Replies

--> YouTube-Generated Transcript <--
· Introduction
0:10 · What if the rise of Rome had been stopped? What if
0:14 · the Samnites or Pyrrhus or Hannibal had dealt the Republic a fatal blow,
0:19 · and the Roman Empire was never formed? It could have happened. It almost did. If it had,
0:26 · among countless other consequences, Latin would never have spread across Europe.
0:32 · Let's take a quick linguistic tour of Europe in 200 BC, when Latin was still confined to
· Languages of Europe, 200 BC
0:39 · central Italy. Greek was widely spoken south of Naples -- there are a few villages in Puglia and
0:46 · Calabria that still speak Greek today. Oscan and Umbrian, cousins of Latin,
0:52 · were more widely used than Latin itself. Pompeii, for example, was an Oscan-speaking city. Etruscan,
1:00 · that mysterious non-Indo-European language, was spoken in Tuscany through the reign of Augustus.
1:07 · North of the Apennines -- around modern Milan and Bologna -- the dominant language was Celtic.
1:13 · Celtic languages were spoken across a vast swath of central and northern Europe.
1:19 · In Spain, Celtic mingled with Iberian -- which may have been
1:23 · related to modern Basque -- and with the Punic language of the Carthaginians.
1:28 · In southern Gaul, thanks to Greek colonies along the French Riviera, Greek was widespread. The
1:35 · coins issued by Gallic chieftains often used the Greek alphabet. Farther north,
1:41 · according to Caesar's Commentaries, the Rhine separated the Gauls from the Germans. In fact,
1:48 · German- and Celtic-speaking tribes lived on both sides of the river.
1:53 · The Germanic tribes were newcomers in 200 BC,
1:57 · having spread gradually southward from their homelands in what are now northern
2:01 · Germany and Denmark. Their migrations would continue for another century and a half,
2:06 · before they were stopped -- temporarily, as it turned out -- by the Romans.
2:12 · Celtic-speakers could be found as far east as what is now central Turkey; Ankara,
2:18 · now the Turkish capital, was a Celtic tribal center. In southeastern Europe,
2:24 · Celtic tribes had settled in the Danube valley. Singidunum -- modern Belgrade,
2:29 · Serbia -- was Celtic-speaking until the Roman conquest.
2:34 · In and around modern Bulgaria, Thracian languages were spoken.
2:39 · Dacian, related to Thracian, was used widely north of the Danube,
2:44 · in modern Romania, though the cities along the coast of the Black Sea spoke Greek.
· Koine Greek
2:50 · By 200 BC, the various dialects of Greek were converging on Koine, the “common” Greek of the
2:56 · New Testament. In the wake of Alexander's conquests, Greek had become a lingua franca
3:02 · from the Balkans to Afghanistan. Both Roman and Carthaginian aristocrats learned it; when Hannibal
3:10 · and Scipio Africanus met, they conversed in Greek. Greek seemed poised to become the dominant
3:16 · language of western Eurasia. Its trajectory was changed, however, by the unexpected rise of Latin.
3:24 · We'll discuss how Latin came to dominate Europe after a brief word about this video's sponsor.
· FlexiSpot
3:31 · [ad text redacted]
4:31 · Returning to our topic. Occasionally, Roman officials
· Expansion of Latin
4:35 · took steps to encourage the expansion of Latin. The governor of Britain under Domitian,
4:40 · for example, set up a school for the sons of local chieftains. Typically,
4:45 · however, the spread of Latin was organic. Provincial elites were motivated to learn
4:51 · the language by the benefits of alignment with the ruling power.
4:55 · The cities in which these elites congregated became engines of linguistic diffusion.
5:01 · The Roman army taught Latin to millions of recruits, and settled veterans in farms and
5:06 · colonies near the frontiers. Roman merchants imported millions of slaves into Italy and the
5:13 · western provinces, where they were compelled to learn their masters' tongue. During late
5:18 · antiquity, the Latin Bible and Latin Mass spread to every corner of the western empire.
· Persistence of other languages
5:25 · Latin, however, never supplanted Greek in the eastern provinces. Greek was simply too
5:30 · well-established and too prestigious to replace. Even in the Latin-speaking half of the empire,
5:37 · local languages persisted. A quarter-millennium after Caesar's conquest of Gaul, Irenaeus of Lyon
5:44 · still had to learn Celtic to communicate with his flock. Half a millennium after
5:49 · the fall of Carthage, the young St. Augustine spoke Punic with his friends.
5:54 · Brittonic, the Celtic dialect used in Britain before the Romans arrived, was still the
5:59 · majority language when the Romans withdrew four centuries later. Welsh is a direct descendant.
