Verstraete, Beert C.

Dr. Verstraete is Professor of Classics in the Department of History and Classics at Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia. He obtained his doctorate in Classics at the University of Toronto. He has contributed as a translator and annotator to the Collected Works of Erasmus and the Index Emblematicus published by the University of Toronto Press, and has published many articles on Roman literature, the classical tradition in western literature, and society and sexuality in the Greco-Roman world.

The Age of Marriage in Ancient Rome

2003 0-7734-6665-7
This study provides a convenient review of the research done and various views held since the late 19th century on the age of marriage in ancient Roman society. It offers an hypothesis that explains the apparent discrepancy between the literary and epigraphic evidence. The age of marriage in Rome had important demographic implications. This study argues and demonstrates that, given the extremely high mortality rate in the Roman Empire, a very early age of marriage was desirable, especially for Roman girls, in order to ensure a reasonably stable population. This study will make a significant contribution to the area of Roman demography and social history.