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Roman Contributions: Language, Writing + Calendars
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Language, writing +
calendars
Roman Contributions: Language, Writing + Calendars
Roman Newspapers
Photo: LeitnerR/iStockphoto.com
Content: http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/10-innovations-that-built-ancient-rome
The Romans were known to contribute to public discourse through the use of official texts detailing
military, legal and civil issues. Known as Acta Diurna, or “daily acts,” these early newspapers were written
on metal or stone and then posted in heavily trafficked areas like the Roman Forum. Acta are believed to
have first appeared around 131 B.C. and typically included details of Roman military victories, lists of
games and gladiatorial bouts, birth and death notices and even human interest stories. There was also an
Acta Senatus, which detailed the proceedings of the Roman senate. These were traditionally withheld from
public view until 59 B.C., when Julius Caesar ordered their publication as part of the many populist reforms
he instituted during his first consulship.
Copyright © 2010-2014 by Oakland Schools
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Roman Contributions: Language, Writing + Calendars
The Julian Calendar
An ancient Roman calendar
The Julian calendar was a calendar developed in Rome
around 45 BCE. It was an updated version of another
calendar that had been recently introduced by Julius
Caesar. This calendar came to be used across most of
Europe, and even in the Americas, until it was replaced
by a revised version called the Gregorian calendar.
The Julian calendar had 365 days in a year and was
split up into 12 months, listed below:












Ianuarius
Februarius
Martius
Aprilis
Maius
Iuius
Quintilis (Julius)
Sextilis (Augustus)
September
October
November
December
The names of our months then have their roots in the Roman calendar. The Julian calendar also added a
leap day to February every four years and came very close to actual length of a solar year (the amount of
time it takes the earth to make one complete trip around the sun). The Julian calendar was a little bit off
though, not accounting for 3 days every four hundred years. The Gregorian calendar was developed in
1582 to correct this error.
Even though people use the Gregorian calendar now, the Julian calendar was an important step in the
development of an accurate calendar, and some religions still use it to calculate when certain holidays will
take place. People in a few places in the world, such as the Berbers of North Africa, still use the Julian
calendar.
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Roman Contributions: Language, Writing + Calendars
Language: Latin Roots in Law & Medicine
The language of the Romans was Latin, and as they
conquered new territories and expanded their reach,
they brought their language with them. Latin is the
“mother” language of Spanish, Italian, Portuguese,
Romanian, and French. Our language, English, does
not come from Latin, however many, many of words
have Latin origins. In particular, many important
English words related to science, medicine, law, and
government, come from Latin.
Latin words came into English when William, Duke of
Normandy (in France) took over England in 1066.
French became the language of the Royal Court in
England, and many French words (anyone want a
croissant?) came into our language then... but they
came from Latin and the Romans first.
A lot of English words have Latin roots. Can you think
of any words that have the following roots in them?
Write down some examples.
Many legal terms still in use today come from Latin and
have the roots in Roman law. Some examples are
below:
 de facto (literally "from the fact"): in actual fact,
in reality

de jure (Latin for "by right"): under provisions of
law

in loco parentis (Latin for "in the place of a
parent"): having (some of the) responsibilities
of a parent (e.g. a school or other organization).

nolo contendere (literally "I do not want to
contest"): a defendant's plea of "no contest".

prima facie (Latin for "on (its) first appearance",
i.e. "at first sight"): on the face of it.

subpoena (Latin for "under (the) penalty (of)":
sub poena): an official notification (writ) to
appear in court, which bears the warning
"under penalty", sub poena.

versus (vs., v.): Latin for "against", as in: "in the
case of A v. B..."
dict:_________________________________________
gress: _______________________________________
ject: ________________________________________
duct:_______________________________________
The meanings of these roots are below:
 dict = to say
 gress= to walk
 ject= to throw
 duct= to lead
So, think about words like “predict,” “progress”,
“project,” and “aqueduct.” Some possible definitions
are below:
 Predict = say before
 Progress=move (or walk) forward
 Project=throw forward
 Aqueduct= a tunnel or channel that carries
water (to lead water!).
Latin is also important in medicine. Most of the medical
terms for bones and organs come from Latin. A wide
range of medical terms like “rigor mortis” (used to
describe the stiffness of a body after death) come
directly from Latin, while others like “vein” are derived
from Latin words (“vena” in this case). Many Latin word
parts are combined to make new medical terms.
 Neuro= related to the nerves

pathy= disease or disorder

Neuropathy= disorder of the nerves (there are
more specific definitions, but this gives you a
general sense),
It is not an exaggeration to say that our modern medical
and legal vocabulary is mostly Latin (and thus Roman) in
origin.
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Roman Contributions: Language, Writing + Calendars
Roman Numerals
The history of Roman numerals follows the
history of ancient Rome itself, from its beginnings
at the Latin Palatine Hill in 8th and 9th century
B.C. to it's fall in the 5th Century AD from civil
war, plague, civil apathy and the rise of
Christianity and northern European powers.
Growth of Mathematics, Money and Accounting
The Roman number system was limited because it
had no zero (0) and no single method for counting
above several thousand units, (lines were often
placed over numerals to indicate multiples of
their value).
The eventual fall of the Roman Empire by 476
A.D. saw the introduction and adoption of Arabic
numerals, today we call them decimal numbers
because they work consistently to a base of 10.
The invention of zero (nothing) was a huge leap
forward.
Uses of Roman numerals
Roman numerals today are used most frequently
seen as list numbers, time pieces and historic
Roman coins, art and antiquities in museums and
antique shops. Nearly all computer word
processing packages (Word, PDF) allow uppercase
and lowercase Roman numerals as list item
indicators.
Typically books have chapter headings as
numerals, and number their forward pages with
them to indicate that it is the page forward. In
other media such as Films and Television
copyright dates are in numerals, for example the
BBC production dates, but also in films to denote
film sequels, such as Rocky III.
Ancient but Here to Stay
Roman numerals have a long history and are here
to stay! Even though we struggle to remember
larger numbers we enjoy their classic style and
elegance.
http://www.romannumerals.co.uk/romannumerals/numerals-history.html
Roman Contributions: Language, Writing + Calendars
Roman
Alphabet
Writing systems existed before the Roman alphabet did. The
Ancient Greeks developed an alphabet based in part on the
Phoenician alphabet. The Romans learned much from the
Greeks, and eventually controlled all of the territory the Greeks
once controlled. The Etruscans, a group of people who
controlled Italy before the Romans, had modified the Greek
alphabet, and the Romans in turn took this alphabet and further
changed it. The new version became the Latin alphabet.
After the fall of the Roman empire, the Latin alphabet, which the
Romans had spread all across Europe and even into central Asia,
was adapted and changed in different ways in different places
and eventually became the source of the Spanish, French, Italian,
Romanian, and Portuguese alphabets. The Latin alphabet also
came to be used in many other language groups, including the
languages from which modern English developed.
The letters in the ancient Latin alphabet appear below:
ABCDEFZHΘIKLMNΞOPŚQRSTVXΦΨ
As you can see, most of the letters in the old Latin alphabet are
basically the same as the letters we currently use.
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