In 27 B.C., Roman leader Caesar Augustus expanded on Darius's system, forming what is known as the "Cursus Publicus" or, more commonly, the "Post" system. Caesar's messenger system was quite the modern marvel, with foot couriers, horseback riders, and horse drawn carriages traveling to every territory in the Roman empire. Each route had a series of "Post" stations, which allowed couriers to rest and, if need be, exchange their tired horses.
While these methods of message delivery were intricate and expansive, the were only available to members of royalty. It wasn't until 1505 that the first public system of message delivery was established by the Thurn and Taxis families of Austria. For over 350 years, the privately owned Thurn and Taxis system thrived, offering fee based "mail" delivery to continental Europe.
Another privately owned delivery system was started in 1680 by William Dockwra, a businessman out of London. Hoping to turn a profit, the British Government took over Dockwra's London Penny Post operation in 1698. The London Penny Post was perhaps the most sophisticated system of postal delivery to date, with letterboxes and mail stations all over London. For the low price of a penny, hence the name, a person could deposit a letter in any letterbox or mail station and have it delivered to any address in the city.
Halfway across the world, in America, the first Postal Office was built in 1639 in Boston. After the draft of the constitution, an organized postal system was set up and went into service in 1775. None other than the famous printer, inventor, and writer, Benjamin Franklin, was given the prestigious honor of becoming America's first Postmaster General.