In the history of human civilization, the Latin language has a special place. For several millennia of its existence, it has changed more than once, but retained its relevance and importance.
Dead language
Today Latin is a dead language. In other words, he does not have speakers who would consider this speech native and use it in everyday life. But, unlike other dead languages, Latin has received a second life. Today, this language is the basis of international jurisprudence and medical sciences.
In terms of the scale of its importance, ancient Greek is close to Latin, which also died, but left its mark in a variety of terminologies. This amazing fate is connected with the historical development of Europe in ancient times.
Evolution
The ancient Latin language originated in Italy a thousand years before our era. By its origin it belongs to the Indo-European family. The first speakers of this language were the Latins, thanks to whom it got its name. This people lived on the banks of the Tiber. Several ancient trade routes converged here. In 753 BC, the Latins founded Rome and soon began wars of conquest against their neighbors.
During the centuries of its existence, this stateunderwent several important changes. First there was a kingdom, then a republic. At the turn of the 1st century AD, the Roman Empire arose. Its official language was Latin.
Until the 5th century, it was the greatest civilization in human history. She surrounded the entire Mediterranean Sea with her territories. Under her rule were many peoples. Their languages gradually died out and were replaced by Latin. Thus, it spread from Spain in the west to Palestine in the east.
Vulgar Latin
It was in the era of the Roman Empire that the history of the Latin language took a sharp turn. This adverb is divided into two types. There was a primitive literary Latin, which was the official means of communication in state institutions. It was used in paperwork, worship, etc.
At the same time, the so-called Vulgar Latin was formed. This language arose as a lightweight version of a complex state language. The Romans used it as a tool to communicate with foreigners and conquered peoples.
This is how the folk version of the language arose, which with each generation was more and more different from its model of the ancient era. Live speech naturally brushed aside old syntactical rules that were too complex for quick perception.
Latin legacy
So the history of the Latin language gave birth to the Romance group of languages. In the 5th century AD, the Roman Empire fell. She wasdestroyed by the barbarians, who created their national states on the ruins of the former country. Some of these peoples could not get rid of the cultural influence of the past civilization.
Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese gradually arose in this way. All of them are distant descendants of ancient Latin. The classical language died after the fall of the empire and was no longer used in everyday life.
At the same time, a state remained in Constantinople, the rulers of which considered themselves the legal successors of the Roman Caesars. It was Byzantium. Its inhabitants, out of habit, considered themselves Romans. However, Greek became the spoken and official language of this country, which is why, for example, in Russian sources, the Byzantines were often called Greeks.
Use in science
At the beginning of our era, the medical Latin language developed. Prior to this, the Romans had very little knowledge of human nature. In this field, they were noticeably inferior to the Greeks. However, after the Roman state annexed the ancient policies, famous for their libraries and scientific knowledge, interest in education increased noticeably in Rome itself.
Medical schools also began to spring up. A huge contribution to physiology, anatomy, pathology and other sciences was made by the Roman physician Claudius Galen. He left behind hundreds of works written in Latin. Even after the death of the Roman Empire in European universities, medicine continued to be studied with the help of ancient ancient documents. That is why futuredoctors were required to know the basics of the Latin language.
A similar fate awaited the legal sciences. It was in Rome that the first modern legislation appeared. In this ancient society, lawyers and experts in law occupied an important place. Over the centuries, a huge array of laws and other documents written in Latin has accumulated.
Their systematization was taken up by Emperor Justinian, the ruler of Byzantium in the 6th century. Despite the fact that the country spoke Greek, the sovereign decided to reissue and update the laws in the Latin edition. This is how the famous codex of Justinian appeared. This document (as well as all Roman law) is studied in detail by law students. Therefore, it is not surprising that Latin is still preserved in the professional environment of lawyers, judges and doctors. It is also used in worship by the Catholic Church.
