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[[File:Bestiaires festoyant arène Thysdrus Musée Bardo.JPG|thumb|[[Roman mosaic|Mosaic]] (220–250 AD) from [[El Djem]], Tunisia (Roman Africa), with the Latin caption "Silence! Let the bulls sleep" ''(Silentiu dormiant tauri)'' and the convivial banter of five banqueters (possibly [[gladiator]]s) represented as if in [[speech balloon]]s:<br>- "We're about to get naked" ''([N]os nudi [f]iemus)''<br>- "We came to drink" ''(Bibere venimus)''<br>- "You're talking a lot now" ''(Ia[m] multu[m] loquimini)''<br>- "Let's be called away" ''(Avocemur)''<br>- "We hold three [rounds of drink?]" ''(Nos tres tenemus)''<br>The scene may convey a proverbial expression equivalent to both "[[wikt:let sleeping dogs lie|Let sleeping dogs lie]]" and "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we may die"<ref>Richard Brilliant, "Scenic Representations," in ''[http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15324coll10/id/156533 Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Third to Seventh Century]'' (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1979), pp. 96–97.</ref>]]
[[Latin]] and [[ancient Greek language|Greek]] were the dominant '''languages of the Roman Empire''', but other languages were important regionally. The language of the [[ancient Romans]] was Latin, which served as the "language of power".<ref>Bruno Rochette, "Language Policies in the Roman Republic and Empire," translated by James Clackson, in ''A Companion to the Latin Language'' (Blackwell, 2011), p. 560.</ref> Latin was pervasive in the [[Roman Empire]]<ref>Alex Mullen, "Introduction: Multiple Languages, Multiple Identities," in ''Multilingualism in the Graeco-Roman Worlds'' (Cambridge University Press, 2012), p. 28.</ref> as the language of the law courts in the [[Western Roman Empire|West]], and of the military everywhere.<ref>Rochette, "Language Policies in the Roman Republic and Empire," pp. 554, 556.</ref> After all freeborn inhabitants of the Empire were [[Constitutio Antoniniana|universally enfranchised]] in 212 AD, a great number of [[Roman citizens]] would have lacked Latin, though they were expected to acquire at least a token knowledge, and Latin remained a marker of "Romanness".<ref>J.N. Adams, "''Romanitas'' and the Latin Language," ''Classical Quarterly'' 53.1 (2003), pp. 185–186, 205.</ref>

[[Koine Greek]] had become a [[lingua franca|shared language]] around the eastern Mediterranean and into [[Asia Minor]] as a consequence of the conquests of [[Alexander the Great]].<ref>[[Fergus Millar]], ''A Greek Roman Empire: Power and Belief under Theodosius&nbsp;II (408–450)'' (University of California Press, 2006), p. 279; Warren Treadgold, ''A History of the Byzantine State and Society'' (Stanford University Press, 1997), p. 5.</ref> The [[Jireček Line|"linguistic frontier"]] dividing the [[Latin West and Greek East|Latin West and the Greek East]] passed through the [[Balkan peninsula]].<ref>Rochette, "Language Policies in the Roman Republic and Empire," p. 553.</ref> Educated Romans, particularly those of the ruling elite, studied and often achieved a high degree of fluency in Greek, which was useful for diplomatic communications in the East even beyond the borders of the Empire. The international use of Greek was one condition that enabled the [[Christianization|spread of Christianity]], as indicated for example by the choice of Greek as the language of the [[Pauline epistles|Epistles of Paul]]<ref>Treadgold, ''A History of the Byzantine State,'' p. 5.</ref> and its use for the [[ecumenical councils]] of the Christian Roman Empire. With the [[fall of the Roman Empire|dissolution of the Empire]] in the West, Greek became the dominant language of the [[Eastern Roman Empire]], later known as the [[Byzantine Empire]].

Because ancient society was predominantly oral, it can be difficult to determine the extent to which regional or local languages continued to be spoken or used for other purposes under Roman rule. Some evidence exists in inscriptions, or in references in Greek and Roman texts to other languages and the need for interpreters. For [[Punic language|Punic]], [[Coptic language|Coptic]], and [[Aramaic]] or [[Syriac]], a significant amount of [[epigraphy]] or literature survives.<ref>Richard Valantasis, introduction to ''Religions of Late Antiquity in Practice'' (Princeton University Press, 2000), p. 11.</ref> The [[Celtic languages#Classifications|Celtic languages]] were widespread throughout much of western Europe, and while the orality of Celtic education left scant written records,<ref>MacMullen, "Provincial Languages in the Roman Empire," pp. 15–16.</ref> Celtic epigraphy is limited in quantity but not rare.<ref>Joseph Eska, "Inscriptions in the Celtic World," in ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia'' (ABC-Clio, 2006), pp. 965–970.</ref> The Germanic languages of the Empire have left next to no inscriptions or texts, with the exception of [[Gothic language|Gothic]].<ref>Tore Janson, ''A Natural History of Latin'' (Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 87.</ref> [[Multilingualism]] contributed to the "cultural triangulation" by means of which an individual who was neither Greek nor Roman might construct an identity through the processes of [[Romanization (cultural)|Romanization]] and [[Hellenization]].<ref>Mullen, ''Southern Gaul and the Mediterranean,'' pp. 264–265.</ref>

After the decentralization of political power in [[late antiquity]], Latin developed locally in the Western provinces into branches that became the [[Romance languages]], including [[History of Spanish|Spanish]], [[History of the Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[History of French|French]], and [[History of Italian|Italian]]. In the early 21st century, the first or second language of more than a billion people derived from Latin.<ref>James Clackson, introduction to ''A Companion to the Latin Language'', p. 1.</ref> Latin itself remained an international medium of expression for diplomacy and for intellectual developments identified with [[Renaissance humanism]] up to the 17th century, and for [[legal Latin|law]] and the [[Church Latin|Roman Catholic Church]] to the present.

==Latin==
{{See also|History of Latin|Literacy and education in the Roman Empire}}
[[File:BordereaudecuissonGraufesenqueMuséeFenaille1.jpg|thumb|[[Latin cursive]] on [[terra sigillata]] from [[La Graufesenque]] in Roman Gaul]]

Latin was the language of the Romans from the earliest known period. Writing under the first [[Roman emperor]] [[Augustus]], [[Vergil]] emphasizes that Latin was a source of Roman unity and [[mos maiorum|tradition]]. In Vergil's epic ''[[Aeneid]]'' about the [[founding of Rome]], the [[Jupiter (mythology)|supreme deity]] [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] dictates that the [[Trojan War|refugee Trojans]] who have come to settle in Italy will use the language of the native [[Latins (Italic tribe)|Latini]] as a means of unification: "they will keep the speech ''(sermo)'' and ''[[mos maiorum|mores]]'' of their fathers ... and I will make them all Latins with one mode of expression" ''(uno ore,'' literally "with one mouth").<ref>Vergil, ''Aeneid'' 12.834 and 837; Rochette, "Language Policies in the Roman Republic and Empire," pp. 549, 563; Adams, "''Romanitas'' and the Latin Language," p. 184.</ref> The [[Julio-Claudian dynasty|Julio-Claudian]] emperors, who claimed descent from the Vergilian hero [[Aeneas]], encouraged high standards of correct Latin ''(Latinitas)'', a linguistic movement identified in modern terms as [[Classical Latin]], and favored Latin for conducting official business.<ref>Rochette, "Language Policies in the Roman Republic and Empire," p. 552.</ref>

Latin became the language of conquered areas because local people started speaking it, and not because the population was displaced by Latin-speakers.<ref>József Herman, ''Vulgar Latin'', translated by Roger Wright (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000, originally published 1975 in French), p. 10.</ref> Latin was not imposed officially on peoples brought under Roman rule.<ref>Rochette, "Language Policies in the Roman Republic and Empire," p. 549; Charles Freeman, ''The Greek Achievement: The Foundation of the Western World'' (New York: Penguin, 1999), pp. 389–433.</ref> [[Augustine of Hippo|Saint Augustine]] observed that Romans preferred for Latin to be adopted ''per pacem societatis'', through a [[social contract|social pact]].<ref>[[Augustine of Hippo]], ''[[De Civitate Dei]]'' 19.7.18, as cited by Rochette, "Language Policies in the Roman Republic and Empire," p. 549.</ref> This [[language policy]] contrasts with that of Alexander, who aimed to impose [[ancient Greek language|Greek]] throughout his empire as the official language.<ref>Rochette, "Language Policies in the Roman Republic and Empire," p. 549, citing [[Plutarch]], ''Life of Alexander'' 47.6.</ref> Latin was not a requirement for [[Roman citizenship]], and there was no state-supported schooling that privileged it as the medium for education: fluency was desirable for its "high cultural, political, legal, social and economic value".<ref>Mullen, ''Southern Gaul and the Mediterranean,'' p. 265.</ref>

Latin was needed for Imperial service and advancement, and was the language used for the internal functioning of government.<ref>Millar, ''A Greek Roman Empire,'' p. 92.</ref> Edicts and official communications of the emperor were in Latin, including rulings on local laws that might be in another language.<ref>Millar, ''A Greek Roman Empire,'' p. 92.</ref>

