This is one of those "technically true but very misleading" statistics.
The life expectancy in ancient Rome was in the 20s; however, this was not due to a bunch of people dying of disease or "old age" at 27 years old. The life expectancy is an average, and it was brought way down by high infant mortality and death of the young in war. People who lived past 20, even in ancient Rome, were reasonably likely to live past 40 as well (though death by disease and age-related complications did mean people did not normally live to see 50.)
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Date: 2006-05-21 03:54 pm (UTC)The life expectancy in ancient Rome was in the 20s; however, this was not due to a bunch of people dying of disease or "old age" at 27 years old. The life expectancy is an average, and it was brought way down by high infant mortality and death of the young in war. People who lived past 20, even in ancient Rome, were reasonably likely to live past 40 as well (though death by disease and age-related complications did mean people did not normally live to see 50.)