roman word for presentation

A Glossary of Key Terms from Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome, officially established in 753 BCE, became a great empire that spanned from Spain to the Middle East. Ancient Rome is famous for its public works, military, and alphabet, which we continue to use. Christianity also arose in Ancient Rome, eventually becoming the religion of the empire.  Christianity and Rome itself lived on until today.

It was said that “all roads led to Rome” and it might be said all of our words do as well since we use the Latin alphabet.  Either way, let’s delve into a bunch of the key terms about those times . 

Ancient Rome Terms In Alphabetical Orders 

Aqueducts  .

were manmade channels that were used to deliver water to Roman towns. Ancient Rome was known for its great public works, including the presence of running water and toilets . 

Augustus  

was the nephew of Julius Caesar and the first Roman emperor.  His name was also given to our month of August.  He reigned when Jesus was born.  

The Byzantium Empire 

was the continuation of the Roman Empire in the East after the fall of the Roman Empire.  It is named after the Greek name of the capital city, which became known as Constantinople.  The empire ended in 1453.  

Caesar  

was the official title of a leader of the Roman Empire, originally arising from the family name of the first people holding that position.  They are also known as emperors .  

Carthage 

was a city in North Africa, the capital of Ancient Carthage, a major sea-faring power in the Mediterranean.  It eventually was a major rival of the Romans.  

Christianity  

is a religion arising from the followers of a Jewish preacher named Jesus who died around 30 CE.  Christians are followers of the religion.  It became the official religion of Rome. 

Cicero  

(106-43 BCE) was a major Roman statesman, lawyer, and philosopher. 

The Coliseum  

is a giant Roman arena, a large area used for entertainment events. 

Constantine the Great  

was an influential 4th-century Roman emperor (306-337) who converted to Christianity. The religion, only a few years before subject to persecution, spread like wildfire and later (after his death) became the official religion of the Roman Empire.  

Consuls 

were the highest political official during the Roman Republic.  

Emperors 

were the rulers of Rome during the Roman Empire period.  Augustus was the first Roman emperor.  Emperors had great power and were hereditary leaders, not elected.  

Etruscans  

were people who lived in Northern Italy and became a regional power. Their culture influenced the Romans in various ways.  Rome itself eventually took control of their lands.  

The Forum  

was the area of a town square of a Roman settlement, the center of things, including the marketplace and the location of important public buildings.  

is what the Romans called the lands to the north and west of Italy, including France and Germany.  Julius Caesar wrote about his battles in Gaul as many schoolchildren know.  

Galen 

was an influential Roman physician whose views on medicine continued to have much significance in the Middle Ages.  

Gladiators  

(from Latin for “sword”) were people who fought for the entertainment of the masses.  A famous gladiator was Spartacus, who was involved in a failed uprising.  

Hannibal  

was a top Carthaginian general who famously used elephants to fight the Romans. 

Julius Caesar  

was a Roman general and statesman who started a dynasty.  He was assassinated on the “Ides of March” (March 15th, 44 BCE).  His name also was given to the month of July.  

Jupiter  

was the leader of the Roman gods.  

Latin 

is the name of the language of the Romans, which greatly influenced the English language. 

Legions  

were the main unit of the Roman army. Their symbol was the eagle .  The strength and tactics of the Roman legions helped establish and maintain the Roman Empire.  

Marcus Aurelius  

was a philosopher and Roman emperor (161-180). The last of a period of good emperors, his reign was the final years of the Pax Romana.  

was a Roman poet, and author of the Metamorphoses , filled with mythical tales.  

Pagans  

are non-Christians, polytheists, and believers in many gods.  

Patricians  

were members of the elite land-owning families of Rome. 

Pax Romana 

was the two hundred years period of “Roman peace” that began during Augustus’ reign.  It was the golden age of the Roman Empire.  

Plebeians 

were commoners, free members of Roman society who were not patricians. 

Pompeii  

was a major Roman resort city that was destroyed by a volcanic eruption.  

Punic Wars  

were a series of wars between Rome and Carthage. Rome ultimately won, defeating Carthage in 146 BCE.  “Punic” arose from the Latin term for the people of Carthage. 

The Roman Republic 

was the period when Rome was ruled by elected officials instead of kings.  Rome began as a monarchy (rule by kings), then was a republic, and finally an empire.  

Romulus and Remus

were two brothers, said to have founded Rome in 753 BCE.  They were nursed by a she-wolf as babies.  Romulus killed Remus and became the first king.  

The Senate  

(Roman Senate) was an important governing and advisory body first arising in the days of Roman kings.  It continued to retain authority into the days of the Roman Empire. 

Seneca  

was a leading Roman philosopher who lived in the first century.   

Tacitus 

was a major Roman historian.  Livy and Suetonius are two others.  

Togas 

were long robes worn by Roman citizens and were symbolic clothing of public officials.  

Vestal Virgins  

were priestesses of the Roman goddess Vesta, who protected the house and home.  They took care of the sacred fire of Vesta, an important religious duty.  

Virgil  

was a Roman poet.  He wrote the Aeneid , a mythical account of the founding of Rome.

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Translation of "presentation" into Latin

praesentatio, contio, introductio are the top translations of "presentation" into Latin. Sample translated sentence: To assist reason in its effort to understand the mystery there are the signs which Revelation itself presents. ↔ In rationis adiumentum, quae mysterii quaerit intellectum, etiam signa praesentia in Revelatione occurrunt.

The act of presenting, or something presented [..]

English-Latin dictionary

Praesentatio, introductio.

Less frequent translations

Show algorithmically generated translations

Automatic translations of " presentation " into Latin

Images with "presentation", phrases similar to "presentation" with translations into latin.

• be present adesse · adsum · assum · compareo · intersum · suppeto
• present an odor oboleo
• being present|impending instantia
• Presentation of Jesus at the Temple Festum in praesentatione domini
• petty present sportula
• presents for guests to take with them
• present many times

Translations of "presentation" into Latin in sentences, translation memory

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10 Commonly Used Terms From Ancient Rome

Anyone with even a passing interest in etymology will be well aware that many English words come from Latin, the language of ancient Rome. While English is officially considered a Germanic, rather than a Romance language (the latter being languages rooted in Vulgar Latin rather than those best suited to whispering endearments to your sweetheart,) it borrows liberally from many different sources.

Perhaps borrows is too mild a term though; more accurately, English follows other languages down dark alleys, knocks them over the head and goes through their pockets for loose vocabulary. As such, this mongrel tongue of ours contains no small amount of Latin-based terms. The following 10 words have been selected because of their interesting origin stories, surprising initial usage or the way the meanings have been altered slightly over time. Or, in some cases, all three. While by no means exhaustive, these are some of the more noteworthy terms from ancient Rome still used today.

10 Truly Disgusting Facts About Ancient Roman Life

10 Decimate

We all know that the prefix dec refers to the number 10, hence terms like decade and decimal. As such, decimation refers to reduction by a tenth, which is exactly how it was used as a punishment in the Roman legions. Military units that mutinied or were otherwise thought to have underperformed in battle were decimated— one in every ten soldiers were selected at random and put to death in the most gruesome manner possible: by being beaten to death with sticks by their comrades.

Not the best way to go, to be sure, but this method of punishment, by being entirely random, encouraged soldiers to not only give their best by way of loyalty and performance but also to encourage their fellow troops to do the same. It proved largely successful, given the formidable reputation of Roman military might at the time. It was also probably considered to be a fair measure by the soldiers themselves. At least by 9 out of every 10 legionnaires, anyway.

Now, circumventing a lengthy explanation of the derivation of the word, suffice it to say that it has the same root as “circle”, and, accordingly, simply refers to something round. Ancient Roman amphitheaters were thus called circuses, due to their shape, and circus arenas today are similarly spherical, with the leader commonly referred to as the ringmaster. There the similarities end, however, as the Roman variety was used to stage blood sports, such as chariot racing and gladiator fights. Not exactly the ideal place for a family outing, then.

Some modern circus traditions are a holdover from those times though, such as employing the use of trained animals. Some people condemn the circus industry for the treatment of their non-human performers, and rightly so – in ancient Rome at least the lions got to eat a man or two for their troubles. The most famous Roman amphitheater was the Circus Maximus, which operated for over 1000 years. Given that it roughly translates to “big round place”, one has to imagine that the guy who came up with the name was not being paid for his creativity.

Some of these uses were surprisingly inventive. Of course, human waste products were commonly used in leather tanning throughout history, but the Romans took things a step further, using urine as both a cleaning agent and a beauty product. Due to its unique chemical composition, urine made for excellent early laundry detergent and, because it was believed to make teeth appear whiter, was also commonly used as a mouthwash and in toothpaste. They might have been on to something there, as urine was widely used in dental hygiene products up until as recently as the 18th century.

Ever the inventive pioneers, the Romans also used urine as invisible ink to write secret missives between the text of official documents. Such messages were visible only when heated, making them a brilliant early espionage tool, although it’s hard to imagine a modern James Bond resorting to such measures. In any event, that’s where the saying “read between the lines” comes from. One could say, then, that all of this proves the expression “piss poor” is largely inaccurate, historically speaking.

