New Evidence for the Speed of the Roman Imperial Post
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4942941 |
|---|---|
| Authors | C W J Eliot (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1955 |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 76 |
| Publication date | 1955-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Phoenix (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0031-8299 • E-ISSN: 1929-4883 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/1086706 |
| OpenAlex | W2330714904 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
AFTER reviewing the speeds of certain journeys recorded in classical authors, L. Friedlaender came to the conclusion that the Imperial Post travelled at a rate of five Roman miles an hour including delays'-one hundred and twenty m.p. a day-while special couriers bearing exceptionally important messages could achieve one hundred and sixty m.p. a day.2 The views of Friendlaender have been subjected to severe criticism especially by W. M. Ramsay' and A. M. Ramsay,4 largely on the grounds that classical authors only relate those journeys which were remarkable for their speed and therefore not indicative of general conditions, and that such high speeds would demand supermen. The former point is selfexplanatory, as writers of every age are prone to this tendency. Concerning the latter point, W. M. Ramsay writes: Practical experience will show that walking 16 miles or driving 25 miles day after day without intermission, in the hot season, is quite sufficient for the strength of the ordinary man, and that only men of more than average strength and endurance can stand a long course of riding 50 miles per day.5 Both W. M. Ramsay and A. M. Ramsay argue most persuasively from available evidence that fifty m.p. a day was the average rate of the Imperial couriers. Couriers and rapid travellers did one stage before noon and a second in the evening, each of 5 hours, 25 miles.' A. M. Ramsay, however, does admit that higher speeds were attained but only under exceptional circumstances.' It is not necessary to review the evidence on which W. M. Ramsay and A. M. Ramsay base their decisions. I accept their findings and propose to discuss another piece of evidence which was not available to them and which bears out their views, although it seems to suggest that speeds higher than fifty m.p. a day were even more extraordinary than A. M. Ramsay considers them to be
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Asia, Africa and the Trade of Medieval Europe
Coinage and Currency
The Cambridge Economic History of Europe from the Decline of the Roman Empire
Mining and Metallurgy in Medieval Civilisation
Death and Dynasty in Early Imperial Rome
The Time of Composition of Cassius Dio’s “Roman History”
| Citations per year | 0.18 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1987 - 2021 (35) |
| Highly cited | No |