The Romans placed a high value on the written word, as indicated by their obsession with documentation and public inscriptions. The Imperial bureaucracy was so dependent on writing that the [[Babylonian Talmud]] declared "if all seas were ink, all reeds were pen, all skies parchment, and all men scribes, they would be unable to set down the full scope of the Roman government's concerns."<ref>[[Clifford Ando]], ''Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire'' (University of California Press, 2000), pp. 86–87.</ref> Estimates of the average [[literacy rate]] in the Empire range from 5 to 30 percent or higher, depending in part on the definition of "literacy".<ref>William V. Harris, ''Ancient Literacy'' (Harvard University Press, 1989), p. 5; William A. Johnson, ''Ancient Literacies: The Culture of Reading in Greece and Rome'' (Oxford University Press, 2009), pp. 3–4, especially note 5; T.J. Kraus, "(Il)literacy in Non-Literary Papyri from Graeco-Roman Egypt: Further Aspects of the Educational Ideal in Ancient Literary Sources and Modern Times," ''Mnemosyme'' 53.3 (2000), p. 325; Marietta Horster, "Primary Education," in ''The Oxford Handbook of Social Relations in the Roman World'', pp. 89, 97–98.</ref> The lack of state intervention in access to education was a barrier to literacy, since formal education was available only to children from families who could pay for it.<ref>Christian Laes, ''Children in the Roman Empire: Outsiders Within'' (Cambridge University Press, 2011, originally published in Dutch 2006), p. 108; Horster, "Primary Education," in ''The Oxford Handbook of Social Relations in the Roman World'', p. 89.</ref>

[[File:Dedication L Minucius Natalis Chiaramonti Inv1249.jpg|thumb|left|Greek [[votum|dedication]] on an altar to [[Asclepius|Asclepius the Savior]] by the [[Roman consul]] Lucius Minucius Natalis (133–134 AD)<ref>''[[Inscriptiones Graecae|IG]]'' 14.1125<!--:Ἀσκληπιῷ ∙ θ[εῷ]<br>σωτῆρι<br>Λ(ούκιος) ∙ Μινίκιος Νατάλιος,<br>ὕπατος, ἀνθύπατος Λιβύης,<br>αὔγουρ ∙ πρεσβευτὴς ∙καὶ<br>ἀντιστράτηγος ∙ Σεβαστοῦ<br>Μυσίας τῆς κάτω,<br>τὸν ναὸν καὶ τὸν βωμὸν<br>ἀνέθηκεν.--></ref>]]
The [[Birth registration in Ancient Rome|birth certificates]] and wills of Roman citizens had to be written in Latin until the time of [[Alexander Severus]] (reigned 222–235).<ref>Adams, "''Romanitas'' and the Latin Language," pp. 186–187.</ref> Illiterate Roman subjects would have someone such as a government scribe ''([[scriba (ancient Rome)|scriba]])'' read or write their official documents for them.<ref>Ando, ''Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire'', p. 101; Kraus, "(Il)literacy in Non-Literary Papyri from Graeco-Roman Egypt," pp. 325–327.</ref> Laws and edicts were posted in writing as well as read out.<ref>Susan P. Mattern, ''Rome and the Enemy: Imperial Strategy in the Principate'' (University of California Press, 1999), p. 197; Teresa Morgan, ''Literate Education in the Hellenistic and Roman Worlds'' (Cambridge University Press, 1998, 2000), pp. 1–2 ''et passim''; Greg Woolf, "Literacy or Literacies in Rome?" in ''Ancient Literacies,'' p. 46ff.; Horster, "Primary Education," in ''The Oxford Handbook of Social Relations in the Roman World'', p. 97. Ando poses the question as "what good would 'posted edicts' do in a world of low literacy?' in ''Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire'', p. 101.</ref> Public art and religious ceremonies were ways to communicate imperial ideology regardless of language spoken or ability to read.<ref>Ando, ''Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire'', pp. 152, 210.</ref> An early form of story ballet ''(pantomimus)'' was brought to Rome by Greek performers and became popular throughout the multilingual Empire in part because it relied on gesture rather than verbal expression.<ref>Edith Hall, introduction to ''New Directions in Ancient Pantomime'' (Oxford University Press, 2008), pp. 6–7.</ref>

Latin was the official language of the [[Imperial Roman army|Roman army]] until the mid-6th century, and remained the most common language for military use even in the Eastern empire until the 630s.<ref>Rance, "The ''De Militari Scientia'' or Müller Fragment," pp. 63–64.</ref> By contrast, only two bishops are known to have spoken Latin at the ecumenical councils held during the reign of [[Theodosius II]] (d. 450 AD).<ref>Millar, ''A Greek Roman Empire,'' p. 100.</ref>

==Greek==
{{See also|History of Greek}}
[[Koine Greek]] had become the [[lingua franca]] of the eastern Mediterranean and into [[Asia Minor]] after the conquests of [[Alexander the Great]].<ref>Millar, ''A Greek Roman Empire,'' p. 279; Treadgold, ''A History of the Byzantine State and Society,'' p. 5.</ref> [[Lucian]] even imagines that Greek is the universal language of the dead in the [[Greek underworld|underworld]].<ref>Lucian, ''Dialogue of the Dead'' 25; Anderson, ''The Second Sophistic,'' p. 194.</ref> In [[late antiquity]], a Greek-speaking majority lived in the [[Greek peninsula]] and [[Greek islands|islands]], major cities of the East, western [[Anatolia]], and some coastal areas.<ref>Treadgold, ''A History of the Byzantine State and Society'', p. 5.</ref> Greek continued as the language of the [[Byzantine Empire]], and developed into a distinctive [[medieval Greek]] that gave rise to [[modern Greek language|modern Greek]].<ref>Stefan Zimmer, "Indo-European," in ''Celtic Culture: An Historical Encyclopedia'', p. 961.</ref>

==Latin-Greek bilingualism and translation==
Although Latin is presented by Vergil as a unifying source of identity, bilingualism in Greek played a foundational role in the Roman literary tradition.<ref>Moatti, ''Translation, Migration, and Communication,'' p. 111.</ref> Romans who received an elite education studied Greek as a [[literary language]], and most men of the governing classes could speak Greek.<ref>Rochette, "Language Policies in the Roman Republic and Empire," pp. 550–552.</ref> The ''[[desultor]] litterarum'' or "literary acrobat" was one who had the ability to leap back and forth between the two languages, which was characteristic of the cultural milieu known as the [[Second Sophistic]]. Native Greek speakers of the intellectual elite were in turn capable of practicing literary criticism of Latin texts.<ref>Anderson, ''The Second Sophistic,'' p. 123.</ref>

The emperor [[Claudius]] tried to limit the use of Greek, and on occasion revoked the citizenship of those who lacked Latin. Even in addressing the [[Roman Senate]], however, he drew on his own bilingualism in communicating with Greek-speaking ambassadors.<ref>Rochette, "Language Policies in the Roman Republic and Empire," p. 552.</ref> [[Suetonius]] quotes him as referring to "our two languages,"<ref>[[Suetonius]], ''Life of Claudius'' 42.</ref> and the employment of two imperial secretaries, one for Greek and one Latin, dates to his reign.<ref>Rochette, "Language Policies in the Roman Republic and Empire," p. 553; Lee I. Levine, ''Jerusalem: Portrait of the City in the Second Temple Period (538 B.C.E. – 70 C.E.)'' (Jewish Publication Society, 2002), p. 154.</ref>

[[File:P.Ryl. I 61.tif|thumb|upright=1.4|A 5th-century [[papyrus]] showing a parallel Latin-Greek text of a speech by [[Cicero]]<ref>[[Cicero]], ''[[In Catilinam]]'' 2.15, [[Rylands Papyri|P.Ryl.]] I 61 "[[recto]]".</ref>]]
The everyday interpenetration of the two languages is indicated by bilingual inscriptions, which sometimes even switch back and forth between Greek and Latin. The epitaph of a Greek-speaking soldier, for instance, might be written primarily in Greek, with his rank and unit in the Roman army expressed in Latin.<ref>Rochette, "Language Policies in the Roman Republic and Empire," p. 556; Adams, "''Romanitas'' and the Latin Language," p. 200.</ref>

In the Eastern empire, laws and official documents were regularly translated into Greek from Latin.<ref>Rochette, "Language Policies in the Roman Republic and Empire," pp. 553–554.</ref> Both languages were in active use by government officials and the Church during the 5th century.<ref>Millar, ''A Greek Roman Empire,'' pp. 93¬94.</ref> From the 6th century, Greek culture was studied in the West almost exclusively through Latin translation.<ref>Moatii, "Translation, Migration, and Communication," p. 112.</ref> Latin [[loanword]]s appear liberally in Greek texts on technical topics from late antiquity and the Byzantine period.<ref>Rance, "The ''De Militari Scientia'' or Müller Fragment," p. 63.</ref>

==Language reform movements==
[[Atticism]] was a trend of the Second Sophistic. Intellectuals such as [[Aelius Aristides]] sought to restore the standards of classical Greek characteristic of the [[Attic dialect]], represented by [[Thucydides]], [[Plato]], [[Demosthenes]], and other authors from the [[Classical Greece|Classical period]]. Prose stylists who aspired to Atticism tried to avoid the [[vulgarism]]s of koine—an impractical goal, but this [[linguistic purism]] reflected also the 2nd-century flourishing of [[Alexandrine grammarians|grammarians]] and [[lexicographer]]s.<ref>Anderson, ''The Second Sophistic,'' pp. 87–91.</ref> Expertise in language and literature contributed to preserving Hellenic culture in the Roman Imperial world.<ref>Anderson, ''The Second Sophistic,'' p. 101.</ref>

