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1. The emergence of the Latin language

Initially, Latin was only one of many in a group of closely related Italic languages (the most significant among them are Oscan and Umbrian), formed by the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. in central and southern Italy. The original zone of existence of the Latin language was the small region of Latium, or Latium (lat. Latium, modern it. Lazio) around Rome, but as the ancient Roman state expanded, the influence of the Latin language gradually spread to the entire territory of modern Italy (where other local languages were completely displaced), Southern France (Provence) and a significant part of Spain, and by the beginning of the 1st millennium AD. - to almost all countries of the Mediterranean basin, as well as Western (up to the Rhine and Danube) and Northern Europe (including the British Isles). In modern Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Romania and others. other countries of Europe and currently speak languages that are descendants of Latin (they form the so-called Romance group of the Indo-European family); In modern times, Romance languages spread very widely (Central and South America, Western and Central Africa, French Polynesia, etc.).

In the history of the Latin language, archaic (up to the 3rd century BC), classical (early - up to the 1st century AD and late - up to the 3rd century AD) and postclassical periods (up to approximately 6th century AD) are distinguished. . AD). Latin literature reached its greatest flourishing in the era of Caesar and Augustus (1st century BC, the so-called “Golden Latin” of Cicero, Virgil and Horace). The language of the postclassical period is characterized by noticeable regional differences and gradually (through the stage of the so-called Vulgar, or folk Latin) breaks up into separate Romance dialects (in the 8th-9th centuries it is already possible to speak with confidence about the existence of early versions of modern Romance languages, the difference from written Latin was fully understood by contemporaries).

Although after the 6th century. (i.e. after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire) Latin as a living spoken language falls into disuse and can be considered dead, its role in the history of medieval Western Europe, where it for a long time remains the only written language, turns out to be extremely important - it is no coincidence that all Western European languages, except Greek, use an alphabet based on Latin; Currently, this alphabet has spread throughout to the globe. During the Renaissance, interest in classical Latin even increased, and until the end of the 17th century. it continues to serve as the primary language of European science, diplomacy and the church. Latin was written at the court of Charlemagne and in the papal office, and was used by St. Thomas Aquinas and Petrarch, Erasmus of Rotterdam and Copernicus, Leibniz and Spinoza, it sounded in the oldest European universities, uniting people from different countries- from Prague to Bologna, from Ireland to Spain; Only in the newest period of European history does this unifying and cultural role gradually pass first to French and then to English, which in the modern era has become one of the so-called “world languages.” In the countries of Romanesque speech, the Catholic Church finally abandoned divine services in Latin only in the 20th century, but they are preserved, for example, by Catholics of the Gallican rite.

Latin language literature Roman

2. Archaic, classical and postclassical periods of development of the Latin language

2.1 Archaic Latin

The appearance of Latin as a language dates back to the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. At the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. Latin was spoken by the population of the small region of Latium (lat. Latium), located in the west of the middle part of the Apennine Peninsula, along the lower reaches of the Tiber. The tribe that inhabited Latium was called Latins (lat. Latini), its language was Latin. The center of this area became the city of Rome (lat. Roma), after which the Italic tribes united around it began to call themselves Romans (lat. Romani).

The earliest written monuments of the Latin language date back, presumably, to the end of the 4th - beginning of the 5th centuries BC. e. This is a dedicatory inscription found in 1978 from ancient city Satrica (50 km south of Rome), dating from the last decade of the 6th century BC. e., and a fragment of a sacred inscription on a fragment of black stone found in 1899 during excavations of the Roman forum, dating back to approximately 500 BC. e. The ancient monuments of archaic Latin also include quite numerous tombstone inscriptions and official documents from the mid-3rd - early 2nd centuries BC. e., of which the most famous are the epitaphs of the Roman political figures Scipios and the text of the Senate resolution on the sanctuaries of the god Bacchus.

The largest representative of the archaic period in the field of literary language is the ancient Roman comedian Plautus (c. 245-184 BC), from whom 20 comedies in their entirety and one in fragments have survived to our time. However, it should be noted that the vocabulary of Plautus’s comedies and the phonetic structure of his language are already significantly approaching the norms of classical Latin of the 1st century BC. e. - beginning of the 1st century AD e.

2.2 Classical Latin

Classical Latin means a literary language that reached its greatest expressiveness and syntactic harmony in the prose works of Cicero (106-43 BC) and Caesar (100-44 BC) and in the poetic works of Virgil (70-19 BC . BC), Horace (65-8 BC) and Ovid (43 BC - 18 AD).

The period of formation and flourishing of the classical Latin language was associated with the transformation of Rome into the largest slave-holding state in the Mediterranean, which subjugated vast territories in the west and southeast of Europe, northern Africa and Asia Minor. In the eastern provinces of the Roman state (in Greece, Asia Minor and the northern coast of Africa), where the Greek language and highly developed Greek culture were widespread at the time of their conquest by the Romans, the Latin language did not become widespread. Things were different in the western Mediterranean.

