When did Rome stop speaking Latin, and start speaking Italian?

This was a very gradual process involving the evolution of the Italian language, over the course of centuries, from the various versions of Vulgar Latin spoken by ordinary people under the Empire as differentiated from the Classical Latin used in official writings and literary works. read more

Common Romans - that is, most of the people in Rome - spoke a more colloquial version of Latin, called vulgar Latin. Modern Italian, however, only gradually became the national language in Italy after the creation of the Italian state in the mid-19th century. read more

Modern Latin. It derives in a straight line from the Latin of the people, not the Latin of the orators and poets (the 'Classic' Latin taught in schools and from which Church Latin and Scientific Latin come. Italian comes from a much lower level of Latin, but a more real one. The Roman people didn't speak like Cicero and Co. read more

Italy was subject to many barbarian invasions as the Roman Empire collapsed and died. Most of these tribes were Germanic, such as the Ostrogoths and Lombards. Even when Latin was the language of the Roman Empire, it was a precise language that required years of schooling to speak properly. read more

Italian comes from a much lower level of Latin, but a more real one. The Roman people didn't speak like Cicero and Co. They tended to use different words - cattus not felis, caballo not equus and so on. read more