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aaronupright t1_ixlbguv wrote

Reply to comment by VVillyD in Might be a stupid question, but I've been watching a lot of stuff regarding the Spartan and Persians recently and I always wondered how would these people have communicated back then? Were there specific scholars in both countries that were trained in various languages? by herewego199209

Some Western bias in your post. Persia was a superpower, the Greek city states were a border irritant. (Until some guy called Alexander showed up). It's much more likely the Greeks had Persian speakers.

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NordWithaSword t1_ixlh92m wrote

Realistically both had plenty of people fluent in the language of the other, because they were neighbouring peoples with trade relations. Most people in the ancient world were multilingual and some languages were established as the main one for regional trade. For example during the Roman empire, any Roman officer/educated person spoke Latin and Greek, and all the peoples under them spoke their native language plus Latin or Greek.

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