A triumph was awarded by the senate, and a victory had to meet certain criteria to qualify; namely, a minimum of 5000 enemy casualties inflicted in a battle decisive in ending a war. Triumphs were such lavish affairs in honor of a single individual, that a slave was required to remind the victorious general of his mortality throughout the festivities, lest he mistake himself for a god. Victories that fell short of the requirements for a triumph could be awarded the lesser honor of an ovation, another term still very much in use today.

Only the best commanders ever received multiple triumphs; Pompey was awarded 3 in his lifetime, but, not to be outdone by his old rival, Julius Caesar in 46 BC granted himself 4 consecutive triumphs. Incidentally, the last of these was for his victory over the Pompey-led opposing faction in the civil war. Caesar’s triumph, however, was short-lived, as he was assassinated only 18 months later for fear he was becoming too powerful, probably causing that mortality-reminding slave the irrepressible urge to say: “told you so.”

The original Rubicon moment occurred in 49 BC when Julius Caesar led the 13th legion across the small river Rubicon in Northern Italy in an act which committed him to a civil war. As provincial governor of the Cisalpine Gaul region, Caesar was forbidden from bringing his troops into the republic. When summoned to Rome to face charges of overreaching his command by his political opponents, Caesar crossed the Rubicon, the official border-line of Northern Italy, under arms thereby igniting the 3-year civil war that followed.

This momentous event also gave us the famous idiomatic expression “The die has been cast”, similarly referring to passing a point of no return. It is widely claimed that Caesar himself uttered this phrase upon crossing the Rubicon, but since this cannot be verified with any degree of accuracy, it may just be something that history had attributed to him for dramatic effect. We will probably never know for sure.

Julius, of course, was the first Roman leader named Caesar, but not the last. His descendants would go on to further the family legacy, so much so that the early Germanic people simply referred to all Roman Emperors as Caesar. The word itself came to be synonymous with “emperor” and, over time, the leading Monarchs in Germany and Austria became known by the altered form of the word: Kaiser.

The last official Kaiser was Wilhelm II, the king of Prussia, who famously led Germany in WWI and was forced to abdicate his throne in 1918 towards the conclusion of the conflict. The term, like it’s Russian counterpart “Czar”, may have fallen largely out of contemporary use were it not for the famous South African based soccer team Kaiser Chiefs and the UK band of the same name which they inspired.

And for all that Caesar gave us, what did we do in return? Why, we named a certain chicken salad after him, of course. Go figure.

Of course, the term comes from ancient Rome, where it was not used as an insult but rather as a term of reference for the common masses; Roman citizens who were not of the patrician, senatorial or equestrian classes. It was the class-conscious British who turned it into an insult in the 17th century, when it became a euphemism for the lower class, or if you prefer, the unwashed masses. The negative connotations of the term persist to this day, as Mr. Mitchell discovered to his detriment.

The plebeians of ancient Rome may have been commoners individually, but collectively they made up a powerful group of working-class people that formed the backbone of the economy and represented a significant threat to the ruling class. Recognizing as much, the emperor Augustus aimed to keep them satisfied and distracted by way of food and entertainment respectively, thus coining the phrase “bread and circuses”. This method of appeasing the masses is, arguably, still employed today, and why not? It works, after all.

Yes, the term salary comes from the ancient Roman custom of paying soldiers, not in gold, but in salt, something that was both practical and desirable, given its relative scarcity and considerable worth. The value of salt extended beyond ancient Rome, though; many civilizations used the sought after substance for trade and remuneration. That is the reason why a competent individual is still described as being worth his salt.

Much has since changed, and salt has become so ordinary and commonplace that food establishments practically give it away for free – a development that would have likely shocked a Roman soldier 2000 years ago. Sodium is generally something medical experts advise limiting in a healthy diet, and, I for one would be thoroughly unimpressed if my boss decided to pay me with a bag of salt at the end of the month. Still, the term remains, if not the custom itself.

In Roman times, the fasces was a bundle of rods tied around an ax and was carried by the magisterial attendants known as Lictors as a symbol of law and order. When carried inside Rome, the ax was removed to represent the right of the people to appeal a magistrate’s rulings. An exception was made in the case of dictators as well as generals celebrating a triumph. This symbol became synonymous with absolute authority and is believed to be where the term fascism comes from.

So Mussolini wasn’t exactly reinventing the wheel with his brutal leadership style, but he knew that – in a nod to his ancestral roots, his fascist party, established in 1919, bore as its symbol the traditional Roman fasces after which it was named. After all that it may be a bit anti-climatic to learn that the term simply means “bundle” in English, which sounds far less menacing than fascist and its brutal origins in Mussolini’s extreme left-wing principles.

One common theory is that the word derives from the Roman custom of swearing an oath on one’s testicles. Now, this is not 100% verifiable, and many opinions to the contrary exist. One such argument cites the fact that the word comes from the Latin “testis” which means witness. The counter-argument here is that the part of the male anatomy in question was so named because it bore witness to one’s virility. Indeed, the custom of swearing on the testicles, as nuts as it sounds, can be found in the Old Testament.

It’s unlikely we will ever know for certain, one way or the other. But the issue raises some interesting questions, like: shouldn’t we still be doing that? I mean, being tried for perjury for lying under oath is nothing compared to risking the old family jewels. We don’t know what happened to Romans who fabricated testimony, probably because no man in his right mind would have risked doing such a thing after taking the sacred oath. See? It’s nothing if not effective. Getting back to reality; clearly, the idea would never work today. Apart from being barbaric, in excluding women it’s also blatantly sexist, and we can’t have that. Still, it’s fun to imagine.

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30 Interesting Ancient Roman Latin Phrases And Sayings

Posted By: Dattatreya Mandal June 20, 2023

Introduction

Previously, we had covered the  25 Incredible Ancient Roman Quotes , although translated into their English forms. This time around, we decided to include the original (and thus more authentic) Latin phrases and sayings uttered by the various eminent ancient Roman poets, philosophers , generals, and even emperors. So without further ado, let us take a gander at 30 ancient Roman Latin phrases and sayings you should know.

Quotes of Cicero  –

Omnium rerum principia parva sunt  – ‘ the beginnings of all things are small.’, vixere  – ‘they lived.’ (after the execution of the participants in the catilinarian conspiracy; meaning: “they are dead”)., semper idem  – ‘always the same.’, pecunia nervus belli  – ‘money is the soul (or sinew) of war.’, male parta male dilabuntur  – ‘what has been wrongly gained is wrongly lost.’.

Marcus Tullius Cicero  or simply Cicero (106 BC – 43 BC) is often considered to be one of the greatest Roman orators and prose stylists of his time. Hailing from a wealthy Roman equestrian family, Cicero was also a philosopher, politician, lawyer, political theorist, and constitutionalist, who introduced neologisms such as  evidentia ,  humanitas ,  qualitas ,  quantitas , and  essential . 

Interestingly enough, it should be noted that Cicero himself was killed at the orders of Mark Antony ( Marcus Antonius ). Apparently, Cicero’s last words to his captors were – “There is nothing proper about what you are doing, soldier, but do try to kill me properly.”

Quotes of Virgil  –

Amor vincit omnia  – ‘love conquers all.’, non omnia possumus omnes  – ‘we can’t all of us do everything.’.

Virgil or  Publius Vergilius Maro  (70 BC – 19 BC), was one of ancient Rome’s greatest poets corresponding to the Augustan period. His massive contribution to Latin literature is espoused by three significant works – the  Eclogues  (or Bucolics), the  Georgics , and the epic  Aeneid . The latter literary specimen is often considered ancient Rome’s national epic, with the work following the traditions of Homer’s  Iliad  and  Odyssey .

Quotes of Horace  –

Aere perennius  – ‘more lasting than bronze.’, permitte divis cetera  – ‘leave all else to the gods.’, omnes una manet nox  – ‘one night awaits everyone.’, carpe diem – ‘seize the day.’, nil desperandum  – ‘never despair’.

Horace or  Quintus Horatius Flaccus  (65 BC – 8 BC), was the foremost Roman lyric poet contemporary to the Augustan period, who dabbled in both hexameter verses and caustic iambic poetry. He was also an officer in the Republican army that was defeated at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC. But later on, he was offered amnesty by Octavian, and thus Horace became a spokesman for the new regime (though he lost his father’s estate to a colony of veterans).

Quotes of Seneca the Younger  –

Veritas odit moras  – ‘truth hates delay.’, timendi causa est nescire  – ‘the cause of fear is ignorance.’, vivamus, moriendum est  – ‘let us live, since we must die.’, nemo sine vitio est  – ‘no one is without fault.’, magna servitus est magna fortuna  – ‘a great fortune is a great slavery.’.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca, also known as Seneca the Younger (5 BC – 65 AD), was a Roman Stoic philosopher and dramatist who also tried his hand at humor. One of the sons of Seneca the Elder, Lucius also acted as the Imperial adviser and tutor to Roman Emperor Nero. Unfortunately, his very connection to political affairs brought forth his demise – when Lucius was forced to commit suicide for his alleged role in the Pisonian conspiracy to assassinate Nero.

Quotes of Juvenal  –

Vitam impendere vero  – ‘dedicate your life to truth.’, mens sana in corpore sano  – ‘a healthy mind in a healthy body.’, panem et circenses  – ‘bread and circuses.’, quis costodiet ipsos custodies  – ‘who will guard the guards’.

