Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition | Page 8

it was established by Cyrus the Great. Couriers on horseback
were posted at certain stages along the chief roads of the empire, for the
transmission of royal despatches by night and day in all weathers. In
the Roman system the supply of horses and their maintenance was a
compulsory duty from which the emperor alone could grant exemption.
The word, which in the 4th century was used for the heavy transport
vehicles of the cursus publicus, and also for the animals by which they
were drawn, came to mean generally "compulsory service." So
_angaria_, _angariare_, in medieval Latin, and the rare English
derivatives "angariate," "angariation," came to mean any service which
was forcibly or unjustly demanded, and oppression in general.

ANGARY (Lat. _jus angariae_; Fr. _droit d'angarie_; Ger. _Angarie_;
from the Gr. [Greek: aggareia], the office of an [Greek: aggaros],
courier or messenger), the name given to the right of a belligerent to
seize and apply for the purposes of war (or to prevent the enemy from
doing so) any kind of property on, belligerent territory, including that
which may belong to subjects or citizens of a neutral state. Art. 53 of
the Regulations respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land,
annexed to the Hague Convention of 1899 on the same subject,
provides that railway plant, land telegraphs, telephones, steamers and
other ships (other than such as are governed by maritime law), though
belonging to companies or private persons, may be used for military
operations, but "must be restored at the conclusion of peace and
indemnities paid for them." And Art. 54 adds that "the plant of railways
coming from neutral states, whether the property of those states or of
companies or private persons, shall be sent back to them as soon as
possible." These articles seem to sanction the right of angary against
neutral property, while limiting it as against both belligerent and
neutral property. It may be considered, however, that the right to use
implies as wide a range of contingencies as the "necessity of war" can
be made to cover.
(T. BA.)

ANGEL, a general term denoting a subordinate superhuman being in
monotheistic religions, _e.g._. Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and in
allied religions, such as Zoroastrianism. In polytheism the grades of

superhuman beings are continuous; but in monotheism there is a sharp
distinction of kind, as well as degree, between God on the one hand,
and all other superhuman beings on the other; the latter are the
"angels."
"Angel" is a transcription of the Gr. [Greek: angelos], messenger.
[Greek: angelos] in the New Testament, and the corresponding
_mal'akh_ in the Old Testament, sometimes mean "messenger," and
sometimes "angel," and this double sense is duly represented in the
English Versions. "Angel" is also used in the English Version for
[Hebrew:] _'Abbir_, Ps. lxxviii. 25. (lit. "mighty"), for [Hebrew:]
_'Elohim_, Ps. viii. 5, and for the obscure [Hebrew:] _shin'an_, in Ps.
lxviii. 17.
[v.02 p.0005]
In the later development of the religion of Israel, _'Elohim_ is almost
entirely reserved for the one true God; but in earlier times _'Elohim_
(gods), _bn[=e] 'Elohim, bn[=e] Elim_ (sons of gods, _i.e._ members of
the class of divine beings) were general terms for superhuman beings.
Hence they came to be used collectively of superhuman beings, distinct
from Yahweh, and therefore inferior, and ultimately subordinate.[1] So,
too, the angels are styled "holy ones,"[2] and "watchers,"[3] and are
spoken of as the "host of heaven"[4] or of "Yahweh."[5] The "hosts,"
[Hebrew:] Sebaoth in the title _Yahweh Sebaoth_, Lord of Hosts, were
probably at one time identified with the angels.[6] The New Testament
often speaks of "spirits," [Greek: pneumata].[7] In the earlier periods of
the religion of Israel, the doctrine of monotheism had not been formally
stated, so that the idea of "angel" in the modern sense does not occur,
but we find the _Mal'akh Yahweh_, Angel of the Lord, or _Mal'akh
Elohim_, Angel of God. The _Mal'akh Yahweh_ is an appearance or
manifestation of Yahweh in the form of a man, and the term _Mal'akh
Yahweh_ is used interchangeably with Yahweh (cf. Exod. iii. 2, with iii.
4; xiii. 21 with xiv. 19). Those who see the _Mal'akh Yahweh_ say they
have seen God.[8] The _Mal'akh Yahweh_ (or _Elohim_) appears to
Abraham, Hagar, Moses, Gideon, &c., and leads the Israelites in the
Pillar of Cloud.[9] The phrase _Mal'akh Yahweh_ may have been
originally a courtly circumlocution for the Divine King; but it readily
became a means of avoiding crude anthropomorphism, and later on,
when the angels were classified, the _Mal'akh Yahweh_ came to mean

an angel of distinguished rank.[10] The identification of the _Mal'akh
Yahweh_ with the _Logos_, or Second Person of the Trinity, is not
indicated by the references in the Old Testament; but the idea of a
Being partly identified with God,