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How Was Mail Delivered In The Roman Empire?
The Ancient Pony Express
At its peak, the Roman Empire was one of the largest political entities in history. The Empire stretched from fields of Great Britain to the sands of Persia. Throughout the empire, people exchanged letters, goods, and news. Speeches, proclamations, and critical military information managed to flow through the vast empire. This fact raises an interesting question. How was mail delivered in Ancient Rome?
Mail in the Roman Empire was not organized the way that people are familiar with today. In the modern world, postage is carried by both private and public entities, and anyone with a bit of pocket change can send a letter almost anywhere in the world and be confident that it will arrive as intended. The state ran mail in Rome, but it was a mechanism designed to benefit the state and not private citizens.
The Roman mail system was called the Cursus Publicus or Public Way. It was a series of waystations and posts that stretched throughout the empire. Couriers carried special papers that identified them as official participants on the Cursus Publicus, allowing them full access to the services and accommodations. If you did not have these papers, you could not access the mail system. The mail system was designed to carry official government news and goods. Private citizens, even Roman…
