Believe it or not, there was a time when there was no postal system. There was also a time when people had no need to deliver messages over long distances.  However, as countries formed and borders expanded, leaders realized the need to communicate with people all across their empire, otherwise they would have no control.

In ancient Greece, couriers running many miles between cities delivered messages. There is a story dating back to 490 BC that tells of one such courier named Pheidippides, running from the city of Marathon all the way to Athens to deliver news of the Greek victory of the Persian army. The total distance he covered was 22 miles, and he died of exhaustion after delivering his message. Although the truth behind this story is questionable, 25-mile marathon races have become a common sport, paying homage to the ancient message couriers of Greece.

Wars and foreign relations have long been a big reason for communication. The Pharaohs of ancient Egypt employed a diverse array of techniques to communicate their armies as well as neighboring nations. Among these was a vast network of relay racers who would run short distances and then pass a message on to the next runner. This is similar to the game of "Telephone", where a message starts on one end of a line of people, and is then passed by word of mouth on to each succeeding person. The final message is almost never what it began as.

One problem faced with courier services was making letters light enough to be carried over long distances quickly.  At first, messages were written on anything available, including stone.  This made the couriers' jobs very difficult, as you can imagine.  The Egyptians invented the first light-weight paper, called papyrus.  By writing messages on papyrus instead of stone, couriers could carry the messages much further and faster.

Courier and other messenger services were initially intended only for kings and the very rich.  Before long, however, the common man also found a need for long-distance communication.  Families were spread out across empires, and small, independent businesses were expanding.  So, message services were made available to everyone.