Byzantine Empire: Surprising Languages Spoken Under Justinian I

Justinian I was possibly the last Roman Emperor who was a native Latin speaker. At the core of the restored Empire was the capital Constantinople. And that is where the Greek language was spoken. As one moved away from Constantinople, Greek was used less frequently and in conjunction with other native languages. In the core of the former Western Roman Empire, Latin remained the dominant language at the time. However, once again, the further one travelled from the core of the former Western Roman Empire, the less Latin was used and only in conjunction with other native languages. Other important languages of the Justinian’s Empire included: Aramaic (the language spoken by Jesus) found in what we would today call the Middle East, Coptic used in modern-day Egypt, and Armenian and Caucasian found in the Caucasian mountains at the far eastern end of the Empire.