The rations of the Egyptian soldiers were, according to Herodotus, five
pounds of baked bread, two pounds of beef, and half a pint of wine
daily.
* * * * *
In the barbarous ages it was usual for persons who could not write, to
make the sign of the cross in confirmation of a written paper. Several
charters still remain in which kings and persons of great eminence
affix "signum crucis pro ignoratione literarum," the sign of the cross,
because of their ignorance of letters. From this is derived the phrase
of signing instead of subscribing a paper.
* * * * *