* Latin was the language of the Roman Empire. It spread throughout the empire, evolving into different regional dialects.
* After the fall of the Roman Empire, these dialects continued to evolve. In the region that would become Italy, one of these dialects, known as Vulgar Latin, eventually became the basis for Italian.
* Italian is a Romance language, meaning it is directly descended from Latin. Other Romance languages include Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Romanian.
So, Italian is a direct descendant of Latin, not a root. Think of it like a family tree: Latin is the ancestor, and Italian is one of its many descendants.