Roman Carrier Pigeons

  • Carrier Pigeons have been used to pass messages by many ancient civilisations, including the Romans, right up until the invention of wireless telegraphy in the Twentieth Century.
  • Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE) wrote about the use of Carrier Pigeons. He said the best messenger pigeons came from the Persians.

Range and Speed

  • A Carrier Pigeon can fly at speeds of up to 30 mph (48 kph) and over distances of up to 400 miles (644 km). Some Carrier Pigeons have been known to fly over distances of up to 1,000 miles (1,609 km).

Use of Messenger Pigeons before the Roman Empire

  • Mesopotamia
    • In 2,500 BCE, the besieged city of Sumer, in Mesopotamia, released two Doves carrying messages of the successful end of the Siege.
  • Ancient Egypt
    • In Ancient Egypt, Pigeons were used to signal the Rise of the Nile, and they were also used by the Ancient Egyptian Army.
  • Ancient Persia
    • Cyrus the Great, King of Persia (c.576-530 BCE), used Messenger Pigeons to connect the Persian Empire which complemented communications along the Persian Royal Road.
  • Ancient Greece
    • From the first of the Olympic Games held by the Ancient Greeks in 776 BCE, the athletes allways carried a Messenger Pigeon to send the news of their victory, if they won, back to their home city.
    • Ovid in Metamorphoses, states that the wrestler Taurosthenes sent a Pigeon stained with purple, back to his native Island of Aegina. Purple indicated a victory.
  • Carthage

Julius Caesar (53 BCE) during the Gallic Wars

Battle of Mutina, Modena (43 BCE)

  • Pliny the Elder specifically mentions the use of messenger Pigeons at the Battle of Mutina on 21 April, 43 BCE. Pliny describes how the besieged used Messenger Pigeons to communicate with the relief army.
  • Brutus himself, besieged inside Modena, attached the messages to the legs of the Pigeons to contact his allies Hirtius and Decimus.

The Dovecotes of Rome

  • Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE) writes about the number of Dovecotes on high towers in Rome, and mentions that the People of Rome regularly discussed different types of Pigeon breeds and their performance.
  • A Pair of Pigeons apparently sold for 400 Dinarii.
  • One dovecote apparently held 5,000 pigeons.
  • The Romans would take a Messenger Pigeon with them in a basket to the Amphitheatre. When they invited guests for dinner, they would send their names back home by releasing the Pigeon, and the kitchen Slaves would prepare the meal for the new number of guests and the menu requested.

Roman Fishermen

  • Strabo (c.64 BCE-24 CE) recorded that Messenger Pigeons were used by fishermen along the coasts of the Mediterranean, to send news of arriving shoals of fish back to shore.

Modena Pigeons

  • Pliny the Elder mentions that Pigeons were very popular in Modena, were they were kept in Dovecotes and some kept a record of their pedigree.
  • Today, there is a Breed of Pigeon called the ‘Modena Pigeon’ which comes from Modena, and has been bred there for 2,000 years. They possibly date from the Siege of Mutina (43 BCE).

Hawks

  • Hawks and Falcons are the natural Predators of the Pigeon.
  • Once released by the Falconer, the Hawk or Peregrine Falcon, will swiftly bring down the Pigeon. The Great Horned Owl is another Predator.
  • This was how carrier pigeons could be intercepted, and their messages removed and read.

