Postmen of ancient Rome. Facts about Ancient Rome Recently Discovered by Science

Today the next intellectual game "Who wants to become a millionaire?" In this article you can peep answers to all questions in "Who wants to be a millionaire?" May 13, 2017 . In the game with the leader Dmitry Dibrov, two pairs of players participated today. Below, the questions and answers themselves, answer options, I decided not to write, so as not to distract readers, because you only need the necessary information.

The first pair of players in the game "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" for 05/13/2017

1. What is the name of the person performing small, simple tasks?

• errand boy

2. What was the Soviet pioneer to answer the call “Be ready!”?

• "Always ready!"

3. Where is the heroine of the song going to sit performed by Lyubov Uspenskaya?

• in a convertible

4. What can I earn in many games?

5. Who sang the ditties in the cartoon The Flying Ship?

• Grandma hedgehogs

6. Which predator lives high in the mountains?

• snow Leopard

7. What, in addition to horsepower, measure the power of a car?

• in kilowatts

8. What nickname was Sir Lancelot, the knight of the Round Table?

• Lakeside

9. What song of bard Sergei Nikitin did the melody of the Paul Moria orchestra record?

• “To the music of Vivaldi”

10. What decorated the hats of postal couriers of ancient Rome?

• wings

11. Which artist’s house is one of the most famous museums in Amsterdam?

• Rembrandt

Players of the first pair won nothing and left without a penny of money won.

The second pair of players in the program "Who wants to become a millionaire?" for 05/13/2017

1. What are the organisms of animals and plants?

• from cells

2. How did Ershov describe the Humpbacked Horse: “On the back with two humps and ...”?

• with arshin ears

3. What is used in acupuncture?

• needles

4. What Shakespeare's play formed the basis of the musical "Kiss me, Kat"?

• "The Taming of the Shrew"

5. What do koalas eat?

• eucalyptus leaves

6. Which martial arts are known known as Wushu?

• China

7. From what poem of Pushkin did Vladimir Motyl take the name for his film “Star of captivating happiness”?

• “To Chaadaev”

8. What letter do rugby gates resemble?

9. What musical instrument is depicted on the emblem of Ireland?

10. On which lake did Tsar Peter I build the Amusing Flotilla?

• Pleshcheevo

The players answered incorrectly and left without a penny of money won.

The most ancient information about the mail belong to Assyria and Babylon. Assyrians back in the 3rd millennium BC used what can be called the precursor of the envelope. After firing the tablet with the text of the letter, it was covered with a layer of clay on which the address of the recipient was written. Then the tablets were fired again. As a result of the isolation of the re-fired water vapor, the letter plate and the envelope plate did not become a single piece. They smashed the envelope and read the letter. Two such letters reached his contemporaries - they are stored in the Louvre together with envelopes.

4000 YEARS BACK UNKNOWN EGYPTIAN ARTIST ON ONE OF THE WALLS the burial cave of the pharaoh Numhoten painted a warrior holding a scroll in one hand and an open letter-sheet in the other, which he gives to his boss. So we got material evidence of the existence of mail in those days. We have also received information about mail messages from other ancient peoples. A written message could be transmitted from one messenger to another without fear of distorting the message. To transport letters, carrier pigeons were also used.

During the time of Cyrus and Darius in Persia (558-486 BC), the postal service was excellently established. At Persian post stations, messengers and saddled horses were constantly on hand. Mail was relayed by messengers from one relay to another.

Ancient Roman post was also famous, which played a huge role in the management of the vast Roman Empire. The most important centers of the empire contained special stations equipped with horse-drawn couriers. The Romans used to say Statio posita in ... ("The station is located in ..."). According to experts, it was from the abbreviation of these words that the word posta appeared.

Documented evidence of the existence of mail in China dates back to ancient times. The state post of China already existed during the Zhou Dynasty (1027-249 BC). She had on foot and horse messengers. The emperors of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 BC) had already appointed postmaster general.

By the year 750, in the Arab Caliphate, the entire state was covered by a network of roads on which the messengers traveled — on foot and on horseback, camels and mules. They delivered public and private mail. ABOUT great value the state's postal service is evidenced by the famous statement of the caliph Mansour, who founded Baghdad (762). "My throne rests on four pillars, and my power rests on four people: this is an impeccable kadi (judge), an energetic police chief, an active finance minister and a wise postmaster who informs me about everything."

