Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ing threat, the Greeks had little choice but to make a Faustian pact with the Romans, long-
standing admirers of the Greeks and seemingly the perfect allies. It was a partnership that
was to cost them dearly; by 270 BC the whole of southern Italy was under Roman control.
Messages could be shot around the Roman Empire in days or weeks. At wayside inns, despatch riders
would have a meal and change mounts. The Romans even devised a type of odometer, a cogwheel that
engaged with the wheel of a chariot or other vehicle.
