This book examines the lives of Roman boys and girls and explores the possible existence of a separate youth culture.

Christian Laes is Associate Professor of Latin and Ancient History at Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the University of Antwerp. He has published five monographs and over fifty international contributions on social history, especially the human life course in Roman antiquity. Childhood, youth, old age, marriage and sexuality as well as disabilities are the main focuses of his scholarly work. His book Children in the Roman Empire was published by Cambridge University Press in 2011.

1. Questioning the concept of youth; 2. Minority, majority: youth, divisions of the human life course and Roman law; 3. Terminology and characteristics of youth; 4. Rites of transition; 5. Youth and ancient medicine; 6. Youth and education: the rhetor and 'university'; 7. Associations of adolescent youths; 8. Youthful behaviour; 9. Youths in public offices; 10. Occupational training; 11. Marriage; 12. Youth and Christianity: continuity or change?; Conclusion.