4 ms·

This sounds fascinating. I almost want to get it just so I can learn what is meant by “The cursus publicus was hailed for its efficiency, at least until Justini

This sounds fascinating. I almost want to get it just so I can learn what is meant by “The cursus publicus was hailed for its efficiency, at least until Justinian got his hands on it. “

atdrummond 5y ago
A modern analog would be the USPS historically and what it's turned into under recent administrations, especially accelerated under DeJoy's administration.
- hetspookjee 5y ago
  Imagine an analogous overlay much like you provided but continuous for such historical texts. That would be something. Like a Google translate from historical or cultural texts to your own contemporary culture, or a battery of footnotes. On a tangent. The latest version of Candide on Gutenberg has such footnotes spread throughout to explain some obscure mentions in the text. An absolute recommender.
  - thaumasiotes 5y ago
    A battery of footnotes, commentary, and other marginalia is the norm for historical texts. The commentary is frequently more significant than the primary work.
Koshkin 5y ago
> cursus publicus Didn't the Byzantians speak Greek (rather than Latin)?
- Veen 5y ago
  They did, but the cursus publicus was inherited from the Western Empire. It's δημόσιος δρόμος in Greek.
- mr_toad 5y ago
  Early on, the official language was still Latin. The population of Constantinople spoke Greek natively. Later on, Greek became common in official business as well.
doctor_eval 5y ago
This is fascinating. “The cursus publicus (Latin: "the public way"; Ancient Greek: δημόσιος δρόμος, dēmósios drómos) was the state mandated and supervised courier and transportation service of the Roman Empire, later inherited by the Eastern Roman Empire. It was a system based on obligations placed on private persons by the Roman State” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cursus_publicus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cursus_publicus

This sounds fascinating. I almost want to get it just so I can learn what is meant by “The cursus publicus was hailed for its efficiency, at least until Justinian got his hands on it. “

atdrummond 5y ago

A modern analog would be the USPS historically and what it's turned into under recent administrations, especially accelerated under DeJoy's administration.

hetspookjee 5y ago
Imagine an analogous overlay much like you provided but continuous for such historical texts. That would be something. Like a Google translate from historical or cultural texts to your own contemporary culture, or a battery of footnotes. On a tangent. The latest version of Candide on Gutenberg has such footnotes spread throughout to explain some obscure mentions in the text. An absolute recommender.
- thaumasiotes 5y ago
  A battery of footnotes, commentary, and other marginalia is the norm for historical texts. The commentary is frequently more significant than the primary work.

Koshkin 5y ago

> cursus publicus Didn't the Byzantians speak Greek (rather than Latin)?

Veen 5y ago
They did, but the cursus publicus was inherited from the Western Empire. It's δημόσιος δρόμος in Greek.
mr_toad 5y ago
Early on, the official language was still Latin. The population of Constantinople spoke Greek natively. Later on, Greek became common in official business as well.

doctor_eval 5y ago

This is fascinating. “The cursus publicus (Latin: "the public way"; Ancient Greek: δημόσιος δρόμος, dēmósios drómos) was the state mandated and supervised courier and transportation service of the Roman Empire, later inherited by the Eastern Roman Empire. It was a system based on obligations placed on private persons by the Roman State” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cursus_publicus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cursus_publicus