The term originally referred to the Latins, an ancient Italic tribe from Latium in the central Italian peninsula. Among them were the Romans, who united the Latins through conquest and built an empire which expanded not only to the entire Italian peninsula but to the rest of the Mediterranean region. Since then, "Latin" has been an ethnically-related or religious designation implying an ultimate origin from Roman civilization.[1]
Map of 5th century-BC Latium (Latium Vetus) and surrounding regions in central Italy that were eventually annexed by Rome to form "New Latium". The Alban Hills, a region of early Latin settlement (from c. 1000 BC) and the site of the Latiar, the most important Latin communal festival, are located under the "U" in LATIUM. The region's two main lakes, Nemi and Albanus, are visible under the "I". The leading Latin city-states of Rome, Tibur (Tivoli), Praeneste (Palestrina), Ardea and Gabii are shown.
The Latins were an ancient Italic people of the Latium region in central Italy (Latium Vetus, "Old Latium"), in the 1st millennium BC. Although they lived in independent city-states, they spoke a common language (Latin), held common religious beliefs, and extended common rights of residence and trade to one another.[2] Collectively, these Latin states were known as the Latin League.
A rupture between Rome, one of the Latin states, and the rest of the Latin League emerged as a result of the former's territorial ambitions. The Latin League fought against Rome in the Latin War (340-338 BC), which ended in a Roman victory. Consequently, some of the Latin states were incorporated within the Roman state, and their inhabitants were given full Roman citizenship. Others became Roman allies and enjoyed certain privileges.[3]
The Roman Empire would go on to dominate the Mediterranean region for the next several centuries, spreading the Latin language and Roman culture. The Latin-speaking Western Roman Empire ended in AD 476, while the Greek-speaking eastern half survived on until 1453.
Latin was generally a negative characterization, especially after the 1054 schism.[4] The term is still used by the Orthodox church communities, but only in a theological context. Nonetheless, it did not share this negative connotation in the West, where many self-identified with the term, such as Petrarch, when he states "Sumus enim non greci, non barbari, sed itali et latini." ("We are not Greeks or barbarians; we are Italians and Latins.").[8]
The various Romance-speaking ethnic groups, usually those of Latin Europe and Latin America, have sometimes been collectively referred to as "Latin peoples".[9][10] Other synonymous terms are "Romance peoples"[11] or "Romanic peoples".[12] The designation has also specifically survived in the names of two Romance-speaking groups: the Ladin people (of northern Italy) and the Ladino people (of Central America).
Likewise, the Romance languages themselves are sometimes referred to as the Latin or Neo-Latin languages.[13][14]
The term Latin Europe is sometimes used in reference to European nations and regions inhabited by Romance-speaking people.[15][16][17]
Latin America is the region of the Americas that was colonized by Latin Europeans, and came to be called so in the 19th century.[18] The term is usually used to refer to Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries, namely Hispanic America and Brazil. Latin Americans are called latinoamericanos andlatino-americanos in Spanish and Portuguese, respectively; the shortening of this term resulted in the name for Latinos,[19] who are themselves sometimes just called "Latin".[20][21][22][23]
^Gutiérrez, Ramón A.; Almaguer, Tomás (2016). The new Latino studies reader: a twenty-first-century perspective. Oakland (Calif.): University of California press. ISBN978-0-520-28483-8.
Latins Latins (Italic tribe) Latin War Massacre of the Latins Latins (Middle Ages) Roman–Latin wars Södra Latin Bulgarian–Latin wars Latin (disambiguation) Latin Empire Pan-Latinism Latin rights Nicaean–Latin wars Latin League Old Latin Latin Latin Patriarchate of Constantinople Latin culture Contemporary Latin Neo-Latin Ecclesiastical Latin Medieval Latin Latin Patriarchate of Antioch History of the Latin script Latin War (498–493 BC) Late Latin Renaissance Latin Classical Latin Latin dance Bible translations into Latin Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem Latin Extended-A Latin Church La…
tin pop Latin alphabet Latin literature Latin civilisation Latin Emperor Two Latins from Manhattan Vulgar Latin History of Latin Latin phonology and orthography Latinism Dog Latin Latin music Latin script Latin Americans Latin poetry Latin script in Unicode Latin American studies Latin declension List of Latin phrases Wheelock's Latin Hiberno-Latin Latin translations of the 12th century AP Latin Latin Kings (gang) Instruction in Latin Latin prosody Basic Latin (Unicode block) Latin Bridge Gaj's Latin alphabet Latin Alliance (album) Latin rock Latin obscenity Church of Saint Mary of the Latins Latin America Latin Extended-B Latin trap Law Latin Billboard Latin Music Awards Hot Latin Songs Latin-1 Supplement Cinema of Latin America Latin cross Latin American literature 1980s in Latin music Latin Patriarchate of Alexandria Anglo-Latin literature Latin Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz/Jazz Album Latin hip hop Lambda (Latin letter) Latin Grammy Awards Music of Latin America Afro–Latin Americans Latin Catholics of Malabar 1970s in Latin music Latin American economy Latin Extended Additional Berber Latin alphabet Culture of Latin America Latin Kings (disambiguation) Latin American art L
