Similarly, the Latin word salarium linked employment, salt, and soldiers, but the exact link is not very clear. The latest common theory is that the word soldier itself comes from the Latin sal dare (to give salt), but previous theories were on the same ground. Alternatively, the Roman historian Pliny the Elder stated as an aside in his Natural History's discussion of sea water, that "[I]n Rome. . .the soldier's pay was originally salt and the word salary derives from it...".[4] Others note that soldier more likely derives from the gold solidus, with which soldiers were known to have been paid, and maintain instead that the salarium was either an allowance for the purchase of salt[5] or the price of having soldiers conquer salt supplies and guard the Salt Roads (Via Salaria) that led to Rome.[6][7] Roman empire and medieval and pre-industrial Europe
Regardless of the exact connection, the salarium paid to Roman soldiers has defined a form of work-for-hire ever since in the Western world, and gave rise to such expressions as "being worth one's salt".[1]
Thanks. That is what I remember from reading years ago. Research the word, left, and see what you can find. The history and usage of a word has always interested me. Thanks for your help.