Spartan men were required to marry at age 30. Plutarch describes a part of the marriage ritual, in which men ceremoniously 'captured' their wives-to-be:

"The so-called 'bridesmaid' took charge of the captured girl. She first shaved her head to the scalp, then dressed her in a man's cloak and sandals, and laid her down alone on a mattress in the dark. The bridegroom