I started reading Kurlansky's book. It's intriguing so far. I was put off early on when he referred to the Exodus as if it were a real event. Other than that it's interesting. I had heard of the connection between salary / salt previously, but I wasn't aware of a connection with 'sold' and 'soldier.'

According to etymology online it derives from a Roman gold coin called a solidus.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=soldier&searchmode=none

From _Salt:_A_World_History_, p. 40 "In 1250 B.C., when Moses liberated the Hebrew slaves, leading them out of Egypt across the Sinai..."

p. 63, "At times soldiers were even paid in salt, which was the origin of the word salary and the expression 'worth his salt.' In fact, the latin word sal became the French word solde, meaning pay, which is the origin of the word, soldier."

You can search part of the book here: http://books.google.com/books?id=xNEaD1g7XScC

After I'm done, I might read a few reviews on Amazon.

Kurlansky *does* tell a good story - and much of it rings true. His background is as a journalist, not an historian. He talks about the importance of salt to the Chinese, the Egyptians, the Romans, the Celts, the Basques, the Italians, the Scandanavians, the English, etc. It's fascinating.

(I recalled this discussion, but I can't believe it's this old. I thought it was only 1 or 2 years ago at most. Time passes so quickly.)