Decimus Iunius Iuvenalis  or Juvenal (55-60 AD to post 127 AD) is counted among the most famous of ancient Rome’s poets. He was renowned for his collection of satirical poems known as the  Satires . And while not much is known about his private life, it has been hypothesized that Juvenal was possibly a son (or adopted son) of a rich freedman, and was born in Aquinum, central Italy.

It is also conjectured that Juvenal was a pupil of Quintilian and a practitioner of rhetoric, while his career as a satirist began late in his life. And furthermore, like many of his fellow Roman poets, Juvenal might have been exiled (by either Emperor Trajan or Domitian), although the place of his exile is debated in the academic world.

Quotes of Other Eminent Romans  –

And lastly, we have compiled the remaining Latin phrases and quotes uttered by the crème de la crème of ‘friends, Romans, and countrymen’, including Pliny the Elder, Quintilian, Ovid, Julius Caesar, and Augustus.

Ars Longa, Vita Brevis  – ‘Art is long, life is short.’

– Hippocrates.

It pertains to the Latin translation of the first two Greek lines of the  Aphorismi , one of the treatises of the  Corpus  – the renowned collection of ancient medical works often attributed to the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates. As for the historical side of affairs, Hippocrates, often heralded as the ‘Father of Medicine’, was probably born circa 460 BC, on the Greek island of Kos.

Vade Retro Me, Satana  – ‘Get off my back, Satan.’

– Gospel of Mark 8:33

The Latin phrase is derived from the Vulgate and in the narrative is presented as being spoken by Jesus to Peter. According to historical estimation, the Gospel of Mark was written during the 1st century (at least before 90 AD, possibly between 66–70 AD) – which makes it the earliest known written gospel, though the authorship still remains anonymous.

In Vino Veritas  – ‘Truth in Wine.’

– Pliny the Elder

Pliny the Elder or  Gaius Plinius Secundus  (23 AD – 79 AD), was an ancient Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher – known for his encyclopedic work,  Naturalis Historia . Like some eminent Romans of his time, Pliny also had a career in the military with his high-status post as a naval and army commander in the early Roman empire. Pliny later died in the catastrophic eruption of Mouth Vesuvius (AD 79) on the beach at Stabiae and hence was one of the famous (yet unfortunate) eyewitnesses to the destruction of Pompeii .

Acta est Fabula, Plaudite!  – ‘The play is over, applaud!’

Augustus  (63 BC – 14 AD), born  Gaius Octavius , was the founder of the Roman Empire and its first Emperor who ruled till his death in 14 AD (additionally he was also Julius Caesar’s adopted heir). The reign of Augustus kick-started what is known as  Pax Romana  (the Roman Peace), an extensive period of almost two centuries when the Roman realm was not disturbed by any long-drawn major conflict, in spite of the empire’s ‘regular’ territorial expansions into regions like  Egypt , Dalmatia, Pannonia, Germania and complete annexation of Hispania.

Quis, Quid, Ubi, Quibus Auxiliis, Cur, Quomodo, Quando?  – ‘Who, what, where, with what, why, how, when?’

– Quintilian

An ancient Roman rhetorician from Hispania, Quintilian or  Marcus Fabius Quintilianus,  was born circa 35 AD and was known for opening his public school of rhetoric during the chaotic period of the Year of the Four Emperors (circa 69 AD). There were some eminent names among his students, including Pliny the Younger and possibly Tacitus and Juvenal. And such was his influence in Rome and its circle of education (especially for the ruling class) that later on he was made a  consul  by Emperor Vespasian.

Alea Jacta Est  – ‘The die is cast.’

— Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar (100 BC – 44 BC), was a Roman statesman and notable author of Latin prose. But he is mostly known for being the greatest Roman general of his time, who completed the  conquest of Gaul  and launched the first Roman invasion of Britain .

Exitus Acta Probat  – ‘The result justifies the deed.’

Ovid or  Publius Ovidius Naso  (43 BC – 17 AD), was a contemporary Roman poet of the older Virgil and Horace, and together these three formed the ‘holy trinity’ of Latin canonical literature during the Augustan period. To that end, Ovid is mainly known for his mythological narrative – the  Metamorphoses , along with collections of love poetry like the  Amores  (“Love Affairs”) and  Ars Amatoria  (“The Art of Love”).

Fiat Lux  – ‘Let there be light.’

— Old Testament ‐ Genesis 1:3

Counted among one of the most famous of English and Latin phrases, in context, the full translation is “ dixitque Deus  fiat lux  et facta est lux ” (“And said God let there be light, and there was light”). The Vulgate Latin version is obviously derived from the Hebrew phrase  vayo’mer ‘Elohim, yehi ‘or vayehi ‘or , found in Genesis 1:3 of the Torah, the first part of the Hebrew Bible.

Honorable Mention –

Caveat emptor  – ‘let the buyer beware.’.

According to Merriam-Webster, the (possibly) ancient Latin phrase is associated with the sale of goods – “In early Roman law, sales of goods were governed by  caveat emptor : buyers were advised to scrutinize the goods before purchase because sellers had few obligations. Over time, the imperative of  caveat emptor  has been softened by warranties, both express and implied.”

Source :  Merriam Webster  

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Ancient Rome had a large influence on the modern world. Though it has been thousands of years since the Roman Empire flourished , we can still see evidence of it in our art, architecture , technology , literature , language, and law. From bridges and stadiums to books and the words we hear every day, the ancient Romans have left their mark on our world.

Art and Architecture

Ancient Romans have had a tremendous impact on art and architecture . We can find traces of Roman influence in forms and structures throughout the development of Western culture.

Although the Romans were heavily influenced by ancient Greece, they were able to make improvements to certain borrowed Greek designs and inventions . For example, they continued the use of columns, but the form became more decorative and less structural in Roman buildings. Ancient Romans created curved roofs and large-scale arches , which were able to support more weight than the post-and-beam construction the Greeks used. These arches served as the foundation for the massive bridges and aqueducts the Romans created. The game-loving ancients also built large amphitheaters, including the Colosseum. The sports stadiums we see today, with their oval shapes and tiered seating, derive from the basic idea the Romans developed.

The arches of the Colosseum are made out of cement, a remarkably strong building material the Romans made with what they had at hand: volcanic ash and volcanic rock. Modern scientists believe that the use of this ash is the reason that structures like the Colosseum still stand today. Roman underwater structures proved to be even sturdier. Seawater reacting with the volcanic ash created crystals that filled in the cracks in the concrete. To make a concrete this durable, modern builders must reinforce it with steel. So today, scientists study Roman concrete, hoping to match the success of the ancient master builders.

Sculptural art of the period has proven to be fairly durable, too. Romans made their statues out of marble, fashioning monuments to great human achievements and achievers. You can still see thousands of Roman artifacts today in museums all over the world.

Technology and Science

Ancient Romans pioneered advances in many areas of science and technology , establishing tools and methods that have ultimately shaped the way the world does certain things.

The Romans were extremely adept engineers. They understood the laws of physics well enough to develop aqueducts and better ways to aid water flow. They harnessed water as energy for powering mines and mills. They also built an expansive road network , a great achievement at the time. Their roads were built by laying gravel and then paving with rock slabs. The Roman road system was so large, it was said that “all roads lead to Rome.”

Along with large-scale engineering projects, the Romans also developed tools and methods for use in agriculture. The Romans became successful farmers due to their knowledge of climate, soil, and other planting-related subjects. They developed or refined ways to effectively plant crops and to irrigate and drain fields. Their techniques are still used by modern farmers, such as crop rotation , pruning, grafting , seed selection, and manuring. The Romans also used mills to process their grains from farming, which improved their efficiency and employed many people.

Literature and Language

Much of the literature of the world has been greatly influenced by the literature of the ancient Romans. During what is considered the “Golden Age of Roman Poetry,” poets such as Virgil, Horace, and Ovid produced works that have had an everlasting impact. Ovid’s Metamorphoses , for example, inspired authors such as Chaucer, Milton, Dante, and Shakespeare. Shakespeare, in particular, was fascinated by the ancient Romans, who served as the inspiration for some of his plays, including Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra .

While Roman literature had a deep impact on the rest of the world, it is important to note the impact that the Roman language has had on the Western world. Ancient Romans spoke Latin, which spread throughout the world with the increase of Roman political power. Latin became the basis for a group of languages referred to as the “Romance languages.” These include French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, and Catalan. Many Latin root words are also the foundation for many English words. The English alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet. Along with that, a lot of Latin is still used in the present-day justice system.

The use of Latin words is not the only way the ancient Romans have influenced the Western justice system. Although the Roman justice system was extremely harsh in its punishments, it did serve as a rough outline of how court proceedings happen today. For example, there was a preliminary hearing, much like there is today, where the magistrate decided whether or not there was actually a case. If there were grounds for a case, a prominent Roman citizen would try the case, and witnesses and evidence would be presented. Roman laws and their court system have served as the foundation for many countries’ justice systems, such as the United States and much of Europe.

