Ancient Rome didn't leave us written music. How can we know what its music sounded like?

homo sapiens in canada speaks to a recording device about music stuff.mpeg

homo sapiens in canada speaks to a recording device about music stuff.mpeg

We often think that the only way to study historical music is having access to written scores and notated compositions, but that is similar to saying that all we can learn of Latin is its quotes and sentences written in Antiquity. The reason we can learn Latin is because we have indications and sources other than quotes that give us an insight into its grammar and rules—and Latin can be reconstructed by learning its rules, rather than studying its quotes only. Music works similarly: some ancient cultures have left us with sources detailing their music’s rules and grammar, and therefore its music can be known to us without even having written scores.

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