By the end of the 2nd century BC. e. The Latin language dominates not only throughout Italy, but also, as the official state language, penetrates into the regions of the Iberian Peninsula and present-day southern France conquered by the Romans. Through Roman soldiers and merchants, the Latin language in its spoken form finds access to the masses of the local population, being one of the most effective means Romanization of conquered territories. At the same time, the closest neighbors of the Romans are most actively Romanized - the Celtic tribes that lived in Gaul (the territory of modern France, Belgium, partly the Netherlands and Switzerland). The Roman conquest of Gaul began in the second half of the 2nd century BC. e. and was completed at the very end of the 50s of the 1st century BC. e. as a result of prolonged military operations under the command of Julius Caesar (Gallic wars 58-51 BC). At the same time, Roman troops came into close contact with the Germanic tribes that lived in vast areas east of the Rhine. Caesar also made two trips to Britain, but these short-term expeditions (in 55 and 54 BC) did not have serious consequences for relations between the Romans and the British (Celts). Only 100 years later, in 43 AD. BC, Britain was conquered by Roman troops, who remained here until 407 AD. e. Thus, for about five centuries, until the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD. e., the tribes that inhabited Gaul and Britain, as well as the Germans, experienced the strongest influence of the Latin language.

2.3 Postclassical Latin

It is customary to distinguish the language of Roman from classical Latin. fiction so-called the post-classical (post-classical, late antique) period, chronologically coinciding with the first two centuries of our chronology (the so-called era of the early empire). Indeed, the language of prose writers and poets of this time (Seneca, Tacitus, Juvenal, Martial, Apuleius) is distinguished by significant originality in the choice of stylistic means; but because the norms developed over the previous centuries grammatical structure of the Latin language are not violated, the indicated division of the Latin language into classical and post-classical has more literary than linguistic significance.

3. Ancient literature

Roman (Latin) literature, like all other areas of science and culture in Rome, developed under strong influence Greek culture. The Romans borrowed them from the Greeks literary genres, plots and forms, translated the works of Greek authors, and often imitated them. However, despite all the dependence of Roman literature on Greek culture, the works of Roman authors reflected the entire mental makeup of the Roman man.

3.1 Pre-literary period

Before the end of the first Punic War (241 BC), its rudiments only appeared in Roman literature in the forms of chants, primitive tribal epics, fescennina (that is, comic, mocking songs), primitive drama, urban chronicles and other things. The first known Roman writer is the censor Appius Claudius Caecus, who lived around the 3rd century. BC.

3.2 Literature of the Archaic period

The Archaic period begins with the works of Livy Andronicus and ends with the beginning of the creative activity of Cicero. A great step contributing to the creation of Roman literature on Greek model, made by the freed Greek slave Livius Andronicus. He translated the Odyssey and created many literary adaptations of Greek dramas. His follower Naevius became the creator of numerous works of national-Roman content. Naevius tried to turn the stage into a platform for attacks on the ruling aristocrats and was eventually imprisoned. The most versatile poet of this period was Ennius. His main work is the historical epic "Annals", in which he praised the historical deeds of the Romans. This era marked a special flowering of drama, from which, unfortunately, only the comedies of Terence and Plautus have survived to this day. Satire also began to appear, the first representative of which was Lucilius. At the end of the 2nd Punic War, historiography appears in Rome. Initially, Greek was used to write it, but the first historiographer to write in Latin was Cato. His main creation was the history of Rome and the Italian tribes; besides this, he wrote many other works in which he vehemently defended everything that was traditionally Roman and rejected what was Greek. Cato became the first truly major Latin prose writer.

3.3 Literature of the Golden Latin era

The era of Cicero is the period of the highest flowering of Roman prose and eloquence. The unsurpassed orators of this period were Cicero and Hortensius. Cicero made significant progress in the theory of eloquence, but the main theme of most of his works was philosophy. In his philosophical works, he tried to introduce the Romans to the basic values of Greek philosophy. Cicero's prose became an unattainable standard for all subsequent eras. Caesar and Sallust created extensive historical works during this period. Cornelius Nepos attempted to write a Roman biography. During this period, the Encyclopedic works of one of the most famous Roman scientists, Varro, were created. His works covered almost all areas of science of that time. The poetry of that time was dominated by neoteric (new) people; their work was sharply different from the poetry of the archaic period. They followed the Alexandrian poets of the era, who represented the "art for art's sake" point of view. Of the numerous works of this trend, only the poems of Catullus, one of the most talented representatives of this trend, have survived in full to this day.

During the reign of Augustus, Latin poetry reached its highest flowering. The literature of this era was intended to restore peace and order after long civil wars. Princeps Augustus became famous as the savior and restorer of Rome. The imperial mission of the people was proclaimed. Poets were the first to respond to the demands of the time, the best of whom were Horace and Virgil, in whose works Latin poetry reached its perfection. Augustus perfectly understood the role of poetry in the successful implementation of his policies, and completely patronized it. His main assistants in this matter were such prominent figures as Messala and Maecenas, who united literary circles around themselves and provided talented authors with broad support. During this era, Latin elegy also emerged, the first representative of which was Gall, who created his collection of elegies. His followers were Tibullus, Ovid and Propertius, and they became the creators of a large number of magnificent elegiac works. The main prose writer of this time was the historian Livy, who glorified Roman greatness and courage in his works.