The ancient Romans helped lay the groundwork for many aspects of the modern world. It is no surprise that a once-booming empire was able to impact the world in so many ways and leave a lasting legacy behind.

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Related Resources

If You Like to Complain About 'Decimate'...

We sometimes encounter people who are fond of correcting anyone who uses decimate in any but the original ‘Roman military punishment’ sense, yet these adherents to historical accuracy seem to not take issue with any number of everyday words. Take, for example, triumph .

What it meant: an ancient Roman ceremonial in honor of a general after his decisive victory over a foreign enemy beginning with his entrance into the city preceded by the senate and magistrates, the spoils, and the captives in chains and followed by his army in marching order and ending with sacrificial offerings and a public feast

In ancient Rome different types of victories called for different types of celebrations; a triumph was awarded to generals who had achieved notable victories. You may, of course, still describe your own small personal victories as a triumph , even if they are not followed by sacrificial offerings and public feasting.

What it meant: a ceremony attending the entering of Rome by a general who had won a victory of less importance than that for which a triumph was granted

If one was a Roman general and had won some battles, but not dealt enemies enough of a defeat to be awarded a triumph , then one might be given an ovation . This sense dealing with Roman military history was the initial meaning in English, but somewhere in the past few centuries the primary meaning of the word has shifted to “an expression or demonstration of popular acclaim especially by enthusiastic applause.”

What it meant: either of the two joint chief magistrates of the Roman republic

When consul came into English use in the 14th century, it was used with specific reference to Roman magistrates; the word may be traced back to the Latin consulere (“to consult”). In current use, consul most often is found with the meaning of “an official appointed by or with the authority of a government to reside in a foreign country to represent the interests of citizens of the appointing country (as in commerce).”

What it meant: a chief magistrate appointed in emergencies and given absolute authority by the senate of ancient Rome

Nowadays, dictator tends to be used to refer to any sort of autocratic leader with complete governmental or institutional power. In early use the word was specifically used in describing the magistrates of ancient Rome who were given (temporary) complete authority by the Senate.

What it meant: the marketplace or public place of an ancient Roman city consisting of an open place or square surrounded by shops or in later times by public buildings or ornamental structures (as colonnades) and forming the center of judicial and public business

In current English the word forum is often found in extended use, with meanings such as “a public meeting or lecture involving audience discussion” or “a program (as on radio or television) involving discussion of a problem usually by several authorities.” When first adopted from Latin into English, forum (which may be pluralized as either forums or fora ) specifically referred to the marketplace or public space of an ancient Roman city.

What it meant: a member of the highest class of official diviners of ancient Rome

Augur is rarely used in English today in its original sense, which was as a noun for an official diviner (soothsayer) of ancient Rome (which raises the question of whether there were also unofficial soothsayers). Currently augur is most often found used as a verb, meaning “ presage ” or “foretell from omens,” with no particular references to Rome, or whether the foretelling being done is official or not.

What it meant: a large oblong or circular structure similar to an amphitheater and enclosed by tiers of seats on three or all four sides and used for athletic contests, exhibitions of horsemanship or in ancient times chariot racing and public especially gladiatorial spectacles

Circus comes from the Latin, in which it means “circle” or “circus.” In its earliest English use (14th century) the word referred to the spectacles of Ancient Rome. Subsequent to this circus has taken on addition meanings, including “a public spectacle” and “something suggestive of a circus (as in frenzied activity, sensationalism, theatricality, or razzle-dazzle).”

What it meant: a person corresponding nearly to the guardian of English law and appointed to manage the affairs of a person past the age of puberty while he is a minor or of any such person when legally incompetent (as a spendthrift or a lunatic)

When curator came into English use in the 15th century, the above definition was specifically applied to contexts of Roman law, the word’s first meaning. Since then curator has taken on numerous other senses, including “a groundsman in the sport of cricket” and “one in charge of the exhibits, research activities, and personnel of a museum, zoo, or other place of exhibit.”

What it meant: a member of one of the original citizen families of ancient Rome

In current use patrician is most often found as an adjective (often with the meaning “of, relating to, having, or characterized by high birth, rank, or station”). When the word came into English use in the 15th century, it initially was as a noun, solely in reference to those Roman families who, until about 350 B.C., occupied the offices of senator, consul, and pontifex .

What it meant: to select by lot and kill every tenth man of

The English language is filled with words which have changed meaning, or taken on new shades of meaning; decimate is just one of thousands of words which have dropped a sense, and insisting that those who fail to observe this obsolete sense do so in error tends to mark you as an irritating pedant, rather than as a dutiful historian of language. If you would like a longer explanation of why this nit-picking captiousness is bothersome you may find it here .

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Classroom in the Middle

Language arts activities for middle school and upper elementary..

Latin and Greek Roots Activities

This updated resource now includes 21 activities  plus a large slide presentation for teaching Latin and Greek roots The activities include a game and a set of practice cards. The PowerPoint introduces LOTS of roots, divided into three groups for easier use.

The  Roots Are:

Set 1:  – meter-, -bio-, -man-,  -ped-, -photo-, -hydro-, -phon-, -rupt-,

-geo-, -mit-, -mis-, -struct-, -graph-, -gram-, -scope-, -therm-,

-chron-, -terr-, -aqua-, and -sol-

Set 2:  -dem-,  -vid-,  -vis-,  -vit-,  -viv-,  -spec-,  -vert-,  -vers-,  -aud-,

-corp-, -astro-,  -scribe-,  -script-,  -pan-, -jur-,  -jud-,  -jus-,  -voc-,

-vok-,  -tempo-,  -dent-, -dont-,  -capit-,  -capt-,  -liber-,  -luna-,  -polis-

Set 3:   -port-, -fract-, -frag-, -dic-, -ject- , -tract-, -pos-, -posit-, -pend-,

-cede-, -ceed-, -cess-, -bel-, -cred-, -log-, -logue-, -grad-, -gred-,

-gres-, -vac-, -path-, -ignis-, -phobo-, -verb-, -sci-

The three activities for each of these groups are:

• Write the Word
• Map the Word
• Match the Root and Choose the Word

Practice continues with these activities that include a mix of roots from all three sets in the following activities :

1. Using Latin and Greek Roots in Words and Sentences 2. Sorting Words by Their Roots 3. Choose Your Root – Cut and Paste 4. Identifying Latin and Greek Roots 5. Make New Words with Roots and Affixes 6. Identify the Prefix, Suffix, and Root 7. Root Change Up 8. Root Bingo 9. Practice Cards 10.Graffiti Wall of Roots

11. Complete the sentence

12.  Add Up the Words

To make teaching a little bit simpler, a teacher’s list of roots and their meanings is also included, and there are three notebook pages for the students included at the end of the slide presentation.  Students can fill them in as they view the slides.

Here you can see some of the activity sheets, or click on one of the images download the free preview where you can see all of them:

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One response to “Latin and Greek Roots Activities”

Great resources to improve vocabulary

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Roman Empire , the ancient empire , centerd on the city of Rome , that was established in 27 bce following the demise of the Roman Republic and continuing to the final eclipse of the empire of the West in the 5th century ce . A brief treatment of the Roman Empire follows. For full treatment, see ancient Rome .

A period of unrest and civil wars in the 1st century bce marked the transition of Rome from a republic to an empire. This period encompassed the career of Julius Caesar , who eventually took full power over Rome as its dictator. After his assassination in 44 bce , the triumvirate of Mark Antony , Lepidus , and Octavian, Caesar’s nephew, ruled. It was not long before Octavian went to war against Antony in northern Africa, and after his victory at Actium (31 bce ) he was crowned Rome’s first emperor , Augustus . His reign, from 27 bce to 14 ce , was distinguished by stability and peace.

Augustus established a form of government known as a principate, which combined some elements from the republic with the traditional powers of a monarchy. The Senate still functioned, though Augustus, as princeps , or first citizen, remained in control of the government..

With a mind toward maintaining the structure of power entrusted to his rule, Augustus began thinking early about who should follow him. Death played havoc with his attempts to select his successor. He had no son and his nephew Marcellus , his son-in-law Agrippa , and his grandsons Gaius and Lucius each predeceased him. He eventually chose Tiberius, a scion of the ultra-aristocratic Claudia gens, and in 4 ce adopted him as his son.

Tiberius (reigned 14–37) became the first successor in the Julio-Claudian dynasty and ruled as an able administrator but cruel tyrant. His great-nephew Caligula (37–41) reigned as an absolutist, his short reign filled with reckless spending, callous murders, and humiliation of the Senate. Claudius (41–54) centralized state finances in the imperial household, thus making rapid strides in organizing the imperial bureaucracy , but was ruthless toward the senators and equites . Nero (54–68) left administration to capable advisers for a few years but then asserted himself as a vicious despot . He brought the dynasty to its end by being the first emperor to suffer damnatio memoriae : his reign was officially stricken from the record by order of the Senate.

Following a war of succession, Vespasian became emperor, and the Flavian dynasty was established. His reign (69–79) was noted for his reorganization of the army, making it more loyal and professional; for his expansion of the membership of the Senate, bringing in administrators with a sense of service; for his increase and systematization of taxation; and for his strengthening of the frontiers of the empire (though little new territory was added). The brief but popular reign of his son Titus (79–81) was followed by the autocracy of Domitian (81–96), Vespasian’s other son, who fought the senatorial class and instituted taxes and confiscations for costly buildings, games, and shows. A reign of terror in his final years was ended by his assassination. The Flavian dynasty, like the Julio-Claudian, ended with an emperor whose memory was officially damned.

