An History of the Latin Language Part I: Its Origins and Ages

Origins Latin is the language of the region known as Latium in central Italy. It is a part of the Italic subfamily of the Indo- European language family. The exact dates of its creation are unknown.

Preservation of Cases The Latin language preserved 6 ½ of the 8 Proto-Indo-European cases. The primary six are: Nominative, Vocative, Accusative, Genitive, Dative, and Ablative. The ½ refers to the Locative case, which is preserved only in part in Latin. The remaining (missing) case is the Instrumental case. This case is represented in Latin by the Ablative of Means.

Old/Archaic Latin Dated to around the time of the Roman monarchy, approx. the 8th cent. BC. Used until the Late Roman Republic, approx. 75 BC. Most of the earliest writing is inscriptional. Noted by the endings –os and –om in place of –us and –um.

The “Golden” Age of Latin 83 BC (early Cicero and the end of the Republic) to 14 AD (death of the Emperor Augustus) One of the highest pinnacles of creativity and thought in the history of mankind Notable Authors: Marcus Tullius Cicero Gaius Julius Caesar Gaius Valerius Catullus Publius Vergilius Maro Quintus Horatius Flaccus Titus Livius Publius Ovidius Naso

The “Silver” Age of Latin 14 AD (death of the Emperor Augustus) to 117 AD (death of the Emperor Trajan) Many notable works, but generally inferior to the “Golden” Age. Notable Authors: Titus Calpurnius Seneca Gaius Plinius Secundus Marcus Fabius Quintilianus Marcus Valerius Martialis Publius Papinius Statius Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus Decimus Junius Juvenalis Publius Cornelius Tacitus

Late Latin and the Rise of the Romance Languages Approx. 200 AD (beginning of the downfall of the empire) – 900 AD (replaced by Romance Languages) Used as an Administrative Language in the Roman Empire and its succeeding states (after the collapse). Literary Latin essentially dies.

A History of the Latin Language Part II: Destruction and Preservation into the Modern Age

The Rise of Christianity 313 AD – Emperor Constantine issues the Edict of Milan, proclaiming religious tolerance. 380 AD – Emperor Theodosius I established Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire.

The Bible The Old Testament The New Testament Problem: 39 Books written in Hebrew The New Testament 27 Books written in Ancient Greek Problem: Most Romans did not know Hebrew and Western Romans did not know Greek.

The Vulgate Latin Bible The Solution: 382 AD – Pope Damasus I commissions St. Jerome to translate the Bible into Latin. Consequently, Greek is no longer important for Christianity; Latin, however, is now necessary for anyone to read the Bible. Thus, Latin now binds the Christian world together.

The Dark Ages 6th cent. AD – 13th cent. AD The Christian Church wipes out remnants of paganism including temples, statues, and literature. The Greek language is lost. Society and culture collapses. Most technology disappears. What little knowledge remained was preserved by monks in monasteries.

Intentional Preservation of Texts Some pagan authors were recognized as being divinely inspired: E.g. Vergil’s Fourth Eclogue concerns the birth of a boy, later associated with Jesus. Cicero’s philosophical writings were found to hold many Christian values. These authors texts were preserved by monks due to their religious significance.

Unintentional Preservation of Texts Paper had not yet been invented. Papyrus, vellum, and parchment were very expensive. Ancient texts were scrubbed and reused for Christian texts. Such a text is called a Palimpsest. Modern technology allows us to read the erased works.

The Renaissance Ancient Greek returns to Western Europe through the Arabs. A zeal for knowledge ignites a new interest in the classical world. New-found wealth provides for the purchasing of new copies of ancient texts. Humanist thinkers wanted to return Latin to its classical roots, abolishing many changes which had occurred through modern usage. Their models were Vergil (poetry) and Cicero (prose). Their efforts changed Latin from a classical (but still useful) language to an extinct, exclusively literary language.

Neo-Latin 1500 AD – Present Used primarily among linguists and scientists. Occasionally used when translating a modern text into Latin. “Living Latin” advocates endeavor to revive Latin as a means of spoken communication.