Literary and scientific translations – Latin

Latin - although considered a dead language today, it has not disappeared and is still alive, for instance in historical sources, religious books, chronicles or inscriptions in historic buildings. It flourished during the times of the Roman Empire and allowed translating languages ​​such as Arabic, Chinese and Sanskrit into national languages.

For centuries, Latin has been the subject of scientific research all over the world. Professor Reinhold Glei from the Institute of Latin Studies at the Ruhr University in Bochum studies the reasons why Latin has not disappeared. The following is an excerpt from an interesting article about this research:

“Latin flourished with the flourishing of the Roman state and its conquests. This state lasted from 753 BC to 476 AD. However, several decades before its fall, it was losing control over some areas, and local dialects were gradually replacing Latin. Until the beginning of the modern era, however, most texts were written in Latin. Latin remained the language of the educated elite of the Western world. Anyone who wanted to go to school had to learn Latin, says Professor Glei. It was only in the 16^th century that national languages ​​gained an advantage over Latin in the field of education. Despite this, Latin has not disappeared. How did it come about?

Professor Glei already knows the initial answer to this question. He analysed Latin texts from the 17^th and 19^th centuries and noticed that the Roman language played a specific role at that time. It served as a tool for understanding and translating languages ​​new to the Western world. / ... /”

You can find the whole article here (in Polish): https://kopalniawiedzy.pl/lacina-narzedzie-tlumaczenie,26204.