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14 Fonts That Make Your PowerPoint Presentations Stand Out

Presentation fonts, more generally known as typography , are one of the most neglected areas of presentation design .

That’s because when presentation fonts are used appropriately and correctly, they blend so well with the overall design that your audience doesn’t even notice it. Yet, when your font usage is lacking, this sticks out like a sore thumb. 

Over 30 million PowerPoint presentations are made daily. Therefore, when it comes to creating your own slide decks, you need to take every advantage you can get to make it stand out. Among other design choices, choosing the best fonts for presentations can provide a huge impact with minimal effort.

In fact, it’s one of the reasons why Steve Jobs was able to turn Apple into the brand it is today. His expertise in branding and design was fueled by the Calligraphy classes that he attended in his early years. This allowed him to find the best font family that accentuated his company’s brand and identity.

So no matter the subject of your PowerPoint presentation, the best font or font family will help you create a lasting impression and convey a powerful message. To help you shine through your next slideshow, here’s our cultivated list of the best fonts for presentations.

If you want to create a PowerPoint presentation but don’t have access to PowerPoint itself, you can use Piktochart’s presentation maker to create a presentation or slide deck and export it as a .ppt file.

Best Fonts for Presentations and PowerPoint

Before we proceed, you should know some basics of typography, especially the difference between Serif, Sans Serif, Script, and Decorative types of fonts. 

Serif Fonts

These are classic fonts recognizable by an additional foot (or tail) where each letter ends. Well-known Serif fonts include:

• Times New Roman
• Century 

Sans Serif Fonts

Differing from the Serif font style, Sans Serif fonts do not have a tail. The most popular Sans Serif font used in presentations is Arial, but other commonly employed renditions of Sans Serif typeface include:

• Century Gothic
• Lucida Sans

Script and Decorative Fonts

These are the fonts that emulate handwriting—not typed with a keyboard or typewriter. Script typefaces and decorative or custom fonts for PowerPoint vary immensely and can be created by a graphic designer to ensure these custom fonts are bespoke to your company/brand.

With these font fundamentals explained, you can also keep up-to-date with the popularity of such fonts using Google’s free font analytics tool here . Let’s now go ahead with our list of the best presentation fonts for your PowerPoint slides. 

• Libre-Baskerville

Keep in mind that you don’t have to stick with only a single font for your slides. You could choose two of the best fonts for your presentation, one for your headings and another for the copy in the body of the slides.

Without further ado, let’s dive into the 14 best presentation fonts.

1. Helvetica

Helvetica is a basic Sans Serif font with a loyal user base. Originally created in 1957 , Helvetica comes from the Latin word for ‘Switzerland’ where it was born. When you use Helvetica, the top-half part of the text is bigger than in other Sans Serif fonts. For this reason, letters and numbers have a balanced proportionality between the top and bottom segments. As a result, this standard font makes it easier to identify characters from a distance.

As a result of being one of the easiest typecases to read compared to different presentation fonts, Helvetica is great for communicating major points as titles and subheadings in a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation.

For these reasons, Helvetica is a popular choice for anyone creating posters .

If you are presenting live to a large group of people, Helvetica is your new go-to font! The classic Sans Serif font is tried and tested and ensures the legibility of your slide deck, even for the audience members sitting at the very back. Though it looks good in any form, you can make Helvetica shine even more in a bold font style or all caps. 

Futura is one of the popular Sans Serif fonts and is based on geometric shapes. Its features are based on uncomplicated shapes like circles, triangles, and rectangles. In other words , it mimics clean and precise proportions instead of replicating organic script or handwriting. Futura is a great default font for presentations because of its excellent readability, elegance, and lively personality. 

As one of many standard fonts designed to invoke a sense of efficiency and progress, Futura is best employed when you want to project a modern look and feel in your presentation. Futura is a versatile option ideal for use in both titles and body content, accounting for why it has remained immensely popular since 1927. 

3. Rockwell

The Rockwell font has strong yet warm characters that make it suitable for a variety of presentation types, regardless of whether it’s used in headings or the body text. However, best practice dictates that this standard font should be used in headers and subheadings based on its geometric style. Rockwell is a Geometric Slab Serif , otherwise known as a slab serif font alternative. It is formed almost completely of straight lines, flawless circles, and sharp angles. This Roman font features a tall x-height and even stroke width that provides its strong presence with a somewhat blocky feel.

Monoline and geometric, Rockwell is a beautiful font that can display any text in a way that looks impactful and important. Whether you want to set a mood or announce a critical update or event, you can’t go wrong with this robust font.

Verdana is easily a great choice as one of the top PowerPoint presentation fonts. Its tall lowercase letters and wide spaces contribute significantly towards boosting slide readability even when the text case or font size is small. That’s why Verdana is best for references, citations, footnotes, disclaimers, and so on. Additionally, it can also be used as a body font to extrapolate on slide headings to nail down your key points.

Besides that, it is one of the most widely available fonts, compatible with both Mac and Windows systems. This makes this modern Sans Serif font a safe bet for when you are not certain where and how will you be delivering your presentation. 

Raleway is a modern and lightweight Sans Serif font. Its italicized version has shoulders and bowls in some letters that are a bit off-centered. What this means is that the markings excluding the stem are intentionally lower or higher as compared to other fonts. 

This gives Raleway a slightly artistic look and feels without impacting its readability (and without falling into the custom or decorative fonts category). In fact, many professionals think the swashes and markings actually enhance the font’s readability and legibility. Moreover, Raleway also has a bold version which is heavily used in presentations and slide decks. 

The bottom line is that Raleway is a versatile typeface that can be used in a variety of presentations, either in the body copy or in titles and subheadings. When the titles are capitalized or formatted as bold, captivating your audience becomes a breeze. 

6. Montserrat

Montserrat is one of our favorite PowerPoint fonts for presentation titles and subheadings. The modern serif font is bold, professional, and visually appealing for when you want your headers and titles to really capture the audience’s attention.

Every time you move to the next slide, the viewers will see the headings and instantly understand its core message.  

Another major quality of the Montserrat font is its adaptability and versatility. Even a small change, such as switching up the weight, gives you an entirely different-looking typeface. So you get enough flexibility to be able to use the font in all types of PowerPoint presentations.

Montserrat pairs nicely with a wide range of other fonts. For example, using it with a thin Sans Serif in body paragraphs creates a beautiful contrast in your PowerPoint slides. For this reason, it is usually the first modern Serif font choice of those creating a business plan or marketing presentation in MS PowerPoint. 

Roboto is a simple sans-serif font that is a good fit for PowerPoint presentations in a wide range of industries. Well-designed and professional, Roboto works especially well when used for body text, making your paragraphs easy to read.

Roboto combines beautifully with several other fonts. When you’re using Roboto for body text, you can have headings and titles that use a script font such as Pacifico, a serif font such as Garamond, or a Sans Serif font such as Gill Sans. 

Bentham is a radiant serif font perfectly suited for headings and subtitles in your PowerPoint slides. It gives your presentation a traditional appearance, and its letter spacing makes your content really easy to read.

You can use this font in uppercase, lowercase, or title case, depending on how it blends with the rest of your slide. For best results, we recommend combining Bentham with a Sans Serif font in your body content. For example, you can use a font such as Open Sans or Futura for the rest of your slide content.

9. Libre-Baskerville

Libre-Baskerville is a free serif Google font. You can pair this classic font with several other fonts to make a PowerPoint presentation with a traditional design. 

One of its best features is that it works equally well in both headings and body copy. It’s clear and easily readable, no matter how you use it. And when used for headings, it works really well in uppercase form. 

Tahoma is one of the fonts that offer the best level of clarity for PowerPoint slides. It has easily distinguishable characters like Verdana, but with the exception of tight spacing to give a more formal appearance.

Designed particularly for screens, Tahoma looks readable on a variety of screen sizes and multiple devices. In fact, this significant aspect is what makes Tahoma stand out from other fonts in the Sans Serif family. 

11. Poppins

Poppins falls within the Sans Serif font category but is a different font of its own uniqueness. The solid vertical terminals make it look strong and authoritative. That’s why it’s great for catchy titles and subheadings, as well as for the body paragraphs. Poppins is a geometric typeface issued by Indian Type Foundry in 2014. It was released as open-source and is available in many font sizes for free on Google Fonts.

When you want something that feels casual and professional in equal measure, pick Poppins should be in the running for the best PowerPoint fonts. 

12. Gill Sans 

Gill Sans is another classic presentation font for when you’re looking to build rapport with your audience. Gill Sans is a friendly and warm Sans Serif font similar to Helvetica. At the same time, it looks strong and professional. 

It’s designed to be easy to read even when used in small sizes or viewed from afar. For this reason, it’s a superior match for headers, and one of the best PowerPoint fonts, especially when combined with body text using Times New Roman or Georgia (not to mention several other fonts you can pair it with for successful results). This is the right font for combing different fonts within a presentation.

