the innocence of their manners. They generally lived to their 120th
year, some say 1000 years; and indeed from that longevity they have
obtained their name (μακρος βιος, _long life_), to distinguish them
more particularly from the other inhabitants of Æthiopia. After
so long a period spent in virtuous actions, and freed from the
♦indulgences of vice, and from maladies, they dropped into the
grave as to sleep, without pain and without terror. _Orpheus_,
_Argonautica_, li. 1105.――_Herodotus_, bk. 3, ch. 17.――_Mela_, bk. 3,
ch. 9.――_Pliny_, bk. 7, ch. 48.――_Valerius Maximus_, bk. 8, ch. 3.
♦ ‘induligencies’ replaced with ‘indulgences’
=Macrobius=, a Latin writer, who died A.D. 415. Some suppose that
he was chamberlain to the emperor Theodosius II.; but this appears
groundless, when we observe that Macrobius was a follower of paganism,
and that none were admitted to the confidence of the emperor, or to
the enjoyment of high stations, except such as were of the christian
religion. Macrobius has rendered himself famous for a composition
called _Saturnalia_, a miscellaneous collection of antiquities and
criticism, supposed to have been the result of a conversation of
some of the learned Romans during the celebration of the Saturnalia.
This was written for the use of his son, and the bad latinity which
the author has often introduced, proves that he was not born in a
part of the Roman empire where the Latin tongue was spoken, as he
himself candidly confesses. The Saturnalia are useful for the learned
reflections which they contain, and particularly for some curious
observations on the two greatest epic poets of antiquity. Besides
this, Macrobius wrote a commentary on Cicero’s _Somnium Scipionis_,
which was likewise composed for the improvement of the author’s son,
and dedicated to him. The best editions are that of Gronovius, 8vo,
Leiden, 1670, and that of Lipscomb, 8vo, 1777.
=Macrŏchir=, a Greek name of Artaxerxes, the same as _Longimanus_.
This surname arises from his having one _hand longer_ than the other.
_Cornelius Nepos_, _Kings_.
=Macrōnes=, a nation of Pontus, on the confines of Colchis and Armenia.
_Flaccus_, bk. 5, li. 153.――_Herodotus._
=Mactorium=, a town of Sicily at the south, near Gela.
=Măcŭlōnus=, a rich and penurious Roman, &c. _Juvenal_, satire 7,
li. 40.
=Madaura=, a town on the borders of Numidia and Gætulia, of which the
inhabitants were called _Madaurenses_. It was the native place of
Apuleius. _Apuleius_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 11.
=Madestes=, a town of Thrace.
=Madetes=, a general of Darius, who bravely defended a place against
Alexander. The conqueror resolved to put him to death, though 30
orators pleaded for his life. Sisygambis prevailed over the almost
inexorable Alexander, and Madetes was pardoned. _Curtius_, bk. 5,
ch. 3.
=Maduatēni=, a people of Thrace. _Livy_, bk. 38, ch. 40.
=Madyes=, a Scythian prince who pursued the Cimmerians in Asia, and
conquered Cyaxares, B.C. 623. He held for some time the supreme power
of Asia Minor. _Herodotus_, bk. 8, ch. 103.
=Mæander=, a son of Oceanus and Tethys.――――A celebrated river of Asia
Minor, rising near Celænæ, and flowing through Caria and Ionia into
the Ægean sea between Miletus and Priene, after it has been increased
by the waters of the Marsyas, Lycus, Eudon, Lethæus, &c. It is
celebrated among the poets for its windings, which amount to no less
than 600, and from which all obliquities have received the name of
_Mæanders_. It forms in its course, according to the observations of
some travellers, the Greek letters ε, ζ, ξ, ς, and ω, and from its
windings Dædalus had the first idea of his famous labyrinth. _Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 8, li. 145, &c.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 5, li.
254.――_Lucan_, bk. 5, li. 208; bk. 6, li. 471.――_Homer_, _Iliad_, bk.
