INTRODUCTION

In this chapter I review the languages (other than Greek, which will be dealt with from various points of view in later chapters) attested in contact with Latin. It is not the aim of the chapter to identify all of the languages spoken in the Roman Empire; for that the comprehensive volume edited by Neumann and Untermann (1980) can be consulted. The emphasis here is rather on language contact as it is attested in direct form. The evidence consists partly of inscriptions and other documents in which two or more languages (one of them Latin) stand side by side in one form or another, and partly of testimonia which refer to speakers of Latin (whether as their first or second language) using another language as well. I avoid speculating from historical events (as for example visits by embassies from one place to another) about the language or languages which might have been used in an exchange. Where narratives of events are concerned I restrict myself to cases which make direct mention of bilingual language use. But it is primary evidence, in the form of inscriptions and the like, which is the main concern of the chapter. On the whole the evidence is allowed to speak for itself in bringing out the issues raised by language contact, but in the conclusion an attempt will be made to summarise the major points which have emerged, and to bring together related phenomena presented in scattered places throughout the chapter.