Traditionally the age at which individuals could come together in a sexual union was something either for the family to decide or a matter of tribal custom. Probably in most cases this coincided with the onset of menarche in girls and the appearance of pubic hair in boys, that is, between twelve and fourteen, but the boundaries remained fluid. In Republican Rome, marriage and the age of consent were initially private matters between the families involved. Not until the time of Augustus in the first century C.E. did the state begin to intervene. Marriage then legally became a two-step process, a betrothal which involved an enforceable agreement between the heads of two households, and then marriage itself. Women who were not yet of age could be betrothed with the consent of their fathers, but the woman herself had to consent to marriage.
按照传统，在什么年龄男女双方可以发生关系，要么由家庭决定，要么由部落习俗决定。在大多数情况下，这种时间可能与女孩月经初潮的来临和男孩yinmao出现的时间重合，也就是说，在12到14岁之间，但是这一年龄范围一直变动不居。在罗马共和国，婚姻及同意发生关系的年龄最初是由双方家庭私下决定。直到公元前一世纪奥古斯都时期，国家才开始干预。结果，按照法律，婚姻变成了一个分两步走的程序：首先是订婚，即由双方的家长订立一个可执行的婚约；然后是结婚本身。经其父亲同意，未成年的女子可以订婚，但女方本人必须同意结婚。
The Roman tradition influenced peoples and cultures with whom it had come in contact. In the Islamic tradition following Muhammad, betrothal could take place earlier than puberty, perhaps as early as seven, but the marriage was not supposed to be consummated until the girl menstruated and was of age. In medieval Europe, Gratian, the influential founder of Canon law in the twelfth century, accepted the traditional age of puberty for marriage (between 12 and 14) but he also said consent was "meaningful" if the children were older than seven. Some authorities said consent could take place earlier. Such a marriage would be permanent as long as neither party sought annulment before reaching puberty (12 for girls and 14 for boys) or if they had already consummated the marriage. Even if the husband had technically raped his wife before she reached puberty, the marriage was regarded as consummated. It was this policy which was carried over into English common law, and although consent was necessary, force and influence or persuasion seemed to have been permissible elements. Similarly Gratian's ideas about age became part of European civil law.
罗马传统影响了与之接触的民族和文化。在信奉穆罕默德的伊斯兰传统中，订婚可能早于青春期，也许有人早在7岁就订婚，但在女孩行经并成年之前，不能圆房。在中世纪的欧洲，十二世纪有影响力的教会法例创始人格拉蒂安（Gratian）同意以传统的青春期年龄（12至14岁）为结婚年龄，但同时他也表示，如果男女双方的年龄超过7岁，征得对方同意是“有意义的”。有些权威人士说，同意同房的年龄可能更小。只要双方在进入青春期之前（女孩12岁，男孩14岁）都没有寻求废除婚姻，或者如果他们已经圆房，这种婚姻关系便不可改变。即便还未到青春期妻子就遭到丈夫（法律意义上的）强暴，亦视为已经圆房。正是这一政策被纳入英国普通法，尽管同意是必要的，但武力、影响或劝说等因素似乎也得到许可。同样，格拉蒂安关于年龄的观点也被纳入欧洲民法。
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