Among other reforms, the emperor [[Diocletian]] (reigned 284–305) sought to renew the authority of Latin, and the Greek expression ἡ κρατοῦσα διάλεκτος ''(hē kratousa dialektos)'' attests to the continuing status of Latin as "the language of power."<ref>Rochette, "Language Policies in the Roman Republic and Empire," p. 560.</ref> The scholar [[Libanius]] (4th century) regarded Latin as causing a decline in the quality of Greek rhetoric.<ref>Rochette, "Language Policies in the Roman Republic and Empire," p. 560; A.H.M. Jones, ''The Decline of the Ancient World'' (Longmanns, 1966), p. 346.</ref> In the early 6th century, the emperor [[Justinian]] engaged in a quixotic effort to reassert the status of Latin as the language of law, even though in his time Latin no longer held any currency as a living language in the East.<ref>Rochette, "Language Policies in the Roman Republic and Empire," pp. 562–563.</ref>

==Regional languages==
[[File:PalmyraWoman.JPG|thumb|Funerary bust (2nd century AD) of Aqmat, a Syrian woman, with an inscription in the Palmyrene dialect of Aramaic]]
The dominance of Latin and Greek among the literate elite may obscure the continuity of spoken languages, since all cultures within the Roman Empire were predominantly oral.<ref>Richard Miles, "Communicating Culture, Identity, and Power," in ''Experiencing Rome: Culture, Identity and Power in the Roman Empire'' (Routledge, 2000), pp. 59–60.</ref> In areas where Syriac, Coptic, Hebrew and Aramaic were spoken, they coexisted with Greek.<ref>Millar, ''A Greek Roman Empire,'' p. 95.</ref>

===Aramaic and Syriac===
{{Main|Aramaic language|Syriac language}}
Aramaic was the primary language of Syria and Mesopotomia, with several dialects.<ref>Treadgold, ''A History of the Byzantine State and Society'', p. 5.</ref> Syriac was in use around [[Antioch]], one of the three largest cities of the Empire, and particularly by Christians.<ref>MacMullen, "Provincial Languages," p. 4.</ref> [[Syriac literature]] is known from the latter 2nd century, spreading from the Christian community in [[Edessa]].<ref>MacMullen, "Provincial Languages," p. 5.</ref> Early Syriac literature was produced in a largely Greek intellectual milieu until the 4th century, but was distinctive for its use of rich symbolism and verse forms, and influenced Greek writers such as [[Eusebius]], [[St. Basil|Basil]] and [[Theodoret]].<ref>MacMullen, "Provincial Languages," p. 6.</ref> Among the earliest Syriac literature was the ''[[Diatessaron]]'' of [[Tatian]], and translations of sections from the Bible.<ref>MacMullen, "Provincial Languages," p. 5.</ref>

The prolific Syrian scholar [[Bardesanes]] knew Greek and sent his son for schooling in Athens, but chose to write in his ethnic language. In addition to Syriac [[homily|homilies]] and [[treatise]]s, Bardesanes wrote 150 hymns "of enormous influence and doubtful doctrine".<ref>MacMullen, "Provincial Languages," pp. 4–5.</ref> Other Syriac literature of the time included Christian treatises, dialogues, and apocryphal Acts.<ref>MacMullen, "Provincial Languages," p. 5.</ref> Some Syriac literature had [[Gnostic]] elements, and also played a role in the dissemination of [[Manicheanism]]. From the 5th century onward, it included [[Monophysite]] and [[Nestorian]] writings.<ref>MacMullen, "Provincial Languages," pp. 5–6.</ref>

Works by the Syriac writer [[Ephrem the Syrian|Ephraim]] were translated into Greek.<ref>MacMullen, "Provincial Languages," p. 7.</ref> The satirist and rhetorician [[Lucian]] came from [[Samosata]] in the [[Syria (Roman province)|province of Syria]]; although he wrote in Greek, he calls himself a Syrian, and a reference to himself as a "[[barbarian]]" suggests that he spoke Syriac.<ref>Edwards ''et al.'', introduction to ''Apologetics in the Roman Empire'', p. 7; Matthew W. Dickie, "Lucian's Gods: Lucian's Understanding of the Divine," in ''The Gods of Ancient Greece: Identifies and Transformations'' (Edinburgh University Press, 2010), p. 350.</ref>

Soldiers from [[Palmyra]] even used their [[Palmyrene dialect|dialect of Aramaic]] for inscriptions, in a striking exception to the rule that Latin was the language of the military.<ref>Adams, "''Romanitas'' and the Latin Language," p. 199.</ref>

===Coptic===
{{Main|Coptic language}}
[[File:Codex Tchacos p33.jpg|thumb|upright|left|First page of the [[Gospel of Judas]] in the Coptic [[Codex Tchacos]] (3rd–4th century AD)]]
"Coptic" is the modern term for the form of [[Egyptian language|ancient Egyptian]] that had developed in late antiquity.<ref>Mark Sheridan, ''From the Nile to the Rhone and Beyond: Studies in Early Monastic Literature and Scriptural Interpretation'' (Studia Anselmiana, 2012), p. 225.</ref> Written Coptic as a literary language seems to have resulted from a conscious effort among Egypt's educated class to revive their cultural heritage.<ref>Sheridan, ''From the Nile to the Rhone,'' p. 226.</ref>

In the 4th century, Coptic script—based on the Greek alphabet with additional characters from [[Demotic (Egyptian)|Egyptian demotic]] to reflect [[Egyptian phonology]]—is found in documents in several dialects, including [[Bohairic|Old Bohairic]], [[Fayyumic|Fayumic]], [[Akhmimic|Achmimic]], and [[Sahidic]].<ref>Sheridan, ''From the Nile to the Rhone,'' p. 226.</ref> At this time Coptic emerged as a fully literary language, including major translations of Greek scriptures, liturgical texts, and [[patristic]] works.<ref>Maged S.A. Mikhail, "An Historical Definition for the 'Coptic Period'," in ''Coptic Studies on the Threshold of a New Millennium. Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Coptic Studies Leiden 2000'' (Peeters, 2004), vol. 2, p. 972.</ref> From the 4th to 7th centuries, original works—including homilies, [[hagiography|saints' lives]], [[monastic rules]], [[epistles|letters]], and [[exhortation]]s—were composed in Coptic, primarily in the Sahidic dialect.<ref>Mikhail, "An Historical Definition for the 'Coptic Period'," p. 973; Sheridan, ''From the Nile to the Rhone,'' p. 226.</ref> As a writing system, Coptic was used for everyday purposes such as inventories and real estate transactions, as well as for poetry.<ref>Mikhail, "An Historical Definition for the 'Coptic Period'," p. 973.</ref> By the 640s, when [[Muslim conquest of Egypt|Egypt came under Arab rule]], [[Coptic Christians|Coptic-speaking Christians]] constituted the majority of the population.<ref>Mikhail, "An Historical Definition for the 'Coptic Period'," p. 974.</ref> At the end of the 7th century, legal texts might still be written in Coptic: in one example, a bilingual Greek-Arabic [[Protocol (politics)|protocol]] with a reference to [[Mohammed]] precedes a document entirely in Coptic that invokes the [[Trinity]].<ref>Mikhail, "An Historical Definition for the 'Coptic Period'," p. 974.</ref>

===Punic===
[[Punic language|Punic]], the [[Semitic language]] of the [[Ancient Carthage|Carthaginians]], continued to be used in North Africa during the Imperial period.<ref>Adams, ''Bilingualism and the Latin Language,'' pp. 201, 213.</ref> Before the Roman conquest in 146 BC, nearly all Punic inscriptions had been votives to the deities [[Tanit]] and [[Ba'al]] or funerary commemorations, but during the Roman era a broader range of content is found in [[Neo-Punic]], often appearing with parallel texts in Latin or Greek.<ref>Andrew Wilson, "Neo-Punic and Latin Inscriptions in Roman North Africa: Function and Display," in ''Multilingualism in the Graeco-Roman Worlds,'' pp. 266–268.</ref> A striking occurrence of Neo-Punic is found at the otherwise thoroughly Roman temple of [[Roma (goddess)|Roma]] and [[Divus Augustus|Augustus]], built 14–19 AD at [[Leptis Magna]].<ref>Wilson, "Neo-Punic and Latin Inscriptions in Roman North Africa," p. 282.</ref> One of the latest Neo-Punic inscriptions on a monument dates to the reign of [[Domitian]] (81–96 AD).<ref>Wilson, "Neo-Punic and Latin Inscriptions in Roman North Africa," p. 295.</ref> No inscription in Punic script on stone can be dated later than the 2nd or 3rd century.<ref>Wilson, "Neo-Punic and Latin Inscriptions in Roman North Africa," p. 269.</ref> Latin script was used to write Punic in the 4th and 5th centuries.<ref>Wilson, "Neo-Punic and Latin Inscriptions in Roman North Africa," p. 307ff.</ref>

Punic was spoken at the highest level of society: the emperor [[Septimius Severus]] (reigned 193–211) was born in Leptis Magna and spoke Punic as well as Latin and Greek, while his sister supposedly had little command of Latin at all.<ref>Karel Jongeling and Robert M. Kerr, ''Late Punic Epigraphy'' (Mohr Siebeck, 2005), p. 4; Wilson, "Neo-Punic and Latin Inscriptions in Roman North Africa," p. 305.</ref> Augustine, who was from North Africa, several times mentions Punic; he observed that it was related to Hebrew and Syriac, and his knowledge of Punic helped him figure out transliterated Semitic words from the Bible.<ref>Jongeling and Kerr, ''Late Punic Epigraphy'', p. 4.</ref>

