Literary form of the Latin language (75 BC-3rd ct. AD)
This article is about written Classical Latin. For the spoken language, see Latin.
Classical Latin
LINGVA·LATINA, lingua·latīna
Latin inscription in the Colosseum
Pronunciation
[laˈtiːnɪtaːs]
Native to
Roman Republic, Roman Empire
Region
Roman-ruled lands
Era
75 BC to AD 3rd century, when it developed into Late Latin
Language family
Indo-European
Italic
Latino-Faliscan
Latin
Classical Latin
Early form
Old Latin
Writing system
Classical Latin alphabet
Official status
Official language in
Roman Republic, Roman Empire
Regulated by
Schools of grammar and rhetoric
Language codes
ISO 639-3
–
Linguist List
lat-cla
Glottolog
None
Linguasphere
51-AAB-aaa
Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a literary standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It formed parallel to Vulgar Latin around 75 BC out of Old Latin, and developed by the 3rd century AD into Late Latin. In some later periods, the former was regarded as good or proper Latin; the latter as debased, degenerate, or corrupted. The word Latin is now understood by default to mean "Classical Latin"; for example, modern Latin textbooks almost exclusively teach Classical Latin.
Cicero and his contemporaries of the late republic referred to the Latin language, in contrast to other languages such as Greek, as lingua latina or sermo latinus. They distinguished the common vernacular, however, as Vulgar Latin (sermo vulgaris and sermo vulgi), in contrast to the higher register that they called latinitas, sometimes translated as "Latinity".[note 1]Latinitas was also called sermo familiaris ("speech of the good families"), sermo urbanus ("speech of the city"), and in rare cases sermo nobilis ("noble speech"). Besides the noun Latinitas, it was referred to with the adverb latine ("in (good) Latin", literally "Latinly") or its comparative latinius ("in better Latin", literally "more Latinly").
Latinitas was spoken and written. It was the language taught in schools. Prescriptive rules therefore applied to it, and when special subjects like poetry or rhetoric were taken into consideration, additional rules applied. Since spoken Latinitas has become extinct (in favor of subsequent registers), the rules of politus (polished) texts may give the appearance of an artificial language. However, Latinitas was a form of sermo (spoken language), and as such, retains spontaneity. No texts by Classical Latin authors are noted for the type of rigidity evidenced by stylized art, with the exception of repetitious abbreviations and stock phrases found on inscriptions.
The standards, authors and manuals from the Classical Latin period formed the model for the language taught and used in later periods across Europe and beyond. While the Latin used in different periods deviated from "Classical" Latin, efforts were periodically made to relearn and reapply the models of the Classical period, for instance by Alcuin during the reign of Charlemagne, and later during the Renaissance, producing the highly classicising form of Latin now known as Neo-Latin.
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472 Etymology of classicalLatin 473 Dictionaries of classicalLatin 474 Not assigned or no longer used 475 Grammar of classicalLatin 476 Not assigned...
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