Is There Control in the Marriage Market?

A young woman could refuse to give consent, but it was expected that she would give conset. The idea was that her parents had the duty of knowing best and acting in her interest. She could only legitimately refuse a match if she was able to bring forward information that that would persuade people beyond her parents. Another thing that's quite brutal is that although young womn in principle, a 12 year old could marry a 14 year old,. In practice, the average age of marriage was in the mid to late twenties, rather than the late teens. So cicero, for example, at the height of his career, married a 15 year old.