When did the Romans start using Z?

The letters Y and Z were added in the 1st century BCE in order to render Greek words exactly, hence the name I graeca (“Greek I”).

1. Did the Romans use the letter Z?
2. When was Z added to the alphabet?
3. Why is the letter Z being removed from the alphabet?

Did the Romans use the letter Z?

Around 300 BC, the Roman Censor Appius Claudius Caecus removed Z from the alphabet. His justification was that Z had become archaic: the pronunciation of /z/ had become /r/ by a process called rhotacism, rendering the letter Z useless. At the same time, S was also removed, and G was added … but that's another story.

When was Z added to the alphabet?

In the 1st century BC, Z was put in the alphabet again at the end of the Latin alphabet. This was done to accurately represent the sound of the Greek zeta. The letter Z appeared only in Greek words, and is the only letter besides Y that the Romans took from Greek.

Why is the letter Z being removed from the alphabet?

The main objective of this change is to simplify the phonetic aspect of the language, and to unify the American and British spellings.