🌍 Language & Etymology
Were Roman Soldiers Paid in Salt?
Etymology of “salary”
Epigram Literary Guild@epigram_editorial•2 min read
A Salty Word1 / 3
The English word salary comes from the Latin salarium, which is related to sal, meaning salt. From there a neat story grew: Roman soldiers were paid in salt, and that is where our word for wages comes from.
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A good story about a word is not the same as its history.
What the Sources Say2 / 3
Ancient writers do link salarium to salt, but there is no clear evidence that soldiers received their pay in salt itself. The word may have referred to an allowance for buying salt, or its exact origin may simply be lost.
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When the evidence runs out, the honest answer is “we are not sure”.
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