· Europe without Latin
6:07 · In the light of these survivals, it's interesting to speculate about what the
6:11 · linguistic map of Europe might look like if the Romans had never spread
6:15 · Latin across the continent. Without Rome, Carthage would have expanded unchecked,
6:22 · establishing colonies -- and the Punic language -- in Spain and southern Gaul.
6:28 · If the Romans had never conquered them, the Celtic polities of central and northern Europe
6:33 · would likely have consolidated into kingdoms. Although migrating tribes
6:38 · might have scattered pockets of German from Gaul to the Balkans,
6:42 · Celtic languages would have remained dominant across much of the continent.
6:47 · Without Roman intervention, finally, the Hellenistic Greek kingdoms would have
6:51 · remained viable much longer. If the legions had not defeated Antiochus III, for example,
6:58 · the Seleucid Empire could have prevented the rise of Parthia. Throughout Europe and well beyond,
7:04 · Greek would have become what English is now -- the default second language of commerce and culture.
· Latin-less Europe today
7:12 · Greek would likely have remained Europe's dominant language to the present day.
7:16 · Hundreds of millions would probably use some form of Celtic. A few geographically isolated
7:23 · languages, like Basque and Albanian, might occupy much the same places they do now. And perhaps,
7:30 · around the backwater Italian town of Rome, a few people would still speak some sort of Latin.
7:39 · My final 2026 tour is now open! From November 3-9, I'll be leading a small group to the Bay of
7:46 · Naples. Besides Pompeii and Herculaneum, we'll explore the city of Naples, the island of Capri,
7:52 · and a series of spectacular but seldom-visited sites, including the cavern of the Sibyl at Cumae,
7:58 · the tunnels beneath the Roman amphitheater of Puteoli, and the magnificent Villa
8:04 · of Poppaea. To learn more, follow the link onscreen and in the description.
8:10 · My Egypt tour is sold out, but the tour operator is adding more spots;
8:15 · if you're interested, please add yourself to the waitlist. Spaces are still available
8:21 · on my Roman Spain and Following Alexander tours. You'll find links in the description.
8:28 · Please check out the Toldinstone Patreon,
8:31 · don't forget my other two channels, and -- as always -- thanks for watching!

--> YouTube-Generated Transcript <--
	·	Introduction
0:10	·	What if the rise of Rome had been stopped? What if
0:14	·	the Samnites or Pyrrhus or Hannibal had dealt the Republic a fatal blow,
0:19	·	and the Roman Empire was never formed? It could have happened. It almost did. If it had,
0:26	·	among countless other consequences, Latin would never have spread across Europe.
0:32	·	Let's take a quick linguistic tour of Europe in 200 BC, when Latin was still confined to
	·	Languages of Europe, 200 BC
0:39	·	central Italy. Greek was widely spoken south of Naples -- there are a few villages in Puglia and
0:46	·	Calabria that still speak Greek today. Oscan and Umbrian, cousins of Latin,
0:52	·	were more widely used than Latin itself. Pompeii, for example, was an Oscan-speaking city. Etruscan,
1:00	·	that mysterious non-Indo-European language, was spoken in Tuscany through the reign of Augustus.
1:07	·	North of the Apennines -- around modern Milan and Bologna -- the dominant language was Celtic.
1:13	·	Celtic languages were spoken across a vast swath of central and northern Europe.
1:19	·	In Spain, Celtic mingled with Iberian -- which may have been
1:23	·	related to modern Basque -- and with the Punic language of the Carthaginians.
1:28	·	In southern Gaul, thanks to Greek colonies along the French Riviera, Greek was widespread. The
1:35	·	coins issued by Gallic chieftains often used the Greek alphabet. Farther north,
1:41	·	according to Caesar's Commentaries, the Rhine separated the Gauls from the Germans. In fact,
1:48	·	German- and Celtic-speaking tribes lived on both sides of the river.
1:53	·	The Germanic tribes were newcomers in 200 BC,
1:57	·	having spread gradually southward from their homelands in what are now northern
2:01	·	Germany and Denmark. Their migrations would continue for another century and a half,
2:06	·	before they were stopped -- temporarily, as it turned out -- by the Romans.
2:12	·	Celtic-speakers could be found as far east as what is now central Turkey; Ankara,
2:18	·	now the Turkish capital, was a Celtic tribal center. In southeastern Europe,
2:24	·	Celtic tribes had settled in the Danube valley. Singidunum -- modern Belgrade,
2:29	·	Serbia -- was Celtic-speaking until the Roman conquest.
2:34	·	In and around modern Bulgaria, Thracian languages were spoken.
