- Some hundred years ago, the delivery of parcels and letters in Russia was considered very fast, if it did not exceed six months. In the old days, royal messengers could pay with their own lives for bad news, and therefore the work of a courier in those days was not only difficult, but also dangerous.
- IN ancient civilization The Incas managed to keep a huge territory under a single administration thanks to excellent roads with a well-functioning courier service. Insk roads were intended for pedestrians and caravans of llamas, every 7.2 km there were distance indicators, and after 19-29 km - stations for travelers to rest. In addition, courier stations were located every 2.5 km. Couriers (chasks) transmitted news and orders by relay, and in this way information was transmitted over 2000 km in 5 days.
- In the Ancient Roman Empire, thanks to courier delivery, residents of the country could receive up-to-date information about events political life, litigation, scandals, military campaigns and executions. Being an imperial courier was very honorable, and this activity was quite well paid.
- In ancient China, it was practiced to issue special news sheets, which were then delivered by couriers to various regions of the country. We can say that courier delivery has been an important part of the public administration system for many centuries.
- IN Ancient Egypt Phillipides was considered the most famous courier, who, according to legend, in 490 BC. brought the message of the victory at the Battle of Marathon to Athens. He, having run about 40 km, died of exhaustion, but became the founder of the marathon race.
- In the 13th century, the first special service for sending written messages was organized in Russia, the so-called yamskaya chase, an original Russian institution that lasted until the second half of the 19th century.
- In the 16th century, in order to account for correspondence and increase the personal responsibility of messengers for its safety, special marks began to be made on originals or copies of documents. In the 17th century, these marks became more detailed and contained, in addition to the last name and first name of the messenger, the year, month and day of delivery of the correspondence.
- In 1665, postal and courier routes were organized from Moscow to Riga and in 1669 to Vilnius, which made it possible to exchange correspondence, including private, with foreign countries.
- In Russia, the courier postal service appeared in the 17th century, on November 17, 1710, Peter I signed a decree establishing a special courier route from St. Petersburg to Moscow, which was the prototype of the military field courier service, approved by the Decree of Peter I of March 30, 1716.
- In 1783, for the first time in Russia, uniform tariffs were introduced for sending correspondence, depending on its weight and distance.
- Since 1837, in Russia, postal and courier items began to be transported by railway. Russia is one of the first countries to organize such transportation.
- By the beginning of the 19th century, there were about 460 postal and courier institutions in Russia, where 5,000 couriers regularly served.
- In America, the first courier services began to be provided in 1907 by the American company UPS. This company was engaged in the delivery of flowers, postal items and small cargo.
- In 1946, Ken Thomas founded the shipping company TNT. He made the main emphasis on the implementation of regular communication between cities. And he brought his innovations, all customers who wanted to make sure that the delivery was successful were now given a special certificate signed by the recipient.
- In 1969, air delivery first appeared, which made it possible to
Interestingly, the terminology of the hospitality industry owes a lot to the Romans. And here they also contributed to the development of many civilizations. The word hospitality (hospitality) comes from the Latin hospitium (hospice). One-root words are host (owner), hospice (shelter), hotel (hotel, hotel). Hospitables - this is how people were called in antiquity, together with their family, who receive guests in their home. With hospitables foreign country concluded an alliance of mutual assistance, friendship and protection.
After the introduction of a regular state postal service (during the time of Emperor Octavian from 63 BC), state inns also appeared. The state arranged courtyards in cities and on the main roads, along which couriers and government employees passed from Rome up to Asia Minor or Gaul Batalova L.V. From the history of tourism development, Sat. scientific articles. Issue. Izhevsk, 1999, - 148 p.
