What is the connection between a famous motto often associated with the US Postal Service and the site of one of the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World"?

kaylofgorons

The Persian Empire. The motto comes from a historian describing the messengers, and the the Ancient Wonder would be...The Hanging Gardens? Apr 30 05, 2:37 PM

lanfranco

You're very warm, kayl, but not exactly hot. Keep trying and add some detail. Apr 30 05, 2:45 PM

kaylofgorons

Hanging Gardens actually belonged to Babylon, but the Medes and Persians conquered them. I'll keep looking, because I don't remember the historian, or the context of the note on the king's messengers. Apr 30 05, 3:03 PM

kaylofgorons

You're right about the "often associated" part. "The familiar quotation inscribed on the post office building in New York City--"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds"--was never, as many believe, the official motto of the Post Office Department. Adapted from the writings of the Greek historian Herodotus in the fifth century B.C., the words nonetheless suggest the determination to overcome problems that has characterized the monumental efforts to move the mail in the United States since the establishment of the Post Office Department by the Second Continental Congress in 1775." American History magazine. Apr 30 05, 3:18 PM

lanfranco

O.K., kayl, you get half a yay -- well, three-quarters. Now, about that site? Apr 30 05, 3:21 PM

kaylofgorons

Still looking! The site was EBSCOHOST, magazine was: Neither snow nor rain... By: Schurr, Cathleen. American History, Nov/Dec97, Vol. 32 Issue 5, p33, 6p; It's all about the US Postal Service, and says nothing else about the history. (whine) Still trying to complete the connection... Apr 30 05, 3:29 PM

lanfranco

Actually, I meant the site of the "Wonder." I'll give you a hint: think about the source of the quotation. Apr 30 05, 3:46 PM

gmackematix

I have a link to an Ancient Wonder but it might be a bit tenuous. In his famous quote, Herodotus was referring to the horse messengers of Xerxes. These messengers told Xerxes of the Greeks' position at Salamis. Xerxes was also advised by his ally Queen Artemisia of Halicarnassus (but ignored her advise and lost Salamis). Artemisia was, of course, a direct ancestor of the Queen Artemisia of Halicarnassus that built the famous Mausoleum for her husband Mausolus some centuries later. Apr 30 05, 7:04 PM

gmackematix

Anyway, out of interest I will point out that Herodotus was here using what was already a bit of a cliche. "Neither rain, nor hail, nor snow" is a phrase in other works prior to Herodotus including Book 4 of Homer's "Odyssey". Apr 30 05, 7:07 PM

lanfranco

Congratulations, Gmack! Because, for heaven's sake, Herodotus was FROM Halicarnassus, home, as you point out, of the famous Mausoleum. The quotation from Book 4 of "The Odyssey," lines 635-637, refers to the pleasures of the Elysian Fields, not to determined messengers. (From the Fagles translation: "no snow, no winter onslaught, never a downpour there.") A somewhat different idea. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herodotus Apr 30 05, 8:19 PM

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