2:39	·	Dacian, related to Thracian, was used widely north of the Danube,
2:44	·	in modern Romania, though the cities along the coast of the Black Sea spoke Greek.
	·	Koine Greek
2:50	·	By 200 BC, the various dialects of Greek were converging on Koine, the “common” Greek of the
2:56	·	New Testament. In the wake of Alexander's conquests, Greek had become a lingua franca
3:02	·	from the Balkans to Afghanistan. Both Roman and Carthaginian aristocrats learned it; when Hannibal
3:10	·	and Scipio Africanus met, they conversed in Greek. Greek seemed poised to become the dominant
3:16	·	language of western Eurasia. Its trajectory was changed, however, by the unexpected rise of Latin.
3:24	·	We'll discuss how Latin came to dominate Europe after a brief word about this video's sponsor.
	·	FlexiSpot
3:31	·	[ad text redacted]
4:31	·	Returning to our topic. Occasionally, Roman officials
	·	Expansion of Latin
4:35	·	took steps to encourage the expansion of Latin. The governor of Britain under Domitian,
4:40	·	for example, set up a school for the sons of local chieftains. Typically,
4:45	·	however, the spread of Latin was organic. Provincial elites were motivated to learn
4:51	·	the language by the benefits of alignment with the ruling power.
4:55	·	The cities in which these elites congregated became engines of linguistic diffusion.
5:01	·	The Roman army taught Latin to millions of recruits, and settled veterans in farms and
5:06	·	colonies near the frontiers. Roman merchants imported millions of slaves into Italy and the
5:13	·	western provinces, where they were compelled to learn their masters' tongue. During late
5:18	·	antiquity, the Latin Bible and Latin Mass spread to every corner of the western empire.
	·	Persistence of other languages
5:25	·	Latin, however, never supplanted Greek in the eastern provinces. Greek was simply too
5:30	·	well-established and too prestigious to replace. Even in the Latin-speaking half of the empire,
5:37	·	local languages persisted. A quarter-millennium after Caesar's conquest of Gaul, Irenaeus of Lyon
5:44	·	still had to learn Celtic to communicate with his flock. Half a millennium after
5:49	·	the fall of Carthage, the young St. Augustine spoke Punic with his friends.
5:54	·	Brittonic, the Celtic dialect used in Britain before the Romans arrived, was still the
5:59	·	majority language when the Romans withdrew four centuries later. Welsh is a direct descendant.
	·	Europe without Latin
6:07	·	In the light of these survivals, it's interesting to speculate about what the
6:11	·	linguistic map of Europe might look like if the Romans had never spread
6:15	·	Latin across the continent. Without Rome, Carthage would have expanded unchecked,
6:22	·	establishing colonies -- and the Punic language -- in Spain and southern Gaul.
6:28	·	If the Romans had never conquered them, the Celtic polities of central and northern Europe
6:33	·	would likely have consolidated into kingdoms. Although migrating tribes
6:38	·	might have scattered pockets of German from Gaul to the Balkans,
6:42	·	Celtic languages would have remained dominant across much of the continent.
6:47	·	Without Roman intervention, finally, the Hellenistic Greek kingdoms would have
6:51	·	remained viable much longer. If the legions had not defeated Antiochus III, for example,
6:58	·	the Seleucid Empire could have prevented the rise of Parthia. Throughout Europe and well beyond,
7:04	·	Greek would have become what English is now -- the default second language of commerce and culture.
	·	Latin-less Europe today
7:12	·	Greek would likely have remained Europe's dominant language to the present day.
7:16	·	Hundreds of millions would probably use some form of Celtic. A few geographically isolated
7:23	·	languages, like Basque and Albanian, might occupy much the same places they do now. And perhaps,
7:30	·	around the backwater Italian town of Rome, a few people would still speak some sort of Latin.
7:39	·	My final 2026 tour is now open! From November 3-9, I'll be leading a small group to the Bay of
7:46	·	Naples. Besides Pompeii and Herculaneum, we'll explore the city of Naples, the island of Capri,
7:52	·	and a series of spectacular but seldom-visited sites, including the cavern of the Sibyl at Cumae,
7:58	·	the tunnels beneath the Roman amphitheater of Puteoli, and the magnificent Villa
8:04	·	of Poppaea. To learn more, follow the link onscreen and in the description.
8:10	·	My Egypt tour is sold out, but the tour operator is adding more spots;
8:15	·	if you're interested, please add yourself to the waitlist. Spaces are still available
8:21	·	on my Roman Spain and Following Alexander tours. You'll find links in the description.
8:28	·	Please check out the Toldinstone Patreon,
8:31	·	don't forget my other two channels, and -- as always -- thanks for watching!