Ulpian's life table
Encyclopedia
Ulpian's life table is an ancient Roman
annuities
table. It is known through a passage, originating in the jurist
Aemilius Macer, preserved in edited form in Justinian
's Digest. It appears to provide a rough outline of life expectancy
in the early third century CE, although it is not clear what population the life table refers to, or how its data was gathered. Its original author, Macer, probably flourished
in the 230s CE. It comes from Macer's systematic commentary on the lex Julia de vicesima hereditatium, an Augustan
law of 6 CE that put a 5 percent tax on inheritances
. Despite its many numbers, the fragment does not appear to be afflicted by any serious textual corruption.
(d. 223), and a customary (solitum est) schedule that antedates Ulpian's. The forma is described as a means of calculating tax for alimenta and usufruct
s. The age of the legatee is checked against the table; the figure recorded on the table is multiplied by annuity's annual value. Five percent of this last figure is what is owed in tax. Ulpian's life table gives figures broadly consistent with the Model West: female life expectancy at birth is 22.5 years, male life expectancy is 20.4. Its mortality figures are thus higher than those of most models, though the statistical flaws in the evidence itself has encouraged interpretative caution.
Although, among moderns, "life expectancy" tends to mean "the average number of years lived after age x", the table figures probably represent median life expectancy: the number of years elapsed before half the selected population is dead. After childhood, the two figures are quite close, but childhood mortality causes the figures for the first years of life to diverge. The figures given are too high to represent the predicted market value of the annuity at a conservative rate of return on capital (on the calculation in the table, a person with a lifespan of sixty years would only have twenty-three years worth of annuity at death). The table therefore most likely represents the rate at which the annual tax payment on the annuity was staggered: a 5% tax was paid on each annual payment received by the legatee until the tax office had received the figure produced by the table. If the legatee died before the median age, leaving part of the tax unpaid, the tax would either be forgiven (out of sympathy for the family so bereaved) or added on to the tax fees of the legatee's heir.
The table does not plausibly represent life expectancy either in early childhood, between forty and fifty, or after sixty. This may be because these ages were difficult for the creators of the table to handle, or because they may have been easily ignored; children do not often receive annuities, for example. But, in spite of these errors, and although Keith Hopkins called the table not "demographically possible", the table corresponds well to other observed populations with abnormally high mortality rates (such as postwar Mauritius
), and to a priori constructions of plausible Roman age structures. In any case, the picture they present is appalling: a society with one of the highest mortality rates on record, with a predicted life expectancy at birth of between 19 and 23.
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
annuities
Life annuity
A life annuity is a financial contract in the form of an insurance product according to which a seller — typically a financial institution such as a life insurance company — makes a series of future payments to a buyer in exchange for the immediate payment of a lump sum or a series...
table. It is known through a passage, originating in the jurist
Jurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
Aemilius Macer, preserved in edited form in Justinian
Justinian I
Justinian I ; , ; 483– 13 or 14 November 565), commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire.One of the most important figures of...
's Digest. It appears to provide a rough outline of life expectancy
Life expectancy
Life expectancy is the expected number of years of life remaining at a given age. It is denoted by ex, which means the average number of subsequent years of life for someone now aged x, according to a particular mortality experience...
in the early third century CE, although it is not clear what population the life table refers to, or how its data was gathered. Its original author, Macer, probably flourished
Floruit
Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...
in the 230s CE. It comes from Macer's systematic commentary on the lex Julia de vicesima hereditatium, an Augustan
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
law of 6 CE that put a 5 percent tax on inheritances
Inheritance tax
An inheritance tax or estate tax is a levy paid by a person who inherits money or property or a tax on the estate of a person who has died...
. Despite its many numbers, the fragment does not appear to be afflicted by any serious textual corruption.
Table
The text provides two figures: a forma, or schedule, presented by UlpianUlpian
Gnaeus Domitius Annius Ulpianus , anglicized as Ulpian, was a Roman jurist of Tyrian ancestry.-Biography:The exact time and place of his birth are unknown, but the period of his literary activity was between AD 211 and 222...
(d. 223), and a customary (solitum est) schedule that antedates Ulpian's. The forma is described as a means of calculating tax for alimenta and usufruct
Usufruct
Usufruct is the legal right to use and derive profit or benefit from property that either belongs to another person or which is under common ownership, as long as the property is not damaged or destroyed...
s. The age of the legatee is checked against the table; the figure recorded on the table is multiplied by annuity's annual value. Five percent of this last figure is what is owed in tax. Ulpian's life table gives figures broadly consistent with the Model West: female life expectancy at birth is 22.5 years, male life expectancy is 20.4. Its mortality figures are thus higher than those of most models, though the statistical flaws in the evidence itself has encouraged interpretative caution.
Although, among moderns, "life expectancy" tends to mean "the average number of years lived after age x", the table figures probably represent median life expectancy: the number of years elapsed before half the selected population is dead. After childhood, the two figures are quite close, but childhood mortality causes the figures for the first years of life to diverge. The figures given are too high to represent the predicted market value of the annuity at a conservative rate of return on capital (on the calculation in the table, a person with a lifespan of sixty years would only have twenty-three years worth of annuity at death). The table therefore most likely represents the rate at which the annual tax payment on the annuity was staggered: a 5% tax was paid on each annual payment received by the legatee until the tax office had received the figure produced by the table. If the legatee died before the median age, leaving part of the tax unpaid, the tax would either be forgiven (out of sympathy for the family so bereaved) or added on to the tax fees of the legatee's heir.
| Ulpian's life table and the customary life table | ||||||
| Annuitant's present age (x) | Corresponding figure | |||||
| Ulpian | Customary | |||||
| 0–19 | 30 | 30 | ||||
| 20–24 | 28 | |||||
| 25–29 | 25 | |||||
| 30–34 | 22 | (60-x) | ||||
| 35–39 | 20 | |||||
| 40–49 | (60-x-1) | |||||
| 50–54 | 9 | |||||
| 55–59 | 7 | |||||
| 60– | 5 | 0 (?) | ||||
| After Frier, "Roman life expectancy", 217, table 1. | ||||||
The table does not plausibly represent life expectancy either in early childhood, between forty and fifty, or after sixty. This may be because these ages were difficult for the creators of the table to handle, or because they may have been easily ignored; children do not often receive annuities, for example. But, in spite of these errors, and although Keith Hopkins called the table not "demographically possible", the table corresponds well to other observed populations with abnormally high mortality rates (such as postwar Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
), and to a priori constructions of plausible Roman age structures. In any case, the picture they present is appalling: a society with one of the highest mortality rates on record, with a predicted life expectancy at birth of between 19 and 23.
Ancient sources
- Digest.
- Scott, S.P., trans. The Digest or Pandects in The Civil Law. 17 vols. Cincinnati: Central Trust Company, 1932. Online at the Constitution Society. Accessed 31 August 2009.
Modern sources
- Frier, Bruce W. "Roman Life Expectancy: Ulpian's Evidence", Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 86 (1982), 213–51.
- Frier, Bruce W. "Demography", in Alan K. Bowman, Peter Garnsey, and Dominic Rathbone, eds., The Cambridge Ancient History XI: The High Empire, A.D. 70–192, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 827–54.
- Hopkins, Keith. "On the Probable Age Structure of the Roman Population", Population Studies 20:2 (1966), 245–64.