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.