CLST 301- Lecture 5

This lecture focused mainly on the history of the Greek and Latin language.

Module 1

Part A -Brief outline of Greek and Roman history and the Greek and Latin Languages.

1. Greece and the Greek Language

Mycenaean Civilization c. 1400-1100 BC

They spoke Linear B, made up of two parts. Syllabary and logograms.

"Dark Age" c.1100-800 BC ( no surviving writing) of the Mycenaean during this time.

c.800 BC The rise of individual Greek "city-states"

Everything becomes a state of itself because of the Geography of Greece.

Greece was very mountainous, which led to each individual city developing on it own,

rather than having a common city.

City states shared common

• language
• religion
• cultural values

Each city state had its own

• laws
• religious cults
• calendars
• coinage
• system of government

Between 800-500 BC period of colonization around the Mediterranean.

These individual city states become spreading so quickly  that surrounding areas start sharing the same sets of values and etc.

southern Italy, northern Africa.

Start to see the spread of Greek culture, language leaving from the individual states, sending out groups to colonize other areas.

Around c. 800BC, writing in classical Greek appears. ex. alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon.

• In English, words with ch, ph, ps, th,rh  come from Greek roots.

The Classical Period

5th- 4th centuries BC

After they get rid of the Persians ( Spartan war! which they didn't win, but the ones after that)

Greek Architecture, sculptures, drama, philosophy ( Socrates, Plato)

The Peloponnesian War 431-404 BC

Athens (and allies) vs. Sparta (and allies)

Macedonian rule fills in the power gap after Peloponnesian War.

Phillip of Macedon (he's the one who does it)

Alexander the Great ( 356- 323 BC)

He conquers a large area in a short area of time, though he dies young.

The generals split up his empire into the Hellenistic Kingdoms (Hellas = Greece [ in Greek])

Egypt was part of the Hellenistic Kingdoms, Cleopatra was part of the Greeks.

Greek was the language of the administration, rulers and any literature so it was spread

throughout all the Kingdoms.

Hellenistic world ( up to as late as 5th Century A.D); international, cosmopolitan, highly literate.

koine ("common Greek language")

• during this time people would travel a lot from city to city,
• they were highly literate and were very cultured
• Mathematics (Euclid)
• Philosophy (inc. natural history, "science") Aristotle
• Immense advancements in Medicine and Biology ( particularly anatomy)

2. Rome and Latin Language

Roman alphabet = English alphabet (but no J or W) (K,Y,Z used for Greek words only)

They borrowed a lot of Greek.

Roman Republic: 509- 27 BC

SPQR "The Senate and the People of Rome"

The Punic Wars: Rome vs. Carthage 3rd and 2nd centuries BC

by 44 BC, The Roman Empire was in control of a vast amount of the Mediterranean world, including the Greeks.

The Hellenistic Kingdoms are being allowed to function, but had to pay tribute to Rome.

Everywhere the Romans conquered, the latin language spread there too.

late 1st century BC, Julius Caesar, his adopted nephew Caesar Augustus (becomes emperor, no more voting)

Roman empire at its height in mid-2nd century Ad,  has controlled all of the areas around the Mediterranean,

Grecko Roman world in terms of language, the right half of the empire primarily spoke Greek, but they had to understand Latin because the administrators spoke it. Whereas the left half of the empire predominantly spoke Latin, but they also understood Greek.

Greek: the language of philosophy, medicine, literature

Latin: the language of law, administration, literature

Greek and Latin after the end of antiquity (5th/ 6th centurues and on)

Latin -> "Romance" languages … French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese

Classical Greek -> modern Greek, Russian & Ukranian alphabets

Latin remained the language of

• international scholarship
• science, partic. nomenclature (the naming of things)
• the Roman Catholic Church