State inns were created, remote from each other at a distance of one day's ride on a horse. As the Roman Empire conquered new territories and expanded, its customs, economic and organizational structures also spread to new provinces and conquered countries. The fact of the special interest of the state testifies to how seriously the reliability of the institution that provided travelers with shelter, food and lodging for the night was considered in antiquity. So, in the code of Roman laws, the responsibility of such an institution for the things of the guest was provided. That's when the opportunity arose to safely spend the night in the inn. Even today, the legislation of a number of states regulates this issue, based on the above provisions of the Rome civil law. After all, the protection of the guest in all countries is one of the main goals of the hotel business.
Merchants, merchants and other guests from the common people could never be settled next to civil servants and government messengers. This circumstance affected the quality of the inns. Those in which representatives of the aristocracy and government officials stayed were built according to all the rules of architectural art and offered a wide range of services for those times. Subsequently, Marco Polo said that in such inns and "it is not shameful for the king to stop" "Polo Marco. Marco Polo book. Moscow: Geografgiz, 1956.
Taverns and inns designed to serve citizens of the lower classes offered minimal conditions for lodging and recreation. For example, very often travelers slept simply on straw, and in order not to freeze in the cold season, they pressed against the warm side of their horse. There was no question of any additional comfort. The organization of hotel business in the Roman Empire was based on a certain classification of hotels developed by the state authorities. There were two types of hotels: only for the patricians (mansiones), the other - for the plebeians (stabularia).
The Roman hotel was a certain complex of premises of a fairly wide functional purpose: these were not only rooms for accommodating travelers, but also storage rooms, stables, shops, workshops, etc. Hotels, as a rule, were built of stone and had the necessary list of services. In winter, they were heated. Some hotels served only officials on special documents issued by the state authorities. This tradition has been preserved to this day in the form of special rooms for VIPs at airports, railway stations and other places where tourists stay.
With the improvement of the functioning of the postal service in the second half of the 4th century, when for a long time it combined the needs for transport and for sending news, visiting yards were set up along the roads. They were called "mancio" and "stacio". The first of these terms meant an inn, in which there were conditions for the accommodation of the imperial retinue, the second - the post of the traffic police.
Later there was an alignment of these inns. Between the mancio and the station were inns of lesser importance, or mutations (places of change for the horse team), in which the most urgent needs of travelers could be satisfied: something to eat, spend the night, replace mounts or pack animals.
The distance between the two Mancios depended on the nature of the terrain, but on average it was 40-55 km. Between two mancios there could be one or two smaller visiting yards, and this already depended not only on the area, but also on its population.
Such inns differed from each other in the volume and quality of their services, ranging from the praetorium, in which one could receive the imperial retinue, to modest institutions. A fully equipped inn could offer almost everything a traveler needed. Here it was possible to eat, spend the night, change mounts (in the stables of large visiting yards there were up to forty horses and mules), wagons, drivers, find servants, people who returned draft animals to the previous station, veterinarians, coachmen and charioteers who correct damaged carriages Kotler F., Bowen J., Makenz J. Marketing. Hospitality and tourism / Per. from English. -- M.: UNITI, 1998..
Inns and visiting yards and postal stations were not built specifically for these purposes, they served not only specifically for the next travelers, although they certainly had the primacy of service. The post office, despite the fact that it served mainly the central government, was maintained by local residents. The emperors simply chose inns that already existed of the quality needed for service and included them in the system, demanding a free overnight stay for each holder of a diploma.
Only in remote areas, such as, for example, on passes or on solitary roads, did the imperial government have to build everything from the very foundation. In such places, all travelers, private individuals, as well as representatives of official authorities were received for the night to compensate for the costs. Wagons, animals, charioteers, grooms - all were drawn to serve there from the local neighborhood, if it was possible. Since that time, people have already begun to appear who worked in inns. Inns, especially on the main roads, were built by the Romans with skill and for their time were quite convenient.
