I received this email, titled “Roman Legionaries Did it First!” from an economics professor re today’s G-File:
Dear Jonah,
James Harrington wasn’t very original. The Romans has figured out the pie thing 20000 years before Harrington wrote.
The legionary cooks baked big round loaves. Each loaf was to be split between two soldiers, as each had the right to half a loaf as a daily ration.
To prevent fights over unfair apportionments, one soldier got to cut the loaf, and the other got to decide which of the two pieces to take for himself.