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From: CAB@SAIL.STANFORD.EDU (Chuck Bigelow)
Newsgroups: mod.computers.laser-printers
Subject: yet more Italic Greek
Message-ID: <8611190610.AA10003@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: Thu, 13-Nov-86 10:10:00 EST
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.8611190610.AA10003
Posted: Thu Nov 13 10:10:00 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 19-Nov-86 06:04:22 EST
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The Roman perspective tends to blind us to other interpretations
of history.

From the Greek perspective, "Italic Greek" is a perfectly
reasonable term, because the Greeks had several large
colonies in southern Italy and Sicily. For example, the
great Greek mathematician Archimedes lived in Syracuse
in Sicily. The Roman alphabet was a borrowing from the
Etruscans who borrowed it from (guess who?) the Greeks.

It is said that Greek speaking villages survived in
southern Italy into the 20th century. But the main Greek
influence in Italy was eradicated by the Romans, who, 
like present day Californians, wanted a single-language
state. The Greeks found the romans to be difficult
foes. After a hard-won victory over the Romans at Asculum 
(in Italy) Pyrrhus, Greek king of Epirus said,
"Another victory such as this, and we are utterly lost."