Roman legal sources strongly indicate that women could not marry before age 12. This age restriction derived from general observation of female pubescence; women aged 12 were, as a rule, thought to have become physically capable of having regular sexual relations with men (viripotens) and of bearing children, and both regular sexual activity and childbearing were thought of as typically occurring within marriage, as a woman moved from virgo to mulier and thereby attained adulthood. Twelve will seem to us undesirably young, and indeed ancient doctors such as Soranus warned against the dangers of women becoming sexually active at so early an age. Most Roman women appear to have married later, from about 15 to 20. But the possibility of earlier marriage we know to have been actively pursued especially in upper-class families, where marriage often assisted dynastic alliances.
Against this background, a fairly considerable body of evidence indicates that girls who had not yet reached the legitimate age of marriage were nonetheless undergoing a form of marriage. Literary sources usually ignore the phenomenon, or speak of it in vague terms; a salient example is Plutarch (Lyc.-Numa 4.2), who vaguely describes the Romans as “giving girls in marriage at age 12 and younger” (τῶν Ῥωμαίων δωδεκαετεῖς καὶ νεωτέρας ἐκδιδόντων). Presumably the law was taken to define a norm of acceptable social behavior.
The Roman jurists, however, were unable to avoid dealing with the subject, mainly because, as an astonishingly large number of sources show, these underage marriages were often replete with full Roman weddings including the signing of dowry agreements, as well as the move of the new “wife” from her parental home to that of her “husband.” The ensuing legal problems centered on how to handle these arrangements, which were based on a “marriage” that the jurists seem, fairly uniformly, to condemn as void. One startling example is a passage of Ulpian (D. 48.5.14.8) describing an underage girl who had undergone a marriage ceremony and was residing in her “husband’s” home, where she had sexual relations with another man; the issue was whether, in light of the void marriage, the “husband” could accuse her of adultery. Ulpian rules that he can by suggesting that, although she is not married, she can be regarded as engaged (sponsa) and hence liable under the Severan extension of Augustus’ adultery law.
Romanists have not been slow to recognize the importance of such legal sources, but, until the publication of Isabella Piro’s book Spose Bambine in 2013, they were discussed mainly in terms of their implication for Roman marriage law, as in the flurry of articles set off by Marcel Durry’s radical thesis in 1955/1956. Piro widens the landscape by bringing in literary sources such as the wedding of Junia Arunculeia in Catullus (61) and the pseudo-wedding of the young girl Pannychis in Petronius (Sat. 25.1-3). These sources are sufficient to indicate that such underage marriages, although not legal in the eyes of the jurists, were probably not rare. The more important issue is what they say about the relationship between law and social conventions in the Roman world, and also about the legal protections afforded to young girls.
FAQs
If a daughter could prove the proposed husband to be of bad character, she could legitimately refuse the match. The age of lawful consent to a marriage was 12 for girls and 14 for boys.
What was the legal minimum age for girls to marry in Rome? ›
For Roman girls the legal minimum age at marriage was 12; but the law provided no sanctions and was contravened. The usual age at puberty (at least for the upper classes) was probably 13+. In fact menarche was not always a pre-condition of marriage; nevertheless marriages were usually consummated immediately.
What was the average age for a Roman girl to marry? ›
5; the average age at first marriage for girls in this sample seems to lie in the late teens or early twenties. Hopkins called the results 'striking and unexpected' when set against 'the early age at marriage of girls (median 15.5 years) recorded on stone inscriptions in the western half of the Roman empire.
What age did girls marry in ancient times? ›
Ancient Roman law required brides to be at least 12 years old. In ancient Roman law, first marriages to brides aged 12–25 required the consent of the bride and her father, but by the late antique period, Roman law permitted women over 25 to marry without parental consent.
What were Roman laws about marriage? ›
Citizens were not allowed to marry prostitutes or actresses and provincial officials were not allowed to marry the local women. Soldiers were only allowed to marry in certain circ*mstances and marriages to close relatives were forbidden. Finally, unfaithful wives divorced by their husbands could not remarry [expert].
At what age did Roman girls become adults? ›
Children 7 and under were considered infants, and were under the care of women. From a age 8 until they reached adulthood children were expected to help with housework. The age of adulthood was 12 for girls, or 14 for boys. Children would often have a variety of toys to play with.
Can a 14 year old date a 30 year old in Italy? ›
Italy. The age of consent in Italy is 14 years, with a close-in-age exception that allows those aged 13 to engage in sexual activity with partners who are under the age of 18, provided that the age gap between them is less than 4 years (i.e. if the partners are all under the age of 18, but at least 13).
Can a 15 year old marry a 30 year old? ›
A person who is 15 can marry with parental consent and judicial approval. With parental consent, a person can marry at 16 or 17, but only if there is no more than a three-year age gap between the two parties.
What is the youngest age to get married in Italy? ›
If you choose to celebrate your marriage in Italy under Italian law, you must follow some conditions which include: the minimum age limit of 18, or 16 years with Juvenile Court authorization, and must not already be in a marriage. In Italy, same-sex marriages are possible.
Did Romans love their wives? ›
Although romantic love between husbands and wives is attested to in letters, inscriptions, and epitaphs, a great deal of what is known of love in ancient Rome comes from the poets in praise of women or boys they were involved with sexually, usually an extramarital affair on the part of one or both.
Gordian III was the youngest emperor of the Roman Empire who ruled alone. He was only 13 years old when he became emperor and ruled from 238 to 244 AD. His father was Junius Balbus and his mother was Antonia Gordiana.
What were the two types of Roman marriage? ›
Manus (/ˈmeɪnəs/ MAY-nəs; Latin: [ˈmanʊs]) was an Ancient Roman type of marriage, of which there were two forms: cum manu and sine manu. In a cum manu marriage, the wife was placed under the legal control of the husband. In a sine manu marriage, the wife remained under the legal control of her father.
Was it normal to marry at 14 in the 1800s? ›
Marriages between a girl under 18 and an adult man weren't unusual in the early United States. In an era when most people didn't know their exact birth date in the first place, most states went by British common law, which allowed girls to marry at 12 and boys at 14.
What country has the youngest age of marriage? ›
In one country (Sudan) boys may be married at 10, in one they may be married at 13 (Lebanon), in one they may be married at 15 (Iran), and in six they may be married at 16 or 17 (see Figure 3). Under customary and religious law, as under other minimum marriage age laws, girls are less protected than boys.
Did medieval husbands love their wives? ›
Marriage back then was not based on love; most marriages were political arrangements. Husbands and wives were generally strangers until they first met. If love was involved at all, it came after the couple had been married.
What was the legal age for boys and girls to be married in the Renaissance? ›
Shakespeare's mother, being of a lower aristocratic family, and marrying into a higher family was common practice for marriages in the Renaissance. With parental permission, boys could legally wed at 14, and girls at 12, but it was not recommended at such a young age (“Marriage and Family”, par. 1).
What was the age of puberty in Roman law? ›
Generally, children until the age of seven were referred to as infantes, until puberty (or, in later legislation, until the age of twelve for girls and fourteen for boys) as impuberes, and those between the puberty and the age of twenty-five (with the full legal capacity) more generally as (minores).
What did the Roman laws allow parents do to their children? ›
If they angered him, he had the legal right to disown his children, sell them into slavery or even kill them. Only the paterfamilias could own property: whatever their age, until their father died, his sons only received an allowance, or peliculum, to manage their own households.
What was free marriage in Roman law? ›
By the end of the Republic, most Roman marriages were 'free', meaning that the wife did not submit to the authority of her husband, but instead remained located within her natal family, under her father or even grandfather's authority, if he were alive.