===Celtic===
[[Celtic languages#Classifications|Celtic languages]] at the beginning of the Imperial period include [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]], spoken in [[Roman Gaul|Gaul]] (''Gallia,'' present-day France, Belgium, and Switzerland); [[Celtiberian language|Celtiberian]], in parts of [[Hispania]] (Spain and Portugal); [[Common Brittonic|Brittonic]] in Britannia ([[Roman Britain]]), and [[Galatian language|Galatian]], a branch of Celtic brought to [[Anatolia]] by the Gallic invasions of the 3rd century BC. The place name [[Galatia]], a [[Galatia (Roman province)|Roman province]], derives from the Greek word for "[[Gauls]]" or "[[Celts]]", ''Galatai''. Loanwords from Gaulish are recorded in Latin as early as the time of [[Ennius]] (ca. 239–169 BC), due to the presence of Celtic settlements on the Italian peninsula.<ref>Adams, ''Bilingualism and the Latin Language,'' p. 185 ''et passim''.</ref> By late antiquity, some Gaulish words had become so Latinized that their origin was no longer recognized as such.<ref>Adams, ''Bilingualism and the Latin Language,'' p. 195.</ref>

[[File:Tesera hospitalidad.jpg|thumb|Celtiberian inscription on a hospitality token from the Republican period]]
Celtiberian is documented as a written language only after contact with the Romans in the 2nd century BC.<ref>Fiona A. Rose, "Text and Image in Celtiberia: The Adoption and Adaptation of Written Language into Indigenous Visual Vocabulary," ''Oxford Journal of Archaeology'' 22.2 (2003), p. 155.</ref> Of 103 Celtiberian inscriptions, thirty in [[Iberian script]] are hospitality tokens ''(tesserae hospitales)'', twenty of which are in the shape of animals.<ref>Rose, "Text and Image in Celtiberia," pp. 157, 159.</ref> The social custom of pledging mutual support among families or communities was compatible with ''[[hospitium]]'' in Roman culture, and the Celtiberians continued to produce the tokens, though switching to Latin, into the 2nd century of the Imperial era.<ref>Rose, "Text and Image in Celtiberia," p. 159; Leonard A. Curchin, ''The Romanization of Central Spain: Complexity, Diversity and Change in a Provincial Hinterland'' (Routledge, 2004), p. 120.</ref> Under Augustus, the territory of the Celtiberians became part of the [[Tarraconensis]] province.<ref>Rose, "Text and Image in Celtiberia," p. 156.</ref> Written Celtiberian ceases early in the reign of Augustus, if not before.<ref>Adams, ''Bilingualism and the Latin Language,'' p. 280.</ref>

Several references to Gaulish in late antiquity may indicate that it continued to be spoken. [[Irenaeus]], bishop of [[Lugdunum]] (present-day Lyon) from 177 AD, complains that he has to communicate with his parishioners in their "barbarous tongue", probably Gaulish.<ref>Irenaeus, ''Against Heresies'' I, preface; Pierre-Yves Lambert, ''La langue gauloise: description linguistique, commentaire d'inscriptions choisies'' (Editions Errance, 2003), p. 10.</ref> The [[jurist]] [[Ulpian]] (170–228) mentions the need to recognize Gaulish [[verbal contract]]s.<ref>''Digest'' 31.1.11; Lambert, ''La langue gauloise,'' p. 10.</ref> [[Aelius Lampridius|Lampridius]] says that a [[druid]]ess made a prophecy in Gaulish to [[Alexander Severus]] (208–235).<ref>Lambert, ''La langue gauloise,'' p. 10.</ref> [[Jerome]] (331–420), who had first-hand knowledge, observes that the Gallic [[Treveri]] speak a language "more or less the same" as that of the Galatians.<ref>Jerome, commentary on the ''[[Letter to the Galatians]]''; Lambert, ''La langue gauloise,'' p. 10.</ref> The collection of pharmacological recipes by [[Marcellus of Bordeaux]] (late 4th- or early 5th-century) contains several Gaulish words, mainly plant names, and seems to indicate that the language remained in use for at least some purposes such as [[traditional medicine]] and magic.<ref>Adams, ''Bilingualism and the Latin Language,'' p. 192.</ref> [[Sulpicius Severus]] (363–425), also from [[Gallia Aquitania]], takes note of Gaulish-Latin bilingualism, with Gaulish as the [[first language]]. Other mentions of people who speak "in the Gallic manner" ''(gallice)'' or similar may refer to speaking Latin with a regional Gaulish accent.<ref>Lambert, ''La langue gauloise,'' p. 10.</ref>

===Germanic===
Next to nothing is recorded of the [[Germanic languages]] spoken in the Empire, with the exception of [[Gothic language|Gothic]]. A phrase of Gothic is quoted in an [[elegiac couplet]] from the ''[[Latin Anthology]]'',<ref>''Latin Anthology'' 285 (= 279 in the edition of Shackleton Bailey): ''Inter 'eils' Goticum 'scapia matzia ia drincan' / non audet quisquam dignos edicere versus'' ;Adams, ''Bilingualism and the Latin Language,'' p. 275.</ref> and more substantially parts of the [[Gospels]] were translated into Gothic and preserved by the 6th-century [[Codex Argenteus]].<ref>Tore Janson, ''A Natural History of Latin'' (Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 87.</ref> While Latin gained some Germanic loanwords, most linguistic influence ran the other way.<ref>Adams, ''Bilingualism and the Latin Language,'' p. 274.</ref>

[[File:Weihestein Vagdavercustis.JPG|thumb|Scene of Roman sacrifice on an altar with a Latin dedication to the Germanic or Celtic goddess [[Vagdavercustis]], set up by a [[praetorian prefect]] in 165 AD at ''Colonia [[Ubii|Ubiorum]]'' ([[Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium|Cologne]], Germany)]]
Bilingualism in a Germanic language and Latin was especially important in the military for officers in command of units recruited from Germanic-speaking areas. [[Tacitus]] observes that [[Arminius]], the [[Cherusci|Cheruscan]] officer who later led a [[Battle of the Teutoburg Forest|disastrously successful rebellion]] against the Romans, was bilingual.<ref>Adams, ''Bilingualism and the Latin Language,'' pp. 274–275, citing Tacitus, ''Annales'' 2.10.3.</ref> The emperor [[Julian (emperor)|Julian]] employed a bilingual Germanic [[military tribune]] as a spy.<ref>[[Ammianus Marcellinus]] 18.2.2; Adams, ''Bilingualism and the Latin Language,'' p. 275.</ref> The officers and secretaries who kept the records preserved in the [[Vindolanda tablets]] were [[Batavi (Germanic tribe)|Batavian]], but their Latin contains no hint; the common soldiers of their units, however, may have retained their Germanic speech.<ref>Adams, ''Bilingualism and the Latin Language,'' p. 276.</ref> Less commonly, Latin-speaking officers learned a Germanic language through their service and acted as interpreters.<ref>Adams, ''Bilingualism and the Latin Language,'' pp. 276–277.</ref> Acquiring Germanic might be regarded as a dubious achievement inducing anxieties of "barbarism": in 5th-century Gaul, [[Sidonius]] thinks it funny that his learned friend [[Syagrius]] has become fluent in Germanic.<ref>Sidonius, ''Epistle'' 5.5; Adams, ''Bilingualism and the Latin Language,'' p. 277.</ref>

==Multilingualism==
Trilingualism was perhaps not uncommon among educated people who came from regions where a language other than Latin or Greek was spoken. The Latin novelist [[Apuleius]] also wrote in Greek, and had learned Punic from his mother.<ref>Moatti, "Translation, Migration, and Communication," p. 111, note 9.</ref> The [[Babatha|Babatha Archive]] is a suggestive example of practical multilingualism. These [[papyri]], named for a Jewish woman in the [[Arabia (Roman province)|province of Arabia]] and dating from 93 to 132 AD, mostly employ Aramaic, the local language, written in Greek characters with [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] and Latin influences; a petition to the [[Roman governor]], however, was written in Greek.<ref>Rochette, "Language Policies in the Roman Republic and Empire," pp. 553–555.</ref>

One striking example of multilingualism as well as multiculturalism in the Empire is a 2nd-century epitaph for a woman named Regina, discovered in 1878 near the Roman fort at [[South Shields]], northeast England. The inscription is written in Latin and Palmyrene Aramaic, the language of Regina's husband, Barates, who has been identified with a standardbearer ''([[vexillarius]])'' of that name from Palmyra, Syria.<ref>The second inscription comes from [[Corstopitum]] (Corbridge), about 50 kilometers away.</ref> He was most likely in the military stationed along [[Hadrian's Wall]]. The Latin, however, is constructed grammatically in the manner of Greek honorific inscriptions typical of Palmyra, suggesting that Barates was bilingual in Aramaic and Greek, and added Latin as a third language. The Latin portion is larger and longer, and provides most of the information. The Palmyrene is carved in a fluid cursive script, and conveys only the name of Regina and an expression of grief. Since few people in Britain could have read Palmyrene, its use may be Barates' personal statement of his identity and emotions. A fourth linguistic element is the name ''Regina'', which can be either Latin or Celtic. Such names seem often to have been chosen for their deliberate duality. Regina herself is identified as from the British [[Catuvellauni]], a people whose ''[[civitas]]'' capital was [[Verulamium]], but the Gallo-Brittonic spelling ''Catuallauna'' ([[grammatical gender|feminine]]) is used in the Latin inscription.<ref>Mullen, introduction to ''Multilingualism in the Graeco-Roman Worlds'' pp. 1–4.</ref>

