or Angarii, in Antiquity, public couriers appointed for the carrying of messages. The ancient Persians had their ἀγγαρεῖα, which was a set of couriers on horseback, posted at certain stages or distances, always in readiness to receive the royal dispatches from one, and forward them to another, with wonderful celerity, answering to what the moderns call posts (positi), as being posted at certain places or stages. The angari were also called by the Persians astanādē. This system of couriers was adopted by the Roman emperors, and the supplying of the horses and their maintenance was a burden from which the emperor alone could grant exemption.