IN GREECE THE MAIL SYSTEM HAS BEEN ENOUGHLY GOODLY APPROVED IN THE VIEW land and sea postal service, but it could not significantly develop due to the many warring city states. Governments, as a rule, had foot messengers at their disposal to send messages. They were called hemodromes. Runners crossed 55 stages (about 10 km) in an hour and 400-500 stages in one flight.

The most famous of these couriers was Philipides, who, according to Plutarch, in 490 BC He reported to Athens the victory in the Battle of Marathon and died of exhaustion. This run was the first marathon in history. Phillipides conveyed only an oral message. To transmit particularly hasty messages, horseback messengers were sent already in antiquity. According to Diodorus, one of the military leaders of Alexander of Macedon kept camel riders at his headquarters.

The Inca states in Peru and the Aztecs in Mexico had regular mail before 1500. The Inca and Aztec mails used only foot messengers. Fact that horses in South America Europeans - conquerors brought only in the sixteenth century. The distance between neighboring stations did not exceed three kilometers. Therefore, it was quickly overcome by a messenger. The peculiarity of the Inca and Aztec mail was that, in addition to mail, the messengers had to deliver fresh fish to the emperor's table. Fish was delivered from the coast to the capital within 48 hours (500 km). Estimate the speed of delivery. Modern mail is hardly faster, although it has at its disposal cars, trains, planes. During the heyday of the Mayan culture, there was also a developed messenger service, but little is known about it.

Both in antiquity and in the Middle Ages, the post served only rulers and senior officials. Other sections of the population did not use mail.

For laymen and international contacts

Meanwhile, ordinary people also wanted to use mail for their own purposes. At first, their messages were transmitted privately through merchants, wandering monks and messengers of the university post. The rapid development of crafts and commerce in feudal Europe facilitated the organization of regular mail exchanges between cities.

THERE ARE DOCUMENTS CONFIRMING THE AVAILABILITY OF CITY RACERS already in the fourteenth century. The most famous postal service Hanseatic League. Hansa is a trade and political union of North German cities in the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries. With the entry into the Hansa of the Rhine Union, the first postal network arose, which, bypassing the borders of cities and small principalities, delivered mail throughout Germany. Further, through Nuremberg, mail went to Italy and Venice, and through Leipzig to Prague, Vienna and other cities. So the international mail arose.

The next notable achievement is the postal service of the noble family of Turn-i-Taxis. The first mention of the Thurn-i-Taxis mail dates back to 1451, when Roger Taxis established a courier line through Tyrol and Steyermark. Further, the descendants of the Taxis house make a fast career in the post office.

In 1501, Franz Taxis became the postmaster general of the Netherlands. Prior to the sixteenth century. The Taxis postal service was built on the basis of feudal privileges to the Taxis house. The postal business became profitable, and the Taxis began to compete. First of all, it is the mail of cities. In 1615, another Taxis - Lamoral became an imperial postmaster general. By imperial decree, this post was declared lifelong and hereditary for the Taxis family. By the way, the prefix "Turn" Taxis added to their surname in 1650, having received it as a king’s award. Lamoral Taxis, the new postmaster general, was forced to ask the emperor to issue a new decree against additional posts and additional lines served by messengers. All this marked the beginning of the struggle of the Thurn-i-Taxis mail with competitors, which lasted for centuries. Taxis mail has resisted and won. Accuracy, speed and honesty - such was the motto of the Thurn-and-Taxis mail, which was strictly observed in practice. For the first time, trading people and bankers, common people and government officials could be sure that letters, documents, money quickly reach the addressee, and they will soon receive a response.

In 1850, the post office of Thurn-i-Taxis joined the German-Austrian union. By that time, postage stamps had already been issued in many countries. The rules of the German-Austrian postal union provided for its participants an obligation to issue postage stamps. That is why on January 1, 1852, the first postage stamps of the Thurn-i-Taxis mail were issued. In total, Turn-i-Taxis issued 54 postage stamps. This post issued and labeled envelopes. The history of the Thurn-i-Taxis post office ends only in 1867, when Prussia acquired the rights to all the postal offices of the Thurn-i-Taxis house.