==Geographical distribution==

===Italian peninsula and Sicily===
In Italy, the written use of Latin had replaced [[Oscan language|Oscan]]—like Latin, an [[Italic language]]—and [[Etruscan language|Etruscan]] by the end of the 1st century AD.<ref>Miles, "Communicating Culture, Identity, and Power," p. 58.</ref> Oscan graffiti are preserved by the [[eruption of Vesuvius]] in 79 AD at [[Pompeii]], which was in the Oscan region, and a couple may date after the earlier eruption in 63.<ref>James Clackson and Geoffrey Horrocks, ''The Blackwell History of the Latin Language'' (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), p. 83; Herman, ''Vulgar Latin,'' p. 11.</ref> In the mid-1st century, the emperor Claudius, who had keen [[Antiquarianism in ancient Rome|antiquarian]] interests, knew Etruscan and wrote a multivolume history of the Etruscans, but the work has not survived.<ref>Giuliano Bonfante and [[Larissa Bonfante]], ''The Etruscan Language'' (Manchester University Press, rev. ed. 2002), p. 33.</ref>

Multilingualism had been characteristic of [[Sicily (Roman province)|Sicily]] for centuries, resulting from occupations by the Carthaginians, Greeks, and Romans. While the slave trade during the [[Roman Republic|Republican period]] brought speakers of Greek and other languages from the East to the island, Greek was the language of higher-status persons such as government officials and businessmen during the Imperial era.<ref>Kalle Korhonen, "Sicily in the Roman Imperial Period," in ''Language and Linguistic Contact in Ancient Sicily'' (Cambridge University Press, 2012), p. 332.</ref> Immigration to Sicily in the early Empire originated more often in places where Latin was spoken than in Greek-speaking areas. African speakers of Latin were a significant presence in Sicily.<ref>Korhonen, "Sicily in the Roman Imperial Period," pp. 336–338.</ref> Christian inscriptions are far more likely to be in Greek.<ref>Korhonen, "Sicily in the Roman Imperial Period," 339–340.</ref> In late antiquity, Greek-Latin bilingualism was common enough that it would have been acquired through everyday personal interaction.<ref>Korhonen, "Sicily in the Roman Imperial Period," p. 363.</ref> The Jewish communities of [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]] seem to have been bilingual in Greek and Hebrew.<ref>Korhonen, "Sicily in the Roman Imperial Period," p. 366.</ref> There is some Sicilian evidence of Syriac.<ref>Korhonen, "Sicily in the Roman Imperial Period," p. 366.</ref>

===Western provinces===
[[File:Ex Voto MAN St Germain.jpg|thumb|upright|Votive bust (late 1st century AD) with the Gaulish name Esumopas Cnustious and the Latin abbreviation VSLM (''[[votum]] solvit libens merito'', "fulfilled his vow freely, as is deserved")]]
In the Western Empire, Latin gradually replaced the Celtic languages, which were related to it by a shared [[Proto-Indo-European|Indo-European origin]]. Commonalities in syntax and vocabulary facilitated the adoption of Latin.<ref>Rochette, "Language Policies in the Roman Republic and Empire," p. 550; Stefan Zimmer, "Indo-European," in ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia'' (ABC-Clio, 2006), p. 961; Leonard A. Curchin, "Literacy in the Roman Provinces: Qualitative and Quantitative Data from Central Spain," ''American Journal of Philology'' 116.3 (1995), p. 464.</ref> [[Narbonensis|Mediterranean Gaul]] ([[southern France]]) had become trilingual (Greek, Latin, Gaulish) by the mid-1st century BC.<ref>[[Varro]] as quoted by [[Isidore of Seville]], ''Origines'' 15.1.63, ''trilingues quod et graece loquantur et latine et gallice''; Edgar C. Polomé, "The Linguistic Situation in the Western Provinces of the Roman Empire," ''Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt'' II (De Gruyter, 1983), p. 527; Philip Freeman, ''Ireland and the Classical World'' (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2001), p. 15.</ref> The importance of Latin in gaining access to the ruling power structure caused the rapid extinction of inscriptions in scripts that had been used to represent local languages on the [[Iberian peninsula]] ''([[Roman Spain|Hispania]])'' and in Gaul. Among other aspects of a distinctive [[Gallo-Roman culture]] was the creation of Gallo-Latin text.<ref>Miles, "Communicating Culture, Identity, and Power," pp. 58–59.</ref> In Latin commemorative inscriptions, individuals with Celtic names rarely identify themselves as "Celtic" or "Gallic"; they are much more likely to name the people of their ''[[civitas]]'' (such as [[Aedui]], [[Remi]], [[Pictones]])<ref>Mullen, ''Southern Gaul and the Mediterranean,'' p. 8, especially note 10.</ref> or their [[Roman voting tribes|voting tribe ''(tribus)'']] as Roman citizens. Several major writers of Latin came from the Iberian peninsula in the Imperial period, including [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]], [[Lucan]], [[Quintilian]],<ref>Herman, ''Vulgar Latin,'' p. 12.</ref> [[Martial]], and [[Prudentius]].

Most of the 136 Greek inscriptions from Mediterraean Gaul (the [[Narbonensis]]), including those from originally [[Greek colonies]], are post-[[Augustus|Augustan]].<ref>Mullen, ''Southern Gaul and the Mediterranean,'' pp. 266, 273.</ref> Their content indicates that Greek was used increasingly for specialized purposes: "education, medicine, acting, agonistic activities, art, magic, religion, including Christianity".<ref>Mullen, ''Southern Gaul and the Mediterranean,'' p. 266.</ref> Inscriptions from [[Marseilles]] (ancient Massilia), founded as a Greek [[Phocaea]]n colony around 600 BC, show the continued use of Greek, especially in education and medicine, into the 2nd and 3rd centuries of the Imperial era.<ref>Mullen, ''Southern Gaul and the Mediterranean,'' p. 267.</ref> In the 4th century, the Latin poet and scholar [[Ausonius]], from [[Gallia Aquitania]] (present-day [[Bordeaux]]), characterizes his physician father as speaking Attic Greek with more eloquence than Latin.<ref>Ausonius, ''Epicedion in patrem'' 9–10 (a [[First-person narrative|first-person]] poem written in the voice of his father); J.N. Adams, ''Bilingualism and the Latin Language'' (Cambridge University Press, 2003), pp. 356–357, especially note 109, citing R.P.H. Green, ''The Works of Ausonius'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 1991), p. 276 on the view that Gaulish was the native language of Iulius Ausonius. Adams is inclined to believe that he simply spoke Latin with a Gaulish accent. See also Mullen, ''Southern Gaul and the Mediterranean,'' p. 269 (note 19).</ref>

[[Basque language|Basque]], not an Indo-European language, survived in the region of the [[Pyrenees]].<ref>Karmele Rotaetxe, "Basque as a Literary Language," in ''A Comparative History of Literatures in the Iberian Peninsula'' (John Benjamins, 2010), p. 446.</ref> The people of southwestern Gaul and northeastern Hispania (roughly present-day Bordeaux and [[Navarre]]) were regarded by [[Julius Caesar]] as ethnically distinct from the Celts, and the [[Aquitanian language]] they spoke was [[Vasconic language|Vasconic]] like Basque, judging from place names. The [[Aquitani]] adopted Latin under Roman rule.<ref>Clackson and Horrocks, ''The Blackwell History of the Latin Language'', pp. 85–86.</ref>

Gaulish was probably spoken in central and northern parts of Gaul into the 4th and possibly 5th century, and in [[Brittany]] (ancient [[Aremorica]]) perhaps into the 6th.<ref>Herman, ''Vulgar Latin,'' p. 12.</ref> Latin did not become as deeply entrenched in the [[Roman Britain|province of Britannia]], and may have dwindled rapidly after the Roman withdrawal around 410 AD.<ref>Herman, ''Vulgar Latin,'' p. 12.</ref> The evidence of Latin loanwords into [[Common Brittonic|Brittonic]] suggests that the Latin of Roman Britain was academic, in contrast to the everyday conversational Latin ("Vulgar" Latin) on the continent.<ref>Millar, "Local Cultures in the Roman Empire," p. 127.</ref>

===African provinces===
[[File:Inscription Theatre Leptis Magna Libya.JPG|thumb|upright=1.5|Bilingual Latin-Punic inscription at the theatre in [[Leptis Magna]] in present-day Libya]]

In the [[Africa (Roman province)|provinces of Africa]], the people of Carthage and other [[Phoenician colonies]] spoke and wrote Punic, with Greek and Latin common in urban centers. Other Roman Africans spoke [[Afroasiatic languages]] ([[Eastern Berber languages|Libyan]], [[Numidian language|Numidian]]), debatably early versions of [[Berber language|Berber]].<ref>Clackson and Horrocks, ''The Blackwell History of the Latin Language'', pp. 86–87; Millar, "Local Cultures in the Roman Empire," pp. 128–129, expressing skepticism about identifying the non-Punic languages of North Africa as "Berber".</ref>

