Another primary consideration in introduction & eventual disappearance of Segmentata?

[CNV2855]

The only way for mail to be cheaper than segmentata is to take the cheapest part of both Roman and modern societies and conflate them. You need the cost of Roman labour and the cost of modern raw materials. In the past, raw materials made up a much higher cost of production than it does today.

Which has basically been my argument for 3/4ths of this thread.

I completely agree.

Everything else I said, especially about the plagues, was because I was trying to illustrate the different ways in which the Roman economy was undermined.