Postman is a dangerous profession

In the seventeenth century. Sweden became a great power, and there was a need for regular communication with its possessions beyond the Baltic Sea. The first postmen were the royal couriers. Then the correspondence was delivered by the so-called postal peasants. They lived near the main roads, were exempted from all sorts of duties, for example, military, but were obliged to forward state mail.

USUALLY SENT A HORN, WHICH RAN, TUBING A HORN, 20-30 kilometers to the neighbor. Passing his mail and receiving another in exchange, he went home. If the letters were late, he would face punishment. Correspondence was also delivered by sea, for example, by boat from Sweden to the Åland Islands and further to Finland and St. Petersburg. "Postal peasants" worked all year round regardless of the weather. The crossing was especially dangerous in spring and autumn, when they dragged the boat on ice, then set sail, or took oars. A lot of people died during the storm.

Russian post is one of the oldest in Europe. The first mention of it in the annals refers to the X century. In Kievan Rus there was a duty of the population with the name "cart". This obligation was the need to provide horses for princely messengers and his servants.

However, a clear postal service in Russia appeared only under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The organizer of the “right” postal chase in Russia was the head of the then Russian government, the boyar Afanasy Ordin-Nashchokin (1605-1681). He is the initiator of the creation and foreign mail of Russia (postal line Moscow - Vilnius).

Since 1677, the international postal service began to operate in Russia. The first lines of public mail went beyond the borders of the Russian state to "German" countries - as the Russian people called the land, where they spoke in obscure "dumb" languages. In addition to international shipments, German Post delivered both merchant letters and government papers throughout Russia. Thanks to the "German mail" in the postal service, correspondence exchange points were organized and rules were introduced to ensure regular delivery of mail.

The prototype of the mailbox we were used to was the Florentine vestibules - public boxes that were installed near the walls of churches and cathedrals, the first mailbox was installed in the XVII century. in France.

According to the materials livejournal prepared by Zara GEVORKYAN

1. About a hundred years ago, the delivery of parcels and letters in Russia was considered very fast, if it did not exceed six months. In the old days, royal messengers could pay their own life for bad news, and therefore the work of the courier in those days was not only difficult, but also dangerous.
2. In the ancient Inca civilization, it was possible to keep a huge territory under single control thanks to excellent roads with a well-functioning courier service. Insk roads were intended for pedestrians and caravans of llamas, every 7.2 km there were distance indicators, and after 19-29 km there were stations for travelers to rest. In addition, courier stations were located every 2.5 km. Couriers (chasos) relayed news and orders by relay, and thus information was transmitted over 2,000 km in 5 days.
3. In the Ancient Roman Empire, thanks to courier delivery, the inhabitants of the country could receive up-to-date information about political events, lawsuits, scandals, military campaigns and executions. Being an imperial courier was very honorable, and this activity was well paid.
4. In ancient China, special newsletters were practiced, which were then delivered via couriers to various regions of the country. It can be said that courier delivery for many centuries has been an important part of the public administration system.
5. IN Ancient egypt the most famous courier was considered Phillipid, who according to legend in 490 BC brought a message of victory at the Battle of Marathon to Athens. Having run about 40 km, he died from exhaustion, but became the founder of marathon races.
6. In the 13th century, the first special service for sending written messages was organized in Russia, the so-called Yamskaya persecution, an original Russian institution that lasted until the second half of the 19th century.
7. In the sixteenth century, special notes were made on the originals or copies of documents to take into account correspondence and increase the personal responsibility of messengers for its safety. In the XVII century these marks became more detailed and contained, in addition to the surname and name of the messenger, the year, month and day of delivery of the correspondence.
8. In 1665, mail and courier routes were organized from Moscow to Riga and in 1669 to Vilnius, which made it possible to exchange correspondence, including private, with foreign countries.
9. In Russia, the courier postal service appeared in the 17th century, on November 17, 1710 Peter I signed a decree establishing a special courier route from St. Petersburg to Moscow, which was a prototype of the military courier service, approved by Decree of Peter the Great on March 30, 1716.
10. In 1783, for the first time, uniform tariffs for sending correspondence were introduced in Russia, depending on its mass and distance.
11. Since 1837, in Russia, postal courier items began to be transported by the railway. Russia is one of the first countries to organize such transportation.
12. By the beginning of the 19th century, there were about 460 postal and courier agencies in Russia, where 5 thousand couriers regularly served.
13. In America, the first courier services began to be provided in 1907 by the American company UPS. This company was engaged in the delivery of flowers, mail and small cargoes.
14. In 1946, Ken Thomas founded the TNT shipping company. He focused on regular communication between cities. And he brought his innovations to all customers who wanted to make sure the delivery was successful, now they issued a special certificate with the signature of the recipient.
15. In 1969, Air Delivery first appeared, which allowed

The most powerful public education the ancient worldcertainly is Ancient Rome. This city not only subjugated the Apennine Peninsula, but also spread its possessions over a vast territory: from Britain to North Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula to Syria.
Communication of the capital with remote provinces became an urgent need for Rome.

