"First, we need to rent a building."
After getting my mother's permission, I had Felix rent a small insula nearby.
We couldn't receive customers at our home.
Once the company building was secured, I immediately began preparations.
Luckily, there wasn't much paperwork.
Unlike the 21st century, Rome didn't really have corporate law—not in the modern sense.
Anyone with sufficient capital and willpower could start their own business.
After renting the building, I interviewed candidates and hired ten people.
They were free Roman citizens, plus a few freedmen, all able to read and write.
"Alright, now we go to the temple!"
"The temple? Weren't you going to do business here?"
"It's necessary for that very business."
Jupiter, the supreme Roman god identified with Zeus.
His temple held decades of records.
From major political events to petty theft, brawls, and fires.
The temple priests were flustered by my sudden request, but they didn't show much resistance.
"Yes, Caesar. If you need it for research, feel free to transcribe whatever you need."
"Thank you, High Priest. I will repay you with a larger donation next time."
I had my employees transcribe only the necessary parts of the records.
What remained was to analyze the data and set the right pricing.
This was something I had to do myself.
It would probably be better to set the price a bit high at first.
Even with fewer subscribers, generating stable revenue was more important.
Above all, building trust was essential.
After finishing the analysis, I hired additional employees to officially launch the business.
"Long-term, this is nowhere near enough, but we'll have to make do with this for now."
"Even this is insufficient, Young Master?"
Felix asked with a look of astonishment.
"Of course."
"Then how many people do you intend to hire?"
"Well, we need separate sales and accounting teams, a PR team, and employees to collect insurance premiums..."
The longer I talked, the farther Felix's jaw dropped.
"At least fifty to a hundred? And we won't just be doing insurance business."
"To hire that many employees, 100,000 sestertii won't be nearly enough."
"Don't worry too much. If we succeed, we'll make a fortune far greater than that."
I replied with a smile.
The biggest advantage of the insurance business was being able to gather a large amount of money at once with little capital.
With the capital gathered that way, new investments could be made continuously.
Or I could just drink and party all day long. Honestly, that didn't sound so bad.
Listening to me, Felix shook his head from side to side.
"Rather than living busily like this, it might be better if the business fails."
"Stop saying ominous things and just follow me, Felix. If we want to finish training this week, we have to start now."
Before officially launching the business, I gathered the employees on the first floor and conducted a brief training session.
It covered basic insurance content, such as how to write contracts and what information to guide customers on.
"So, we just need to write contracts for those who want them?"
"Yes, but you must accurately record the address and who resides there."
I answered an employee's question.
"Also, make sure to inform them in advance of the name of the collector who will visit later to collect the money. Just in case someone impersonates a collector."
In this era of Rome, there was no such thing as a postal service yet.
To receive insurance premiums, collectors had to go around personally every month.
To prevent any potential controversies, I taught the employees as thoroughly as possible.
Among the ten hired employees, there was one who showed exceptional understanding.
It was Babu, a freedman from Egypt.
"This is truly a business I've never heard of before. Yet, it feels strangely obvious. It's more surprising that no one has attempted this kind of business until now."
He said, scratching his balding head.
Babu absorbed my training with great enthusiasm, and I promoted him to manager, one rank higher than the other employees.
While preparations were proceeding step by step, I encountered an unexpected obstacle.
"How on earth am I supposed to calculate this?!"
It was Roman numerals.
The Arabic numerals I took for granted required remembering only ten digits from 0 to 9.
But Roman numerals felt endless.
In the Roman numeral system, 1 to 10 looked roughly like this:
I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X.
Up to this point, it wasn't too difficult.
But as the numbers got bigger, it became impossible to calculate in my head.
L for 50.
C for 100.
D for 500.
M for 1000.
It was fine when dealing with small numbers, but calculations involving thousands or tens of thousands could eat up an entire day.
Multiplication and division were practically impossible, and even reading the numbers was a struggle.
As a business major, I couldn't tolerate such an inefficient number system.
Everything from formulas for calculating insurance costs to accounting ledgers was too inefficient.
Eventually, I paused the insurance classes and began teaching the basic mathematical knowledge I knew from scratch.
"What on earth is this number 0, Young Master?"
Felix, who was forced to attend the training, raised his hand and asked.
"It's a state of nothingness. A number representing nothing."
"How can nothing be a number?"
"Think of an empty cup. It's still a state you can count."
Teaching the concept of zero, which didn't exist in Roman numerals, was the hardest part.
Using zero, you can easily increase digits without adding new characters.
Anyone who knows Arabic numerals can easily add and subtract numbers reaching tens of thousands.
"This number system you devised is truly ingenious, Boss! I've never seen numbers more simple and perfect than these!"
Listening to my explanation, Babu shouted in a highly excited tone.
Having learned Arabic numerals, division, and multiplication the fastest, he helped me teach the others.
"Did you invent these numbers yourself, sir?"
"I just slightly modified numbers I learned from Eastern merchants."
I answered Babu's question with a nonchalant expression.
I felt a slight pang of conscience, but modern Arabic numerals didn't even exist yet anyway.
Arabic numerals were invented in India around the 7th century.
They were first introduced to Europe through Arab merchants in the 9th century, but Europeans at the time considered them blasphemous and rejected them.
