[PW] Origin of quote

[Reed C Bowman]

Edith Bailes wrote:

>Sounds like a variant of taking the King's shilling. New recruits in the
>British army were given a shilling when they were signed up. Once they had
>accepted that shilling, they were in the army and had to do the king's
>bidding. No telling who first said it.
>
>Edie in Maine
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Project Wombat
>list at project-wombat.org
>http://www.project-wombat.org/
>
>  
>
And it somewhat predates the British form, taking the King's shilling. 
The word "soldier" itself comes from "solidus", the coin with which they 
were paid in the Roman Empire. I think the first coin sealing the deal 
is a tradition from back then, too. It's pretty likely the saying is at 
least that old. And if you replace "coin" with "bread" you can take it 
back several millennia more, no doubt...

RCB