Introduction to Rome’s History and Early Geography Latin: The Beginning… Introduction to Rome’s History and Early Geography

A Brief History of Latin! Rome: according to legend, was founded in 753 BC Latium---an area of central Italy where Rome is located “Latin”---the name of the language spoken there 5 modern Romance languages come from Latin: Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Romanian English: 60% of English words come from Latin!

Geography Geography Rome was built on 7 rolling hills on the Tiber River Near midpoint of Mediterranean Sea

Early Legends Origins of Rome Legend says that twins Romulus and Remus were abandoned on the Tiber River and raised by a she-wolf The twins were the sons of the war-god Mars Romulus kills Remus & city of Rome is named after Romulus

Early History The First Romans Three groups settled on Italian Peninsula from 1000-500 B.C. I. The Latins Built original settlement of wooden huts Considered to be the first Romans Helped spread Latin-derived languages to the area

Geography & Early Republic II. The Greeks Settled in Southern Italy and Sicily Brought all of Italy, including Rome, into contact with the Greek civilization 3. Brought architecture, democracy, and philosophy

Geography & Early Republic III. The Etruscans Skilled metal workers native to northern Italy Gave Romans the arch and gladiator battles

ALPS MTS. Gaul APENNINE MTS. Etruria Corsica Latium x Brundisium <--- Tiber River Adriatic Sea Rome x Corsica Ostia x Latium Naples x x Brundisium Tyrrhennian Sea Pompeii x Sardinia Mediterranean Sea Sicily Carthage x Africa

Roman alphabet for Latin The Romans used just 23 letters to write Latin: A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T V X Y Z K, Y, Z were used for Greek loan words W is literally “double-u” (V) Lower case letters weren’t invented until the middle ages. Latin is the only ancient language you can learn without learning a new alphabet (cf. Greek, Hebrew, Sanskrit, etc.)

ROMANSWROTEINALLCAPS LIKETHISNOSPACES TOTALLYCOOLHUHANDNO REALPUNCTUATIONLIKEWE USETODAYPEOPLEASK HOW COULDTHEYREADLIKE THATWELLSCHOLARSTHINK MOSTROMANSREADALOUD NOTSILENTLYANDBESIDES YOUAREREADINGTHIS ABSOLUTELYFINESODONTGO KNOCKINGTHEIRSTYLEOK 

Pronunciation Consonants Most consonants in Latin are pronounced just like they are in English. There are no “soft” consonants. C is always hard like “cat”, G is always hard like “go,” T is always hard like in “ten” (not “motion”). I is used as a consonant at the beginning of a word or between vowels. It sounds like “y” in “year.” (Iulius) The letter V is pronounced like “w”. There is no “w” in Latin. U and V were originally written the same: “V” as in AVGVSTVS . Modern textbooks, however, will use “u” for a vowel sound and “v” for a consonant sound. Think about it: W is “double-u”: VV 

Pronunciation Vowels Each vowel has only 2 pronunciations at most, a long and a short. LONG SHORT ā : as in father a: as in aha (first “a”) ē: as in they e: as in let ī: as in police i: as in sit ō: as in note o: as in for ū: as in rule u: as in full

Pronunciation Diphthongs Two vowels making one sound. ae: like “ai” in aisle au: like “ou” in out oe: like oi in oil ei: like ei in freight eu: like eh-hoo (pronounced quickly) ui: like oo-ee (pronounced quickly)---rare usage

Pronunciation Practice ā, a ē, e ī, i ō,o ū, u Mārs mē hīc nōn iūs pār pēs vīs prō cūr nārrat ex mīlitis mōns lūx ab sed in rogō nunc dat per quid post currū

Felix natalis tibi, Felix natalis tibi! Felix natalis, care amice/ Felix natalis, cara amica