire and its provinces. Latin played an important role in shaping the development and spread of various languages throughout the world, both in the ancient and modern times. Latin was the basis of several Romance Languages spoken today, such as French, Italian and Spanish, as well as many other European languages.<\/p>\n

Latin was the language of administration and commerce, used by merchants and traders. Latin literature was abundant and formed the foundation of much of the Classical literature that was studied until the 21st century. Latin was widely distributed and understood by people, and became the language used in all the public announcements, laws, and decrees made by the Roman government. Roman citizens were expected to be familiar with it, and it was the language used in school and higher education in the Roman Empire. It was also the language spoken by the Roman soldiers, who often went on military campaigns to different parts of the world, spreading Latin as far as England, Palestine and Persia.<\/p>\n

The Latin language evolved over time, absorbing elements from the languages spoken by other cultures that were captured by the Roman Empire. For example, the Latin word for “beet” was derived from the ancient Greek word for “beta” and the Latin word for “coffee” was derived from the Turkish language. Despite this integration of other languages, the majority of words in the Latin language can be traced to the root language of the Roman people, which was an Indo-European language.<\/p>\n

The decline of the Roman Empire in the 5th century also saw the decline in the usage of Latin, as the Roman Empire fragmented and different cultures, languages and dialects developed in different parts of Europe. Latin persisted, however, in the West as it remained the language of the Roman Catholic Church and the language used in education. It was only in the 19th century, with the advent of nationalism in Europe, that Latin began to decline in importance and usage.<\/p>\n