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What a pile of *****. The satanistss really are coming out of the woodworks. though Roman soldiers actually spoke a dialect of Greek
. Does this idiot have proof one way or the other WHAT language the Roman soldiers spoke? Was he there with a microphone and tape? Fine, if he thinks they spoke in Greek, make a version in Aramaic and Greek. Big deal, most folks (in case this idiot didn't realise) don't really speak ancient Aramaic or Latin or Old Greek and that's a pretty big majority in the English speaking world.

Idiot, scumbag. Watch the movie again and again. Show them with your continued attendence what you think of these scum.

I DETEST CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS.

He gets into an argument after uttering a series of crude remarks like 'a film that principally appeals to the gay Christian sado-masochistic community'.

Where was this scumbag when the LAst Tempation of Christ came out. What did he say then? Has anyone got his criticism of that movie?

Fine, if he thinks they spoke in Greek, make a version in Aramaic and Greek. Big deal, most folks (in case this idiot didn't realise) don't really speak ancient Aramaic or Latin or Old Greek and that's a pretty big majority in the English speaking world.

I wonder if Gibson's choice of languages was for the Biblical era scholar community?

What is noteworthy is that Gibson did not film the movie in the English language, meaning that most of the world will have to suffer thru subtitles in order to understand the dialogue. And my understanding of Roman culture at the time of Christ is that many ''Romans'' were bi-lingual, speaking both Greek and Latin. I think that Gibson was aiming for a feel of authenticity by using Latin & Aramaic. As you pointed out, the ancient versions of Greek & Aramaic would almost certainly be unintelligible to modern speakers of the language anyway. Basically, I think Gibson took a big risk by not filming the movie in English. But then, he's on record as saying he didn't make the movie for commercial reasons.

All said & done, this article by Hitchens says more about Hitchens than either the film or Mel Gibson. And what it says is not pretty.

though Roman soldiers actually spoke a dialect of Greek

This guy is a fool if he thinks that. The Roman upper classes admired the Greeks, all educated Romans learned Greek, and a Roman like Pontius Pilate would have studied Greek extensively and spoken it among his educated friends (much as young men in the British Empire used to sling Latin around - only more so.)

It is clear from the classical writers that slaves, gladiators, and soldiers spoke a Vulgar Latin that was the ancestor of the Romance languages (as the legionaries spread around the Empire, were given land, and settled.) Suetonius and Martial, among others, mention it. Think of the difference today between the language of a highly educated university professor and some teenage skateboarding dude on the street corner.