3.4 Literature of the Silver Latin era

During the era of Silver Latin (from the death of Augustus to the death of Trajan, (14 - 117 AD) there was an increasing influence of rhetoric, which had a detrimental effect on the development of poetry and prose. The positive attitude of writers towards the authorities, such as it was during the time of the Augustan era, completely disappeared. A rather satirical depiction of reality prevailed. The traditions of poetic satire were continued by Juvenal and Persius, and Mennipian satire (a mixture of poetry and prose) was used in the works of Petronius and Seneca. The most important epic poet of the century was Lucan Marcus Annaeus. sang civil war between Pompey and Caesar, as an example of the rivalry between the tyrannical and freedom-loving principles. The authors of epic works were also Papinius Statius, Valerius Flaccus, Silius Italicus and Marcus Manilius. During this era, the fable genre appeared in Rome. The first fabulist was the freedman of Augusta Phaedrus. The only Roman tragedies that have been completely preserved to this day are those of the Stoic philosopher Seneca. In addition to tragedies, Seneca also wrote many works on moral philosophy, the influence of which turned out to be significant and far beyond the boundaries of this era. Gradually, eloquence began to degenerate into pompous declamations and panegyrics. The greatest Roman historian, Tacitus, believed that the cause of its decline was the elimination of republican freedom under the emperors. And yet, it was during this era that the most famous theorist of Roman eloquence, Quintilian, worked.

In the rather calm second century AD. Under Emperor Hadrian and the Antonines, Greco-Roman culture dominated. Main mass educated people knew two languages. During this period, practically no outstanding works were written in Roman literature. The influence of rhetoric was unusually strong at this time. In Roman literature, as well as in Greek, the archaizing direction became the guiding force. Its first adherent was Froton. The brightest literary phenomenon of this period was the African Lucius Apuleius. The main work of which was the novel "Metamorphoses, or the Golden Ass."

During the crisis period of the 3rd century AD, Latin literature fell into absolute decline, and only the stabilization of society under the emperor Diocletian and his successors led Latin literature to rise. The western and eastern parts of the Roman Empire became increasingly alienated from each other, and in its western part there were fewer and fewer people who knew Greek. The defining factor of this era was Christian literature, which switched to Latin at the beginning of the 3rd century. Christian writers borrowed literary forms and genres from pagan literature, and modified them to suit new needs. The most important Roman Christian writers were Tertullian, Arnobius, Lactantius, Cyprian, Jerome and the greatest Christian philosopher Augustine; his philosophy and theology had a truly enormous influence on the worldview of future eras. The most famous Christian poet of this era was Prudentius. Pagan literature also did not disappear; it found adherents primarily among the Senate nobility of Rome. It is there, surrounded by Quintus Symmachus, that the Roman national tradition is preserved with great tenacity, and here the works of the greatest authors of antiquity are published again.

4. The importance of ancient literature

Ancient literature, the literature of the ancient Greeks and Romans, also represents a specific unity, forming a special stage in the development of world literature. Moreover, Roman literature began to develop much later than Greek. It is not only extremely close to Greek literature in its type (this is quite natural, since the two societies that gave birth to these literatures were also of the same type), but is also connected with it in continuity, created on its basis, using its experience and its achievements. Greek literature is the oldest of European literatures and the only one that developed completely independently, without directly relying on the experience of other literatures. The Greeks became more familiar with the more ancient literatures of the East only when the flowering of their own literature was already far behind them. This does not mean that oriental elements did not penetrate into earlier Greek literature, but they penetrated through the oral, “folklore” route; Greek folklore, like the folklore of any people, was enriched by contact with the folklore of its neighbors, but Greek literature, growing on the soil of this enriched folklore, was created without the direct influence of the literature of the East. And in its richness and diversity, in its artistic significance, it was far ahead of Eastern literature.

In Greek and related Roman literature, almost all European genres were already present; most of them have to this day retained their ancient, mainly Greek names: epic poem and idyll, tragedy and comedy, ode, elegy, satire (Latin word) and epigram, various types of historical narrative and oratory, dialogue and literary writing, - all these are genres that managed to achieve significant development in ancient literature; it also presents genres such as the short story and the novel, although in less developed, more rudimentary forms. Antiquity also laid the foundation for the theory of style and fiction (“rhetoric” and “poetics”).

The historical significance of ancient literature, its role in the world literary process lies, however, not only in the fact that many genres “emerged” in it and originated from it, which subsequently underwent significant transformations in connection with the needs of later art; much more significant are the repeated returns of European literature to antiquity, as a creative source from which the themes and principles of their artistic treatment. The creative contact of medieval and modern Europe with ancient literature, generally speaking, never ceased; it exists even in the church literature of the Middle Ages, which was fundamentally hostile to ancient “paganism”, both in Western European and Byzantine literature, which themselves largely grew out of the later forms of Greek and Roman literature; However, three periods in history should be noted European culture, when this contact was especially significant, when the orientation towards antiquity was, as it were, a banner for the leading literary movement.

