Adolescence during Antiquity: the Greek and Roman periods

It seems important to understand how was the life of young people during the Antiquity, in the Greek cities and in Rome. Furthermore, it can be useful to find if there is a stage that marks the transition to adulthood. Finally, as the Romans are considerate to be great codifiers of laws, it seems important to study the Roman law to understand the legal conception of adolescence at this period.

A literature review has been done about studies published between 1962 and 2015. Those publications were found in some historical databases (as Persée, Cairns, J-Stor, OpenEdition) and in academic libraries.

In the Greek cities, the adolescent, at 18 years old, has to do a military service called the ephebia. At the end of this formation, the young man, aged of 20 years old, comes back to his city. However, he has to continue his (intellectual) training until about his 30 years old. Generally, at this age, a man marries a young girl and becomes a respected adult. In the Roman law, there is no conception of legal age for the majority: the young people stay under the authority of the pater familias (father of the family) until the death of the father. If the father is dead: the boy becomes a pupil and has a specific juridical status until his 25 years. Two important stages exist for the young Romans: wearing the toga virilis (toga of manhood) and the wedding.

There is an evolution in the perception of the adolescence during the Antiquity: for the Greeks, the adolescence ends at 20 years old with an important stage, the ephebia. In the Roman law, there is no legal age because everyone lives under the authority of the pater familias.