Over time, the maintenance of the inn became burdensome for its manager, since with the development of society and civilization, the requirements for it constantly increased. They were presented not only by those who had the right to use the coaching yard by law, but also by those from among the officials deprived of conscience who arbitrarily confiscated horses and carriages or brazenly brought people with them to the coaching yards who did not have the right to free service. Special inspectors (curiosi, cursus, public) checked the eligibility of using diplomas after their expiration date, driving along the wrong route that the person presenting the document should have followed, using the wrong type of mounts used by those passing through.
Strict laws were issued by emperors one after another to stop the abuses and keep the service at the inns at an appropriate level.
There were regulations regarding the number of wagons and animals that could be used by officials, determining the maximum allowed load, the number of drivers, travel routes, the weight of saddles and packs, even the size and type of whips. One injunction stated that "no one shall reward any charioteer, charioteer, or veterinarian in the service of a public institution, because they receive the food and clothing they need." In other words, it was forbidden to give "tips" to these employees. Orders not to give them were rarely carried out, and all indications are that these orders were not properly carried out.
Every person who used the post had to know exactly where the various inns were located. Itineraries were available to travelers, which listed visiting yards along a given road and the distance between them.
There were also conditionally executed maps, from which it was possible to find out not only where the inn was located, but also what they could offer on it. A copy of one such map made in the Middle Ages, the so-called Peutinger table, reached the Renaissance period. It was drawn on a long sheet of parchment, 33 cm wide and 6.7 cm long. It is highly inaccurate cartographically, but represents the roads of the entire Roman Empire in such a way that it can be easily read. It contains information similar to that which can be found on a modern road map: lines denoting roads, names of cities and large villages and other places where you can stop; figures indicating the distances between them in Roman miles. It is interesting to note that near many of the names there are small colored drawings - symbols. They served the same purpose as the surprisingly similar symbols in modern guidebooks. They had to indicate at a glance what are the possibilities to spend the next night while following this road Shapoval GD History of tourism. Minsk., IP, "Enoperspektiva" -1999, - 216 p.
The names without accompanying drawings denoted the simplest inn, which could represent little more than water, a roof over your head, food and a fresh change of mounts or riding animals.
For example, a traveler, leaving Rome along the Via Aurelius, leading north along the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, could learn from a map that the first suitable place to stay would be Alsium, eighteen Roman miles from the capital, with a minimum of amenities (there was no drawing with the name), from there it was ten miles to Pirga with a minimum of amenities, then there were six miles to Punic, where there were also few amenities, but from there it was within easy reach of the Aqua Apollinaris with a first-rate hotel (marked by a quadrangular building), from there it was four miles to the Aqua Tavri with the same amenities, as in the Aquas of Apollinaria, etc.
Government messengers hurried from station to station at an average speed of five miles an hour, or fifty Roman miles in a normal day's travel. Thus, news from Rome reached Brundisium in seven days, to Byzantium - about 25 days, to Antioch - about 40 days, to Alexandria - about 55 days. In exceptional cases, moving day and night, the messengers could triple this speed. When in 69 AD. e. in Mogunti-aka above the Rhine (now Mainz, Germany), the legions rebelled, the news of this reached Rome within 8-9 days. The messenger in such cases overcame an average of 150 Roman miles a day. The traveler, who was given government errands, relied on the conveniences provided by the public post office and had few worries. He presented his diploma at a nearby inn and received the appropriate means of transportation, looked at his list of stations or a map for appropriate places to stay on his way, ate there, spent the night, changed teams and carriages until he arrived at his destination. Officially, Private Travelers were not entitled to use the Post, but as human nature is what it is, exceptions were inevitable.
Those who traveled privately and could not legally or illegally use government mail, had the opportunity to find lodging for the night in inns and shelters, since in many provinces they were the only, and in some areas even the best inns. Moreover, if he did not travel in a carriage with his own team, he could hire one, which was quite affordable for someone who was going to travel not on foot, but with the help of vehicles. If by the open road he reached the post station just after the official party, which had requisitioned everything that was at the disposal of that station, he had no choice but to wait. In any case, he moved slower than the government messenger.