1. This, firstly, is the era of the Renaissance (“Renaissance”), which contrasted the theological and ascetic worldview of the Middle Ages with a new, this-worldly “humanistic” worldview that affirms earthly life and earthly man. Striving for full and comprehensive development human nature, respect for individuality, a keen interest in the real world - the most essential moments of this ideological movement, which freed thoughts and feelings from church tutelage. In ancient culture, humanists found ideological formulas for their quests and ideals, freedom of thought and independence of morality, people with a clearly defined individuality and artistic images for its implementation. The entire humanistic movement took place under the slogan of the “revival” of antiquity; humanists intensively collected copies of the works of ancient authors, stored in medieval monasteries, and published ancient texts. Another predecessor of the Renaissance, the poetry of the Provençal troubadours of the 11th - 13th centuries. “resurrected even among the deepest Middle Ages a reflection of ancient Hellenism.”

5. Latin as an international language of science

The compilers of an excellent anthology of medieval Latin literature write: “The Latin language was not a dead language, and Latin literature was not dead literature. They not only wrote in Latin, but also spoke: it was a spoken language that united the few educated people of that time: when a boy - a Swabian and a Saxon boy met in a monastery school, and a Spanish youth and a Pole youth met at the University of Paris, then in order to understand each other, they had to speak Latin. And not only treatises and lives were written in Latin, but also accusatory ones. sermons, and meaningful historical works, and inspirational poems. The Latin poem "Valtarius" developed the plots of ancient Germanic tales long before the "Song of the Nibelungs", and the Provençal troubadours and German minnesingers learned lyrical themes and techniques from their older contemporaries - the Latin vagant poets. And those same Latin theological treatises that so scare away the current reader , were for European thought a school of dialectics, modern and useful."

Thus, for many centuries before the Renaissance, the Latin language flawlessly performed the functions of an international language, and not only in science, but also in poetry.

The Renaissance, having established a strict classical norm for the Latin language, significantly limited the possibilities for the free development of New Latin literature and thereby created an additional incentive for the development of literature in the emerging national languages. The gradual and steady retreat of the Latin language in this area must be recognized positive thing cultural development. The situation is different in the scientific field. Science by its very nature is international, and for it the presence, along with national languages, of a single language that serves the purposes of international communication is a beneficial factor. It is therefore quite understandable that here the position of the Latin language turned out to be more stable and it retained its importance even when the national languages of Europe, borrowing Latin and Latinized Greek vocabulary, became effective tools of scientific creativity.

The era of harmonious symbiosis of the Latin language as an international language and national languages as its equivalent successors was the 18th century.

An example of this is the scientific activity of M.V. Lomonosov. Using, as a rule, the Latin language in his works on chemistry, physics, astronomy, mineralogy, Lomonosov translated many of these works into Russian and with these translations, as well as the translation of Wolf’s “Experimental Physics,” he created the basis of Russian natural science terminology. For obvious reasons, he gives preference to the Russian language in works on national history, but scientific debate in this area, addressed to the academic community, is conducted in Latin (comments on Miller’s dissertation). He also resorted to Latin in scientific correspondence addressed to foreign scientists - Euler, Formei, in a letter of gratitude to the Swedish Academy of Sciences. For Lomonosov, the Latin language was in the full sense of the word a living language - the engine of creative thought, thereby containing an inexhaustible source of development of new and new expressive possibilities (see [Borovsky]). The study of the Latin language not only by many of Lomonosov’s contemporaries, but also by scientists of a later time should have led to the same conclusion. Already at the first acquaintance with their works, the reader is struck by the bright expressiveness and individual coloring of their Latin style - just mention the names of Caspar Friedrich Wolf, Karl Lachmann, Phalen, Hausmann, Zelinsky.

Conclusion (excerpt)

Although the Latin language has lost the importance of the international language of scientists of any specialty, which belonged to it back in the 18th century, in a number of scientific fields its position remains unshakable at the present time. First of all, it is the language of natural science taxonomy dating back to Linnaeus, as well as anatomical, medical and pharmacological nomenclature. At the same time, Latin and Latinized Greek vocabulary serves as the main source of replenishment of the continuously and progressively growing terminology in all areas of science and technology.

Latin is the main language of European culture from antiquity to modern times, and without it independent comprehension is impossible the most important facts of this culture according to primary sources, and therefore no truly historical education.

The Latin language, with proper organization of its teaching in the system of secondary and higher schools, would be one of the means of raising the level of philological education, which in itself is very important. Even when the study of Latin is aimed primarily at mastering practical skills in oral and written speech, it must be based on a philological analysis of classical texts, and this is what will give it the most important educational value, regardless of the particular practical benefits achieved.

The historical role of the Latin language as the international language of science and fiction significantly distinguishes it from the numerous artificial languages proposed for international communication - both from those that received at least limited distribution, and from the incomparably larger part of them, which remained stillborn projects. Being the official language of the multi-tribal Roman Empire, which occupied by the 3rd century. AD huge area around Mediterranean Sea, Latin turned out to be the only cultural language in its western part. It retained this significance even after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. under the pressure of barbarian tribes. Up to the XII - XIII centuries. Latin remained the only literary language, an instrument of artistic creativity and scientific thought, but above all, the language of the Catholic religion, which formed the basis of medieval ideology.

In the oral speech of numerous Romanized tribes, the Latin language changed so much that already in the 3rd - 4th centuries. it developed into a number of local dialects, collectively called Vulgar Latin. Subsequently, these dialects laid the foundation for modern Romance languages. The written Latin language, despite all the diversity of areas in which it was used, did not lose its unity: mastery of it opened up for its speakers the possibility of mutual live communication both in Romanized countries and beyond their borders.