It wasn't until the 15th century, hundreds of years later, that Arabic numerals began to be widely used in the West.
Come to think of it, this was future knowledge at least 1,500 years ahead of its time.
"Even if you applied something from the East, this is a great invention that will go down in the history of mathematics! We should name them Caesar Numerals after you."
"No, that's a bit..."
"There's no need to be humble. Even scholars in Greece or Egypt would be astonished if they knew about these numbers."
"Let's focus on starting the insurance business first. We can talk more about math later."
Right now, employee training was the priority.
Two months after borrowing money from Crassus, I was able to officially launch the insurance business.
Ahead of the opening, the building was filled with the tense breathing of the employees.
"Well then, it's about time we started."
"Young Master, but how do you plan to do sales?"
Felix asked.
"No matter how good this insurance is, it will feel unfamiliar to Romans. We can't go around visiting people one by one to explain insurance, can we?"
"That would be practically impossible. And even if it were possible, it would require enormous funds."
"Then..."
"I have a method in mind."
It's simple if you think about how insurance companies in the 21st century market themselves.
Mass marketing—TV, radio, newspapers.
Among them, TV advertising is the biggest.
Although there is no TV in this era yet, I have a way.
Heralds who deliver news to people in the square.
They were the TV and radio announcers of this era.
What if we add one more thing to that?
A marketing technique favored by insurance companies.
"Wouldn't everyone welcome a free gift?"
***
"So you're saying if we come here, we can hear the details about what you mentioned? What was it called, insurance?"
"Yes, my friend. I heard about it from my wife too, so let's go check it out together."
"If it's a waste of time, you're buying the drinks today."
"Alright, alright."
A sun-drenched afternoon.
The Forum below the Palatine Hill was bustling with gathered citizens.
Since this morning, a single word had been rising and falling from the lips of Roman citizens.
It was none other than the unfamiliar word 'insurance'.
"Citizens! Since Prometheus delivered fire from the heavens, how long have we humans lived under the fear of fire?!"
A man wearing a Roman toga shouted.
"Haven't we seen enough children and women crying after losing their homes overnight?"
"Right! Right!"
The portly man strutted on the podium as if it were a stage.
His was a herald.
Normally, heralds handled election campaigns or policy announcements.
But today, the content was a bit different.
He asked the citizens as if shouting.
"Everyone knows Gaius Julius Caesar well, who left for Hispania not long ago!"
At his words, the citizens nodded.
Anyone interested in politics knew the name Caesar.
Caesar was the *Pontifex Maximus*, the head of the College of Pontiffs, and had served as quaestor a few years ago.
Everybody knew the man who hosted countless festivals and banquets.
Though few knew that most of the costs for him came from Crassus's wallet.
"His son has announced a new plan to relieve such inconveniences for the citizens!"
The herald paused for a moment to draw the maximum reaction from the citizens.
When the citizens' curiosity reached its peak, he opened his mouth again.
"From now on, no Roman citizen will have to live in fear of fire!
Nor will you lose your entire family fortune due to a single mistake!"
He reached out his hand towards the people.
"Only 4 sestertii a month!"
He shouted, holding up four fingers.
"If you pay just 4 sestertii regularly, even if a fire burns down your entire house, you can receive over 1,000 sestertii in compensation!"
"What?"
Hearing those words, the people began to murmur amongst themselves.
Giving compensation money if a fire breaks out.
It was something no one had ever heard of before.
"So does that mean any Roman citizen who suffers a fire gets 1,000 sestertii?"
"No, you fool. He said you have to pay 4 sestertii every month."
"4 sestertii a month... That doesn't seem like a lot of money?"
"Last time, a fire broke out two doors down from us and burned down two whole insulae."
"Wait, wasn't that where Cartiana lived?"
"Exactly."
From those who didn't quite understand to women talking about their neighbors.
The usually quiet Forum was buzzing with chatter.
Looking at the scene in the Forum, the herald smiled with satisfaction.
"Those interested should visit the Insurance Office on the path to the Salutis Hill!"
The murmuring people all shut their mouths and looked at him.
"Kind consultants will guide each Roman citizen to the insurance product and compensation suitable for them!"
Fluttering his colorful toga, he continued to shout.
"Consultation is free, and the first 1,000 visitors will receive an amphora made of high-quality Egyptian clay for free, regardless of whether they sign up!"
"Amphoras are free?"
"What's free?"
"They say the jar is free."
Starting with those words, hundreds of people began to flock toward the Salutis Hill.
There was no carrot more enticing to people than the word 'free'.
However, there were quite a few who distrusted the herald's words.
"This is a total scam. Giving money if your house burns down. What fool would believe such a thing?"
"In my opinion, they'll run away to a foreign province with the collected money in less than a month."
The people remaining in the square engaged in heated debates.
"Wouldn't there be people who set fire to their own houses on purpose to get the 1,000 sestertii?"
"This person knows one thing but not the other. Who in their right mind would do such a thing? When my house caught fire, the restoration cost alone was well over 2,500 sestertii!"
Whether positive or negative, most Roman citizens heard about the insurance business.
And the person who started it, Lucius Julius Caesar.