2.――_Herodotus_, bk. 2, ch. 29.――_Cicero_, _Piso_, ch. 22.――_Strabo_,
bk. 12, &c.――_Mela_, bk. 1, ch. 17.
=Mæandria=, a city of Epirus.
=Mæatæ=, a people at the south of Scotland. _Dio Cassius_, bk. 76,
ch. 12.
=Mæcenas.= _See:_ Mecænas.
=Mædi=, a people of _Mædica_, a district of Thrace, near Rhodope.
_Livy_, bk. 26, ch. 25; bk. 40, ch. 21.
=Mælius=, a Roman, thrown down from the Tarpeian rock, for aspiring to
tyranny at Rome in the early ages of the republic.
=Mæmacteria=, sacrifices offered to Jupiter at Athens in the winter
month Mæmacterion. The god surnamed _Mæmactes_ was intreated to send
mild and temperate weather, as he presided over the seasons, and was
the god of the air.
=Mænădes=, a name of the Bacchantes, or priestesses of Bacchus. The
word is derived from μαινομαι, _to be furious_, because in the
celebration of their festivals, their gestures and actions were those
of mad women. _Ovid_, _Fasti_, bk. 4, li. 458.
=Mænăla=, a town of Spain.
=Mænălus= (plural, Mænala), a mountain of Arcadia sacred to the god
Pan, and greatly frequented by shepherds. It received its name from
Mænalus, a son of Lycaon. It was covered with pine trees, whose echo
and shade have been greatly celebrated by all the ancient poets.
_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 1, li. 216.――_Virgil_, _Georgics_,
bk. 1, li. 17; _Eclogues_ poem 8, li. 24.――_Pausanias_, bk. 8, ch. 3.
――_Strabo_, bk. 8.――_Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 3.――――A town of Arcadia.――――A
son of Lycaon.――――The father of Atalanta.
=Mænius=, a Roman consul.――――A dictator accused and honourably
acquitted, &c.――――A spendthrift at Rome. _Horace_, bk. 1, ltr. 15,
li. 26.
=Mænon=, a tyrant of Sicily, B.C. 285.
=Mænus=, a river of Germany, now called _the Mayne_, falling into the
Rhine at Mayence.
=Mæŏnia=, a country of Asia Minor, the same as Lydia. It is to be
observed, that only part of Lydia was known by the name of Mæonia,
that is, the neighbourhood of mount Tmolus, and the country watered
by the Pactolus. The rest on the sea coast was called Lydia. _Strabo_,
bk. 12.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_.――――The Etrurians, as being
descended from a Lydian colony, are often called _Mæonidæ_ (_Virgil_,
_Æneid_, bk. 11, li. 759), and even the lake Thrasymenus in their
country is called _Mæonius lacus_. _Silius Italicus_, bk. 15, li. 35.
=Mæŏnĭdes=, a name given to the Muses, because Homer, their greatest
and worthiest favourite, was supposed to be a native of Mæonia.
=Mæŏnĭdes=, a surname of Homer, because, according to the opinion of
some writers, he was born in Mæon. _Ovid._――――The surname is also
applied to Bacchus, as he was worshipped in Mæonia.
=Mæŏnis=, an epithet applied to Omphale, as queen of Lydia or Mæonia.
_Ovid._――――The epithet is also applied to Arachne, as a native of
Lydia. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 6.
=Mæōtæ=, a people of Asiatic Sarmatia.
=Mæōtis Palus=, a large lake, or part of the sea between Europe and
Asia, at the north of the Euxine, to which it communicates by the
Cimmerian Bosphorus, now called the _sea of Azof_ or _Zaback_. It
was worshipped as a deity by the Massagetæ. It extends about 390
miles from south-west to north-east, and is about 600 miles in
circumference. The Amazons are called _Mæotides_, as living in
the neighbourhood. _Strabo._――_Mela_, bk. 1, ch. 1, &c.――_Justin_,
bk. 2, ch. 1.――_Curtius_, bk. 5, ch. 4.――_Lucan_, bk. 2, &c.――_Ovid_,
♦_Tristia_, bk. 3, poem 12; _epistles of Sabinus_, ltr. 2, li. 9.
