Stone to Silicon

Communication · c. 20 BCE

Cursus publicus

Augustus builds a state courier and transport network along Rome's roads.

Established by Augustus, the cursus publicus used stations along roads covering tens of thousands of kilometres to move officials, dispatches and taxes. It held the Roman Empire together for centuries and survived in Byzantium.

See it in the living treeWikipedia

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 3

What it led to 1

Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

Letters and parcels handled in the UK Latest: 16.7B items per year (1993) Source: Our World in Data