The salt we use every day without a second thought—would you believe that this small white crystal holds the grand narrative of human civilization? Salt was not merely a seasoning. It was a technology for preserving life, a currency for accumulating wealth, and a powerful weapon that built and toppled empires. Today, from the cradle of the earliest civilizations to the vast Roman Empire, we unfold the fascinating story of how salt played a leading role in history with vivid and concrete tales.
Salt crystals placed beside an ancient world map symbolically showing the relationship between civilization and salt.
1. The Dawn of Civilization: The White Jewel That Holds Life
When humanity first gathered by rivers and took the first steps toward civilization, the greatest challenge was “how to preserve food for a long time.” At that moment, humanity discovered the miraculous substance, salt, opening the door to settlement and prosperity.
Egypt: ‘Natron’ That Weighed the Soul
For the Egyptians, salt was more than a preservative. They regarded a special salt called ’natron,’ harvested from the salt lake region west of the Nile known as ‘Wadi El Natrun,’ as a gift from the gods. Natron, with its powerful dehydrating properties, was essential for removing moisture from the bodies of pharaohs and nobles to create mummies. This was because they deeply believed that the body must not decay for the soul to enjoy eternal life in the afterworld. In fact, illustrations of the ancient Egyptian “weighing of the heart” ceremony depict a chunk of natron placed on the scales alongside the deceased’s heart. This reflected the belief that natron’s purifying power influenced judgment in the afterlife. Thus, salt was a sacred substance promising not only survival but the immortality of the soul to the Egyptians.
Salt lake at Wadi El Natrun, Egypt. The source of the sacred 'natron' for ancient Egyptians.
Mesopotamia: Prosperity and Curse, a Double-Edged Sword
In Mesopotamia, the “land between two rivers,” salt was central to trade. The Sumerians preserved fish and agricultural products caught from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in salt and packed them in leather bags to sell to travelers crossing the Syrian desert. Thanks to this, they could supply fresh protein deep inland and maintain vast city-states. However, the rivers they depended on carried both prosperity and the seeds of tragedy. Repeated irrigation agriculture left salt dissolved in the river water on the land surface, and over thousands of years, salt accumulation turned fertile land into a white, barren wasteland. Even today, soil near the ruins of the ancient Sumerian city of Ur shows high salinity, a bitter testament to salt’s powerful force that could both build and destroy civilization.
Soil near the ruins of the ancient Sumerian city of Ur.
China: The First ‘Salt War’
In the Yellow River civilization, salt was an early strategic resource that determined the fate of the state. Records even mention the legendary Yellow Emperor waging the first “Salt War.” He clashed with Chiyou to control the vast salt lake “Haichi” located in present-day Shanxi Province. The rock salt naturally produced in this lake was almost the only way to obtain salt in the inland regions, so whoever controlled it held the key to dominance over the Central Plains.Renowned Chinese scholar Yi Zhongtian and others analyze the wars among the Yellow Emperor, Yan Emperor, and Chiyou tribes, suggesting that the core conflict was over salt resources, specifically Haichi.Later, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty monopolized salt and iron as state enterprises, amassing enormous wealth that funded the long wars against the Xiongnu. Salt was not just a commodity but a source of national finance and military power.
2. Roman Empire: The Road Paved with Salt, Governing an Empire
If salt was the foundation of survival and wealth in early civilizations, by the Roman Empire it had become a vast “system” that organized, expanded, and maintained the empire itself.
The Soldier’s Pride, ‘Salarium’
The origin of the word “salary” comes from the Latin “salarium,” which meant more than just pay for Roman soldiers. In times when currency values were unstable, receiving wages in salt—a commodity with constant value—was the most reliable means of survival for soldiers. For legionnaires fighting barbarians beyond the borders, salt was the lifeblood replenishing lost electrolytes and a key supply for preserving pork into pancetta as combat rations. The phrase “I receive salt (sal) from the empire” was a soldier’s pride and a symbol of loyalty to Rome.
