Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III HISTORY OP LIFE INSURANCE; PERIOD OF EARLY BEGINNINGS1 It has been the endeavor of most writers to trace the practice, if not the principle, of assurance as far back as possible; but in doing this, trifles have been exaggerated into matters of importance. Some authors contend, on the authority of Livy, that it was in use during the Second Punic War; others, arguing from a passage in Suetonius, refer to the Emperor Claudius as the first insurer; because, in order to encourage the importation of corn, he took all the loss or damage it might sustain upon himself. These cases are, however, entirely exceptional, and certainly indicate no settled plan, as the very fact that the Emperor guaranteed the contractor against damage is a proof that there was no other mode of doing so. Cicero is also quoted, because, in one of his epistles, he expresses a hope of finding at Laodicea security by which he could remit the money of the republic without being exposed to danger in its passage. If, however, the assertion that marine assurance was known to the ancients is not demonstrable, there is no doubt that life assurance was unknown and unpractised, although the Romans had some wise regulations in connection with the economy of the people. From Servius Tullius downwards, they took a census every fifth year, and the right of citizenship was involved in any one failing to comply with the requirements of his age, name, residence, the age of his wife, the number of his children, slaves, and cattle, together with the value of his property. They do not seem to have kept any exact mortuary register, as the chief object of their census was to levy men and money for the purpose of conquest. One of the commentators on the Justinian Code also gave a calculation of the worth of annuit... --This text refers to the Paperback edition.