For this, a network of solid, stone-paved roads was built, unprecedented earlier. Their total length already at the time of Guy Julius Caesar amounted to 150 thousand kilometers.
By the way popular expression "All roads lead to Rome"not as metaphorical as it seems at first glance. The oldest and widest roads really converged like beams in the capital of the empire. It was on these roads that legions went from Rome to war or to suppress rebellions.

Appian Way, preserved to this day.

Although the basics are regular state mail laid still by Julius Caesar, she acquired her canonical form under Augustus. It was he who combined all the routes into a single network, which was called " courseus publicus". This post office It was personally controlled by the emperor and was intended exclusively for state needs. Government officials managing mail must have had a “diploma” - a document certifying their services to the state. In the provinces postal service governors controlled, and its content completely fell on the shoulders of the local population, which was supposed to supply mail carts, horses and riders.

Hiking messengers were called " tablaries". Insignia roman couriers became a headdress, decorated first with feathers, and then with stylized wings. After all, such a winged helmet wore Mercury - messenger of the gods and patron of commerce.

Urgent messages were delivered by horse-drawn messengers, and valuable state cargo was transported in carts. Horse messengers called "beredos" - from the Persian word "bird", meaning "pack animal".
Not all Roman provinces could be reached by land, in which case for mail transportation used ships

“Suddenly today we have ships from Alexandria, which usually go ahead and announce the arrival of the next fleet. Therefore, they are also called mail ships. "

The main advantage " courseus publicus"has become a well-established system of road postal stations.
Stations were divided into two categories. The so-called "Mansio" was a comfortable inns, painted in red. Here, not only lodging and food were waiting for the messengers, but also an extensive network of services. Mansio was run by the head manseps, under whose leadership there were “hospitals” (horse stables), “hippocoms” (grooms), “mulions” (mule drivers), “mulomedicuses” (veterinarians) and “carpentarians” (cart rangers).
It is believed that it is from the Latin expression "mansio posita in ..." ("Station located at any point") Subsequently, the modern concept " post" - "post office".
In addition, between the two “Mancio” there were 6-8 intermediate small stations - “mutacio”, which served primarily to change horses.

“Cursus publicus”, reconstruction of L. Burger.

To ensure the safety of the movement of the Romans along important routes, military camps were set up, which at the same time performed the functions of a building battalion - i.e. repaired the road.
At busy intersections even special walls arose, playing the role of peculiar newspapers. Everyone wrote on them whatever they wanted - from news and announcements to epigrams and love notes like "Mark loves Elena." No wonder some joker wrote on one of these walls the following: "I wonder at you, wall, how you will not collapse, continuing to carry so many crappy inscriptions".

About how effective it was " courseus publicus"the following fact testifies. If Julius Caesar, constantly changing horses, could cover no more than 100 miles per day, then the emperor Tiberius, using the services postal serviceprogressed twice as fast. As a result, the rulers of the Roman Empire received the latest news quite regularly.

But private correspondence through state mail was prohibited. Therefore, the most affluent of Roman citizens had their own slave messengers. Such a walker could walk about 70 km a day. If the message had to be sent over a long distance, then it was transmitted through merchants or traveling acquaintances. True, and such messages arrived unlike the slower state ones. A case is known as a certain Augustus (not an emperor) got a letter only nine years later.

Seneca, from "Letters to Lucilius":
“I received your letter only many months after it was sent. Therefore, I found it unnecessary to question the person who delivered him about your life. ”

Unfortunately, the achievements of the Romans were forgotten for a long time, after the empire fell under the onslaught of the barbarians, and Europe plunged into the "dark centuries" for a long time. Decline postal service was so strong that even in the sixteenth century the messenger moved one and a half times slower than roman courier during the heyday of " courseus publicus".