For many centuries before the Renaissance, the Latin language flawlessly performed the functions of an international language, and not only in science, but also in poetry.

Bibliography

1. Ancient culture. Literature, theater, art, philosophy, science: Dictionary-reference book. Compilation and general ed. V.N. Yarho. M., 2002.

2. Borovsky Ya.M. Latin as an international language of science (on the history of the issue) // Problems of the international auxiliary language. - M., 1991.

3. Losev A.F. Story antique aesthetics. Early Hellenism. Volume V. M.: "Art", 1979.

4. Nisenbaum M.E. Latin language. Eksmo, 2008

5. Podosinov A.V., Shchaveleva N.I. Introduction to Latin and ancient culture. M., 1995.

6. Tronsky I.M. History of ancient literature. M., 2003.

7. Yarkho V.N.; Loboda V.I.; Katsman N.L. Latin language. M.: Higher School, 1994.

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BRIEF INFORMATION FROM THE HISTORY OF THE LATIN LANGUAGE

Latin belongs to the Italic branch of the Indo-European family of languages. It is called “Latin” (Lingua Latina) because it was spoken by the Latins (Latini - one of the tribes of ancient Italy) who inhabited the small region of Latium, located in the lower reaches of the Tiber River. The center of this region in the 8th century. BC e. (in 753, according to ancient historians) became the city of Rome (Roma\ therefore the inhabitants of Latium also called themselves “Romans”
(Romani). To the northwest of the Romans lived the Etruscans, a people of an ancient and highly developed culture. Almost no historically reliable information has been preserved about the relationship between the Romans and the Etruscans, but it is known that from 616 to
509 BC e. Etruscan kings ruled Rome. Consequently, for some period Rome was dependent on its powerful neighbor, and only from 509 did it become independent republic. The Etruscans had a huge influence on the cultural development of all of Italy, especially Rome.
Many Etruscan words entered the Latin language. The Etruscan language itself is very different from Latin; Numerous Etruscan inscriptions have not yet been deciphered. Other languages of Italy, the most important of which are Oscan and Umbrian, are related to Latin and were gradually supplanted by it.

In his historical development Latin language has gone through several stages
(periods):

1. The period of archaic Latin: from the first surviving written monuments to the beginning of the 1st century. BC e. The oldest monuments date back to approximately
VI century BC e., and there are very few of them. This is a fragment of a sacred inscription on fragments of black stone (found in 1899 during excavations of the Roman Forum); an inscription on the so-called Praeneste fibula (a gold clasp found in 1871 in the city of Praeneste, near Rome); an inscription on a clay vessel, known as the Duenos inscription. The number of monuments increases significantly from the 3rd century BC. This is due to the growth of the power of Rome, which at that time conquered most of Italy. The conquest of Greek cities in southern Italy led to the penetration of elements of Greek culture and education into Roman society, which stimulated the appearance of literary works in Latin. This process was initiated by a captive Greek. , later a freedman, Livius
Andronicus, who translated Homer's Odyssey into Latin. Of the Latin authors of this period, we know the names of the playwright and writer
Gnaeus Naevius (excerpts of comedies preserved), epic poet and playwright
Quinta Ennia (excerpts from various works have been preserved); the largest representatives of the archaic period in the field of literary language are comedians; Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254-c.
184 BC BC), from which 20 comedies have survived in their entirety and one in fragments; Publius Terentius Afr (190-159 BC), from whom all six comedies he wrote have come down to us. In addition, from the middle of the 1st to the beginning of the 2nd century. BC e. Numerous gravestone inscriptions and official documents have survived.
All this provides a wealth of material for study. characteristic features archaic Latin.

2. The period of classical Latin: from the first speeches of Cicero (81-80 BC), since in his prose the Latin language first acquired the grammatical and lexical norm that made it “classical”, until the death of Augustus in 14 .n. e. This period is represented by a brilliant galaxy of authors. In oratorical prose this is, first of all, as already said, Mark
Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC); in historical prose - Gaius Julius Caesar
(100-44 BC). Gaius Sallust Crispus (86-35 BC), Titus of Livia (59 BC - 17 AD); The most famous poets of this period were:

Titus Lucretius Carus (c. 98-c. 35 BC). Gaius Valerius Catullus (c.
87-approx. 54 BC BC), Publius Virgil Maron (70-19 BC), Quintus Horace
Flaccus (65 - 8 BC), Publius Ovid Naso (43 BC - 18 AD).
Thanks to the last three poets, whose creativity flourished during the reign of Augustus, as well as other talented poets of this time
(Tibullus, Proportius), the era of Augustus was called the golden age of Roman poetry.

In most higher educational institutions Our country studies the Latin language of this particular period - classical Latin.

3. The period of post-classical Latin ": I - II centuries AD. The most famous authors of this period: Lucius Annaeus Seneca (c. 4 BC - 65 AD) - philosopher and poet-playwright; Mark Valery Martial (c. 42-c. 102) and Decimus
Junius Juvenal (c. 60-after 127) - satirical poets: Gaius Cornelius Tacitus (c.
55-approx. 120) - the most famous of the Roman historians; Apuleius (c. 124-?) - philosopher and writer. The language of these writers is distinguished by significant originality in the choice of stylistic means, but the grammatical norms of classical Latin are almost not violated. Therefore, the division into the classical and post-classical periods has more literary than linguistic significance.

