[ih] Early Internet history

[Jack Haverty]

While we were debating and evolving TCP2 into TCP4, circa 1979-80 or so,
I remember thinking about my four years of Latin classes in high school,
where I coincidentally learned quite a lot of Roman history and what
life was like in the Roman Empire.

It turned out that the Roman empire had a problem of scale.  As it got
larger, it became increasingly difficult for outlying parts of the
Empire to reliably and securely communicate with Rome.  Caesar wanted
quick, reliable, and secure communications with his Armies and
Governors.  And he couldn't find a suitable ISP...

The commanders in the field used a variety of techniques to communicate.
 Messages were written (Packetized?) on some convenient media by
Scribes.  They were handed to Couriers.  To improve reliability, several
Couriers would be sent with the same message, by diverse means and
routes (one on foot, one on a ship, etc.).   Local knowledge (soldier in
charge of the local garrison) could tell the courier where best to head
next (Routing), based on current conditions.  If no reply was received
in a reasonable time, more Couriers could be sent.  More resources could
be allocated, i.e., more Couriers and Scribes (Multi-Channel?) for
really important messages.  Slaves were cheaper than T1 circuits.  For
really secret messages, the text could be split apart (fragmented?) and
pieces put into separate messages, so that the message could be
understood only when the pieces were re-united (reassembled?) at the
destination.  Caesar had reliable, secure, and state-of-the-art fast
communications.

Several thousand years later, the Postal System adopted similar
techniques, adapted to the technology of the day.  Circa 1980, so did
The Internet.

Caesar probably wasn't the first...  Maybe the Assyrians?

/Jack


On 07/06/2018 09:49 AM, John Levine wrote:
> In article <11fd50bf-d495-c4a5-ce77-06d96d04f14b at meetinghouse.net>,
> Miles Fidelman  <mfidelman at meetinghouse.net> wrote:
>> Kind of sounds like the international postal system.� Or shipping 
>> packages internationally.� 
> 
> About 20 years ago, in Internet for Dummies, I analogized the
> operation of the Internet to paper mail.  The pre-TCP protocols were
> sort of like registered mail, where each package has great value* and
> is carefully logged in and out every time it is sorted or transported
> to be sure it doesn't get lost.
> 
> TCP is more like certified mail, where the package itself is of no
> value, only its message ("usually a letter from your insurance company
> saying your policy has been cancelled.")  Certified mail is only
> logged when mailed and delivered.  If it isn't delivered after a
> while, you just send another copy.
> 
> I further tortured the analogy by saying you were mailing a copy of
> the ten-pound manuscript of your novel, but the regulations limit each
> package to one pound so you divide it into pieces and mark each one
> PART 1, PART 2, and so forth.  The packages arrive in whatever order
> the post office delivers them, and the recipient puts them back in
> order.
> 
> R's,
> John
> 
> * - in the 1800s the government shipped gold bars by registered mail
> 
> 
> 
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