13. Palatino

Palatino can be classified as one of the oldest fonts inspired by calligraphic works of the 1940s. This old-style serif typeface was designed by Hermann Zapf and originally released in 1948 by the Linotype foundry. It features smooth lines and spacious counters, giving it an air of elegance and class. 

Palatino was designed to be used for headlines in print media and advertising that need to be viewable from a distance. This attribute makes Palatino a great font suitable for today’s PowerPoint presentations.   

Palatino is also a viable choice for your presentation’s body text. It’s a little different from fonts typically used for body paragraphs. So it can make your presentation content stand out from those using conventional fonts. 

14. Georgia

Georgia typeface has a modern design that few fonts can match for its graceful look. It’s similar to Times New Roman but with slightly larger characters. Even in small font size, Georgia exudes a sense of friendliness; a sense of intimacy many would claim has been eroded from Times New Roman through its overuse. This versatile font was designed by Matthew Carter , who has successfully composed such a typeface family which incorporates high legibility with personality and charisma. Its strokes form Serif characters with ample spacing, making it easily readable even in small sizes and low-resolution screens. 

Another benefit of using this modern font is its enhanced visibility, even when it’s used in the background of your PowerPoint slides. Moreover, the tall lowercase letters contribute to a classic appearance great for any PowerPoint presentation.  

Final Step: Choosing Your Best Font for Presentations

Choosing the right PowerPoint fonts for your future presentations is more of a creative exercise than a scientific one. Unless you need to abide by strict branding guidelines and company policies, there are no rules for the ‘best font’ set in stone. Plus, presentation fonts depend entirely on the environment or audience it is intended for, the nature and format of the project, and the topic of your PowerPoint presentation. 

However, there are certain basic principles rooted in typography that can help you narrow down the evergrowing list of available PowerPoint presentation fonts and choose PowerPoint fonts that will resonate with and have a powerful impact on your target audience.

As discussed in this article, these include font factors such as compatibility with most systems, clarity from a distance, letter spacing, and so on. Luckily for you, our carefully researched and compiled list of best fonts for presentations above was created with these core fundamentals already in mind, saving you time and hassle.

As long as you adopt these best practices for standard fonts without overcomplicating your key message and takeaways, you’ll soon be on your way to designing a brilliant slide deck using a quality PowerPoint font or font family! From all of us here at Piktochart, good luck with your new and improved presentation slides that will surely shine!

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20 Best Fonts for Presentations In 2024 [PowerPoint or Not]

Written by: Chloe West

Choosing the best font for your presentation can mean the difference between an engaged audience and one that’s confused or distracted. A presentation font needs to be legible, agreeable, and not interfere with the content itself.

But choosing a font isn’t always straightforward.

To save you time and effort, we’ve selected 25 of the best fonts for presentations. This list will help you find the best font for your next presentation, whether you’re using PowerPoint, Google Slides, Keynote or any other tool to create it.

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Choose the font that you like from the list below and see when (and if) you should use it. And the best part? Each of these, and 500 more fonts are available for free in Visme's presentation maker .

Here's a short selection of 8 easy-to-edit Presentation templates you can edit, share and download with Visme. View more below:

26 Best Fonts for Presentations 

• Archivo Black
• Libre-Baskerville
• Abril Fatface
• League Spartan
• Playfair Display
• DM Serif Display
• Dela Gothic One

Presentation Font #1: Lato

We’ve all seen a million and two presentations using standard fonts like Arial and Times New Roman. Lato often serves as a default font choice in many cases. This sans-serif typeface offers a more contemporary appearance.

Plus, the variety of weights that Lato is available in – from thin to light to bold and more – helps to ramp up this font’s overall appeal.

This font can be used in a variety of different ways, as we’ll see in the presentation templates below.

In this presentation below, we see Lato used as the header font in each slide. It’s paired with a thicker serif font to create a nice balance between the two types of fonts.

Here’s another presentation example using Lato as the main header. Both of these examples are using Lato Light to create a more sleek and modern look in their slide decks.

However, as we see in the above presentation, Lato’s normal and bold weights work perfectly for offsetting the light in various headings and designs.

Lato is a modern and readable font, making it perfect for nearly any type of presentation. However, it works perfectly for conveying your professionalism in a pitch deck as well, like we’ve shown you in these examples.

Presentation Font #2: Roboto

Another great font to use in your presentations is Roboto. Roboto is yet another basic sans serif font that works across a variety of industries and types of presentations .

Roboto is a suitable font to use for your body text, like we see below in this presentation.

All of the main body paragraphs are easy to read in Roboto, as well as professional and well designed.

We see Roboto used again below in this presentation sharing workout apps.

Here, it’s also used as the main font for body copy within the presentation. This just goes to show that this font can be used for nearly any type of presentation as well as any industry.

Roboto also pairs well with many other fonts, whether a serif like Garamond, a sans serif like Gill Sans or a script like Pacifico.

Presentation Font #3: Bentham

Bentham is a stunning serif font that works perfectly as a header font in your business presentations . It’s easy to read and gives your presentation a more traditional look and feel.

We use the Bentham font in our simple presentation theme, as you can see below.

This font can be used as uppercase, title case or even lowercase, whatever fits in best with the rest of your design. In the simple presentation theme, we have over 300 different slide styles to help you put together a unique and beautiful presentation.

Bentham is a free font that you can easily access inside Visme when creating your presentation design. Add letter spacing to create a different effect on your slides.

Pair Bentham with a sans serif font for your body copy like Open Sans (that we’ll cover shortly) or Futura .

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Presentation Font #4: Fira Sans

Fira Sans is a stunning font that is incredibly versatile. In fact, you can utilize Fira Sans as both your header and body font, with another font in the mix to act only as an accent font.

See what we mean in this PowerPoint template below.

While Fira Sans is used in both normal and bold weights for the majority of the slide content, we see a nice serif thrown in as well to offset the single presentation font.

We can see Fira Sans used in multiple ways in this informational presentation template below as well.

This gorgeous sans serif font can be used in bold, italic, underline and more, giving you a wide variety of uses for this one font selection. Give it a try in your next presentation.

Presentation Font #5: Archivo Black

Archivo Black is a bold and strong font that looks powerful in all caps, like in the presentation example below. This font works perfectly on titles in both large and smaller sizes because it has a heavy presence.

In this presentation, Archivo Black is paired with Work Sans, a perfectly agreeable sans serif font that is easy to read in body text and captions.

When deciding what fonts to pair together, take a look at the Font Pairs collection in the left-hand toolbar of the Visme editor. In there, you’ll find hundreds of great pairings to use in your presentations.

Presentation Font #6: Montserrat

Montserrat is a big favorite of ours here at Visme given that a large majority of our own headings across our website are done in this font.

However, it’s one of the top font choices you can use as well for the headings on your PowerPoint slides.

Check out how we’ve used Montserrat as a header in this marketing plan presentation template.

It’s bold and helps your slide titles and headers to stand out to your audience, letting them know exactly what to expect each time you move to a new slide.

Here’s another example where we’ve used Montserrat, but this time we’ve used a thinner version in the header.

This versatile font almost looks like a completely different typeface when you switch up its weight, giving you even more flexibility for using it across your various presentations.

As you can see, Montserrat can be the font to choose when creating a marketing or business plan presentation as it’s both professional and visually appealing.

Montserrat also pairs well with a variety of different fonts. Try a thin sans serif for a nice contrast in your next PowerPoint.

Presentation Font #7:  Open Sans

Open Sans is a commonly used font for body paragraphs in your presentation slides due to its legibility. Because it’s a basic sans serif font, it’s the perfect way to visualize the larger pieces of text you might need to include on a slide.

Here’s a presentation template that showcases Open Sans as the main font for the body copy.

However, Open Sans shouldn’t be discounted as only a paragraph typeface. In fact, you can also use it in professional presentations to help your headings stand out clearly, increasing readability.

Take a look at this stock pitch presentation that uses Open Sans as the large font for the title and headings on each page. We used Open Sans in two different weights, creating a font pair that looks balanced and unique.

If you’re looking for the right font to ensure your presentation is easy to read and digest, Open Sans is a great choice.

Presentation Font #8: Dosis

Dosis is another go-to presentation font for any industry. It’s a fun sans serif font with rounded edges and tall, thin letters, giving it a more futuristic look.

Here’s an example of how an industry focused presentation can use Dosis in – a slide deck for a restaurant’s marketing plan.

In this example, Dosis is used in all caps on the title slide and in the headings on each slide. This template has added a unique design that incorporates a two-color composition that makes the font contrast with the background.

Below, we have another impressive presentation template using Dosis in a similar fashion. It’s paired here with sans serif font Source Sans Pro, providing a modern combination fit for a tech startup pitch deck.

Similarly, we see that Dosis works well in all caps and can be used in a variety of designs in order to make the text stand out that much more.

Presentation Font #9: Libre-Baskerville

Another quality PowerPoint font to consider using in your presentations is Libre-Baskerville. This is a Google font that you can use for free inside many presentation software , Visme included!

Libre-Baskerville is a serif font style that can be paired with a variety of other fonts and color schemes, creating a more traditional look and feel for your presentation.

