second and third, till the end
of the Post-houses, which was at Susa. The news of his victories was
thus conveyed to his people in an almost incredible space of time. The
Greeks were also in the possession of regular posts, but we have no
data from which we can judge of the manner in which they were
conducted, who founded them, or where they were first established.

At Rome, Posts and Post-houses were established, and designated
_statores_ and _stationes_; they were founded by the senate at a very
early period of the Republic. They were at first very ill managed, the
delivery of the post being extremely irregular, and confined to the
great roads; but Augustus extended them throughout all parts of his
mighty empire, and issued commands which appointed certain days for
the delivery of the posts. At their first establishment the Posts were
carried by young men on foot, who were met by others at the appointed
post stations, but horses and chariots were substituted in their stead
by Augustus.

The earliest institution of Posts in modern times was about the year
807. Charlemagne after he had subjugated to his power Germany, Italy,
and a large part of Spain, seeing the inconvenience which the
Government suffered from the non-delivery of important despatches from
the governors of these distant parts of his dominion, caused Posts to
be established at the expense of the people; but like the majority of
the wise institutions of this warrior-statesman, shortly after his
decease, they were discontinued, and till a long period after no
traces are to be found of similar establishments. It is highly
probable that they were re-instituted in the year 1484, by Louis XI.
who employed in this department 230 couriers and messengers.
Succeeding kings instituted officers expressly to superintend the
Posts, as great abuses had crept in from time to time, but the
multiplicity of the new made officers, and the frequent changes in the
organization of the Post Office, kept the public from putting any
faith in it, and it had almost ceased to exist when some spirited
official men by organizing a new plan, and by giving a certainty to
the public of the delivery of their letters, saved it from
discontinuance.

From France the institution gradually spread over the other countries
of Europe. In Germany, which country was one of the first to adopt the
system of the French Posts were established through the influence and
at the expense of Count Taxis,