What language did the romans speak?

Question

I'v always wondered what language the romans spoke (i.e juluis ceaser time) we always see them speaking english in films and documentrys, but then it dawned on me; surely they would have spoken italian?

Answer 1

It is believed that by the 1st century B.C. the Romans spoke something similar to the Latin of the Pompeiian inscriptions and the Vindolanda tablets found in northern England.

This kind of Latin has some Italian and Spanish-like characteristics not found in the Latin of the classical Roman authors. For example, the use of words like caballus for horse; genitive caballi (Spanish caballo; It. cavallo), camisa for shirt (Sp. camisa, It. camicia, Fr. chemise) and cervesa for beer (Sp. cerveza, Ptg. cerveja). A Vulgar Latin inscription found in Paris has on it the words : Hospita reple lagona cervesa "Hostess refill my beer mug" (See Paul-Marie Duval).

Christianity would later reshape Latin spoken in the Roman empire too. For example, germanus which meant "half-brother" in Classical Latin came to mean just "brother" in many latter day dialects of Latin in the Roman empire, along with a feminine form germana for "sister." We can still see evidence of the in the modern Portuguese, Spanish and Catalan words for brother: irmão, hermano and germà all derived from germanus. There was also an early bishop of Paris, Sanctus Germanus whose name meant "Holy Brother."

Answer 2

It was Latin.

I would add that the language the average Roman spoke at home was not quite the same as the Latin people learn at school. That (called Classical Latin) was the formal literary language. What people spoke we call Vernacular Latin, and it differed in certain respects from the formal idiom. The modern Romance languages (French, Italian, Romanian and so on) are descended from this, not from Classical Latin.

It's also worth mentioning that educated Romans learnt Greek. In fact, Caesar's last words were not, as Shakespeare wrote, "Et tu Brute". According to a contemporary, he said "Kai su teknon", which is Greek for "And you son".

Answer 3

The ruling class and the intelligentsia during the late Republic and Empire spoke Greek. They had Greek slaves to teach their children. Latin was only used for religious ceremonies and Senate proceedings.

"The language of Rome before its expansion was Latin and this became the Empire's official language. It is important to note that by the time of the imperial period Latin could be considered (at least) two languages: Classical Latin and Vulgar Latin. Classical Latin was the written language whereas as Vulgar Latin was the spoken language. Classical Latin, in reality, was not precisely the same as any language that had ever been spoken, instead having evolved from the spoken language into its own form. It remained relatively stable throughout the imperial period and even through the Middle Ages (excluding changes in writing styles). Vulgar Latin, by its nature, was a fluid language that differed in various regions of the Empire and changed substantially over time. In the western provinces Vulgar Latin became the lingua franca and later evolved into the modern Romance languages: Italian, Spanish, French, etc."

"Although Latin remained the official language of the Imperial administration through the fall of Rome and for some centuries after in the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire, the Greek language was always the primary language used in the eastern provinces for administration outside the Imperial court. In fact, Greek was the most widely spoken language in the Empire, mainly owing to the larger urban centers and Greek legacy in the East. Even in the city of Rome itself Greek became the language of the educated and the elite. By the second century BCE (before the imperial period), more than 15% of Rome's population spoke Greek and that percentage continued to grow. Greek became the common language in the Church (although in the Diocese of Rome Latin was still official), the language of scholarship and the arts, and, to a large degree, the lingua franca for trade between provinces and with other nations. The language itself gained a dual nature, somewhat like Latin, with the primary spoken language, Koine Greek, existing along side the literary language, a variant of the ancient Attic Greek dialect."

"Roman Empire : Language" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empire#Language

"While Latin remained the main written language of the Roman Empire, Greek came to be the language spoken by the well-educated elite, as most of the literature studied by Romans was written in Greek."

"Ancient Rome : Language" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Rome#Language

"the actual spoken language of the Western Roman Empire was Vulgar Latin, which significantly differed from Classical Latin in grammar, vocabulary, and (eventually) pronunciation."

"Latin : History" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin#History

Answer 4

The common language was Latin
The educated ones used Greek

Answer 5

Yhey would have spoken Latin at that time. For more information on the language have a look here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin

Answer 6

Latin, of course!

Who was your teacher at school?

Answer 7

Latin and ancient Greek!

Answer 8

latin, i think that was the main language in italy

Answer 9

You see them speaking English in films and DOCUMENTARIES?
I didn't know they had a technology to produce DOCUMENTARIES in those days...

Answer 10

They spoke latin