We use Libre-Baskerville in all caps as headings in our Modern presentation theme. This theme has over 800 different slide designs so you can pick and choose the ones that work best for your presentation needs.

However, this font can also be used in body paragraphs just as easily, as it’s clear and legible and easy to read.

In the presentation template below, we’ve paired Libre-Baskerville with Josefin Sans in the header, creating a classic look and feel for any presentation deck .

Libre Baskerville is a timeless font choice that never goes out of style and adds a sleek touch to any presentation you need to create.

Presentation Font #10: Muli

Muli is a versatile font that looks professional in both headings and body copy. As a sans-serif font, it’s bottom-heavy, so it sits well on the line, giving a sense of control. Its roundness makes it friendly and easy to read.

This presentation uses Muli for the titles in a medium size and a lower size for small headings. The pairing of Muli with Lato works well with the colors and shapes in the rest of the design.

Presentation Font #11: Abril Fatface

If you’re looking for a bolder font that grabs attention, a slab serif like Abril Fatface might be just the font you’re looking for. This could pair nicely with a standard font like Helvetica or Verdana or a thinner serif like Georgia or Palatino.

Check out how we’ve incorporated this bold font into the headings of the below annual report presentation design.

Abril Fatface is a great font for creating eye-catching headlines on your slides, but should only be used with short headings or pieces of text. A bold font like this can be hard to read in paragraphs or longer sentences.

Look at how good this Abril Fatface looks on the 3rd slide of this presentation.

The presentation below also uses Abril Fatface for the headings on each slide. The font has so much personality that it looks beautiful on its own and placed over bold colors.

If you’re looking for a slab serif font alternative, use fonts like Rockwell or a bolded Trocchi in your next Visme or PowerPoint presentation .

You could even look into custom fonts from sites like DaFont and import them into your Visme brand kit .

Presentation Font #12:  KoHo

The next font on our list is KoHo, a unique sans serif font that can be used in more playful presentations. 

Whether you’re creating a presentation for school , a video presentation to play in your office or something else entirely, KoHo can be one of the best fonts to utilize.

We incorporated KoHo into our Creative presentation theme in the various headings of each slide.

This is another one of our massive presentation themes, offering hundreds of slide designs for you to choose from. However, as the name suggests, this one has a more creative and playful feel to it.

If you need to create a pitch deck for investors or a sales presentation for new clients, KoHo and the Creative theme might not be for you. 

However, if you’re embedding a slideshow onto your blog or sharing an informational presentation on SlideShare, KoHo could be a better suited choice to engage your audience.

Presentation Font #13: Helvetica 

Helvetica is a classic sans serif font that has a very loyal fanbase, and for good reason.

As seen most clearly in capitalized texts, the upper half of the texts are quite large when compared to other san serifs fonts. 

This allows the Helvetica fonts to have near-symmetrical proportionality when measuring the upper and lower portions of a text. These proportions make the identification of letters easier at a distance, like in the template example above. 

This fact makes Helvetica a great font to use for headers and titles in live presentations where there may be people “sitting in the back row ” and viewing your presentation from a distance. 

To clearly communicate your main points, be sure to use Helvetica as a bold text on headings and titles.

Presentation Font #14: Cormorant

Cormorant is a sleek and modern serif font.

We like to think of Cormorant as a good alternative for Times New Roman but with a moderate and tasteful change.

With a dynamic range of varying thicknesses, Cormorant appears to have a calligraphic feel and look while still maintaining a sense of professionalism.

While artistic and expressive, Cormorant is still fully legible and usable in a professional environment, as you can see in this presentation template.

Our recommendation is that you choose a font color that is a complementary color to the background. This helps separate the thin portions of the font from the background.

Should the variations in thickness prove too much for your taste, consider dialing back that expression by using Cormorant in its bold format. By thickening up the thinner lines, the variations are less noticeable and may be more suitable for a given context. 

Cormorant is a modern serif font that works well in titles, headings, subtitles for subpoints or paragraphs.

Presentation Font #15: Prompt

Prompt is a geometric sans serif font designed for Latin and Thai languages. Its geometric quality gives it a solid and stable feel that will give your presentation a unique look.

In this modern presentation example, Prompt appears in all titles and subheadings. It’s paired with Montserrat, another san serif with personality. These fonts together do look a bit similar to each other but balance each other out in terms of weight and thickness.

Choose this font specifically if you’re creating a presentation in Thai and need the words to be legible and well-balanced.

Presentation Font #16: League Spartan

League Spartan is a simple sans serif font, that is bold, uniform and minimalistic by nature and is great for headings and titles.

Because it's hefty even with the bold setting turned off, you may want to take extra precautions when using League Spartan for paragraphs or letter bodies. 

League Spartan works great as a header for infographics or cartoon-style presentations, like in the template above. 

The purpose of an infographic is to take difficult or complex information and turn it into easy-to-remember points. The reason that League Spartan works so well with infographics is its simplicity. 

To help set the overall tone of an infographic, you can use a simplified san serif font like League Spartan. A font like this will simplify an important or complex data point and make it feel easy to understand. 

Presentation Font #17: Poppins

Poppins is a versatile and linear san serif font. 

Poppins is linear because of its strong vertical terminals, which are the end of a stroke that is not a serif. This gives the font a sense of weight and vertical authority, making it great for strong, stand-out titles and headers.

Not only is Poppins a wonderful choice for titles and headers, but it also works well for titles, text bodies and subtitles, as you can see in our presentation template below. 

The linear and versatile aspects of Poppins has made this font a favorite in the business and professional world. It feels casual, yet is still very professional.

Presentation Font #18: Playfair Display

What can we say about Playfair Display, other than it’s an incredibly chic and fashionable serif font. 

This font has a strong box feel as most of the characters stay between the baseline and X-height. This means that most of the letters do not dip far below the line, nor do they rise above most of the other letters.

This makes Playfair Display an excellent choice for strong titles and headers, as you can see in our presentation template below.

Many fonts that go after the “box look” fail at being legible from a distance. 

To avoid this problem and make the letters more pronounced, Playfair Display uses a variety of thicknesses in the stem of their letters when compared to the arms and other extensions. 

Playfair display is a classy and elegant font designed to be used as headers or titles. While it can still be used in paragraphs, you may want to limit its usage to shorter portions of your text.

Similarly sized and spaced words written in this style can be disorienting for some readers. So instead, consider using Playfair Display as a font for titles, quotes or various subtitles in your presentation.

Presentation Font #19: Raleway

Raleway is a modern sans serif font that was originally designed to be used as a lightweight font. But after its release and by popular demand, Raleway was given heavier and italicized versions for its fans to use. 

The bold and light versions of this font are extremely versatile and can be used anywhere from bold headers to lighter parts of the body in your presentations, as you can see in our presentation template below.

The italicized version of Raleway has slightly off-centered bowls and shoulders in certain letters. This means that the markings that are not the stem are purposefully written higher or lower than normal. 

This is a subtle artistic flair that does not influence readability. Some people find that swashes actually help increase legibility with these off-centered markings. 

Presentation Font #20: Otama

This type of font pairs well with a solid sans serif like Lato Light. In this presentation example, Otama and Lato Light in all caps work together to create a professional design that stands out and makes a statement.

Presentation Font #21: Lora

Lora is a unique serif font that was made in a contemporary style. 

Drawing its inspiration from calligraphy and traditional fonts, Lora is an excellent balance between an artistic and professional font. 

Lora has very pronounced arches leaping away from the stem of each letter. This gives the font family a more “bubbly” feel to it, while still maintaining a sense of clean professionalism.

To unleash Lora’s true artistic nature, you’ll want to turn on the italics. When italics mode is activated, each letter receives additional swashes, giving it a more hand-written feel.

If you add weight to its default thickness, Lora works well for both titles and headers and when set to its default settings, Lora truly shines as a font in paragraphs and bodies, as you can see in our presentation template below.

Presentation Font #22: Inter

You can use Inter in different weights throughout a presentation or pair it with a versatile font like Lato Light to give the composition a bit of visual variety. The presentation example below uses Inter in mixed-case and Lato Light in all-caps for headings and mixed-case for body text.

Presentation Font #23: Noto Sans

Noto Sans is a basic sans serif font that makes for a great presentation font. Clean and easy to read, it can be used in a variety of different ways from slide to slide.

Take a look at this presentation template below. The main font used throughout the headers and content is Noto Sans, creating a clean and cohesive presentation design.

The above presentation template also uses a script font for the author name on the first slide as well as another sans serif font (Poppins) for some body content.

Having a nice mixture between the two ensures the presentation isn't boring—but it's still clean and uncluttered. Poppins is another font on this list. Try mixing 2-3 different fonts from our recommended fonts to create a stunning presentation design.

Presentation Font #24: Heebo

Heebo is one of the more unique sans serif fonts on our list, but it works perfectly for presentation slide headers. As a thin, tall font, it works better in a larger size than it would for content.

Take a look at how we've used Heebo in this presentation template below. It remains in an all-caps format, typically for headers from slide to slide.

We've also creatively used the font by juxtaposing it atop purple squares, helping to create a design element out of text. Consider how you can do the same thing in your presentations.

