Optical Telegraphs in Antiquity

Yeah. The thing about those monokykloi seems rather compelling.

I'd be interested to see what research people do in the future. The Genocide's page mentions that little research has been conducted into Byzantine use - if any of that ever comes up, it could provide a continuity link to Medieval Europe.

Cheers,
Ganesha
 
I think the biggest reason for discrepancy for our travel times is that Orbis, from what I know, is for civilian and not military/state purposes. How much faster could the latter be?

Everyday governance in any pre-modern empire devolved to appointed officials or their equivalent. The Roman Empire, various Chinese dynasties, etc. seemed to do just fine for centuries at a time using efficient post-riding networks and to a certain extent, simple signal systems and the like. Again, I have to trot out what I said earlier. The need for faster communication systems probably were not seen as dire at the time. Technology innovation was slowed by this and the necessary theoretical and material technological basis to drastically speed up "data transfer" rates.

The program allows you to designate military or civilian travel.

Anyway, according to records, normal delegations of government officials could indeed make 60 miles/day, but only under perfect conditions and only for a short while. Government officials normally travelled around 25 miles/day. Meanwhile, relay couriers, in emergencies, can travel about 150 miles/day. But, again, they are the exception.

As for the ability to govern the outlying areas, its worth noting that, for most of its history (say, until the 3rd century, when everything started to fall apart at the seams), the Roman government was very decentralized and relied upon local governments for almost all of the actually governing. It is difficult to compare to the Chinese Empire, where there was a much more centralized government.
 
The program allows you to designate military or civilian travel.

Anyway, according to records, normal delegations of government officials could indeed make 60 miles/day, but only under perfect conditions and only for a short while. Government officials normally travelled around 25 miles/day. Meanwhile, relay couriers, in emergencies, can travel about 150 miles/day. But, again, they are the exception.

As for the ability to govern the outlying areas, its worth noting that, for most of its history (say, until the 3rd century, when everything started to fall apart at the seams), the Roman government was very decentralized and relied upon local governments for almost all of the actually governing. It is difficult to compare to the Chinese Empire, where there was a much more centralized government.

Both? Cool.
3rd century, yes. But a good run before. Speedier communications wasn't among the primary factors that eventually killed the Roman Empire. As for the various iterations of Chinese Empire, they maintained centralized government using the same communication means as the Romans. My point being that speedier communications are not a prerequisite for a long-lived space- expansive polity.
 
Both? Cool.
3rd century, yes. But a good run before. Speedier communications wasn't among the primary factors that eventually killed the Roman Empire. As for the various iterations of Chinese Empire, they maintained centralized government using the same communication means as the Romans. My point being that speedier communications are not a prerequisite for a long-lived space- expansive polity.

Its worth noting that the Chinese geography fostered more centralized government and a more homogenous population, while also noting that said government was more willing to engage in large infrastructure projects such as the Grand Canal.
 
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