Via Salaria: The First Road to Rome
Via Salaria
The saying "All roads lead to Rome" began with the "Via Salaria," or "Salt Road." This was Rome’s first major highway, crossing the Italian peninsula to connect Rome with salt production sites on the Adriatic coast. Along this road traveled not only salt carts but also silver, grain, and legions marching tirelessly. Rome drew resources to its heart through this road and spread military power and culture to every corner of the empire. Salt made the road, and the road became the empire’s artery.
Salt Spread on Carthage: A Legendary Symbol
The famous story that after Rome destroyed its long-time rival Carthage, it sowed salt over the entire city so that not a single blade of grass would grow again is well known. Although modern scholarship regards this as an exaggerated legend, why has this story remained so vivid in people’s minds? It shows that Romans clearly recognized salt’s dual power: the life-giving force and its opposite, the destructive force that takes all life away. Salt was the ultimate symbol of power that could build civilization or erase it completely.
Salt’s life-giving power contrasted with its destructive force that takes all life away.
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3. The Great Journey of a Roman Salt Merchant
How can we better understand the complex and vast role of salt? Let’s find the answer through the special journey of a Roman salt merchant, Gaius Salinator.
At dawn, when the blue light began to color the Tyrrhenian Sea, Gaius was already standing near his salt pans, Salinae, close to the port of Ostia. Breathing in the salty air mixed with the sea breeze, he surveyed the neat rectangular salt pans. The dazzling white crystals formed by weeks of scorching sun were both his family’s livelihood and his pride.
Today was a very important day. For his son Lucius, serving at the Germanic border, and for the empire’s victory, he decided to select the purest salt to offer at the Temple of Jupiter. He carefully picked the whitest, largest salt crystals and placed them in a small leather pouch. The rest was packed into large sacks loaded onto a mule-drawn cart. This was his entire fortune to sell at the Roman market.
“Father, be careful—there have been many bandits on the Via Salaria lately,” his son’s letter echoed in his mind, but he was not afraid. Soon, his cart joined a great procession of other merchants’ carts, pilgrims, and soldiers on leave heading to Rome.
On the road, a centurion named Marcus glanced at Gaius’s cart and laughed heartily. “Thanks to your white stones, our Ninth Legion survived last winter. When we were surrounded by the Germans, if not for the salted pork supplied by merchants like you, we would have starved to death.” Marcus’s words warmed Gaius’s heart. For the first time, he realized that his work was not just selling salt but connected to saving the lives of soldiers—sons—defending the empire far beyond the borders.
Days later, the gates of Rome finally appeared. The customs officer at the market entrance inspected and weighed Gaius’s salt sacks with a sharp eye. “The salt tax due to the state is twenty silver coins.” Though not a small sum, Gaius silently paid the tax. He vaguely understood that these coins would become the armor of Marcus’s legion and the stones repairing this road.
After selling all the salt at the market, he took the small precious salt pouch and headed to the Temple of Jupiter on Capitoline Hill. Reverently, he sprinkled white salt on the altar, praying for his son’s fortune and the empire’s glory.
Descending from the temple and standing overlooking the Forum Romanum, Gaius suddenly realized. His work, which began at a small salt pan in Ostia, was deeply connected to the vast world of Rome. His salt saved soldiers’ lives (survival), connected people on the Via Salaria (connection), supported the empire through taxes (system), and was offered to the gods for everyone’s well-being (culture). He was no longer an ordinary salt merchant but a small yet essential cog in the great wheel of the empire.
Gaius’s journey is a story that shows how salt operated within civilization. The salt born from his hands went beyond individual survival to become a medium of trade and communication on the empire’s roads and ultimately part of the vast system of national finance and military power. Through his story, we intuitively understand how a single substance, through need and distribution, can move an entire civilization.
History Is Closest to Us
Our journey, which began with a small salt crystal, has led us through the birth of civilization, the construction of empires, and the emergence of invisible systems. Salt was never a mere supporting actor in history. Sometimes it gave birth to civilizations, sometimes it became the veins of empires, and sometimes it symbolized destruction that ended everything.
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Tonight, when you see salt on your dining table, why not pause for a moment and think about the thousands of years of history contained within? Humanity’s great narrative is not only in museums or ancient books but may be breathing right here in the most ordinary and closest places.
