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The ''cursus publicus'' (Latin: "the public way"; , ''dēmósios drómos'') was the state-run courier and transportation service of the Roman Empire, later inherited by the Byzantine Empire. The Emperor Augustus created it to transport messages, officials, and tax revenues between the provinces and Italy. The service was still fully functioning in the first half of the sixth century in the Byzantine Empire, when the historian Procopius accuses Emperor Justinian of dismantling most of its sections, except for the route leading to the Persian border. The extent of the ''cursus publicus'' is shown in the ''Tabula Peutingeriana'', a map of the Roman road network dating from around AD 400.〔(History of cartography, Leo Bagrow, R. A. Skelton )〕 == Structure of the service == A series of forts and stations were spread out along the major road systems connecting the regions of the Roman world. These relay points (''stationes'') provided horses to dispatch riders, usually soldiers, and vehicles for magistrates or officers of the court. The vehicles were called ''clabulae'', but little is known of them. A ''diploma'' or certificate issued by the emperor himself was necessary to use the services supplied by the ''cursus publicus''. Abuses of the system existed, for governors and minor appointees used the ''diplomata'' to give themselves and their families free transport. Forgeries and stolen ''diplomata'' were also used. Pliny and Trajan write about the necessity of those who wish to send things via the imperial post to keep up-to-date licenses.〔e.g. Trajan to Pliny X 46 ''Diplomata, quorum praeteritus est dies, non debent esse in usu. Ideo inter prima iniungo mihi, ut per omnes provincias ante mittam nova diplomata, quam desiderari possint.''〕 Another term, perhaps more accurate if less common, for the ''cursus publicus'' is the ''cursus vehicularis'', particularly in the period before the reforms of Diocletian. We know of at least one 'Praefectus Vehiculorum', Lucius Volusius Maecianus who held the office during the reign of Antoninus Pius. Presumably he had some sort of supervisory responsibility to ensure the effective operation of the network of stations throughout the Empire and to discourage abuse of the facility by those not entitled to use it. There is evidence that inspectors oversaw the functioning of the system in the provinces and it may be conjectured that they reported to the 'Praefectus' in Rome. However, the office does not seem to have been considered a full-time job because Maecianus was also the law tutor of the young Marcus Aurelius which seems to have been his main function.〔See: Marcus Aurelius - A biography; Antony Birley; R. T. Batsford, 1966〕 Despite this evidence that the government did supervise the functioning of the network of stations - and, presumably, its development over the centuries, the service was not supplied by a department of state in the same way as (say) the modern Royal Mail in the UK. As Altay Coskun notes in a review of Anne Kolb’s work done in German,〔Anne Kolb, Transport und Nachrichtentransfer im Roemischen Reich. Berlin: Akademie Verlag, (Klio. Beitraege zur Alten Geschichte, Beihefte, Neue Folge, 2), 2000. Pp. 380. ISBN 3-05-003584-6.〕 the system “simply provided an infrastructure for magistrates and messengers who traveled through the empire. It consisted of thousands of stations placed along the main roads; these had to supply fresh horses, mules, donkeys, and oxen, as well as carts, food, fodder, and accommodation.” Thus, there was no “department of postal service” with employees paid by the emperor. The one sending a missive would have to supply the courier, and the stations had to be supplied out of the resources of the local areas through which the roads passed. As seen in several rescripts and in the correspondence of Trajan and Pliny, the emperor will sometimes pay for the cost of sending an ambassador to Rome along the ''cursus publicus'', particularly in cases where the cause is just. Following the reforms of Diocletian and Constantine I, the service was divided in two sections: the fast ((ラテン語:cursus velox), ) and the regular ((ラテン語:cursus clabularis), ). The "fast road" provided horses (divided into ''veredi'', "saddle-horses", and ''parhippi'', "pack-horses") and mules, while the latter only oxen. The existence of the 'cursus clabularis' service shows that it was used to move heavy goods as well as to facilitate the travel of high officials and the carriage of government messages. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「cursus publicus」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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