Possidius, St., a prelate of the early Eastern Church, flourished at tin- close of tin- lib and the com- mencement et the 5th century, lie was a disciple of St. Augustine, and lived on intimate terms with him all bis life, i In being raised in 397 to the > piscopal si e of ('alamo, a town in Numidia, ai uo great distance from Hippo-Regius, be endeavored to oppose the assemblies which pagans and Donatists were continually holding in spile of the imperial decrees. The pagans avenged themselves by si tting tire to bis church and compelling bim to dec to Hippo. Recalled after a few years. Pos- sidius was a member of all important assi mbli< 9 b< Id in Africa about Church mailers, especially of the famous conference at Carthage in 111. in which none after St. Augustine played a more prominent part than himself. lb- wa- al-o at the Councils of Carthage ami of Miletus, where Pelasgus ami Celestius were condemned, lie was also senl abroad on important mis-ions. Tim- in A.I >. I in he v', as one of four pn late- d( ~| at, bed by the orthodox party iii Africa to Honorius for the purpose of soliciting a repeal ofthe law which bad been passed by their heretical opponents. Expelled from (alamo in 428 by <. en-eric king of the Vandals, be assisted St
Augustine in bis late moment-, and wrote the life of l be
great Baint, with a list of his works. He died after 431. The Roman Catholic Church has consecrated the 17th
of May to bi- memory. Two tracts by Possidius, to
which reference wa- made above, are -till extant. They are entitled. Vita Avgvstina ; Indicvlus Scriptt gustini. These are attached to all the besl editions of Augustine. The best edition ofthe Vita, in a separate
POST
443
POST
form, is that of Salinus (Rome, 1731, 8vo) and Aug. Vindel (1768) ; of the Indiculus, that published at Ven- ice (1735, 8vo). — Hoefer, Nouv. Bioy. Generalv, s. v.; Smith, Diet, of Gr. and Rom. Biog. s. v.
Post (courant) is the rendering of y"n, rats (Sept. fiifiXiotpapoc., Vulg. cursor, 2 Chron. xxx, G, 10 ; Esth. iii, 13, 15; viii, 10, 14; Job ix, 25; Jer. li, 31), a runner, or " guard," as elsewhere rendered ; a courier or carrier of messages, such as is common in Oriental countries. See Axgareuo. The term post is used to indicate pri- marily the personwho conveyedwith speed any message; and subsequently the means of regular postal communi- cations. Some writers have thought that the use of posts as a system originated with the Persians. Diodorus Si- culus observes that the kings of Persia, in order to have intelligence of what was passing through all the prov- inces of their vast dominions, placed sentinels at emi- nences at convenient distances, where towers were built. These sentinels gave notice of public occurrences from one to another, with a very loud and shrill voice, by which news was transmitted from one extremity of the kingdom to another with great expedition. But as this could not be practiced except in the case of general news, which it was expedient that the whole nation should be acquainted with, Cyrus, as Xenophon relates, appointed couriers and places for post-horses, building for the purpose on all the high-roads houses for the recep- tion of the couriers, where they were to deliver their packets to the next, and so on. This they did night and day, so that no inclemency of weather was to stop them : and they are represented as moving with astonishing speed. Herodotus owns that nothing swifter was known for a journey by land. Xerxes, in his famous expedi- tion against Greece, planted posts from the ^Egean Sea to Shushan or Susa, to send notice thither of what might happen to his army ; he placed also messengers from station to station, to convey his packets, at such dis- tances from each other as a horse might easily travel. The regularity and swiftness of the Roman posts were likewise admirable. Gibbon observes, "The advantage of receiving the earliest intelligence, and of conveying their orders with celerity, induced the emperors to es- tablish throughout their extensive dominions the regu- lar institution of posts. Houses were everywhere erect-
w-
-wji
A Tartar' Courier.
ed at the distance only of five or six miles; each of them was constantly provided with forty horses; and by the help of these relays it was easy to travel a hun- dred miles a day along the Roman roads." In the time of Theodosius, Cesarius, a magistrate of high rank, went by post from Antioch to Constantinople. He began his journey at night, was in Cappadocia (105 miles from Antioch) the ensuing evening, and arrived at Constan- tinople the sixth day about noon. The whole distance was 725 Roman, or 665 English miles. This service seems to have been very laxly performed till the time of Trajan, previous to whose reign the Roman messen- gers were in the habit of seizing for the public service any horses that came in their way. Some regularity was observed from this time forward, as in the Theo- dosian code mention is made of post-horses, and orders given for their regulation. Throughout all this period posts were only used on special occasions. Letters from private persons were conveyed by private hands, and were confined for the most part to business of sufficient urgency. Yet the correspondence of ancient times, if we may judge from the immense number of Egyptian, Babylonian, and Persian seals still in existence, must have been far from inconsiderable. The institution of posts disappeared from Europe with the breaking up of the Roman empire, and its re-establishment is gen- erally attributed to Louis XI of Erance, in the middle of the 15th century.