Already in the III century. BC. the builders of Rome erected tall apartment buildings - insulas - to accommodate the growing population of the city and guests. These were three-, four-, and sometimes five-story buildings with a wooden frame. In Rome, the insulae were inhabited by both the poor and the middle class of the townspeople; rich people lived in mansions. In such a multi-storey building, separate rooms or entire floors were rented out. In the Roman port of Ostia, where the lack of space was especially acute, everyone lived in multi-storey insulas (the remains of a number of insulas not only well-appointed, but also decorated with frescoes and reliefs have been preserved). In other cities where there was enough space for building (such as Pompeii), the insul was not built at all, they built houses with a garden or mansions. Hundreds of cities in Rome had aqueducts - water pipes that supply water to the city. As a rule, aqueducts were monumental structures on arched supports. The longest aqueduct - 132 km was erected under the emperor Hadrian in Carthage. At the same time, houses appear - lupanaria (brothels) Shapoval GD History of tourism. Minsk., IP, "Enoperspektiva" -1999, - 216 p..
Some wealthy landowners also built inns on the borders of their possessions. They were usually run by slaves who specialized in household. Those inns and taverns that were closer to the cities were more frequented by wealthy citizens, and therefore they were run by freedmen or retired gladiators who decided to invest their savings in the "restaurant business". Innkeepers in those days were deprived of many civil rights, including the right to serve in the army, bring cases against someone in court, take an oath and act as guardians of other people's children. In other words, the moral foundations of any person involved in this business were automatically called into question.
The most powerful public education of the ancient world, of course, is Ancient Rome. This city not only subjugated the Apennine Peninsula, but also spread its possessions over a vast territory: from Britain to North Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula to Syria.
Communication of the capital with remote provinces became an urgent need for Rome.
For this, a network of good, stone-paved roads was built, unprecedented before. Their total length already at the time of Gaius Julius Caesar was 150 thousand kilometers.
By the way, the catch phrase " All roads lead to Rome"Not as metaphorical as it seems at first glance. The oldest and widest roads really converged like rays in the capital of the empire. It was along these roads that legions were sent from Rome to war or to suppress rebellions.
Appian Way, preserved to this day.
Although the basics of the regular state mail laid by Julius Caesar, it acquired its canonical form under Augustus. It was he who united all the routes into a single network, which was called " cursus publicus". This mail was controlled personally by the emperor and was intended exclusively for state needs. Government officials managing the post were required to have a "diploma" - a document certifying their services to the state. In the provinces postal service the governors controlled, and its maintenance fell entirely on the shoulders of the local population, which was supposed to supply mail wagons, horses and riders.
Foot messengers were called " tabelaria". Insignia Roman couriers became a headdress, first decorated with feathers, and then with stylized wings. After all, he wore a similar winged helmet Mercury- the messenger of the gods and the patron of trade.
Urgent messages were delivered by horse messengers, and valuable state cargo was transported by carts. horse messengers called "beredos" - from the Persian word "berd", meaning "pack animal".
Not all Roman provinces could be reached by land, and in this case for mail transportation used ships
“Suddenly today we have ships from Alexandria, which usually go ahead and announce the arrival of the fleet following them. Therefore, they are also called mail ships.
The main advantage " cursus publicus"became a well-established system of road postal stations.
The stations were divided into two categories. The so-called "mancios" were well-appointed inns painted red. Here the messengers were waiting not only for lodging and food, but also for an extensive network of services. "Mancio" was run by the head-manceps, under whose leadership were "stationaries" (stable keepers), "hippocomes" (grooms), "mulions" (mule drivers), "mulomedicus" (veterinarians) and "carpentaria" (cart keepers).
It is believed that it is from the Latin expression "mansio posita in..." ("Station located at a point") subsequently separated modern concept "post" - "mail".
In addition, between the two "mancios" there were 6-8 intermediate small stations - "mutations", which served primarily to change horses.
