engleski

Securing the maritime venture – insurance elements of fenus nauticum

The idea of insurance as a principle of reciprocity and solidarity was not a result of a single historical period. It gradually emerged as a reaction to the hazards which permanently threatened the human existence. The risks and possible consequences of seafaring led to various types of damage distribution and contractual transfer of risk throughout history. An important development stage was the Greco-Roman institute of maritime loan (fenus nauticum, pecunia traiectitia) as a mean of financing and insuring overseas sales in the Mediterranean. This loan of money was made to a merchant who was shipping goods overseas ; repayable with very high interest rates on condition that vessel reached its destination safely. By focusing on the institute of maritime loan, which was adapted into Roman legal system and altered to meet the new developments of commerce, this paper aims to elucidate the transnational context and evolution of marine insurance in the Mediterranean. Using the modern insurance concept as benchmark, this contribution will examine the coherence between elements of modern insurance (premium, risk, covered loss etc.) and its historical precursor, as well as give basic insights into the development of maritime loan in seafaring from Antiquity to the Middle Ages until the emergence of the first marine insurance in the Mediterranean countries.

maritime loan; insurance; risk

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