Here's why:
* Latin was the official language of the Roman Empire. It was spoken by the Roman elite and used in administration, law, and literature.
* Vulgar Latin was the spoken language of the common people. This version of Latin evolved differently from the formal, literary form.
* After the fall of the Roman Empire, Vulgar Latin continued to evolve in different regions of the former empire. This led to the development of various Romance languages, including Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Romanian.
Therefore, while Latin is considered the ancestor of Italian, it was the colloquial form of Latin, Vulgar Latin, that directly evolved into the Italian language.