Un empire, plusieurs langues

In its quest for unity, of which Latin was both the symbol and the vehicle, the imperium Romanum was confronted with many substantial forms of linguistic diversity. Any examination of the strain between unity and diversity requires a multidisciplinary if not interdisciplinary approach, involving, at the very least, linguistics in its various aspects such as historical linguistics and sociolinguistics; history and archeology, which are often closely bound up with geography; and the study of the written word, both literary and epigraphic.

This book results from a conference organized at the University of Paris Nanterre in 2023. It presents varied and complex cases representative of situations encountered in different regions that, in the course of time, came under Roman rule: Etruscan and Italic cities in Italy itself; Mediterranean Gaul, where Gauls, Greeks, Romans and Iberians rubbed shoulders; the provinces of Gaul after the Roman conquest, with the emblematic site of Alesia; North Africa, where the Roman conquest followed on from Greek and Punic presence through which traces of a Libyan linguistic substrate emerged; the eastern provinces, where a similar situation arose in lands previously under Persian and then Greek rule; and in Egypt. Power relations find expression in language: while Latin was indeed the language imposed by the ruling power within the scope of its administration (the provinces), echoes of Rome’s domination were also to be found in the language practices of communities integrated into the Roman world: hybrid graphical forms, plurilingualism entailing code-switching, and even the adoption of Roman onomastics. Linguistic contacts went along with cultural transfers that were noticeable in other spheres including literature obviously, but also law and religion.

Despite its ideal of unity, the Latin language itself was multiform, and its variations ultimately gave rise to multiple languages.