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| Of Palladius the Courier.
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Chapter XIX.—Of
Palladius the Courier.
How the Emperor Theodosius
received intelligence of what was done in an incredibly short space of
time, and how he was quickly informed of events taking place far away,
I shall attempt to explain. For he had the good fortune to possess
among his subjects a man endowed with extraordinary energy both of body
and mind, named Palladius; who rode so vigorously that he would reach
the frontiers of the Roman and Persian dominions in three days,956
| 956Much, of course, depends, in estimating the rate of
speed here recorded, on the exact distance between Constantinople and
the rather indefinite limits of the Persian empire. But even if the
minimum of 500 miles be taken as a basis, the speed seems almost
incredible.
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and again return to Constantinople in as many more. The same individual
traversed other parts of the world on missions from the emperor with
equal celerity: so that an eloquent man once said not unaptly,
‘This man by his speed proves the vast expanse of the Roman
Empire to be little.’ The king of the Persians himself was
astonished at the expeditious feats which were related to him of this
courier: but we must be content with the above details concerning
him.
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