Mails to Ireland: Difference between revisions

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A talk given to society by Phil Cook.
 
The history of letter mail goes back a long way. The Ancient Egyptians had a courier service for the distribution of official written papyrus documents circa 2,400BC. Later it was probably the Chinese who devised a post house relay system. This was refined and adapted by the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantium's and others, including in America the Aztec and Inca civilizations. The Romans developed the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cursus_publicus Cursus Publicus], the most highly developed postal system of ancient times. The speed at which the despatch riders rode, using a system of staging posts where they changed horses, was not rivalled in Europe until the 19th century.