[Agnes Heep]

Latin dominated the era in which Jesus lived because it was the language of the Romans whose empire...

I think it was koine Greek, but what the heck.

[friendly]

Latin dominated the era in which Jesus lived because it was the language of the Romans whose empire... I think it was koine Greek, but what the heck.

Both wrong. The language of Jesus and the common Jewish people was neither Greek, nor Latin, nor Hebrew. It was something called Aramaic, the dominant language (99%) of the movie The Passion.

[RobbyS]

Latin was the official language even in the east. That is why the Byzantines called themselves "Romans." The offical name of Constantinople was Nova Roma. Koine was the lingua franca as English is in Europe. Some form of Aramaic/Syriac was apoken throughout the Fertile Crescent, but if you were from Mesopotamia you probably couldn't order lunch in Nazareth. Even if you spoke what you thought was Greek, you still might not get it. "Accent," you know.