Use of Messenger Pigeons since the Roman Empire

  • Genoa and Venice (1005-1797)
    • Between 1005-1797, the Republic of Genoa (1005-1797) connected their Forts in the Mediterranean by Carrier Pigeon, as did the Republic of Venice (697-1797).
    • In 1204, the news of the Fall of Constantinople to the victorious Venetians, was sent 700 miles back to Venice, by Carrier Pigeon, probably by a series of relays between the sea forts.
  • Sultan of Baghdad (1167)
    • In 1167, a regular Carrier Pigeon Service connected Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo, under the Sultan of Baghdad, Nour-Eddin.
  • Egypt (1288)
    • In 1288, a Pigeon Mail Service in Egypt connected the Cairo station with a line of pigeon mail stations to Alexandria and another line of stations to Damietta. The Pigeon Mail Stations were located along the same roads as the Horse Mail Service.
    • At the Cairo Station there were 2,000 Pigeons, according to the Egyptian Historian Al-Maqrizi (1364-1442). The Pigeon Mail Service extended from Aswan to the Euphrates.
  • The Levant (c.1620-1690)
    • c. 1620-1690, Henry Teonge (c.1620-1690), a Chaplain in the Royal Navy, noted in his Diaries that there was a regular Carrier Pigeon Service used by Merchants between Alexandria (Iskanderun), Turkey and Beroea (Aleppo).
  • India (1782-1799)
    • Between 1782-1799, the Tipu Sultan of the Kingdom of Mysore, India, used Carrier Pigeons. The Pigeon Loft was located in one of the Minarets of the Jamia Masjid Mosque in Srirangapatna.
  • Dutch East Indies (1800’s)
    • During the 1800’s the Dutch Empire set up a regular Carrier Pigeon Service in Java and Sumatra.
  • Battle of Waterloo (1815)
    • In 1815 on Sunday 18th June, news of the Victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, was brought back to London by Pigeon.
  • The Belgian Concourse (1818-1881)
    • In 1818 the ‘Belgian Concourse’ was a Great Pigeon Race over a 100 mile Course held at Brussels.
    • 1823 The first long distance Race was held between Brussels and London, a distance of 207 miles (333 km).
    • In 1881 an Annual ‘Concours Nationale’ was run between Toulouse and Brussels, a distance of 470 miles (750 km).
  • Reuters (1850)
    • In 1850, Paul Julius Reuter, who founded the Reuters News Agency, used 45 Carrier Pigeons to send the Stock Market prices 76 miles in 2 hours, between Brussels and Aachen.
  • The Siege of Paris (170-1871)
    • During the Prussian Siege of Paris (1870-1871) a Pigeon Post was organised to send communications into Paris. Hot Air Balloons brought the Pigeons out over the Prussian lines. A Base was set up in Poitiers and the returning Pigeons were released carrying messages.
    • The Germans employed Hawks to try to intercept them. 150,000 Official Messages and one Million Private Messages were successfully carried into Paris during the four month Siege. To improve the chances of a Message arriving the same Official Message was sent by 35 different Pigeons, and the same Private Message was sent 22 times.
    • After the Siege of Paris, many Nations set about creating a Carrier Pigeon Service, included ships taking Pigeons with them for release whilst at Sea.
  • Canada (1891-1895)
    • Between 1891-1895, Canada established a Pigeon Post between the Lighthouses on the Islands and Halifax on the Mainland. It ceased due to the high mortality of the Pigeons.
  • New Zealand (1897-1908)
    • Between 1897-1908 in New Zealand, a Carrier Pigeon Post was established between Great Barrier Island and Auckland, New Zealand, a distance of 55 miles (90 km).
    • Stamps were issued, and have great value today as they are considered to be the World’s first ‘Air Mail’ Stamps. The Pigeons were brought out on a weekly Steamer Service.
  • WW I (1914-1918)
    • The British Army, the French Army and the US Army made extensive use of Carrier Pigeons, taking Messages from the Front to HQ. Several Pigeons received Decorations for Bravery. ‘Cher Ami’ a Pigeon belonging to the US Army Signal Corps, received the ‘Croix de Guerre’, for saving 200 men.
    • Pigeons were carried on armed merchant ships in World War I, so that if the ship was torpedoed by U-Boat, it could be released with details of the vessels location. ‘Crisp VC’ was the name of a British Pigeon which returned with the message that the Captain, Thomas Crisp, had died and the merchant vessel sunk. The Captain was posthumously awarded the VC.
  • WW II (1939-1945)
    • The UK trained 250,000 Pigeons, of which 32 received the ‘Dickin Medal’ for Bravery, including ‘GI Joe’ serving with the US Army Pigeon Service and ‘Paddy’ serving with the RAF.
    • ‘Paddy’ flew the news of the success of the D-Day Operation, 230 miles across the English Channel in four hours and fifty minutes, the fastest crossing out of the many sent.
  • Australia (1942)
    • The Australian Corps of Signals Pigeon Service trained 20,000 Pigeons for use in the Pacific during WWII, of which 2 were awarded the Dickin Medal. They were used to link Watchtowers along the Australian Coast, and also placed with Army vessels as the Pacific Islands were retaken.
  • India (1948-2002)
    • Between 1948-2002 in India, the Orissa Police Pigeon Service provided a communication link with remote areas during Disasters and Cyclones. It was closed in 2002 when it was replaced by the Internet.

 

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