4. The period of late Latin: III-VI centuries - the era of the late empire and the emergence after its fall (476) of barbarian states. Ancient traditions in the literary work of this time, with rare exceptions, are fading away. The work of Ammianus retains its significance as a historical source
Marcellinus (c. 330-400) and not entirely reliable biographies of Roman emperors (Scriptores historiae Augustae). A significant factor in the spiritual life of the late empire period is the spread of Christianity and the emergence Christian literature in Latin - Jerome (c. 348-420), Augustine (354-430), etc. In the works of late Latin authors, many morphological and syntactic phenomena already appear, preparing the transition to new Romance languages.

The period of formation and flourishing of the classical Latin language was associated with the transformation of Rome into the largest slave-owning state
Mediterranean, which subjugated vast territories in western and southeastern Europe, northern Africa and Asia Minor. In the eastern provinces of the Roman state (in Greece, Asia Minor and the northern coast of Africa), where the Greek language and highly developed Greek culture were widespread at the time of their conquest by the Romans, the Latin language did not become widespread. Things were different in the western Mediterranean.

By the end of the 2nd century. before i. e. The Latin language dominates not only throughout Italy, but as the official state language penetrates into the regions of the Iberian Peninsula conquered by the Romans and present-day southern France, where there was then a Roman province - Gallia
Narbonensis-Narbonese Gaul. The conquest of the rest of Gaul (in general, this is the territory of modern France, Belgium, partly the Netherlands and Switzerland) was completed in the late 50s. I century BC e. as a result of prolonged military operations under the command of Julius Caesar. In all these territories, the Latin language is spreading, not only through official institutions, but also as a result of communication between the local population and Roman soldiers, traders, and settlers. This is how the Romanization of the provinces occurs, that is, the assimilation of the Latin language and Roman culture by the local population.
Romanization occurs in two ways: from above, in particular, through the opening of Roman schools for the children of the local nobility, where they taught literary Latin; and below, through live communication with native speakers of spoken Latin.

The Latin language in its folk (colloquial) variety - the so-called vulgar (meaning folk) Latin - was the basis language for new national languages, united under the general name Romance
(from Latin Romanus “Roman”). These include the Italian language, which was created on the territory of the Apennine Peninsula as a result of a historical change in the Latin language, French and Provencal languages, which developed in the former Gaul, Spanish and Portuguese
Iberian Peninsula, Romansh - on the territory of the Roman colony of Raetia
(in parts of present-day Switzerland and north-eastern Italy), Romanian - in the territory of the Roman province of Dacia (present-day Romania), Moldavian and some others.

Despite the common origin of the Romance languages, there are also significant differences between them. This is explained by the fact that the Latin language penetrated the conquered territories over several centuries, during which it itself, as the base language, was somewhat modified and entered into complex interaction with local tribal languages and dialects. A certain imprint on the emerging related Romance languages was also left by the difference in the historical fate of the territories in which they were formed over a long period of time.

The commonality of the Romance languages is most clearly seen in the vocabulary, which can be observed in the following examples:

This commonality can be traced, although not so clearly, in morphology, especially in the verbal system. The heritage of Latin is also participial and infinitive constructions in Romance languages.

Attempts by the Romans to subjugate the Germanic tribes, which were made repeatedly at the turn of the 1st century. BC e. and I century. n. e., were not successful, but economic ties between the Romans and the Germans existed long time; They
.went mainly through Roman garrison colonies located along
Rhine and Danube. This is reminded, for example, by the names of German cities Kb1d
(from Latin Colonia "settlement"), Koblenz (from Latin Confluentes, lit.:
“flocking” - Koblenz is located at the confluence of the Mosel and the Rhine), Re-gensburg
(from Latin Regina castra), Vienna (from Vindobona), etc. Of Latin origin in modern German are the words Rettich (from Latin radix “root”), Birne
(from Latin pinim “pear”), etc., denoting products of the Roman Agriculture, which were exported across the Rhine by Roman merchants, as well as terms related to the construction business: Mauer (from Latin murus “stone wall”, as opposed to German Wand, lit.: “wattle fence”), Pforte (from Latin porta “ gates"),
Fenster (from Latin fenestra “window”), Strasse (from Latin strata via “paved road”) and many others.

First contacts of the Romans and therefore the Latin language with the population
Britain belongs to 55-54. BC e., when Caesar during the wars in
Gaul made two campaigns in Britain. However, these were short-term expeditions that did not have serious consequences. Britain was conquered 100 years later, in 43 AD. e. and remained under Roman rule until 407.
The most ancient traces of the Latin language in Britain are the names of cities with integral part-Chester, -caster or -castle from Lat. castra
"military camp" and castellum "fortification", fbss--OT fossa "ditch", col(n) from colonia "settlement". Wed: Manchester, Lancaster, Newcastle, Fossway,
Fossbrook, Lincoln, Colchester.

Conquest of Britain in the 5th-6th centuries. The Germanic tribes of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes increased the number of Latin borrowings adopted by the British tribes, at the expense of words already adopted by the Germans from the Romans before their migration to Britain. Wed. lat. vinum, German Wein, English wine; lat. strata, German Strasse, English street; lat. campus "field", German. Kampf, English camp.

