How are languages like Spanish, Italian, French, and Portuguese a result of cultural change through conflict? Each grew out of Latin, which was spread by the Romans through conquest Each developed as part of a competition to see which culture (Spanish, Italian, French, or Portuguese) would dominate Europe? The languages only exist because the Roman empire fell and native cultures were allowed to bring back their original languages. These similar languages grew out of interactions between soldiers attempting to communicate on the battlefields of ancient Europe.