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Ancient Roman commoners would have spoken the vernacular of their region of origin, which was already distinguished from Latin!.

Some Ancient Roman nobles would have spoken Greek as a second language, learned from the Greek tutors only the very wealthy could afford!. This would have been Ancient Greek, to us!. And it was "Greek" to most Romans, in that they couldn't understand it!.

Greek and Italic languages are both subsets of the Indo-European language family, and not especially closely related!. Latin and its daughter languages have a number of Greek words, but not such a high number that you would conclude the Ancient Romans, from whose common speech the Italian language is descended, spoke a mixture of Greek and Latin!.

Latin didn't die any more than any other language spoken that long ago!. In fact, it's one of the few languages that has survived essentially unchanged!. It's the people's habits that changed!. Nobody speaks the Ancient Latin form, except in liturgies or Latin class!. The daughter languages of the Romance family continue much of the structure and vocabulary of Latin!. The Greek language has changed as well, but has fewer daughter languages because of the smaller extent of the Greek imperial domains - many of which Rome later incorporated anyway!.

Languages change at a basically constant rate over time, even factoring in loan words and conquests!. Latin is only different because it got anchored in a set of classic texts that get rehearsed in ceremonies and educational institutions!.

Greek changed, Latin changed (and split because of imperial conquests), and the Celtic language spoken by the original "barbaroi" that threatened Greek city-states from the north, and fought Caesar in Gaul, ended up changing and splitting and moving with its speakers' descendants into the British Isles, mainly!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Latin (lingua Latīna, pronounced [la?ti?na]) is an ancient Indo-European language that was spoken in Ancient Rome!. It was also the de facto international language of science and scholarship in mid and western Europe until the 17th century!. Through Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe!. It later evolved into the languages spoken in France, Italy, Romania and the Iberian peninsula, and through them to North, Central and South America and Africa!. There are two distinctions of Latin: Classical Latin, the form used in poetry and formal prose, and Vulgar Latin, the name given to a common set of Latin based dialects, until they diverged into the various Romance languages!. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the rise of the Catholic Church, Latin became the ecclesiastical language of the Catholic Church and the lingua franca of educated classes in the West!.
Greek has been written in the Greek alphabet since the 9th century BC in Greece (before that in Linear B), and the 4th century BC in Cyprus (before that in Cypriot syllabary)!. Greek literature has a continuous history of nearly three thousand years!.
Only priests and the well educated were taught Latin and to become well educated you hac to be rich!. Therefore the average person back then could not afford to attend the schools or to have private tutor to teach them latin!. So only the select few learned it!. Greek became the common laguage and everyone there, rich or poor spoke it and they taught it to children and therefore it survives till today!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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The ancient Romans spoke what would have been a composite of the Latin/Greek language!.!.!. the problem was that eventually there were sooo many different dialects used in Italy (remember, it was a bunch of city states after the fall of Rome!.!.!.!. and the language was mostly Etruscan based), that eventually the peninsula that is Italy made a concerted effort to make one language a national language, and the Italian dialect emerged!. Dante's Inferno was one of the first books written in the new dialect!.

yes, Greeks spoke "ancient" Greek!.!.!. the language today has some similarities!.!.!. why did it survive!? Simple!.!.!. It never changed, the Roman empire fell, and Greece was separated from Italy by an ocean!. It never had to change!.

!.!.!.and Latin hasn't died yet, it is the official language of the Vatican!.!.!.heck, even the ATMS there are in Latin!Www@QuestionHome@Com

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"Did the Romans speak Latin!?"

They spoke "classical" Latin

"And why would the language die!?"

Actually, it didn't die!. The language simply "evolved"!.!.!.like any other language would!.

"Did the Greeks speak greek!?"

Yes!.!.!.but they spoke "classical" Greek!.

"!.!.!.!.same language spoken today!? Why did it survive!?"

For some reason Greek didn't undergo a major transformation like the Latin language did!. (This is why historians love Greek for the language today closely resembles the language spoken 2000 years ago---unlike Latin, which underwent a change---particularly after the barbarian/Germanic and Frankish tribes invaded Rome)!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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