The importance of the Latin language for the gradual and long-term formation of new Western European languages persists even after the fall of Western Europe.
Roman Empire. Latin continued to be the language of state, science and school in the feudal Frankish kingdom (formed at the end
V century), which absorbed a significant part of the territory of the Western Roman Empire; written in Latin, in particular, is the “History of the Franks” by Gregory of Tours (540 -
594) - almost the only literary source on the early political history of the Franks, “The Life of Charlemagne” by his contemporary Einhard.
After the Frankish Empire broke up in 843 into independent states of Western Europe (Italy, France and Germany), the absence of national literary languages in them for several centuries forced them to resort to relations between them. to the help of the Latin language. Throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, Latin was the language of the Catholic Church, which began with the already mentioned Christian writers of the late empire.

The exceptional role of classical Latin in the Renaissance
(XIV-XVI centuries), when humanists, former representatives progressive trends in early Western European culture, showed great interest in antiquity and when writers, using the Latin language, sought to imitate ancient models, especially the language of Cicero. For example, it is enough to name the names of those who wrote in Latin, Thomas More (1478-
1535) in England, Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466 - 1536) - in Holland, Tommaso
Campanella (1568-1639) - in Italy.

During this period, the Latin language became the most important means of international cultural and scientific communication.

The centuries-old spread of the Latin language necessitated a thorough study of it in schools, dictionaries were compiled, and translations were published; it also contributed to the penetration of the corresponding Latin vocabulary into new Western European languages. For example, Latin words from the field of education and school - magister "mentor", "teacher", schola
“school”, tabula “board” - entered modern living languages in the form of English. master, school, table and German. Meister, Schule, Tafel. Of Latin origin. schreiben, Schrift (from scribere “to write”, scriptum
"written") Latin vocabulary also had a significant influence on the English language through French as a result of the conquest of England in the second half of the 11th century. French Normans. Wed: English noble, victory, art, color from lat. nobilis, victoria, ars, color. A lot of borrowing has been done English language during the Renaissance and directly from Latin.

Until the 18th century. Latin remained the language of diplomacy and the international language of science. In particular, the first document in the history of Russian-Chinese relations was compiled in Latin - the famous Treaty of Nerchinsk of 1689. The Dutch philosopher B. Spinoza (1632-1677) and the English scientist I. Newton (1643) wrote their works in Latin. - 1727), M.V. Lomonosov (1711-1765) and many others.

There was a period in the cultural life of Europe when it was impossible to get an education without knowing the Latin language.

At present, the importance of the Latin language, naturally, is not so great, nevertheless, it plays a very important role in the system of humanitarian education.

The Latin language, as already mentioned, is necessary when studying modern Romance languages, since the history of these languages, many phonetic and grammatical phenomena, and features of vocabulary can be
Understood only on the basis of knowledge of Latin. The above, although to a lesser extent, also applies to those who study Germanic languages (English, German), on whose grammatical and, especially, lexical system the Latin language also had a great influence. The Latin language will also be of undoubted help to the Russian philologist, for only it allows one to explain the difference in the meaning and spelling of such words as, for example, “company” and
"campaign"; spelling of words with so-called “unverifiable” vowels, such as “pessimist”, “optimist”; the presence of one root, but in three variants in the words “fact”, “defect”, “deficit”, etc.

The Latin language is certainly necessary for a historian, and not only for a specialist in ancient history, which goes without saying, but also for a student of the Middle Ages, all of whose documents are written in Latin.

A lawyer cannot do without studying the Latin language, since Roman law formed the basis of modern Western European law and, through Byzantine law, influenced ancient sources Russian law (treaties between Russians and Greeks, Russkaya Pravda).

There is no doubt about the need to study Latin in medical and veterinary institutes, in biological and natural sciences faculties of universities.

In conclusion, it should be noted that the Latin language, along with ancient Greek, still serves as a source for the formation of international socio-political and scientific terminology.

Bibliography

To prepare this work, materials from the site were used
http://base.ed.ru

Moscow State Institute economics, statistics and computer science

Institute of Continuing Education

subject Latin

On the topic: History of the development of the Latin language

Performed

Group student

Moscow 2010

Introduction

Latin (lingua latina), or Latin, is the language of the Latin-Faliscan subgroup of the Italic languages of Indo-European language family.

Latin is one of the most ancient written Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is the basis for writing many modern languages. Today it is the official language of the Holy See and the Vatican City State, as well as, in part, of the Roman Catholic Church. A large number of words in European (and not only) languages are of Latin origin.

The Latin language, together with the Oscan and Umbrian languages, formed the Italic branch of the Indo-European family of languages. In the process of the historical development of ancient Italy, the Latin language supplanted other Italic languages and over time took a dominant position in the western Mediterranean.

In the historical development of the Latin language there are several stages, characteristic from the point of view of its internal evolution and interaction with other languages.

Archaic Latin

The appearance of Latin as a language dates back to the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. At the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. Latin was spoken by the population of the small region of Latium (lat. Latium. The tribe that inhabited Latium was called Latins (lat. Latini), its language is Latin. The center of this area was the city of Rome (lat. Roma), by whose name the Italic tribes united around him began to call themselves Romans (lat. Romani).