"Cursus publicus", reconstruction by L. Burger.
To ensure the safety of movement, the Romans set up military camps along important routes, which at the same time performed the functions of a construction battalion - i.e. made roads.
At busy intersections, special walls even appeared, playing the role of original newspapers. Everyone wrote on them whatever they wanted - from news and announcements to epigrams and love notes like "Mark loves Elena." No wonder some joker wrote the following on one of these walls: "I am surprised at you, wall, how you do not collapse, continuing to bear so many crappy inscriptions".
About how effective it was " cursus publicus"The following fact testifies. If Julius Caesar, constantly changing horses, could cover no more than 100 miles a day, then the emperor Tiberius, using the services postal service moved twice as fast. As a result, the rulers of the Roman Empire received fresh news quite regularly.
But it was forbidden to conduct private correspondence through the state post office. Therefore, the richest of the Roman citizens had their own messengers from among the slaves. In a day, such a runner could walk about 70 km. If the message had to be sent over a long distance, then it was transmitted through merchants or traveling acquaintances. True, such messages did not reach the example slower than the state ones. A case is known as a certain Augustus (not an emperor) got a letter only nine years later.
Seneca, from Letters to Lucilius:
“I received your letter only many months after it was sent. Therefore, I considered it superfluous to ask the person who delivered it about your life and being.
Unfortunately, the achievements of the Romans were forgotten for a long time after the empire fell under the onslaught of the barbarians, and Europe plunged into the "dark ages" for a long time. decline postal service was so strong that even in the 16th century the messenger moved one and a half times slower than Roman courier during the heyday" cursus publicus".
Today another intellectual game "Who wants to become a millionaire?" took place. In this article, you can see answers to all the questions in "Who wants to be a millionaire?" for May 13, 2017 . Two pairs of players participated in the game with host Dmitry Dibrov today. Below are the questions and answers themselves, I decided not to write answer options so as not to distract readers, because you only need the necessary information.
The first pair of players in the game "Who wants to be a millionaire?" for 05/13/2017
1. What is the name of a person who performs small, uncomplicated assignments?
- errand boy
2.What was the Soviet pioneer supposed to answer to the call “Be ready!”?
- "Always ready!"
3. Where is the heroine of the song performed by Lyubov Uspenskaya going to sit?
- into a convertible
4.What can be earned in many games?
5. Who sang ditties in the cartoon "Flying Ship"?
- Grandmothers-hedgehogs
6. What predator lives high in the mountains?
- Snow Leopard
7.What, besides horsepower, is the power of a car measured in?
- in kilowatts
8. What was the nickname of Sir Lancelot, Knight of the Round Table?
- Ozerny
9. The melody of which song of the bard Sergei Nikitin was recorded by the orchestra of Paul Mauriat?
- "To the music of Vivaldi"
10. What adorned the hats of postal couriers of ancient Rome?
- wings
11.Which artist's house is one of the most famous museums in Amsterdam?
- Rembrandt
The players of the first pair did not win anything and left without a penny of money won.
The second pair of players in the program "Who wants to be a millionaire?" for 05/13/2017
1. What are animal and plant organisms made of?
- from cells
2. How did Ershov describe the Humpbacked Horse: “On his back with two humps and…”?
- with yard ears
3. What is used in acupuncture?
- needles
4.Which play by Shakespeare was the basis for the musical "Kiss Me Kat"?
- "The Taming of the Shrew"
5.What do koalas eat?
- eucalyptus leaves
6. What country's martial arts are known as wushu?
- China
7. From which Pushkin's poem did Vladimir Motyl take the title for his film "The Star of Captivating Happiness"?
- "To Chaadaev"
8. What letter does a rugby goal resemble?
9. What musical instrument is depicted on the coat of arms of Ireland?
10. On which lake did Tsar Peter I build the Amusing Flotilla?
- Pleshcheyevo
The players answered incorrectly and left without a penny of money won.