Presentation Font #25: DM Serif Display

Our next top font is a beautifully bold serif font. DM Serif Display is a perfect header font for a more traditional presentation design. Serifs tend to seem more old-fashioned, so keep that in mind when creating your next presentation. Maybe a serif will best fit with your audience.

Take a look at this template below to see DM Serif Display in action.

In the above presentation, we've paired this bold serif font with a nice thin sans serif to pull the design together. Sometimes opposites attract and help you to create a beautiful presentation design that your audience will love.

Presentation Font #26: Dela Gothic One

Dela Gothic One is a thick and chunky font with a strong feel. It’s ideal for headings on posters, packaging and in titles on presentations. This font has a lot of power and is best paired with a simple sans serif font or even a classic serif like Garamond for body copy.

For a bolder outcome, use Dela Gothic One in all caps, like we did in the presentation example below. Each slide includes a strong title in Dela Gothic One in a color that contrasts with the background.

Ready to Create Your Next Presentation?

When it comes to fonts for PowerPoint (or any other presentation platform), there are so many options to choose from that it can get overwhelming. But selecting fonts doesn't need to stress you out. Stick to the ones in this list and you’re sure to have a winner.

Whether you use Microsoft PowerPoint , Apple Keynote or Visme, each of these presentation fonts can really bring the best out of your presentation. 

If you want to get even more out of your presentation design and have access to top notch animation, transition and interactivity capabilities, sign up for Visme's free presentation maker today .

If you're racing against the clock, take advantage of Visme’s AI features, like the AI Presentation Maker which takes a text prompt and turns it into a fully designed presentation draft.

Create beautiful presentations faster with Visme.

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About the Author

Chloe West is the content marketing manager at Visme. Her experience in digital marketing includes everything from social media, blogging, email marketing to graphic design, strategy creation and implementation, and more. During her spare time, she enjoys exploring her home city of Charleston with her son.

How to Insert Roman Numerals in PowerPoint? A Quick Guide!

By: Author Shrot Katewa

Microsoft PowerPoint has a variety of usage. It offers a little bit of something for everyone. From creating slides for students and business presentations to teaching children and creating resumes, PowerPoint convenience is internationally popular. If you are new to the PowerPoint, and struggling with inserting roman numerals then this article is just what you need!

To insert roman numerals in PowerPoint, simply highlight the text, click on the “Home” tab, then under the “paragraph” section, choose “Numbering”, and from the dropdown click on Roman Numerals. You can also use your keyboard to type the Roman Numerals in PowerPoint.

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In this article, I will be explicitly describing the different methods of inserting roman numbers in PowerPoint. Once you have finished reading it, you will learn how to insert roman numbers in PowerPoint in every way possible .

How to Insert Roman Numbers in PowerPoint?

Roman numerals are millenniums old and we still use them for some reason. Maybe because they look sharp and attract readers. Chapter 9 looks dull and boring, but chapter IX looks classy. Not only in handwritten documents, but we also tend to use roman numbers in digital documents like word docs, PowerPoint presentations, etc.

No matter what your reason is, there are a number of different methods to insert roman numbers in a PowerPoint presentation. I am going to describe all of them below.

Method 1 – Using Bullets & Numbering under Paragraph Section on the Home Tab

An easy way to insert roman numbers is by using the “Bullets & Numbering” feature in PowerPoint.

The bullets and numbering feature in PowerPoint allows us to add, as the name suggests, bullets and numbers in our text on the slides.

The reason I’m suggesting using this feature is that one of the numbering formats provided by PowerPoint is that of the Roman Numerals!

There are multiple ways in which we can access the Bullets & Numbering in PowerPoint. Let’s look at each of the methods starting with the “Home” Tab in PowerPoint .

The steps involved for this method are mentioned below –

Click on the home tab. In the paragraph section, look for the button called ‘Numbering Library’. If you can’t find it, just hold the cursor on each button till the name appears.

Click the arrow beside the numbering library button. It will open a drop-down menu.

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In the next step, you can choose to insert uppercase or lowercase roman numbers in your presentation.

If you have already used a different number list and now want to change to roman numerals, just simply follow the above steps and select roman numbers from the drop-down menu as indicated in the image above.

Method 2 – Right-click on the Text

Another method of adding Roman Numerals to your text on the slide is by simply using the options provided upon pressing the right-click on the mouse.

This is a pretty straightforward method. The steps involved are as follows –

Start with highlighting the text and selecting the portion of the text where you need the Roman Numerals.

Then, press the right-click button on your mouse. You will see a menu pop-up with multiple options. Search and locate the “ Numbering ” option.

When you hover over the “Numbering” option, a side dropdown menu will appear with multiple numbering presets.

Simply choose the uppercase or lowercase Roman Numeral layout from the menu as per your requirement.

You can also add roman numerals in PowerPoint by using the keyboard shortcut – Alt+H+N on Windows . There is no keyboard shortcut for Mac.

Method 3 – Using the Format Menu (Only for Mac)

This method is specifically applicable only for people using PowerPoint on Mac.

You can use the PowerPoint’s “ Format ” menu option to open the bullets and numbering settings on PowerPoint.

To do that, simply locate the “Format” menu on top of your computer screen. Upon clicking format, a dropdown menu will appear.

From the dropdown menu, select “ Bullets and Numbering “.

A new window will pop-up. In this window you can not only select, but also customize the appearance of bullets and numbering within PowerPoint.

First click on “ Numbering ” from the two options on the top. Then, choose the type of Roman Numerals (uppercase or lowercase) that you want to insert.

You can also change the color of the numbering, as well as the size within the same window. Once you’re done customizing the formatting, click “ OK “.

Method 4 – Using an Image

The drawback with the earlier methods is that it allows you to only add Roman Numerals at the beginning of the sentence. But, what if you would want to add the Roman Numbers in the middle of a sentence? This is exactly where Methods 4 & 5 come in handy!

You can simply copy the image above that contains most roman numbers that you would be specifically looking for, and then paste it on your presentation slide.

Next, simply crop the image such that only the number that you want to showcase appears.

This method allows you the flexibility of using the roman numbers anywhere on your slide!

Method 5 – Using Keyboard to Type Roman Numerals

If you need to use roman numbers somewhere in the middle of your text, you can just type them with your keyboard. To do that, you just need to have basic knowledge about roman numerals.

If you find it too difficult to understand, then perhaps you can use the steps described in Method 4. Alternatively, you can also simply look at the Roman Numbers indicated in the chart above along with their corresponding letters, and type that directly on your slide.

Several letters of the English alphabet completely resemble the roman digits which eliminate the need for a separate roman numeric keypad. Roman numerals resembling English letters are as follows:

Most of your works won’t require anything beyond X, which is 10. So, let’s focus on that.

To write a number in roman numerals, you have to think of the largest roman number that can be used, to sum up, that certain number. Smaller or equal numbers written on the right side indicate addition and a smaller number on the left side indicates subtraction.

For example, if you want to write 25, the biggest roman number that can be used is X. So, 10+10+5 equals 25. In the Roman numbering system, it is written as XXV (Numbers on the right side means addition).

How do we write 23? Let’s breakdown 23. It’s 10+10+3. We can further break it down to 10+10+1+1+1. Now we can simply write it in roman as XXIII.

There is a simple but important rule to follow. Once the number exceeds 3 integers from the median, it has to be written as subtracted from the next largest number.

So, while we can write 23 as XXIII, we cannot write 24 as XXIIII since it has passed 3 integer numbers. It has to be written as XXIV. Notice that the “I” before “V” indicates subtraction of 1 from 5 to result in 4. The same goes for 28, 29, 34, etc.

Use of Roman Numerals

Roman numbers are used all around us. They are becoming rare but still, you can find them in a variety of places. A few common places are –

• In books to number chapters. e.g. Chapter V, Chapter IX, etc.
• To indicate annual sporting or other events. e.g. 2004 Olympics were called the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad
• Sometimes used in movie sequels. E.g. Rambo III, Rocky V, etc.
• Monarch titles are usually written in roman numerals. e.g. King Edward VII of England, Louis XIV of France
• Sometimes historic events are indicated using roman numbers. E.g. World War I, World War II, etc.
• In some books, a few initials pages are numbered using roman numbers before the actual pages begin. It’s worth mentioning that lower case roman numbers are used here.
• Before the 18 th century, the publication date of books was generally written in roman numbers.
• Expensive clocks and wristwatches use them for exquisite looks

So, if you are working on a presentation that relates to any of these topics, it may perhaps be a good idea to use Roman Numerals in your presentation to give it a more authentic look and a feel to it!

Roman numbers were widely used around the world until the 18 th century. It is still used to a noticeable extent including movie sequels, chapters in books, etc. They are extensively used in digital documents for appearance purposes. Keeping that in mind, modern-day software’s like Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint have built-in features to use roman numbers.

Users with basic knowledge of roman numbers might simply opt to write them using X, I, V, and other corresponding English alphabet keys. That is okay when inserting roman numbers amid a sentence, but using them as initials could be easier with the tricks and tips mentioned above.

In this article, I have described the most convenient methods to use roman numbers in PowerPoint presentations. Basic knowledge about roman numbers has been briefly described. Also, additional information about when to use them is added.

I am optimistic that I was able to deliver all the information you needed for your next PowerPoint presentation. Best of luck with your project.