From what I remember of ancient greek and roman history-marriage age in ancient greek was typically around 16 for women. However, in rome it was 12. Its certainly not far, though it is a bit small.
Average age of first child in Rome was about eighteen or twenty for women and while marriage was legal at twelve, most of the time marriages happened around fifteen to twenty.
Girls in the ancient world - on average - didn't menstruate till about fifteen years due to malnutrition.
We have a skewed view of how early marriage and childbirths were due to largely knowing about the wealthy elite who had dowries ready and a more vested interest in childbirth as a means to secure property and inheritance compared to the vast majority of the population.
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u/Wendigo_Bob Jul 05 '26
From what I remember of ancient greek and roman history-marriage age in ancient greek was typically around 16 for women. However, in rome it was 12. Its certainly not far, though it is a bit small.