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In ancient times, salt (or the lack of it) could drastically affect the health of entire populations. Trade in salt was very important, and salt was valuable enough to be used as currency in some areas. The Latin phrase "salarium argentum," "salt money," referred to part of the payment made to every Roman soldier, and the word has been carried down the ages into the English word "salary". Everyone must have salt, so it has been a commodity much abused by attempts at monopoly, by individuals, corporations, cities, and nations. The city of Rome may have begun as a salt-trading center, like Venice after it. Certainly the salt traders of the Roman port of Ostia raised the price so high that the state was forced to take over the industry about 506 BC. Man-made salt-ponds along the Mediterranean shore date back to Roman times, and it is inevitable that we will find older ones. Salt was already being mined in the Alps when Rome was founded.
Salt was taxed by governments from the ancient Chinese and Romans to late medieval Burgundy, where salt was taxed at more than 100% as it came from the salt-works. Extended to the whole of France when Burgundy was absorbed, the notorious salt tax "la gabelle" became necessary to the government. Cardinal Richelieu said that it was as vital to France as American silver was to Spain. The repeal of the salt tax was a major goal of the revolutionaries of 1789, but Napoléon restored it as soon as he became Emperor, to pay for his foreign wars: and it continued until 1945. It is said that income from a salt pan in southern Spain largely financed Columbus' voyages. In the United States, the State of New York financed the Erie Canal with its salt tax!
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What is the most expensive type of salt available on the market?
The most expensive type of salt available on the market is Himalayan pink salt.
How can you recycle salt?
Because salt is not expensive is not necessary to recycle.
Past and present tense of salt?
I salt , I salted
Why was salt an expensive commodity in rome?
It was hard to get.
How did the salt march help the independence movement?
Bbecause of they had enough salts they didn't needed to but from the British people so they were getting poor. Because at that time salt was a very expensive thing.
Why is salt as expensive as gold?
Because it is very rare.
How can you look after a shark in your back yard?
with great difficulty. Most sharks live in salt water, so you'd need a fairly big salt water aquarium, which is tricky and expensive in itself.
How much was sushi in the past?
it was very expensive
Why is passing salt bad luck?
Passing salt was not bad luck. Spilling salt was bad luck because in Roman days, salt was very expensive.
What is the best salt to use on roads?
The best is calcium chloride; but because this is expensive rock salt is used.
Why did the medieval peasantry flavored their food in different ways to those used by the nobility?
Spices were expensive and salt was so valuable that it was kept in a "salt cellar" or box. Only certain people were allowed any salt. That is where we get the saying "sitting below the salt" because only the people at the head table ( the rich) had any salt and everyone else who was "below the salt" was poor. The peasants ate basic foods and a lot of their diet was barley soup and bread. Wheat was also very expensive so only the very wealthy had any breads made with wheat. Just like today there are people who eat very expensive foods and there are people who don't. It all comes down to what you can afford.
What type of bath salts are best for pain relief?
Himalayan Pink Salt is the best bath salt to use for pain relief. Unfortunately, it is also expensive. Dead Sea Salt is also good for pain relief and less expensive.