――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 6, li. 739.
♦ ‘Fasti’ replaced with ‘Tristia’
=Mæsia sylva=, a wood in Etruria, near the mouth of the Tiber. _Livy_,
bk. 1, ch. 33.
=Mævia=, an immodest woman. _Juvenal_, satire 1, li. 22.
=Mævius=, a poet of inferior note in the Augustan age, who made himself
known by his illiberal attacks on the character of the first writers
of his time, as well as by his affected compositions. His name would
have sunk in oblivion if Virgil had not ridiculed him in his third
eclogue, and Horace in his 10th epode.
=Magas=, a king of Cyrene, in the age of Ptolemy Philadelphus. He
reigned 50 years, and died B.C. 257. _Polyænus_, bk. 2.
=Magella=, a town of Sicily about the middle of the island.
=Magetæ=, a people of Africa.
=Magi=, a religious sect among the eastern nations of the world, and
particularly in Persia. They had great influence in the political as
well as religious affairs of the state, and a monarch seldom ascended
the throne without their previous approbation. Zoroaster was founder
of their sect. They paid particular homage to fire, which they deemed
a deity, as pure in itself, and the purifier of all things. In their
religious tenets they had two principles, one good, the source of
everything good; and the other evil, from whence sprang all manner
of ills. Their professional skill in the mathematics and philosophy
rendered everything familiar to them, and from their knowledge of the
phenomena of the heavens, the word Magi was applied to all learned
men; and in process of time, the Magi, from their experience and
profession, were confounded with the magicians who impose upon the
superstitious and credulous. Hence the word _Magi_ and _Magicians_
became synonymous among the vulgar. Smerdis, one of the Magi, usurped
the crown of Persia after the death of Cambyses, and the fraud was
not discovered till the seven noble Persians conspired against the
usurper, and elected Darius king. From this circumstance there was
a certain day on which none of the Magi were permitted to appear in
public, as the populace had the privilege of murdering whomsoever of
them they met. _Strabo._――_Cicero_, _de Divinatione_, bk. 1.
――_Herodotus_, bk. 3, ch. 62, &c.
=Magius=, a lieutenant of Piso, &c.――――A man in the interest of Pompey,
grandfather to the historian Velleius Paterculus, &c. _Paterculus_,
bk. 2, ch. 115.
=Magna Græcia=, a part of Italy. _See:_ Græcia Magna.
=Magna Mater=, a name given to Cybele.
=Magnentius=, an ambitious Roman, who distinguished himself by his
cruelty and perfidy. He conspired against the life of Constans,
and murdered him in his bed. This cruelty was highly resented by
Constantius; and the assassin, unable to escape from the fury of his
antagonist, murdered his own mother and the rest of his relations,
and afterwards killed himself by falling upon a sword, which he
had thrust against a wall. He was the first of the followers of
christianity who ever murdered his lawful sovereign, A.D. 353.
=Magnes=, a young man who found himself detained by the iron nails
which were under his shoes as he walked over a stone mine. This was
no other than the magnet, which received its name from the person
who had been first sensible of its powers. Some say that Magnes was a
slave of Medea, whom that enchantress changed into a magnet. _Orphic
Lithica_, bk. 10, li. 7.――――A son of Æolus and Anaretta, who married
Nais, by whom he had Pierus, &c. _Apollodorus_, bk. 1, ch. 7.――――A
poet and musician of Smyrna, in the age of Gyges king of Lydia.
