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Thats incorrect. Greek may not have been their main language, but most of educated and especially noble Romans spoke it. It was language of poetry and philosoph
by golergka 3y ago
Thats incorrect. Greek may not have been their main language, but most of educated and especially noble Romans spoke it. It was language of poetry and philosophy, speaking it was a shibollet of belonging to the educated. Mark Aurelius Antoninus, for example, wrote his Meditations in Greek, not Latin.
- sapphicsnail 3y agoThere's also a lot of republican authors that compare Latin infavorably to Greek. This was during the "Golden Age" of Latin literature. Part of why the Aeneid was such a huge deal is that a lot Roman's didn't think you could write a good epic in Latin.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- coldtea 3y ago>Thats incorrect. Greek may not have been their main language, but most of educated and especially noble Romans spoke it I wrote:"The Eastern provinces yes [did speak Greek]. The emperors however, when Byzantium was established did not" The official language of the emperors and the state was latin, until Heraclius, 3 centuries after Constatinople was established. Emperors spoke Latin regardless of whether they knew Greek as part of their cultural education. And some only had a more basic grasp, or were versed in ancient Greek (to read the relevant literature) more than colloquial late antiquity Greek. Constantine for example had a basic command of Greek, but still needed translators for anything official.