The Mother of Western European Language
Latin, if its child languages are also taken into consideration, has been one of the most influential languages in the world ever. Despite this, the language itself did not do much of the extraordinary, acting as a typical language using the Hunter's Strategy, rising into power on the backs of a strong empire, and then quickly fading into local dialects after the fall of said empire. Part of the Indo-European family, Latin was originally centered around the small region of Latium, particularly around the city of Rome. Its fate, however, was to change as Rome started to become the dominate power in all of Italy, and then later all of Europe and the Mediterranean. It is a clear example of the Hunter's Strategy in use, spreading through the conquest of foreign lands and people and with it the conversion of new populations to the Latin language.
Latin first began to spread Italy as the Romans made conquests against their Etruscan neighbors, and would later become the dominate power in much of the Mediterranean after the fall of Carthage as a result of the first and second Punic wars, which left Rome the undisputed center of Mediterranean society. Latin would then spread to regions such as Gaul and Iberia after the Romans conquered these regions and made them provinces of the empire. Latin began to replace languages in Gaul and Iberia as the Romans settled their veterans on newly conquered lands, and all of these veterans knew Latin. This led to the adoption of the language in Western Europe. This was not, however, a quick process, and Gaulish would remain for centuries, but the conquering of the Romans still signaled the decline of the languages. One issue is the Gauls never made any real attempt to save their culture and language, seeing the Roman civilization as progress, and simply adopting the Latin rather than redefining Roman culture in Celtic speech. Some languages, such as the resilient Basque, did survive Roman rule, as did the languages of Britain. In fact, Latin really only saw success in its spread to Western Europe, losing ground to Greek in the Balkans and Asia Minor, and to languages such as Arabic and Persian in the Middle East, despite conquering these regions. Latin would be a constant factor in daily life in these regions while under Roman control, but with the fall of the Roman Empire, these regions would see an almost instant decline in the use of Latin as regional languages began to reappear. This is due to the fact that while Latin settlers did move to these regions, and the language was used in the administration of the Roman Empire, there was little reason for the commoners with well established systems of writing and language to convert to speaking only Latin, unlike in areas such as Gaul which adopted Latin along with their writing system wholesale.
In truth, Latin was usually only used in many areas of its empire for administrative purposes, with Romans seeing no reason to spread their language to those they conquered, and its survival from the formation of dialects was only due to the high connectivity between regions of the empire due to its extensive road system. This connectivity meant that different regions were less likely to make distinct dialects due to their connection to areas which did not, meaning that the connection between two areas meant that isolation would not cause the language to change on its own without the other changing as well. The language could change as a whole, rather than fragmenting. This fragmentation would occur however, with the fact that Latin in its purest form died rather quickly after the fall of Western Roman Empire, with the Eastern Roman Empire reverting to the largest local language of Greek, with a distinct form of Latin called Romance being used (which would later break into many of the dialects we know today), with the name shift distinguishing itself from old Vulgar Latin. This shift into the creation of regional dialects came from the breakdown in communications and education as the Romans fell, as well as the rising illiteracy which was caused by years of instability, which led to less of an effort to retain a single dialect. Gradually, the distance between Latin and spoken languages grew, until Latin was known and read only by the elite. With the rise of local dialects, so to came the need to write in them, so others could read what was written as it was to be pronounced, which would eventually lead to the fall of Latin, as Latin would no longer be necessary to be literate and would be discarded for more appropriate forms of writing. Interestingly, Germanic did not have that much of an effect on the languages of Western Europe, despite the mass migrations which occurred as the Western Roman Empire fell, with thousands of Germans moving across the Rhine into Roman territory. This is likely due to these Germans mingling with the local culture, and finding it easier to rule by taking their local dialect than attempting to force their own. While Latin did survive as the language of Christianity for a while, this too would not be enough to save Latin, as it would lose all of its natural speakers, with the only remaining speakers learning it as a second language for theological reasons.
