Скачать или смотреть "Salary" Why pay once meant Salt

Ever wonder why we call our pay a salary?

In ancient Rome, soldiers were sometimes paid with salt — the mineral that preserved life.

That salarium became the root of salary, a word that carried value, sustenance, and worth across two thousand years.

In this episode of The Printing Press, we trace salary from salt roads and Roman soldiers to the modern paycheck — uncovering how something as simple as salt shaped our idea of value itself.

Word Origin: Latin sal (salt) → salarium (salt money) → salary

Themes: Language history, economy, trust, and worth

The Printing Press — Words Worth Remembering

Weekly explainers on how the words we use carry the weight of our history.