One state, many tongues

According to the 1st-century CE biographer Plutarch, the last few seconds of Julius Caesar's life were a snapshot of bilingualism. When Publius Casca, one of the conspirators, raised the first dagger in the Senate, Caesar stopped him, shouting in Latin: 'What are you doing?' Terrified, Casca is said to have exclaimed in Greek: 'Brothers, help!'. Caesar …