While the history of Latin is very standard with regards to a typical Hunter's Strategy, with it simply spreading as a result of a rise in power of its native state (even if that state would be one of the largest the world had ever seen), and then falling and fragmenting after that state fell. Despite this, Latin would end up creating some of the most influential daughter languages in the world, leading to the creation of Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese. These languages would go on to spread across the globe and become some of the most widely spoken languages in the world. Despite the effects of Latin during its lifetime being small, the things it would cause later on would change the world forever, and for this reason Latin is still seen as one of the most influential languages in the world.
Latin first began to spread Italy as the Romans made conquests against their Etruscan neighbors, and would later become the dominate power in much of the Mediterranean after the fall of Carthage as a result of the first and second Punic wars, which left Rome the undisputed center of Mediterranean society. Latin would then spread to regions such as Gaul and Iberia after the Romans conquered these regions and made them provinces of the empire. Latin began to replace languages in Gaul and Iberia as the Romans settled their veterans on newly conquered lands, and all of these veterans knew Latin. This led to the adoption of the language in Western Europe. This was not, however, a quick process, and Gaulish would remain for centuries, but the conquering of the Romans still signaled the decline of the languages. One issue is the Gauls never made any real attempt to save their culture and language, seeing the Roman civilization as progress, and simply adopting the Latin rather than redefining Roman culture in Celtic speech. Some languages, such as the resilient Basque, did survive Roman rule, as did the languages of Britain. In fact, Latin really only saw success in its spread to Western Europe, losing ground to Greek in the Balkans and Asia Minor, and to languages such as Arabic and Persian in the Middle East, despite conquering these regions. Latin would be a constant factor in daily life in these regions while under Roman control, but with the fall of the Roman Empire, these regions would see an almost instant decline in the use of Latin as regional languages began to reappear. This is due to the fact that while Latin settlers did move to these regions, and the language was used in the administration of the Roman Empire, there was little reason for the commoners with well established systems of writing and language to convert to speaking only Latin, unlike in areas such as Gaul which adopted Latin along with their writing system wholesale.
In truth, Latin was usually only used in many areas of its empire for administrative purposes, with Romans seeing no reason to spread their language to those they conquered, and its survival from the formation of dialects was only due to the high connectivity between regions of the empire due to its extensive road system. This connectivity meant that different regions were less likely to make distinct dialects due to their connection to areas which did not, meaning that the connection between two areas meant that isolation would not cause the language to change on its own without the other changing as well. The language could change as a whole, rather than fragmenting. This fragmentation would occur however, with the fact that Latin in its purest form died rather quickly after the fall of Western Roman Empire, with the Eastern Roman Empire reverting to the largest local language of Greek, with a distinct form of Latin called Romance being used (which would later break into many of the dialects we know today), with the name shift distinguishing itself from old Vulgar Latin. This shift into the creation of regional dialects came from the breakdown in communications and education as the Romans fell, as well as the rising illiteracy which was caused by years of instability, which led to less of an effort to retain a single dialect. Gradually, the distance between Latin and spoken languages grew, until Latin was known and read only by the elite. With the rise of local dialects, so to came the need to write in them, so others could read what was written as it was to be pronounced, which would eventually lead to the fall of Latin, as Latin would no longer be necessary to be literate and would be discarded for more appropriate forms of writing. Interestingly, Germanic did not have that much of an effect on the languages of Western Europe, despite the mass migrations which occurred as the Western Roman Empire fell, with thousands of Germans moving across the Rhine into Roman territory. This is likely due to these Germans mingling with the local culture, and finding it easier to rule by taking their local dialect than attempting to force their own. While Latin did survive as the language of Christianity for a while, this too would not be enough to save Latin, as it would lose all of its natural speakers, with the only remaining speakers learning it as a second language for theological reasons.
While the history of Latin is very standard with regards to a typical Hunter's Strategy, with it simply spreading as a result of a rise in power of its native state (even if that state would be one of the largest the world had ever seen), and then falling and fragmenting after that state fell. Despite this, Latin would end up creating some of the most influential daughter languages in the world, leading to the creation of Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese. These languages would go on to spread across the globe and become some of the most widely spoken languages in the world. Despite the effects of Latin during its lifetime being small, the things it would cause later on would change the world forever, and for this reason Latin is still seen as one of the most influential languages in the world.