The Marriage of Roman Soldiers (13 B.C.-A.D. 235) ─ Law and Family in the Imperial Army

As is common in many militaries, the Roman army prohibited its soldiers to marry for most of the period studied, but many soldiers formed long-term relationships with women that often resulted in the birth of "illegitimate" children. Phang (classics, U. of Southern California) assesses the evidence for the marriage ban and examines the social history of the soldiers' illegal unions. She discusses the pragmatic and cultural motivations for the ban, discrediting the paradoxical theory that the prohibition was retained to promote the recruitment of soldiers' sons. She argues that the ban came from cultural traditions that saw soldiers as liable to physical and moral degeneration if exposed to the luxuries of civilian life. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Sara Elise Phang, Ph.D. (2000) in Roman History, Columbia University holds a Mellon fellowship in Classics at the University of Southern California. Her first book isThe Marriage of Roman Soldiers and she is currently working on a study of Roman military discipline.