Aristotle and Plato on the Ideal Age of Marriage

It is the universal assumption that the husband will be considerably older than the wife: Plato puts the age of marriage for the [p. 2.134]man at from 25 or 30 to 35, for the wife at from 16 to 20 (Legg. iv. p. 721; vi. pp. 772, 785), and he affixes penalties for the man who does not marry before the highest age mentioned; Aristotle recommends 35 as the best age of marriage for the husband, 18 for the wife (Pol. 7.16).