Punic was used for legends on coins during the time of [[Tiberius]] (1st century AD), and Punic inscriptions appear on public buildings into the 2nd century, some bilingual with Latin.<ref>Miles, "Communicating Culture, Identity, and Power," pp. 58–59.</ref> Inscriptions might also be trilingual: one pertaining to [[Imperial cult (ancient Rome)|Imperial cult]] presents "the official Latin, the local Punic, and the Greek of passing traders and an educated or cosmopolitan elite".<ref>Wilson, "Neo-Punic and Latin Inscriptions in Roman North Africa," pp. 284, 286.</ref>

Inscriptions in Libyan use a script similar to ''[[tifinagh]]'', usually written vertically from the bottom up. The 23 characters are "of a rather rigid geometric form".<ref>Millar, "Local Cultures in the Roman Empire," p. 129.</ref> Bilingual examples are found with either Punic or Latin, and indicate that some people who could write these languages could also at least transliterate their names into the Libyan script. Although Libyan inscriptions are concentrated southeast of [[Hippo Regius|Hippo]], near the present-day Algerian-Tunisia border, their distribution overall suggests that knowledge of the language was not confined to isolated communities.<ref>Millar, "Local Cultures in the Roman Empire," pp. 128–130.</ref>

Notable writers of Latin from Africa during the Imperial period include the novelist [[Apuleius]], and the [[Church Fathers]] [[Tertullian]] and [[Augustine]]. Latin-speaking communities remained in North Africa, particularly around Carthage, during the period of the [[Vandal Kingdom]] (435–534), but died out by the late 7th century, with the Arab conquest.<ref>Herman, ''Vulgar Latin,'' p. 12.</ref>

===Egypt===
[[File:Wheat transport BM Gr1999.6-29.1.jpg|thumb|left|Fragment from a storage vessel recording in Coptic the transport of wheat to a mill, dated June 2, 321 AD]]
In Egypt, Coptic predominated,<ref>Rochette, "Language Policies in the Roman Republic and Empire," pp. 558–559.</ref> but Greek had been in use since the conquest of Alexander, and Latin and Greek were the administrative languages during the Roman Imperial period.<ref>Sheridan, ''From the Nile to the Rhone,'' p. 226.<!--ADDITIONAL CIT NEEDED FOR LATIN--></ref> [[Alexandria]], founded in 331 BC under Greek rule and one of the three largest cities of the Roman Empire, was a leading city in Greek intellectual life during the Hellenistic and Imperial periods. Famed for the [[Library of Alexandria]], it was also a center for the dissemination of Christianity, which spread first among Greek speakers in Egypt.<ref>Sheridan, ''From the Nile to the Rhone,'' p. 225.</ref>

Around 700 AD, Greek was replaced for administrative use by [[History of Arabic|Arabic]], the language of the conquerors. Coptic began to decline, and from this point was preserved mainly for liturgical purposes.<ref>Sheridan, ''From the Nile to the Rhone,'' p. 226.</ref>

===Eastern empire===
Although Greek was in common use around the Mediterranean and into Asia Minor even beyond Imperial borders, linguistic distribution in the eastern part of the Empire was complex. Now-[[extinct language]]s in [[Anatolia]] included [[Galatian language|Galatian]] (the form of Celtic introduced by invading Gauls in the 3rd century BC), [[Phrygian language|Phrygian]], [[Pisidian language|Pisidian]], and [[Cappadocian language|Cappadocian]], attested by Imperial-era inscriptions.<ref>Miles, "Communicating Culture, Identity, and Power," p. 58; Treadgold, ''A History of the Byzantine State and Society'', pp. 5–7.</ref> Christian sources also mention the survival of Galatian, Cappadocian, [[Mysian language|Mysian]], and [[Isaurian language|Isaurian]] in Asia Minor.<ref>Millar, "Local Cultures in the Roman Empire," p. 126.</ref> Like Greek and Latin, these are categorized as Indo-European. Phrygian is not named as a language in a literary text until the 6th century, but is preserved in about a hundred funerary inscriptions in Greek script, most accompanied by Greek text as well and dating from the 3rd century.<ref>Millar, "Local Cultures in the Roman Empire," p. 126.</ref> A Cappadocian accent in speaking Greek seems to be mentioned in a few sources.<ref>Millar, "Local Cultures in the Roman Empire," p. 127, citing [[Philostratus]] and [[Gregory of Nyssa]].</ref>

[[File:Roman military diploma Carnuntum 00.jpg|thumb|[[Roman military diploma]] in Latin dated June 13, 80 AD, from [[Carnuntum]], in the Danubian province of [[Noricum]]]]
Outside the military, Latin never became the language of everyday life in the East. An exception was the [[Colonia (Roman)|Roman colony]] of [[Berytus]] (present-day Beirut), where a Latin education could be obtained, and which became famous for its [[Law School of Beirut|school of Roman law]].<ref>Teresa Morgan, "Education," in ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome'' (Oxford University Press, 2010), p. 18.</ref>

===Danubian provinces and Balkans===
The [[Danubian provinces]] lay within a geographical area encompassing the middle and lower [[Danube basin]]s, the [[Eastern Alps]], the [[Dinarides]], and the [[Balkan mountains|Balkans]]. Provinces in this general region include [[Noricum]], [[Roman Dacia|Dacia]], [[Dalmatia (Roman province)|Dalmatia]], [[Moesia]], [[Thracia|Thrace]], [[Scythia Minor|Scythia]], and [[Pannonia (Roman province)|Pannonia]].<ref>J.J. Wilkes, "The Roman Danube: An Archaeological Survey," ''Journal of Roman Studies'' 95 (2005), p. 124</ref> Greek had been in use in the southern part of the Balkans since the late 4th century BC, as a result of the Macedonian conquests of [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip]] and Alexander. The [[ancient Macedonian language]], perhaps a Greek dialect,<ref>Not to be confused with the modern [[Macedonian language]], which is [[Slavic languages|Slavonic]].</ref> may have been spoken in some parts of what is now Macedonia and northern Greece; to the north of this area, [[Paeonian language|Paeonian]] would have been used, and to the south [[Epirus|Epirot]], both scantily attested.<ref>Clackson and Horrocks, ''The Blackwell History of the Latin Language'', p. 86.</ref>

[[Illyrian language|Illyrian]] was spoken in the northwest, and to the northeast [[Thracian language|Thracian]] and [[Dacian language|Dacian]].<ref>Clackson and Horrocks, ''The Blackwell History of the Latin Language'', p. 86.</ref> These three languages, all Indo-European, are sometimes thought to be earlier forms of [[Albanian language|Albanian]].<ref>Clackson and Horrocks, ''The Blackwell History of the Latin Language'', p. 86.</ref> From his exile in Tomis on the [[Black Sea]] (present-day [[Constanța]], Romania), the Augustan poet [[Ovid]] learned [[Getic language|Getic]] and [[Sarmatian language|Sarmatian]], and noted that Greek was spoken with a markedly Getic accent.<ref>Millar, "Local Cultures in the Roman Empire," p. 126, citing also L.P. Wilkinson, ''Ovid Recalled'' (1955), ch. 10.</ref> Inscriptions from Tomis in the Imperial period are generally Greek, with Thracian personal names and religious references.<ref>Millar, "Local Cultures in the Roman Empire," p. 126.</ref>

===Jewish diaspora===
[[File:DuraSyn-III-Jeremiah.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Ezra]] or [[Jeremiah]] reading from a scroll, in a painting from the [[Dura-Europos synagogue]] (3rd century)]]
Inscriptions in Greek and Latin set up by Jews attest to Jewish bi- or multilingualism, and their distribution in the Empire reflects the [[Jewish diaspora]].<ref>Goodman, ''Mission and Conversion,'' pp. 48, 130.</ref> These may have the Hebrew tag ''[[shalom]]'' at the end.<ref>Mullen, introduction to ''Multilingualism in the Graeco-Roman Worlds,'' p. 18.</ref> Evidence for Jews in Egypt is preserved by papyri until the [[Kitos War|Jewish revolt of 116–117]].<ref>Goodman, ''Mission and Conversion,'' p. 48.</ref> In the first half of the 5th century, Greek coexisted with Hebrew and [[Jewish Aramaic]] in the Jewish communities of [[Palaestina Prima]] and [[Palaestina Secunda|Secunda]], and is found in mosaic inscriptions even in synagogues.<ref>Millar, ''A Greek Roman Empire,'' p. 95.</ref>

Like the [[Septuagint]], the Greek translation of the [[Hebrew Bible]] that predated the Imperial era, Jewish literature in Greek under the Empire was written mainly for Jews who spoke Greek.<ref>Goodman, ''Mission and Conversion,'' p. 79.</ref> Some Jews writing in Greek during the late Hellenistic and early Imperial period—notably the philosopher [[Philo]] and the historian [[Josephus]]—included [[gentiles]] among their intended audience.<ref>Goodman, ''Mission and Conversion'', pp. 53, 78.</ref> The [[Sibylline Oracles]] and the [[Wisdom of Solomon]] are other examples of Jewish literature in Greek from this general period.<ref>Goodman, ''Mission and Conversion,'' pp. 65–66.</ref>

No surviving Greek texts written after the year 100 can be securely identified as having a Jewish author. After this time, Jewish writings in Greek became irrelevant to Christians, who were thus unlikely to preserve them. The manuscription tradition of [[Jews in the Middle Ages|medieval Jewish culture]] has preserved only writings in Hebrew and Aramaic.<ref>Goodman, ''Mission and Conversion'', p. 48.</ref>

