Editing Post office (section)

==History==
{{More citations needed section|date=April 2015}}
[[File:World's_oldest_postcard.jpg|thumb|Postal clerks in an 1840 [[Penny Penates]] postcard]]
[[File:Tallinn post office.jpg|thumb|The Old Post Office in [[Toompea]] in [[Tallinn]], Estonia]]
There is evidence of corps of royal [[courier]]s disseminating the decrees of [[ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] [[list of pharaohs|pharaohs]] as early as 2400{{Spaces}}BCE, and it is possible that the service greatly precedes that date. Similarly, there may be ancient organised systems of post houses providing mounted courier service, although sources vary as to precisely who initiated the practice.<ref>[[Xenophon]] credits [[Cyrus the Great]] of [[Achaemenid Empire|Persia]], others credit his successor [[Darius I of Persia|Darius I]] or the earlier [[Babylonian Empire|Babylonian]] [[List of Babylonian kings|king]] [[Hammurabi]] or the [[Assyrian Empire|Assyrian]] [[List of kings of Assyria|king]] [[Sargon II of Assyria|Sargon II]].</ref>

In the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian Empire]], a [[Chapar Khaneh]] system existed along the [[Royal Road]]. Similar postage systems were established in [[Ancient India|India]] and [[Ancient China|China]] by the [[Mauryan dynasty|Mauryan]] and [[Han dynasty|Han]] dynasties in the 2nd century BCE.

The [[Roman Empire|Roman]] [[historian]] [[Suetonius]] credited [[Augustus]] with regularizing the Roman transportation and courier network, the ''[[cursus publicus|Cursus Publicus]]''. Local officials were obliged to provide couriers who would be responsible for their message's entire course. Locally maintained post houses ({{langx|la|{{linktext|stationes}}}}) privately owned rest houses ({{langx|la|{{linktext|mansiones}}}}) and were obliged or honored to care for couriers along their way. The Roman emperor [[Diocletian]] later established two parallel systems: one providing fresh horses or mules for urgent correspondence and the other providing sturdy oxen for bulk shipments. The [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] historian [[Procopius]], though not unbiased, records the ''Cursus Publicus'' system remained largely intact until it was dismantled in the Byzantine empire by the emperor [[Justinian I|Justinian]] in the 6th century.

The [[Princely House of Thurn and Taxis]] family initiated regular mail service from [[Brussels]] in the [[16th century]], directing the [[Imperial Reichspost|Imperial Post]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. The [[British Postal Museum]] claims that the oldest functioning post office in the world is on High Street in [[Sanquhar]], [[Scotland]]. The post office has functioned continuously since 1712, during which horses and stagecoaches were used to carry mail.

Rural parts of Canada in the 19th century utilized the way office system. Villagers could leave their letters at the way office which were then taken to the nearest post office, as well as pick up their mail from the way office.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Chronology of Canadian Postal History |url=https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/cpm/chrono/ch1867be.html |website=Canadian Museum of History}}</ref>

In parts of Europe, special [[postal censorship]] offices existed{{when|date=December 2017}} to intercept and censor mail. In France, such offices were known as [[Cabinet noir|cabinets noirs]].