Long distance communication in the ancient world

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was better than one might think: they really did use the "Lord of the Rings" method of having signal towers at regular intervals. For instance, the Romans had them along the "Saxon Shore," which was a defense system along the shore of east and southeast England. So you could signal that, say, "The Picts are coming" from Hadrian's Wall to Kent at the speed of light, plus the time it would take for the human at each signal station to relay the signal.

Comments

  1. John Goes11:16 PM

    Gene, do you have a source for this? I believe you, just interested to learn more.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown10:37 AM

    I believe you can see this in action in one of the Cate Blanchet "Elizabeth" movies. They use it to show that the Spanish Armada was coming. I think I am right about the movie name. Maybe it was another movie about Elizabeth I, but I think it was one the one's with Cate Blanchet. I hope I spelled her name right...

    ReplyDelete

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