What was the infant mortality rate like and their expected lifespan?
Throughout the entire Roman period, infant and child mortality was much higher than now, with over 30 per cent of live births dying before the age of 5 years old. In addition, the stillbirths recored for was about 9 per cent of all pregnancies: that's 1 in every 11 births (stillbirths are when the child dies in the womb after surviving the first 28 weeks of pregnancy). This hugely contributed to the shorter life spam. For the Romans it was very rare to survive over the age of 70 all though it wasn't impossible, and few lasted from the ages 60 and up. For the richer it was normal to live up to the age of around about 35-50. They believed that these was a good age to live to because you didn't have to worry about be old and sick and unable to live a healthy life. To reassure Romans were told by doctors that if a baby made it through their first year few years they would be be expected to live healthy until the age of 34.
Throughout the entire Roman period, infant and child mortality was much higher than now, with over 30 per cent of live births dying before the age of 5 years old. In addition, the stillbirths recored for was about 9 per cent of all pregnancies: that's 1 in every 11 births (stillbirths are when the child dies in the womb after surviving the first 28 weeks of pregnancy). This hugely contributed to the shorter life spam. For the Romans it was very rare to survive over the age of 70 all though it wasn't impossible, and few lasted from the ages 60 and up. For the richer it was normal to live up to the age of around about 35-50. They believed that these was a good age to live to because you didn't have to worry about be old and sick and unable to live a healthy life. To reassure Romans were told by doctors that if a baby made it through their first year few years they would be be expected to live healthy until the age of 34.