Latin

Latin is the Indo-European language that was spoken in Rome in the time of the Roman empire. It is no longer spoken but it has many descendants including French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian (see Romance languages).

The literary language used during Rome's most powerful period (100 BC - 200 AD) is called Classical Latin, and after the year 200 is called Late Latin. The spoken varieties of the language as used by everyday Romans are called Vulgar Latin.

See also Roman names.