Roman soldiers were frequently paid a portion of their official wages in regular rations of salt, a historical practice that permanently embedded the concept of seasoning into our modern economic vocabulary.

A closer look

Roman soldiers were frequently paid a portion of their official wages in regular rations of salt, a historical practice that permanently embedded the concept of seasoning into our modern economic vocabulary. Because salt was incredibly valuable for preserving meat and preventing deadly infections in the ancient world, it functioned perfectly as a highly liquid and widely accepted commodity currency. This ancient compensation method is the literal origin of the English word salary, derived from the Latin word salarium, meaning money used to buy salt. It is also where we get the slightly insulting phrase about someone not being worth their salt, indicating they were essentially a terrible employee who did not deserve their sodium paycheck. It is somewhat hilarious to realize that centuries of complex financial evolution and digital banking all trace back to sweaty guys in armor getting paid in the exact same stuff you casually sprinkle on your french fries