Editing Classics (section)

==Legacy of the classical world==
The classical languages of the ancient Mediterranean world influenced every European language, imparting to each a learned vocabulary of international application. Thus, Latin grew from a highly developed cultural product of the Golden and Silver eras of Latin literature to become the ''international lingua franca'' in matters diplomatic, scientific, philosophic and religious, until the 17th century. Long before this, Latin had evolved into the [[Romance languages]] and Ancient Greek into [[Modern Greek]] and its [[Modern Greek dialects|dialects]]. In the specialised science and technology vocabularies, the influence of [[Latin influence in English|Latin]] and [[English words of Greek origin|Greek]] is notable. [[Ecclesiastical Latin]], the Roman Catholic Church's official language, remains a living legacy of the classical world in the contemporary world.

Latin had an impact far beyond the classical world. It continued to be the pre-eminent language for serious writings in Europe long after the fall of the Roman Empire.<ref>{{harvnb|Ostler|2009|pp=xi–xii}}</ref> The modern Romance languages (French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Catalan) all derive from Latin.<ref>{{harvnb|Ostler|2009|p=161}}</ref> Latin is still seen as a foundational aspect of European culture.<ref>{{harvnb|Ostler|2009|p=xiii}}</ref>

The legacy of the classical world is not confined to the influence of classical languages. The Roman Empire was taken as a model by later European empires, such as the [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]] and [[British Empire|British empires]].<ref>{{harvnb|Ostler|2009|p=xii}}</ref> Classical art has been taken as a model in later periods – medieval Romanesque architecture<ref>{{harvnb|Ziolkowski|2007|p=26}}</ref> and Enlightenment-era neoclassical literature<ref name="Kaminski 2007 57"/> were both influenced by classical models, to take but two examples, while [[James Joyce]]'s ''[[Ulysses (novel)|Ulysses]]'' is one of the most influential works of twentieth-century literature.<ref>{{harvnb|Martindale|2007|p=310}}</ref>