Ara Pacis Augustae - the Altar of Peace, in Rome

Ara Pacis Augustae – the Altar of Peace, in Rome

You can see why ancient life expectancies were low for yourself: figure out the average age at death of the following group of people:

Grandma Julia: 85 (from a stroke)
Grandpa Lucius: 45 (from diabetes)
Mom: 56 (from cancer)
Dad: 45 (from a heart attack)
Maria: 8 (pneumonia after a bad cold)
Favilla: 3 (dysentery on top of malaria)
Marcus: six months (same pneumonia after same bad cold)
Quintus: three months (digestive problems)

First you add up all the ages; did you get 197.75?
Then you divide by the number of people (8)
And the average age at death is 25.

Life expectancy page
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