during the reign of Antoninus Pius. Presumably, he had some sort of supervisory responsibility to ensure the effective operation of the network of stations throughout the Empire and to discourage abuse of the facility by those not entitled to use it. There is evidence that inspectors oversaw the functioning of the system in the provinces, and it may be conjectured that they reported to the praefectus in Rome. However, the office does not seem to have been considered a full-time position because Maecianus was also the law tutor of the young Marcus Aurelius, apparently his main function. The praefectus vehiculorum managed the cursus publicus was tasked with managing the cursus publicus in Italy. Outside of Italy, local governors and officials managed the organization. Following the reforms of Diocletian and Constantine I, the service was divided in two sections: the fast (Latin: cursus velox, Greek: ὀξὺς δρόμος) and the regular (Latin: cursus clabularis, Greek: πλατὺς δρόμος). The fast section provided horses, divided into veredi ("saddle-horses") and parhippi ("pack-horses"), and mules, and the slow section provided only oxen. The existence of the cursus clabularis service shows that it was used to move heavy goods as well as to facilitate the travel of high officials and the carriage of government messages. Maintenance was charged to the provincials under the supervision of the governors under the general supervision of the diocesan vicars and praetorian prefects. Most members of the Cursus publicus were recruited from the military. Usually members of the Cursus publicus were formerly speculatores. History The Romans adapted their state post from the ancient Persian network of the royal mounted couriers, the angarium. As Herodotus reports, the Persians had a remarkably efficient means of transmitting messages important to the functioning of the kingdom, called the Royal Road. The riders would be stationed at a day's ride along the road, and the letters would be handed from one courier to another as they made a journey of a day’s length, which allowed messages to travel fast. It was established by Augustus to replace the system of private couriers which was used during the Roman Republic. Tacitus says that couriers from Judea and Syria brought news to Vitellius that the legions of the East had sworn allegiance to him, and this also shows that the relay system was displaced by a system in which the original messenger made the entire journey. Augustus modified the Persian