Elpida Palaiokrassa & Aris Foufas

 Latin is the language that was originally spoken in both regions, Latium which was around Rome and ancient Rome. The citizens of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire, the Romans, were the main speakers, but it was also the lingua franca of Europe throughout the Middle Ages.

 In the year 2013, it is believed that there were fewer than 10,000 fluent Latin speakers worldwide.  However, the language is commonly used in the medical field as well as by scientists, botanists, zoologists, and in the Catholic Church organizations.  Latin is the official language of the Vatican. Many of the people that use Latin as a secondary language are required to do so for their careers. The medical field and its terminology are vastly based on the Greek and Latin languages.

 Moreover, in the Western world, Latin was a lingua franca, the learned language for scientific and political affairs, for more than a thousand years, being eventually replaced by French in the 18th century and English in the late 19th.

 Old Latin 3 rd century BC in the time of Marcus Tullius Cicero  Classical Latin (prime Latin) late Roman Republic and the early to middle Roman Empire  Medieval during that portion of the Post-Classical period when no corresponding Latin vernacular existed.  Modern Latin from the end of the 19th century to the present

 The Roman Empire was widely spread and thousands of peoples were under its stranglehold. Consequently the conquered territories were forced to learn the Roman language, namely Latin.  Latin is a member of the broad family of Italic languages. It is based on the Etruscan Language and the Greek and Phoenician alphabet.

 Beginning around the 3rd century BC, it took two centuries to become a dominant literature of Ancient Rome, with many educated Romans still reading and writing in Ancient Greek. Some of the earliest writers using the language, were Ennius, Plautus, Cicero, Vergil, Ovid and Horace, but also included were some European religious and secular writers after the fall of the Empire like St. Augustine,Francis Bacon and Spinoza.

 Formal Latin literature began in 240 BC, when a Roman audience saw a Latin version of a Greek play.The adaptor was Livius Andronicus. He also translated the Odyssey into an old type of Latin verse called Saturnian. The first Latin poet to write on a Roman theme was Gnaeus Naevius. He composed an epic poem about the first Punic War, in which he had fought. Other epic poets followed Naevius. Quintus Ennius wrote a historical epic, the Annals, describing Roman history from the founding of Rome to his own time.

 The spread of Latin has positively influenced the lands it was spoken in. Many languages, such as English, German and French have stemmed from Latin and have themselves become Lingua Francas. Also, Latin terms are currently used in different realms of science.

 Latin courses offered in high schools and universities are primarily encouraged to translate Latin texts into modern languages. However, there is a growing Living Latin movement, whose supporters believe that Latin can, or should, be taught in the same way that modern "living" languages are taught. In addition, in the United States there is a thriving competitive organization for high school Latin students, the National Junior Classical League.

 Reason for the Latin’s death is the decline of the Roman Empire.  Around 165 AD the Roman Empire suffered the severe Antonine Plague brought back to Rome from the troops that were returning from their campaign in the Near East. It killed half the population.  Another theory suggests that the Roman Empire fell beacause Romans gradually entrusted the role of defending the Empire to barbarian mercanariess who eventually turned on them.

When the west part of the Empire “died” the east part rose in power and the Byzantine Empire was born.That’s when Latin died as a Lingua Franca and Greek became one.

Latin did not just died out. It transformed Into modern day languages such as Italian, French, Portuguese, Spanish and English For example: “acid” comes from the latin word “acidus” “annual” comes from the latin word “annus” “aquarium” comes from the latin word “aqua” “causative”……”causa” “cave”…..”cavus” “cent”…..”centum” “circular”…”circus”

 Wikipedia   /structure/latin.html  History book 2 nd grade of Lyceum  History teachers interviewed