Roman Legacy: Language, Roads, and Engineering Marvels
The Evolution of Latin
In the Romance Languages from Latin
The colloquial Latin that was spoken at home, in the street, and by the army evolved very differently from the formal, literary Latin, which remained relatively unchanged. Differences between the Latin spoken in different areas increased over time. As the Roman Empire fragmented, some territories were colonized by barbarian tribes, who contributed influences from their own languages. That is why the disappearance and transformation of Latin varied depending on the situation and history. We could say:
- In some places it disappeared without a trace (North Africa and the Middle East).
- In other areas, it disappeared, leaving obvious evidence (English or German).
- In other areas, it has not disappeared but has evolved into what are known as Romance languages (Catalan, Spanish, French, Italian, Occitan, Galician, Portuguese, Romanian, Sardinian, Romansh). These languages lie mainly in Europe but are not the only ones (English, German, Macedonian, etc.). This rich heritage must be preserved and disseminated; the European Community and some organizations are responsible for this.
Birth, Life, and Death of Languages
The evolution of Latin, as well as its birth, expansion, transformation, or death, is something that has happened to many other languages. Languages change, and this involves birth and death. There are over 5000 languages in the world, and two die every week. When we talk about death, we are referring to the replacement or abandonment of a language. This is due to the conditions of the speakers, the existence of bilingualism, education, and the extermination of speakers (or wars, of course).
RECENT SPEAKERS: These are all those who have maintained their language until death. Examples include Antonio Udina (Dalmatian) and Ned Maddrell (Manx). What happens is that when the last speaker dies, the language has often been effectively dead for some time. A language can be replaced in four generations, so if it is detected that a language is in decline, its speakers should try to do everything possible to prevent its disappearance.
Latin Alphabet
The alphabet is the set of symbols, called letters, that encode a written language. Thanks to the alphabet, writing became popular and led to the emergence of literature and the dissemination of laws and science. The Latin alphabet comes from the Greek alphabet through Etruscan. Like many alphabets, it is characterized by having one sign (letter) for each sound. Latin had 23 uppercase letters; lowercase letters were not used until the end of the Roman Empire. Because of the colonial history of most European countries, this alphabet spread throughout the world, and thus countries such as Vietnam still use it. However, Latin is not the only alphabet in Europe. There is also the Cyrillic alphabet, which comes from Greek, has more letters than Latin, and is used by Slavic languages. And then there’s the Greek alphabet, which is used only for the Greek language. The word “alphabet” comes from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet (alpha + beta).
All Roads Lead to Rome
Roman Roads
The Romans were the first to create a large network of roads. These were needed to communicate as they expanded, initially serving to unite the peoples of Latium and later to join any point of the Peninsula and the entire Empire. The primary goal was to control the Empire more easily and to communicate between the different provinces. The main types of roads were: via (a fairly broad path for cars), iter (a way to walk with a pet or cargo berth), actus (a road for a single vehicle or animal load), and semita (a small road).
- CONSTRUCTION: Roman engineers realized they had to build roads along the simplest possible path in a straight line, only making detours when forced by the terrain. Then they could start construction, usually done by the army. They made a hole, filling it with layers of stones and slabs. All this had a thickness of about one meter, which is why they have been preserved so well.
- MAIN ROADS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE: Rome was the zero point of a network that reached 85,000 kilometers. Roads took the name of their constructor, and if a road was rebuilt elsewhere, it would be renamed. Along the roads were placed miliaria (large cylindrical stones about 2 feet high). In Rome was the golden milestone, marking the starting point of the main roads. At large distances, when it took a few days to reach the destination, hospices were built for those who had no family or acquaintances in the area.
A Great Road: The Via Augusta
Went from the North (Via Aurelia), and came to Gaul (Via Domitia), from the Alps to the Pyrenees, where the Via Augusta (1500km) started, arriving in Cadiz. The total distance from Rome to Cadiz was 2725 km. First named the Herculean Way or Heraclea, then Hannibal’s Path, and finally, thanks to Emperor Augustus, Via Augusta. It was the main route in Hispania, not only for military service but also for commerce. Its route is still used by modern highways.
A Secondary Road: Capsacosta
Secondary roads were useful for joining the peoples of the Iberian Peninsula. One of these is the one that leaves Iuncaria (La Junquera) and passes through Besalú, the Bianya Valley, to Coll d’Ares. The Capsacosta road is highly conserved. As it passes through the mountains, the builders had to wind around the terrain, placing retaining walls. The Romans built it to communicate with silver and iron mines in northern Catalonia.
Roman Bridges
When the Romans encountered rivers, they had to build stone bridges. If they encountered fords or streams, they built bridges of wood.
BUILDING BRIDGES: They found the best place to build the bridge (the narrowest part of the river, with less depth and more solid ground). They laid the foundation, then placed the pillars, and built the arches using wood and stone. They tried not to place pillars in the middle of the river and to make the arches as narrow as possible. As their techniques advanced, they built bridges with higher arches and pillars within the rivers.
MAJOR BRIDGES OF THE EMPIRE: Most have continued to be used throughout history, whether rebuilt or modified. That is why it is difficult to find bridges that are 100% Roman. Examples include the bridge in Mérida and the Devil’s Bridge in Martorell.
Other Works of Engineering
Roman society was becoming more comfortable, and to that end, they developed ways to bring water into cities and to transport goods by sea more easily using lighthouses.
- AQUEDUCTS: They considered water an essential commodity for cities and devised an ingenious way to bring water from its source to the city. This consisted of an open stone channel, through which water flowed down a moderate slope. It could be buried or above ground, but upon arriving in the city, it was raised on arcades, as we know them, with the channel on top.
- LIGHTHOUSES: Transporting goods by sea was quicker and had more capacity than carriages. The drawbacks were that in winter, the winds were not favorable in the Mediterranean, there were pirates, and ships had to avoid colliding with obstacles or running aground. Shipwrecks could result in the death of slaves without burial. This is why lighthouses were built in strategic locations. They were used to signal the presence of the coast to sailors. The illumination at the highest point was made with wood fires or oil lamps. The most famous is the Tower of Hercules, which still works. In its time, the most important was the one in Chipiona (on the Guadalquivir), of which nothing remains but which was said to be like the Lighthouse of Alexandria.