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As the Empire spread throughout the known world,<br />
different languages were spoken within its<br />
borders. However, the official language was Latin,<br />
which helped to unite the various regions. Wealthy<br />
Romans also learnt Greek at school or from tutors. A<br />
reasonable number of ordinary citizens, especially<br />
those in cities, could read and write Latin, as revealed<br />
in workmen’s accounts,<br />
simple letters and even<br />
graffiti on walls. In fact, over<br />
3 500 examples of graffiti<br />
have been found on the walls<br />
of Pompeii.<br />
Activity Box<br />
Roman Life – Language<br />
Inscription from Pompeii showing the differentia and accents<br />
marking long vowels.<br />
The Romans introduced writing to northern Europe<br />
and most modern European languages are based on<br />
the Latin alphabet.<br />
The alphabet had only 22 letters for there was no ‘W’<br />
or ‘Y’ and both ‘I’ and ‘J’ were written as ‘I’, and ‘V’<br />
and ‘U’ written as ‘V’. Punctuation and spacing<br />
between words were rarely used<br />
and there were no initial capital<br />
letters in sentences. Differentia<br />
(stops) usually divided words<br />
on inscriptions but were often<br />
put in the wrong place. These<br />
stops could be decorative, in the<br />
shape of ivy leaves, for example.<br />
Many of our words are derived from Latin, a language still taught in some educational institutions.<br />
Use your dictionary to find the English derivations from the Roman words.<br />
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Prim-Ed Publishing www.prim-ed.com <strong>Ancient</strong> <strong>Rome</strong> – 67 –
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