Historic Replicas

The Romans were the supreme rulers of Europe for hundreds of years, and few cultures have had as much influence on the cultures that succeeded it.  The art and science of Ancient Rome continue to shape the modern world, 1600 years after the fall of the Empire itself. If you’re new to history, you may wonder how exactly the Romans affected a world so distant from their own. 
 Consider our language.  The Romans spoke Latin, a long-dead tongue that one only hears in church and college classrooms. Latin itself was divided into high, or classical, and “Vulgar” Latin.  Classical Latin was the language of poetry and literature, while Vulgar Latin was the everyday tongue, used to trade goods in the marketplace and direct Roman shields on the battlefield.  Vulgar Latin was the truly universal language of Rome spoken in every corner of the Empire.  Now think about America.  It’s a big country, yet we all speak the same kind of English, more or less, and it will probably stay that way.   Thanks to TV and the Internet, the world isn’t quite so big anymore, and we’re all exposed to the same words and phrases.  But in Ancient Rome, there was no mass communication, and people in far-off provinces might not hear from each other for years! Latin was everywhere, but over time, it began to change in different places; certain words fell out of use, new ones were invented, and Latin began to blend with native tongues.  In time, Latin in different parts of the empire would evolve into English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, and a score of other languages and dialects.