Why was salt so expensive?

[Kissmequick]

2. Place names with "Salterton" in them - especially coastal ones. Guess what used to be done there.

Also place names ending in 'wich' iirc.

 

[Gumboot]

@Gumboot: could I get a reference?

Any book on the Punic Wars will probably cover it. Or any book at all on Roman taxation, actually, since it was so common. I mentioned the Punic Wars because Censor Marcus Livius first introduced the salt tax to pay for those wars (which is how his family got the cognomen "Salinator").

Your example is from the Republic, not the Empire. AFAIK, the Republic never set prices on anything.

They're the same thing. "Empire" comes from Latin "Imperium" which was the territory in which Rome ruled. As for the Republic and salt, after Tarquin was kicked out one of the first thing the Roman Senate did was pass a law making it illegal for private individuals to sell salt, instead making it a publicly sourced good - just like grain.

The closest they came was state purchases of grain, which had a powerful but indirect effect on wheat pricing. I'm a medievalist by training, though, so I don't pretend to any depth of knowledge for the ancient world. I ask for sources so I can pursue the question on my own.

They controlled the price of salt (and everything else) through taxation. The Roman Senate set different tax rates on different activities, and would increase or decrease taxes on a particular activity to lower or raise the price.

As I say, any comprehensive work on Roman taxation will cover it.

 

[sknox]

Not picking nits here: taxation is not the same as price controls. What the Salinator did isn't the same as what Diocletian did. But I get what you were driving at.

We can argue about whether the Republic was the same as the Empire off-line.

 

[Gumboot]

Not picking nits here: taxation is not the same as price controls. What the Salinator did isn't the same as what Diocletian did. But I get what you were driving at.

Taxation is often used as a method of price control. In New Zealand, for example, the government increased the tax on cigarettes intentionally to make them more expensive. There's currently quite loud calls to do the same with unhealthy food.

 

[anivid]

- sodium chloride is just one solution for having the salt you need.
What did the other mammals do ??

 

[Venusian Broon]

- sodium chloride is just one solution for having the salt you need.
What did the other mammals do ??

I think there are plenty of natural sources of salt that animals learn to exploit - but in our eyes they will be licking/eating dirt and rocks.

Mammals with better developed brains will ferret out particularly high concentration sources. There was one of the BBC's great wildlife documentaries (may have been Life of Mammals) where they filmed in a cave system which was used by a great number of animals, but especially elephants to lick/grind/tusk off salt rock. So in effect these elephants who had learned to exploit this source were salt-mining. They went quite deep in, despite their bulk.

 

[Bowler1]

Taxation is often used as a method of price control. In New Zealand, for example, the government increased the tax on cigarettes intentionally to make them more expensive. There's currently quite loud calls to do the same with unhealthy food.

The irony being salty food mostly, so a tax on salt again!

 

[Kissmequick]

I think there are plenty of natural sources of salt that animals learn to exploit - but in our eyes they will be licking/eating dirt and rocks.

The often use natural salt deposits -- elephants travel miles to use them. Some animals also eat clay I think. If you keep horses and cows, you'll use a salt lick or use feed with included salt (though this may depend on your local vegetation).

 

[Wanted Hero]

From SaltWorks: (http://www.saltworks.us/salt_info/si_HistoryOfSalt.asp)

As far back as 6050 BC, salt has been an important and integral part of the world’s history, as it has been interwoven into the daily lives of countless historic civilizations. Used as a part of Egyptian religious offerings and valuable trade between the Phoenicians and their Mediterranean empire, salt and history have been inextricably intertwined for millennia, with great importance placed on salt by many different races and cultures of people. Even today, the history of salt touches our daily lives. The word “salary” was derived from the word “salt.” Salt was highly valued and its production was legally restricted in ancient times, so it was historically used as a method of trade and currency. The word “salad” also originated from “salt,” and began with the early Romans salting their leafy greens and vegetables. Undeniably, the history of salt is both broad ranging and unique, leaving its indelible mark in cultures across the globe.

Also:

Salt was of crucial importance economically. A far-flung trade in ancient Greece involving exchange of salt for slaves gave rise to the expression, "not worth his salt." Special salt rations given early Roman soldiers were known as "salarium argentum," the forerunner of the English word "salary." References to salt abound in languages around the globe, particularly regarding salt used for food. From the Latin "sal," for example, come such other derived words as "sauce" and "sausage." Salt was an important trading commodity carried by explorers.

Lastly:

Salt also had military significance. For instance, it is recorded that thousands of Napoleon's troops died during his retreat from Moscow because their wounds would not heal as a result of a lack of salt. In 1777, the British Lord Howe was jubilant when he succeeded in capturing General Washington's salt supply.


Similarly, throughout history the essentiality of salt has subjected it to governmental monopoly and special taxes. Salt taxes long supported British monarchs and thousands of Britishers were imprisoned for smuggling salt. French kings developed a salt monopoly by selling exclusive rights to produce it to a favored few who exploited that right to the point where the scarcity of salt was a major contributing cause of the French Revolution. In modern times, Mahatma Gandhi defied British salt laws as a means of mobilizing popular support for self-rule in India. In recent years, the promotion of free trade through the World Trade Organization has led to abolition of many national monopolies, for example, in Taiwan.

I'm seeing that salt happened to be the #1 commodity and one of the top needs, while being a form of money. Good reasons for its price.

 

[stygianelectro]

Well, in Aerialis(my fantasy world), salt is rare and hard to acquire and, as was said earlier, used to preserve meat, so it often costs an exorbitant amount of money. Most of the salt mines in the Earth Realm(one of the continents-I know kind of corny, but it works) are controlled by the city of Sondara, and they use it efficiently-to trade for water and other scarce resources. Man, you guys are an inspiration.