The earliest written monuments of the Latin language date back, presumably, to the end of the 6th - beginning of the 5th centuries BC. e. This is a dedicatory inscription found in 1978 from the ancient city of Satrica (50 km south of Rome), dating back to the last decade of the 6th century BC, and a fragment of a sacred inscription on a piece of black stone found in 1899 during excavations of the Roman forum, dating approximately to 500 BC The ancient monuments of archaic Latin also include quite numerous tombstone inscriptions and official documents from the mid-3rd - early 2nd centuries BC, of which the most famous are the epitaphs of the Roman political figures Scipione and the text of the Senate decree on the sanctuaries of the god Bacchus.

The largest representative of the archaic period in the field of literary language is the ancient Roman comedian Plautus (c. 245-184 BC), from whom 20 comedies have survived to this day in their entirety and one in fragments. However, it should be noted that the vocabulary of Plautus’s comedies and the phonetic structure of his language are already significantly approaching the norms of classical Latin of the 1st century BC. - beginning of the 1st century AD

Classical Latin

By the end of the 2nd century BC. The Latin language dominates not only throughout Italy, but also, as the official state language, penetrates into the regions of the Iberian Peninsula and present-day southern France conquered by the Romans. Through Roman soldiers and traders, the Latin language in its spoken form found access to the masses of the local population, being one of the most effective means of Romanizing the conquered territories. At the same time, the closest neighbors of the Romans are most actively Romanized - the Celtic tribes that lived in Gaul (the territory of modern France, Belgium, partly the Netherlands and Switzerland).

The Roman conquest of Gaul began in the second half of the 2nd century BC. and was completed at the very end of the 50s of the 1st century BC. as a result of prolonged military operations under the command of Julius Caesar (Gallic Wars 58-51 BC). At the same time, Roman troops came into close contact with the Germanic tribes that lived in vast areas east of the Rhine. Caesar also made two trips to Britain, but these short-term expeditions (in 55 and 54 BC) did not have serious consequences for relations between the Romans and the British (Celts).

Only 100 years later, in 43 AD, Britain was conquered by Roman troops, who remained here until 407 AD. Thus, for about five centuries, until the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD, the tribes inhabiting Gaul and Britain, as well as the Germans, experienced the strongest influence of the Latin language.

Postclassical Latin

It is customary to distinguish the language of Roman fiction from classical Latin, the so-called. the post-classical (post-classical, late antique) period, chronologically coinciding with the first two centuries of our chronology (the so-called era of the early empire). Indeed, the language of prose writers and poets of this time (Seneca, Tacitus, Juvenal, Martial, Apuleius) is distinguished by significant originality in the choice of stylistic means; but because The norms of the grammatical structure of the Latin language developed over the previous centuries are not violated; the indicated division of the Latin language into classical and post-classical has more literary than linguistic significance.

Late Latin

The so-called period stands out as a separate period in the history of the Latin language. Late Latin, the chronological boundaries of which are the III-VI centuries - the era of the late empire and the emergence, after its fall, of barbarian states.

In the works of writers of this time - mainly historians and Christian theologians - many morphological and syntactic phenomena already found their place, preparing the transition to new Romance languages.

Medieval Latin

Medieval, or Christianized Latin is primarily liturgical (liturgical) texts - hymns, chants, prayers. At the end of the 4th century, Saint Jerome translated the entire Bible into Latin. This translation, known as the Vulgate (that is, the People's Bible), was recognized as equivalent to the original by the Catholic Council of Trent in the 16th century. Since then, Latin, along with Hebrew and Greek, has been considered one of the sacred languages of the Bible.

The Renaissance left us a huge number of scientific works in Latin. These are medical treatises by physicians of the Italian school of the 16th century: “On the Structure of the Human Body” by Andreas Vesalius (1543), “Anatomical Observations” by Gabriel Fallopius (1561), “Anatomical Works” by Bartolomeo Eustachio (1552), “On Contagious Diseases and Their Treatment” by Girolamo Fracastoro (1546) and others.

In Latin he created his book “The World in Pictures” “ORBIS SENSUALIUM PICTUS. Omnium rerum pictura et nomenclatura” by teacher Jan Amos Comenius (1658), in which the whole world is described with illustrations, from inanimate nature to the structure of society. Many generations of children from different countries of the world studied from this book. Its last Russian edition was published in Moscow in 1957.

Conclusion

Latin was the language of science and university teaching and the main subject of school teaching. The Latin language, along with ancient Greek, has served as a source for the formation of international socio-political and scientific terminology from ancient times to the present day.

Latin was the language of jurisprudence, and even in those countries where already in the Middle Ages the transition of legislation to national languages took place (such as in France), the study of Roman law and reception from it was the most important component of jurisprudence. Hence the widespread penetration of Latin vocabulary into modern European languages, primarily as scientific, theological, legal and generally abstract terminology.

Latin is the language of Roman law. Those norms and principles that were developed and formulated by the Roman iuris prudentes (legal sages, jurists) almost two millennia ago became the basis of modern legal thinking. From the streets and forums of Rome, such words as lawyer, sponsor, plebiscite, veto, legitimate, criminal have come down to us.

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