<P> Latin became the language of conquered areas because local people started speaking it, and not because the population was displaced by Latin - speakers . Latin was not imposed officially on peoples brought under Roman rule . Saint Augustine observed that Romans preferred for Latin to be adopted per pacem societatis, through a social pact . This language policy contrasts with that of Alexander, who aimed to impose Greek throughout his empire as the official language . Latin was not a requirement for Roman citizenship, and there was no state - supported schooling that privileged it as the medium for education: fluency was desirable for its "high cultural, political, legal, social and economic value". </P> <P> Latin was needed for Imperial service and advancement, and was the language used for the internal functioning of government . Edicts and official communications of the emperor were in Latin, including rulings on local laws that might be in another language . </P> <P> The Romans placed a high value on the written word, as indicated by their obsession with documentation and public inscriptions . The Imperial bureaucracy was so dependent on writing that the Babylonian Talmud declared "if all seas were ink, all reeds were pen, all skies parchment, and all men scribes, they would be unable to set down the full scope of the Roman government's concerns ." Estimates of the average literacy rate in the Empire range from 5 to 30 percent or higher, depending in part on the definition of "literacy". The lack of state intervention in access to education was a barrier to literacy, since formal education was available only to children from families who could pay for it . </P> <P> The birth certificates and wills of Roman citizens had to be written in Latin until the time of Alexander Severus (reigned 222--235). Illiterate Roman subjects would have someone such as a government scribe (scriba) read or write their official documents for them . Laws and edicts were posted in writing as well as read out . Public art and religious ceremonies were ways to communicate imperial ideology regardless of language spoken or ability to read . An early form of story ballet (pantomimus) was brought to Rome by Greek performers and became popular throughout the multilingual Empire in part because it relied on gesture rather than verbal expression . </P>

In the byzantine empire latin language remained the major language