rats, "a runner" (Esther 3:13; Esther 3:15; Esther 8:14). Couriers from the earliest times (Job 9:25) carried messages, especially royal despatches. "My days are (not as the slow caravan, but) swifter than a post." (2 Chronicles 30:6; 2 Chronicles 30:10; Jeremiah 51:31.) Relays of messengers were kept regularly organized for the service ("post" is from positus, "placed at fixed intervals"). The Persians and Romans impressed men and horses for the service of government despatches; letters of private persons were conveyed by private hands. Louis XI of France first (A.D. 1464) established an approximation to our modern post.