Age Categories in Roman Law. A Year in Ancient Rome and its Importance for Determining People's Age

Abstract

The age of a human being is a common research topic in many branches. This topic is also used by the legal science. Age categories functioned in Roman law, due to which the legal position of a person was determined. The ages of 7,12,14 and 25 together with adjusted terms such as infantes, impuberes and puberes were characteristic for the Roman private law. The elementary unit to determine people’s age is a year. In ancient Rome it was not so clear as it is today, that a year consisted of 365 days. The main aim of this article is to present how the ancient Romans reckoned a year through different Roman law historical periods.