In ancient Rome, it was salt and not money that was used for commerce or trading. The soldiers who worked for the Roman empire got a handful of salt in return as their payment each day. This is where the common saying of "being worth one's salt" comes from. Soldiers who did a good job were worth the salt they earned.

"In Rome... the soldier's pay was originally salt and the word salary derives from it," said Pliny the Elder, a famous Roman historian, in his book, Natural History, as he was talking about sea water.

Carving from 1670 showing salt production Carving from 1670 showing salt production

Does the word 'soldier' come from 'sal dare' (to give salt)?

Certain sources also claim that the word 'soldier' is actually taken from 'sal dare' in Latin, which means-- to give salt. However, there is no solid proof of this connection and modern research says the connection might exist because the amount paid to the soldiers could have been specifically given to buy salt, or for guarding the famous Salt Roads, or for conquering salt supplies.

However, historians credit the denotation of 'soldier' as having come from the word 'solidus', meaning gold (coined by Diocletian in 301 CE), as soldiers are known to have been definitely paid in gold earlier.

Importance of salt in ancient Rome

Salt is essential to the survival of humans. As a result, ancient civilisations and communities started to settle down beside rivers and water bodies from where they could get salt, or in locations where they could easily trade for salt. In fact, the suffix of 'wich' as used in Sandwich and Norwich denote that those places were once sources of salt.

The Chinese, Hitties, Hebrews and Greeks all understood the value of salt. Apart from its obvious need and usage, it was also used to salt the earth, a military ritual started by the Assyrians.

When Rome was growing into one of the greatest empires in the world, roads were being made for the easy transportation of salt. Though the Tyrrhenian Sea was much closer to Rome than the Adriatic Sea, the latter had a shallow depth and a high salinity which made salt production easier. As a result, the Via Salaria trail was created joining Rome to the Adriatic Sea.

All through the middle ages, the Roman Empire transported salt via these roads to the Germanic tribes. Huge caravans including as many as 40,000 camels crossed 400 miles of the Sahara to transport salt.

Roman salt pans (source: blog.fuertehoteles) Roman salt pans (source: blog.fuertehoteles)

Connection between salt and salary:

The first salary could have been paid sometime between 10,000 BCE and 6000 BCE, at the time of the Neolithic Revolution as before this time, we did not yet have a proper bartering system in place or a system for organised employees.

By the time of the Hebrew Book of Ezra, dated sometime between 550 and 450 BCE, taking salt from a person was synonymous to taking sustenance or pay. Salt was still strictly regulated by the ruling class. The section of 4:14 from the book, which focuses on Persian king King Artaxerxes I's servants speaking about their loyalty, can be translated in a number of ways-- "because we are salted with the salt of the palace" or "because we have maintenance from the king" or "because we are responsible to the king". The Hindi phrase "namak khaya hai" also associates salt with loyalty.

In the medieval times, getting a salary wasn't very common and remained rare till pre-industrial Europe. The bartering system kept trade alive. The higher classes including nobles and courtiers however received a yearly amount which was sometimes augmented with inconsistent extra payments. Those on the lower scale such as slaves and serfs either received no pay, or got a fraction of what they produced, or got only food and lodging as remuneration. In medieval universities and monasteries, assistants were common and they were usually paid a salary.

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