===Christian communities===
The ''[[Epistle to Diognetus]]'' states that language was not a determining factor in Christian identity; Christians might speak any language.<ref>Simon Price, "Latin Christian Apologetics: Minucius Felix, Tertullian, and Cyprian," in ''Apologetics in the Roman Empire: Pagans, Jews, and Christians'' (Oxford University Press, 1999), p. 103.</ref> By late antiquity, at least some [[Christian literature]] had been created for virtually every language in regular use throughout the Empire.<ref>Valantasis, introduction to ''Religions of Late Antiquity'', p. 11.</ref>

[[File:Stele Licinia Amias Terme 67646.jpg|thumb|This funerary stele (3rd century) is among the [[early Christian inscriptions|earliest Christian inscriptions]]: the abbreviation ''D.M.'' at the top refers to the [[Manes|Di Manes]], the old Roman spirits of the dead, but accompanies Christian anchor and [[Ichthys|fish symbolism]] expressed by the Greek phrase "Fish of the Living", followed by the deceased's epitaph in Latin<ref>Robin Margaret Jensen, ''Understanding Christian Art'' (Routledge, 2000), p. 51; Alison E. Cooley, ''The Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy'' (Cambridge University Press, 2012), p. 233.</ref>]]
The international use of Greek was one factor enabling the spread of Christianity, as indicated for example by the use of Greek for the [[Pauline epistles|Epistles of Paul]].<ref>Treadgold, ''A History of the Byzantine State,'' p. 5.</ref> Constantine, the first emperor to convert to Christianity, presumably knew some Greek, but Latin was spoken in his court, and he used an interpreter to address Greek-speaking bishops at the [[First Council of Nicaea|Council of Nicaea]].<ref>Mark Edwards, "The Constantinian Circle and the Oration to the Saints," in ''Apologetics,'' p. 255.</ref> In the Christian Latin West, Greek became associated with "[[Hellenes (religion)|paganism]]" and regarded as a foreign language (''lingua peregrina)''.<ref>Augustine, ''Confessions'' 1.14.23; Moatii, "Translation, Migration, and Communication," p. 112.</ref> Saint Augustine confessed that he loathed Greek and found it hard to learn.<ref>Augustine, ''Confessions'' 1.13.20 and 2.38.91; Moatti, "Translation, Migration, and Communication," p. 112, note 16.</ref> By late antiquity, however, it was possible to speak Greek as a primary language while not conceiving of oneself as a "Hellene" in matters of religion and culture.<ref>Simon Swain, "Defending Hellenism: Philostratus, in Honour of Apollonius," in ''Apologetics,'' p. 173.</ref> In the first half of the 5th century, Greek was the standard language in which bishops communicated,<ref>Millar, ''A Greek Roman Empire,'' pp. 97–98.</ref> and the ''Acta Conciliorum'' ("Acts of the Church Councils") were recorded originally in Greek and then translated into Latin, Syriac, or Coptic.<ref>Millar, ''A Greek Roman Empire,'' p. 98.</ref> During this period, Latin played only a subordinate role in the [[First seven Ecumenical Councils|ecumenical councils]], as did representatives from the Western empire.<ref>Millar, ''A Greek Roman Empire,'' pp. 102–103.</ref> Although traditionally [[Armenian language|Armenian]] is regarded as having been established as a Christian language by this time, it does not appear in the ''Acta''.<ref>Millar, ''A Greek Roman Empire,'' pp. 103–104.</ref> There are hints that Coptic might be spoken at the councils, but no secure record.<ref>Millar, ''A Greek Roman Empire,'' p. 104.</ref> On-the-spot translation into Greek was available for the participant who used his own language, including some who are referred to as "[[Arabs]]", "[[Saracens]]" or "[[Ishmaelites]]".<ref>Millar, ''A Greek Roman Empire,'' p. 105.</ref> Christian content has been found in a few Arabic inscriptions from the 6th century.<ref>Millar, ''A Greek Roman Empire,'' p. 105.</ref>

==Ritual language==
The form of private or personalized ritual characterized as [[magic in the Greco-Roman world|"magic"]]<ref>Alderik Bloom, "''Linguae sacrae'' in Ancient and Medieval Sources: An Anthropological Approach to Ritual Language," in ''Multilingualism in the Graeco-Roman Worlds,'' p. 124, prefers "ritual" to the problematic distinction between "religion" and "magic" in antiquity.</ref> might be conducted in a hodgepodge of languages. Magic, and even some therapies for illnesses, almost always involved incantation or the reciting of spells ''([[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#carmen|carmina]])'', often accompanied by the ritualized creation of inscribed tablets ''(lamellae)'' or [[amulet]]s. These are known from both archaeological artifacts and written texts such as the [[Greek Magical Papyri]], a collection of spells dating variously from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD. Although Augustus attempted to suppress magic by burning some 2,000 esoteric books early in his reign,<ref>[[Hans Dieter Betz]], "Introduction to the Greek Magical Papyri," ''The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation, Including the Demotic Spells'' (University of Chicago Press, 1986, 1996), p. xli.</ref> magical practices were disseminated widely throughout the Greco-Roman world, and attest to an awareness of multilingualism among the peoples of the Empire.<ref>William M. Breshear, "The Greek Magical Papyri: An Introduction and Survey," ''Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt'' II 18.5 (1994), ''passim.''</ref> Spells were not translated, because their efficacy was thought to reside in their precise wording;<ref>Blom, "''Linguae sacrae''," p. 130.</ref> a language such as Gaulish thus may have persisted for private ritual purposes when it no longer had everyday currency.<ref>James Clackson, "Language Maintenance and Shift," in ''Multilingualism in the Graeco-Roman Worlds,'' p. 55.</ref>

[[File:Magical book Kircherian Terme.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Bound lead tablets of magic inscriptions (300–500 AD)]]
The Greek Magical Papyri ''(PGM)'' reflect Greco-Egyptian [[interpretatio graeca|syncretism]], incorporating not only [[ancient Egyptian religion|Egyptian]] and [[Hellenistic religion]], but Near Eastern elements, including [[Jewish magic]] and dashes of [[Gospel magic|Christian magic]]. Egyptian and Greek deities, the [[Jewish God|God of the Jews]] and [[Angels in Judaism|Judaic angels]], and [[Jesus]] are named. The ''PGM'' are written primarily in Greek with substantial passages in [[Demotic Egyptian]]<ref>Betz, introduction to "The Greek Magical Papyri," pp. xlv–xlvi; Janet H. Johnson, "Introduction to the Demotic Magical Papyri," p. lv in the same volume (page numbering of the two introductions is independent, not sequential).</ref> and inserted strings of syllables that are "pronounceable, though unintelligible".<ref>Campbell Bonner, “Harpokrates (Zeus Kasios) of Pelusium,” ''Hesperia'' 15 (1946), p. 54.</ref> These ''[[voces magicae]]'' ("magic words") occur throughout magic texts and inscriptions,<ref>In addition to the ''PGM,'' charms are common in texts from late antiquity, including the collected pharmacological recipes of Marcellus of Bordeaux; Pseudo-Apuleius, ''Herbarius''; [[Sextus Placitus]], ''Liber medicinae ex animalibus''; ''Hippiatrica''; ''[[Physica Plinii]]''; Pseudo-Dioscurides, ''De herbis feminis''; and the Anglo-Saxon ''[[Lacnunga]]''. See Blom, "''Linguae sacrae''," p. 127, note 22. Inscriptions are found on amulets, [[intaglio gem]]s, [[incantation bowl]]s, curse tablets, and ''lamellae'' (metal-leaf tablets).</ref> and often suggest corrupt Coptic or Egyptian,<ref>Fritz Graf, “Prayer in Magic and Religious Ritual,” in ''Magika Hiera: Ancient Greek Magic and Religion,'' (Oxford University Press, 1991), p. 191, and Roy Kotansky, “Incantations and Prayers for Salvation on Inscribed Greek Amulets,” also in ''Magika Hiera,'' p. 132, note 60, both on Egyptian; John G. Gager, “A New Translation of Ancient Greek and Demotic Papyri, Sometimes Called Magical,” ''Journal of Religion'' 67 (1987), p. 83 on Coptic.</ref> Hebrew,<ref>Gager, “A New Translation of Ancient Greek and Demotic Papyri,", p. 83; Paul Mirecki, “The Coptic Wizard's Hoard,” ''Harvard Theological Review'' 87 (1994), pp. 457–458.</ref> Aramaic or other Semitic languages,<ref>Kotansky, “Incantations and Prayers for Salvation," p. 117.</ref> and Celtic.<ref>Lambert, ''La langue gauloise'', pp. 176–178, particularly on a 3rd–4th century tablet from the Gallo-Roman town [[Rom, Deux-Sèvres|Rom]] that may be Celtic in a Latin context.</ref> Hebrew and Greek appear in Demotic magical texts; Coptic magic incorporates Hebrew; Egyptian pops up in Latin spells.<ref>Breshear, "The Greek Magical Papyri," p. 3435.</ref> While many ''voces magicae'' may be deliberate [[neologism]]s or [[obscurantism]],<ref>Matthias Klinghardt, “Prayer Formularies for Public Recitation: Their Use and Function in Ancient Religion,” ''Numen'' 46 (1999), p. 50; Hans Dieter Betz, "Secrecy in the Greek Magical Papyri," in ''Secrecy and Concealment: Studies in the History of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Religions'' (Leiden 1995), 153–175, especially 158–164; Brashear, “The Greek Magical Papyri," p. 3434.</ref> scholars have theorized that the more recognizable passages may be the products of garbled or misunderstood transmission, either in copying a source text or transcribing oral material.<ref>Richard Janko, “Forgetfulness in the Golden Tablets of Memory,” ''Classical Quarterly'' 34 (1984), pp. 89–100 on problems of oral transcription; Graf, “Prayer in Magic and Religious Ritual,” p. 191; Betz, "The Greek Magical Papyri," p. xlvi; Breshear, "The Greek Magical Papyri," pp. 3434–3438.</ref>

