I always wondered who invented all these “life insurance quotes”, “term life insurances” and other tricky phrases that you need to understand if you want to get right life insurance.
I was quite surprised to figure out that life insurance is probably one of the oldest insurances ever existed - though it would be probably quite an easy guess since who would insure cars in ancient Egypt :).
From “Roman sepulchral inscriptions” book by John Kenrick I got following interesting quote about kind of “life insurance” in Roman empire called burial club:
“As I have not seen the existence of burial clubs among the Romans noticed in any work on Roman antiquities, I will give some extracts from the monument referred to. It was found at Lanuvium, a town of ancient fame for the worship of Juno Sospita, about nineteen miles from Rome on the Via Appia. The inhabitants of this town appear, out of flattery towards the Emperor Hadrian, in whose reign the marble was erected, to have formed themselves into a college for paying divine honours to Diana and Antinous; a singular combination, which shows at once the degraded condition of the people, and the heartless formality of the established religion, which could be prostituted to such a purpose. The privilege of forming a college—or as we should say a body corporate—was most sparingly conceded, and most jealously restricted under the Emperors, who dreaded all secret associations as nurseries of treason. With this primary object of forming a college of the ” Cultores Dianse et An- tinoi” they combined that of a burial club, not forgetting the festivities which formed so important a part of all acts of religion among the Romans. To prevent disputes, the laws of the association were inscribed on marble, and probably set up in the temple of the two deities.“

Looks like a very strange mix of religion and insurance, isn’t it? But even more there - look at the marble contract below - it looks very similar to the current life insurance contracts (only in a slightly simpler language and using marble as a more time resistant document storage device). Looks like good lawyers and actuaries were working on it.

An amphora of good wine was to be presented to the club by a new member; the sum of one hundred sesterces to be paid as entrance-money, and five asses per month as subscription. Their meetings were not to take place oftener than once a month. If any one omitted payment for … months (the marble is here mutilated) no claim could be made, even though he had directed it by will. In case of the death of one who had paid his subscriptions regularly, three hundreds sesterces were alloted for his funeral expenses, out of which, however, fifty were to be set apart for distribution at the cremation of the body. The funeral was to be a walking one. If any one died more than twenty miles from Lanuvium, and his death was announced, three delegates from the college were to repair to the place where he had died to perform his funeral, and render an account to the people. Fraud was to be punished by a fourfold fine. Twenty sesterces each were to be allowed the delegates for travelling expenses, going and returning. If the death had taken place more than twenty miles from Lanuviu, and no notice had been sent, the person who had performed the funeral was to send a sealed certificate, attested by seven Roman citizens, on the production of which the usual sum for the expenses was to be granted. If a member of the college had left a will, only the heir named in it could claim anything. If he diead intestate, the quinquennales, or magistrates of the municipium, and the people generally, were to direct how the funeral should take place. If any member of the college in the condition of a slave should die, and his body, through the unjust conduct of hist master or mistress, should not be given up for burial, his funeral should be celebrated by his bust being carreid in procession. No funeral of a suicied was to take place. There are many other rules tending to preserve order and promote good fellowship, but there are all which relate to the burial club.