A man makes extra for the woman he is packing

[meliss]

Hi. What does the author mean by "packing a woman"?
"Our lord intends to make the country over by all means, civil as well as military. His boldest innovation is the oikos (“household”) system. By decree he establishes “site incentives.” What this means is that soldiers of the army, who in the past have received wages only as individuals, will from now on get their pay and allowances as households. In other words, your girlfriend is included. A man makes extra for the woman he is packing." (The Afghan Campaign by Steven Pressfield)

 

[Tarheel]

My guess is that the soldier gets paid more if he is married.

 

[meliss]

My guess is that the soldier gets paid more if he is married.

So "pack a woman" means here marry her, doesn't it?

 

[teechar]

the woman he is packing

Roughly: the woman who is part and parcel of his household "package"

 

[Tarheel]

So "pack a woman" means here marry her, doesn't it?

I guess. But I don't want to be more definite than that. It doesn't make much sense to me, but it does seem to mean that.

 

[emsr2d2]

As the writer is American, I thought it might have the same meaning as "packing a gun/weapon", meaning "carrying a gun/weapon", suggesting possession. Can an AmE speaker say if I'm way off the mark or if there might be some connection?

 

[Rover_KE]

I guess. But I don't want to be more definite than that. It doesn't make much sense to me, but it does seem to mean that.

It seems to be a strange use of modern slang in a serious book on a historical topic.

 

[Tarheel]

As the writer is American, I thought it might have the same meaning as "packing a gun/weapon", meaning "carrying a gun/weapon", suggesting possession. Can an AmE speaker say if I'm way off the mark or if there might be some connection?

Your guess is as good as mine.

 

[SoothingDave]

As the writer is American, I thought it might have the same meaning as "packing a gun/weapon", meaning "carrying a gun/weapon", suggesting possession. Can an AmE speaker say if I'm way off the mark or if there might be some connection?

I agree that the author meant having a woman in one's "possession," but it's not normal to speak of packing or carrying a woman.

 

[Skrej]

Perhaps it's meant to suggest some kind of metaphorical burden? Either because it's more difficult to be a soldier if you have a spouse/family to live for, or maybe it's akin to referring to

a wife as 'a ball and chain'?

It seems to be a strange use of modern slang in a serious book on a historical topic.

That seems to be a common theme in the threads we've seen from this book. For instance, the use of the relatively modern term 'cooch' in this thread. That term seems to have only originated around the 1950's.