510 bc: Roman Republic 51 bc: conquest of Northern Gaul by Julius Caesar

• 510 BC: Roman Republic

• 51 BC: conquest of Northern Gaul by Julius Caesar

• 27 BC: The Republic becomes an Empire 

• 476 AD: fall of the Western Roman Empire

• Many regional variants of “Vulgar Latin” emerge.

• The Catholic Church maintains the use of classical Latin.

• Distinct Roman languages emerge from Vulgar Latin by the 9th century. Most Romance languages do not preserve the neutral gender.

The Medieval Renaissance of the 12th century has been fostered by a major effort of translations of Arabic and Greek texts into Latin.

In France, the Latin culture legacy is particularly manifest in: architecture law botany philosophy + theology literature

Approximately 80% of French comes from Latin, and 20% of English comes from French