# How difficult was it for Romans to learn Greek?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-was-it-for-romans-to-learn-greek/359395>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 4, 2006, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-was-it-for-romans-to-learn-greek/359395 "2006-06-04T18:29:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-was-it-for-romans-to-learn-greek/359395/1 "2006-06-04T18:29:27Z")

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Or, which modern languages approximate the similarity between the Latin spoken in Rome and the Koine Greek that was also used as the _lingua franca_ of the day? I’m thinking of the time period around the beginning of the Common Era.

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**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-was-it-for-romans-to-learn-greek/359395/2 "2006-06-08T17:20:00Z")

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[QUOTE=John Mace]  
Or, which modern languages approximate the similarity between the Latin spoken in Rome and the Koine Greek that was also used as the _lingua franca_ of the day? I’m thinking of the time period around the beginning of the Common Era.  
[/QUOTE]

That’s a tough question to answer. The alphabets are different, obviously. The grammatical system is in essence the same, but there’s an extra mood in Greek. The vocabulary is very different - few words sound similar, like between French and Spanish, for example. For me, at least, knowing Latin grammar was a big help in learning Greek, but it was in no way, shape or form easy.

But here’s the big point - any Roman with aspirations to politics, literature, war, etc. would have learned Greek at a very early age as a prerequisite of his social class. Learning it so early makes it a good deal easier.

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**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-was-it-for-romans-to-learn-greek/359395/3 "2006-06-08T17:50:17Z")

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[QUOTE=Helen’s Eidolon]  
…But here’s the big point - any Roman with aspirations to politics, literature, war, etc. would have learned Greek at a very early age as a prerequisite of his social class. Learning it so early makes it a good deal easier.  
[/QUOTE]

A child can learn any language fluently if exposed early enough. Any boy (& possibley a few girls) who’s parents were able to educate him would have learned Greek.

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**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-was-it-for-romans-to-learn-greek/359395/4 "2006-06-08T22:07:18Z")

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It’s also important to remember that well-to-do families (when they could afford it) would purchase a Greek slave specifically to educate their children. The slave who held this esteemed post was called the _pedagogue_.