Ancient Roman Pneumatic tube Postal Service

The Romans had pumps, aqueducts, water wheels (which were used to grind flour, saw wood & stone etc), valves & pipes (they are known to have used stone, clay, lead & copper for pipes).

All the ingredients in fact for a pneumatic tube system for delivery of small packages.

So, would an alternate past where the Romans had actually put all these things together to produce a pneumatic tube postal service for the city of Rome be plausible?

The air pumps would be powered by water wheels.

Only for government buildings and districts occupied by wealthy citizens of course.

How the Romans made lead pipes

Copper pipes (if used) can be made the same way (hammered around an iron or steel mandrel) so any issue of standardization is more or less inherently solved by the production method.

Message-tubes to feed into the pipes can also be made this way hammered around a slightly narrower mandrel with leather or felt (rather than rubber) washers to give a relatively airtight fit in the pipes.

posted almost 6 years ago

Pelinore‭

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