Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin

Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin
Nicholas Ostler

An in-depth biography of the Latin language from its very beginnings to the present day from the widely acclaimed author of ‘Empires of the Word’.The Latin language has been a constant in the cultural history of the West for over two millennia. It has shaped the way we think of ourselves and of our (central) place in the world. It has formed and united us as Europeans, has been the foundation of our education for centuries and defined the way in which we express our thoughts, our faith and our knowledge of the workings of the world. And yet, Latin began life as the cumbersome dialect of a small southern Italian city-state.Its active use lasted three times as long as Rome's Empire and its use echoes on in the law codes of half the world, in terminologies of biology and medicine, and until forty years ago in the litany of the Catholic Church, the most populous form of Christianity.In ‘Ad Infinitum’, Nicholas Ostler examines the reasons why Latin made such a long-lasting impact on language, and how it managed to stay alive for two millennia despite the cultural superiority of Greek. He will look at how Latin's sturdy roots remained untouched while empires rose and fell, the influence of religion, war and the ways it has progressed through medieval times right up until the present day.

AD INFINITUM

A Biography of Latin and the World it Created

NICHOLAS OSTLER

To the memory of my parents

Kenneth MacLachlan Ostler

Yvonne Louise Ostler, née Jolly

DOS EST MAGNA PARENTIVM VIRTVS

The virtue of parents is a great endowment.

Horace, Odes, iii.24

HISTORIAM VERO, QVA TOT SIMVL RERVM LONGA ET CONTINVATA RATIO SIT HABENDA CAVSAEQVE FACTORVM OMNIVM SINGVLATIM EXPLICANDAE ET DE QVACVMQVE RE IVDICIVM IN MEDIO PROFERENDVM, EAM QVIDEM VELVT INFINITA MOLE CALAMVM OBRVENTE TAM PROFITERI PERICVLOSVM EST QVAM PRAESTARE DIFFICILE.

But a history, in which a long, continuous account must be given of so many things at once, and the causes of all the events explained singly, and a judgment offered on each, with its infinite-seeming mass bearing down on the pen, is as dangerous to propose as it is difficult to deliver.

Leonardo Bruni, Historia Populi Florentini, preface

IDEO AVTEM PRIVS DE LINGVIS, AC DEINDE DE GENTIBVS POSVIMVS, QVIA EX LINGVIS GENTES, NON EX GENTIBVS LINGVAE EXORTAE SVNT.

Therefore we have first discussed languages, and only then peoples, because peoples have arisen from languages, not languages from peoples.

Isidore, Etymologiae, ix.1.14

LECTOR INTENDE: LAETABERIS.

Reader, pay attention. You will enjoy yourself.

Apuleius, Metamorphoseon, i.1

Table of Contents

Cover Page (#ud0521bd0-c61e-5135-9125-b42f411b35e1)

Title Page (#u222a39a8-6683-539b-a940-d1482f460b68)

Dedication (#u1c7f4976-d191-52c8-b83c-d5ed9ea65fed)

Epigraph (#ud19a00d1-4553-50e2-b4e0-e9a7fd9f2a7e)

Praefatio (#u82069175-7f22-572c-b956-ee9a833baf45)

Part I : A Latin World (#u8d21d944-00ac-5646-8812-663a26cb88de)

Chapter 1 (#u417b6008-6700-5968-8eb1-f74a1b541b9a)

Chapter 2 (#u6d98e055-fe9d-5451-b432-05474d6730d7)

Chapter 3 (#uc7267148-de10-5d77-abe8-90c5684bfcfa)

Chapter 4 (#u0035ddfd-00df-5939-a145-c38e30040874)

Chapter 5 (#ub1adf483-956c-5b57-af97-abf62aae3c49)

Chapter 6 (#ue3135632-bf95-56af-9394-b4896f8e4815)

Part II : Latin Recruits (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)

Part III : Worlds Built On Latin (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)

Part IV : Latin In A Vernacular World (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 19 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 20 (#litres_trial_promo)