When you say big shock to the plot, I hope you don't mean a big BOOM sort of shock?
How old are the girls? They seem to be getting married off awfully young, I admit I don't know much about Domestic life for Romans, remember I'm just a soldier and I'm forbidden to marry during my enlistment! *wink*
Poor Felix...All of these women want his something viscious! It's tough being a guy! :D
No BOOM today. No BOOM tomorrow, either. It will be a little while yet.
Of course no one wants wives cluttering up a military unit. What would that lead to next? Flowered curtains in the tents? Doilies??
Both girls--Justa and Elisa--are about fourteen or fifteen. Calatoria is eager to marry off her stepdaughter, and Justa probably just wants out of the house. Apparently many Roman women married in their late teens, but fourteen was a fairly common age for a girl's first marriage, as I remember... I mean remember from my studies, not from, you know, having been there myself. Rich folks might marry off the girls extremely young for a symbolic alliance, and might also marry off their rich little boys as young as six or seven for the same reason, but in general one wanted the husband to be 20-ish (maybe as ancient as 25) and somewhat established, or on the way to getting himself established. Felix is getting a bit old for all this. Mus really does need to get on the ball before he ends up an old maidconfirmed bachelor embarrassment to his hoity-toity family.
Of course life expectancy was so short (the average was, what, 25 years?), the earlier you got started on baby-production, the better....
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A double dose of the wobblies.
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Date: 2007-03-23 09:49 pm (UTC)How old are the girls? They seem to be getting married off awfully young, I admit I don't know much about Domestic life for Romans, remember I'm just a soldier and I'm forbidden to marry during my enlistment! *wink*
Poor Felix...All of these women want his something viscious! It's tough being a guy! :D
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Date: 2007-03-23 10:34 pm (UTC)Of course no one wants wives cluttering up a military unit. What would that lead to next? Flowered curtains in the tents? Doilies??
Both girls--Justa and Elisa--are about fourteen or fifteen. Calatoria is eager to marry off her stepdaughter, and Justa probably just wants out of the house. Apparently many Roman women married in their late teens, but fourteen was a fairly common age for a girl's first marriage, as I remember... I mean remember from my studies, not from, you know, having been there myself. Rich folks might marry off the girls extremely young for a symbolic alliance, and might also marry off their rich little boys as young as six or seven for the same reason, but in general one wanted the husband to be 20-ish (maybe as ancient as 25) and somewhat established, or on the way to getting himself established. Felix is getting a bit old for all this. Mus really does need to get on the ball before he ends up an
old maidconfirmed bachelorembarrassment to his hoity-toity family.Of course life expectancy was so short (the average was, what, 25 years?), the earlier you got started on baby-production, the better....