Inscriptions for the practice of magic in Gaul show the characteristic use of Greek for spells in the Imperial period. A 2nd-century [[curse tablet]] from Autun ([[Augustodunum]]) lists the names of those to be cursed in Latin, two magic words in Greek, and a series of ''voces magicae''.<ref>''IGF'' 159; Mullen, ''Southern Gaul and the Mediterranean,'' pp. 266–267.</ref> A ''[[defixio]]'' (binding spell) from [[Amélie-les-Bains]] seems composed in Celtic with bits of Latin.<ref>Adams, ''Bilingualism and the Latin Language,'' p. 194.</ref> A ''lamella'' from Roman Britain has been interpreted as Hebrew written in Greek characters.<ref>L.C. Youtie, "A Medical Prescription for Eye-salve," ''ZPE'' 23 (1976), pp. 121–29<!--this citation may be incorrect-->; Collingwood and Wright, “Roman Inscriptions of Britain I” (Oxford 1965), p. 144, no. 436.</ref>

Christians in late antiquity might insert Hebrew into Greek exorcisms.<ref>According to [[Origen]], ''Commentary on Matthew'' (''PG'' 13.1757): ''Hebraeo acceptis adiurant daemonia''; Adams, ''Bilingualism and the Latin Language,'' p. 194.</ref> [[Saint Jerome]] reports an odd story about a [[Frankish language|Frankish]]-Latin bilingual man of the ''[[Scholae Palatinae|Candidati]]'' Imperial bodyguard who, in a state of [[demonic possession]], began speaking perfect Aramaic, a language he did not know.<ref>Jerome, ''Vita Hilarionis'' 13.7: ''videres de ore barbaro, et qui Francam tantum et Latinam linguam noverat, Syra ad purum verba resonare'': Adams, ''Bilingualism and the Latin Language,'' p. 275.</ref>

==Legal language==
[[Roman law]] was written in Latin, and the "letter of the law" was tied strictly to the words in which it was expressed.<ref>MacMullen, "Provincial Languages," p. 3.</ref> Any language, however, could be binding in more general [[verbal contract]]s and procedures grounded in the ''[[ius gentium]]'' or international law.<ref>MacMullen, "Provincial Languages," pp. 2–3.</ref> The ''ius gentium'' was not a written legal code, but was thought to exist among all peoples as a matter of [[natural law]]. Roman [[jurist]]s show a concern for local languages such as Punic, Gaulish, and Aramaic in assuring the correct understanding and application of laws and oaths.<ref>Rochette, "Language Policies in the Roman Republic and Empire," pp. 558–559.</ref>

While the birth certificates and wills of Roman citizens had to be written in Latin until the 220s,<ref>Adams, "''Romanitas'' and the Latin Language," pp. 186–187.</ref> in the [[legal opinion]] of [[Ulpian]] (ca. 215), ''[[fideicommissa]]'' ([[bequest]]s in [[Trust law|trust]]<ref>W.W. Buckland ''A Textbook of Roman Law from Augustus to Justinian'', 3rd ed. edited by Peter Stein (Cambridge University Press, 1921, 2007), p. 9.</ref>) were not limited to Latin or even Greek, but could also be created in "Punic, Gaulish or any other" language.<ref>''Digest'' 32.11 pr.; [[Ramsey MacMullen]], "Provincial Languages in the Roman Empire," ''American Journal of Philology'' 87.1 (1966), p. 2.</ref> Originally, a [[testator]]'s ''fideicommissum'' placed the heir under a moral rather than legal obligation,<ref>Adolf Berg, ''Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law'' (American Philosophical Society, 1980, 1991), pp. 470–471. In late antiquity, ''fideicommissa'' could be legally binding as well.</ref> and Ulpian asserted that "any kind of speech contains the obligation of its words, provided that each party understands the other's language himself or through accurate interpreters".<ref>''Digest'' 45.1.1.6; MacMullen, "Provincial Languages," p. 2.</ref> The [[Gaius (jurist)|jurist Gaius]] distinguished between verbal contracts that derived their validity from formulaic utterance in Latin, and obligations expressing a mutual understanding of the ''ius gentium'' regardless of whether the parties were Roman or not.<ref>Gaius, ''Institutiones'' 3.93; MacMullen, "Provincial Languages," pp. 2–3.</ref>

==Linguistic legacy==
[[File:Romance-lg-14c-en.png|thumb|Map showing distribution of Romance languages in the 14th century]]
After the decentralization of political power in late antiquity, Latin developed locally in the Western provinces into branches that became the [[Romance languages]], including [[History of Spanish|Spanish]], [[History of the Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[History of French|French]], [[History of Italian|Italian]], [[History of Romanian|Romanian]] and [[History of Catalan|Catalan]]. As an international language of learning and literature, Latin itself continued as an active medium of expression for diplomacy and for intellectual developments identified with [[Renaissance humanism]] up to the 17th century, and for [[legal Latin|law]] and the [[Church Latin|Roman Catholic Church]] to the present.<ref>Françoise Waquet, ''Latin, Or, The Empire of the Sign: From the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Century'' (Verso, 2001; originally published 1998 in French), pp. 1–2; Kristian Jensen, "The Humanist Reform of Latin and Latin Teaching," in ''The Cambridge Companion to Renaissance Humanism'' (Cambridge University Press, 1996, 2003), pp. 63–64.</ref>

Greek continued as the language of the Byzantine Empire, but never replaced certain [[Afroasiatic languages]] with which it had long coexisted—primarily Coptic in Egypt, and Aramaic in Syria and Mesopotamia.<ref>Adams, "''Romanitas'' and the Latin Language," p. 199; Treadgold, ''A History of the Byzantine State and Society,'' pp. 5, 7.</ref>
{{Clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==

===Books===

====Monographs====
* Adams, J.N. ''Bilingualism and the Latin Language.'' Cambridge University Press, 2003.
* Anderson, Graham ''The Second Sophistic: A Cultural Phenomenon in the Roman Empire.'' Routledge, 1993.
* [[Clifford Ando|Ando, Clifford]]. ''Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire''. University of California Press, 2000.
*Clackson, James; Horrocks, Geoffrey. ''The Blackwell History of the Latin Language.'' Blackwell, 2007, 2011.
* Goodman, Martin Welsh. ''Mission and Conversion: Proselytizing in the Religious History of the Roman Empire''. Oxford University Press, 1994.
* Herman, József. ''Vulgar Latin''. Translated by Roger Wright, based on the original 1975 publication in French. Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000.
*[[Fergus Millar|Millar, Fergus]]. ''A Greek Roman Empire: Power and Belief under Theodosius&nbsp;II (408–450)''. University of California Press, 2006.
* Mullen, Alex. ''Southern Gaul and the Mediterranean: Multilingualism and Multiple Identities in the Iron Age and Roman Periods.'' Cambridge University Press, 2013.
* Treadgold, Warren. ''A History of the Byzantine State and Society''. Stanford University Press, 1997.

====By multiple contributors====
* ''Apologetics in the Roman Empire: Pagans, Jews, and Christians''. Edited by Mark Edwards, Martin Goodman, and Simon Price, with Christopher Rowland. Oxford University Press, 1999.
* ''A Companion to the Latin Language.'' Edited by James Clackson. Blackwell, 2011.
* ''Multilingualism in the Graeco-Roman Worlds.'' Edited by Alex Mullen. Cambridge University Press, 2012.

===Articles===
* Adams, J.N. "''Romanitas'' and the Latin Language." ''Classical Quarterly'' 53.1 (2003) 184–205. {{jstor|3556490}}
* [[Ramsey MacMullen|MacMullen, Ramsey]]. "Provincial Languages in the Roman Empire." ''American Journal of Philology'' 87.1 (1966) 1–17. {{jstor|292973}}
* Millar, Fergus. "Local Cultures in the Roman Empire: Libyan, Punic and Latin in Roman Africa." ''Journal of Roman Studies'' 58 (1968) 126–134. {{jstor|299702}}
* Moatti, Claudia. "Translation, Migration, and Communication in the Roman Empire: Three Aspects of Movement in History." ''Classical Antiquity'' 25.1 (2006) 109–140. {{jstor|10.1525/ca.2006.25.1.109}}
* Rance, Philip. "The ''De Militari Scientia'' or Müller Fragment as a Philological Resource. Latin in the East Roman Army and Two New Loanwords in Greek: ''palmarium'' and ''*recala''." ''Glotta'' 86 (2010) 63–92. {{jstor|41219881}}

[[Category:Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Languages of Europe]]
[[Category:Languages by geographical region]]
[[Category:Multilingualism]]
[[Category:Diaspora languages]]
[[Category:Ancient languages]]
[[Category:Language policy]]
[[Category:Cultural assimilation]]

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