Mandatory fun-killing note: the evidence suggests that Roman soldiers were never actually paid in salt. 😔
You could get rich as a literate legionary, though. A legionary’s standard pay was about as much as a common worker. But the enlisted-to-NCO pipeline was very real, and NCOs got 1.5x pay, 2x pay, and then, at the rank of centurion, 16x pay! That pay scale also applies to the share of loot you receive after a battle, and, in the Imperial period, also to your retirement bonus!
Of course, centurions were expected to lead from the front, and had high casualty rates. In the Battle of Gergovia, centurions died at four times the rate of enlisted men.
Okay, so here’s my application. I think all people are equal and if they work against the greater good for society, they should be banned from participation.
Shit. Now I see it as well. I don’t have what it takes to be a leader.
A misinterpretation of a line from Pliny the Elder. Pliny traces the etymology of ‘salary’ (when talking about soldiers and government officials) to ‘salt’ because of salt’s value in prior times, but doesn’t actually say soldiers (or government officials, for that matter) were paid in salt.
You might be surprised! For all the complaints we have of legionaries, and they are manifold and sometimes petty, food quality isn’t one of them - something which has been noted by historians as unusual considering that food is usually one of the top complaints of pre-modern (and often modern) soldiery. Considering the high quality of medical treatment and that the Romans considered diet to be a core part of health, and the known rations supplied to legionaries, it’s likely that most legionaries were eating as-well-as or better than their civilian counterparts!
Standard rations of grain (to be made into bread), meat, beans and lentils, cheese, salt, wine, and vinegar. Fucking ancient legionaries are eating better than I am*.
*because my diet is shit by choice, but still. why eat good when eating bad is so easy
to be fair you can still go work in the army
I’ve been told the food sucks now, though 😔
And they tell you you’ll never get rich! 😭
I guess it was easier for both back in the day when you got paid in salt
Mandatory fun-killing note: the evidence suggests that Roman soldiers were never actually paid in salt. 😔
You could get rich as a literate legionary, though. A legionary’s standard pay was about as much as a common worker. But the enlisted-to-NCO pipeline was very real, and NCOs got 1.5x pay, 2x pay, and then, at the rank of centurion, 16x pay! That pay scale also applies to the share of loot you receive after a battle, and, in the Imperial period, also to your retirement bonus!
Of course, centurions were expected to lead from the front, and had high casualty rates. In the Battle of Gergovia, centurions died at four times the rate of enlisted men.
… what’s your tolerance for danger…?
Is the job as emperor still available?
It’s something of a “make your own opening” position
Okay, so here’s my application. I think all people are equal and if they work against the greater good for society, they should be banned from participation.
Shit. Now I see it as well. I don’t have what it takes to be a leader.
Well, I meant more “open up the position by killing the previous Emperor”
Yes, but that wouldn’t be a good example for the ruler coming after me.
So where did that apochrapha(sp?) come from?
A misinterpretation of a line from Pliny the Elder. Pliny traces the etymology of ‘salary’ (when talking about soldiers and government officials) to ‘salt’ because of salt’s value in prior times, but doesn’t actually say soldiers (or government officials, for that matter) were paid in salt.
Never get rich? Have they abandoned pillaging? Like, without that, what’s the point?
“Souvenirs” only, and that only if you can sneak them past your officers 😔
It’s not like the food was great back then
You might be surprised! For all the complaints we have of legionaries, and they are manifold and sometimes petty, food quality isn’t one of them - something which has been noted by historians as unusual considering that food is usually one of the top complaints of pre-modern (and often modern) soldiery. Considering the high quality of medical treatment and that the Romans considered diet to be a core part of health, and the known rations supplied to legionaries, it’s likely that most legionaries were eating as-well-as or better than their civilian counterparts!
TIL
Standard rations of grain (to be made into bread), meat, beans and lentils, cheese, salt, wine, and vinegar. Fucking ancient legionaries are eating better than I am*.
*because my diet is shit by choice, but still. why eat good when eating bad is so easy
You get wine?
Wine was considered essential to the Romans. Even slaves received (cheap) wine rations.
What an alcoholic society