=Magnēsia=, a town of Asia Minor on the Mæander, about 15 miles from
Ephesus, now called _Guzelhizar_. It is celebrated for the death
of Themistocles, and for a battle which was fought there 187 years
before the christian era, between the Romans and Antiochus king of
Syria. The forces of Antiochus amounted to 70,000 men, according to
Appian, or 70,000 foot and 12,000 horse, according to Livy, which
have been exaggerated by ♦Florus to 300,000 men; the Roman army
consisted of about 28,000 or 30,000 men, 2000 of which were employed
in guarding the camp. The Syrians lost 50,000 foot and 4000 horse,
and the Romans only 300 killed, with 25 horse. It was founded by a
colony from Magnesia in Thessaly, and was commonly called _Magnesia
ad Mæandrum_, to distinguish it from another called _Magnesia ad
Sipylum_ in Lydia, at the foot of mount Sipylus. This last was
destroyed by an earthquake in the reign of Tiberius.――――A country on
the eastern parts of Thessaly, at the south of Ossa. It was sometimes
called _Æmonia_ and _Magnes Campus_. The capital was also called
Magnesia.――――A promontory of Magnesia in Thessaly. _Livy_, bk. 37.
――_Florus_, bk. 2.――_Appian._
♦ ‘Florius’ replaced with ‘Florus’
=Mago=, a Carthaginian general sent against Dionysius tyrant of Sicily.
He obtained a victory, and granted peace to the conquered. In a
battle which soon after followed this treaty of peace, Mago was
killed. His son, of the same name, succeeded to the command of the
Carthaginian army, but he disgraced himself by flying at the approach
of Timoleon, who had come to assist the Syracusans. He was accused
in the Carthaginian senate, and he prevented by suicide the execution
of the sentence justly pronounced against him. His body was hung on
a gibbet, and exposed to public ignominy.――――A brother of Annibal the
Great. He was present at the battle of Cannæ, and was deputed by his
brother to carry to Carthage the news of the celebrated victory which
had been obtained over the Roman armies. His arrival at Carthage was
unexpected, and more powerfully to astonish his countrymen on account
of the victory of Cannæ, he emptied in the senate-house the three
bushels of golden rings which had been taken from the Roman knights
slain in battle. He was afterwards sent to Spain, where he defeated
the two Scipios, and was himself, in another engagement, totally
ruined. He retired to the Baleares, which he conquered; and one of
the cities there still bears his name, and is called Portus Magonis,
_Port Mahon_. After this he landed in Italy with an army, and took
possession of part of Insubria. He was defeated in a battle by
Quintilius Varus, and died of a mortal wound 203 years before the
christian era. _Livy_, bk. 30, &c. _Cornelius Nepos_, _Hannibal_,
ch. 8, gives a very different account of his death, and says he either
perished in a shipwreck, or was murdered by his servants. Perhaps
Annibal had two brothers of that name.――――A Carthaginian, more known
by the excellence of his writings than by his military exploits. He
wrote 28 volumes upon husbandry; these were preserved by Scipio, at
the taking of Carthage, and presented to the Roman senate. They were
translated into Greek by Cassius Dionysius of Utica, and into Latin
by order of the Roman senate, though Cato had already written so
copiously upon the subject; and the Romans, as it has been observed,
consulted the writings of Mago with greater earnestness than the
books of the Sybilline verses. _Columella._――――A Carthaginian sent
by his countrymen to assist the Romans against Pyrrhus and the
Tarentines, with a fleet of 120 sail. This offer was politely refused
by the Roman senate. This Mago was father of Asdrubal and Hamilcar.
_Valerius Maximus._
=Magon=, a river of India falling into the Ganges. _Arrian._
=Māgrontiăcum=, or =Magontea=, a large city of Germany, now called
_Mentz_. _Tacitus_, bk. 4, _Histories_, bks. 15 & 23.
=Magus=, an officer of Turnus, killed by Æneas. _Virgil_, _Æneid_,
bk. 10, li. 522.
=Maherbal=, a Carthaginian who was at the siege of Saguntum, and who
commanded the cavalry of Annibal at the battle of Cannæ. He advised
the conqueror immediately to march to Rome, but Annibal required
time to consider on so bold a measure; upon which Maherbal observed,
that Annibal knew how to conquer, but not how to make a proper use of
victory.
=Maīa=, a daughter of Atlas and Pleione, mother of Mercury by Jupiter.
She was one of the Pleiades, the most luminous of the seven sisters.
_See:_ Pleiades. _Apollodorus_, bk. 3, ch. 10.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_,
bk. 1, li. 301.――――A surname of Cybele.
=Majestas=, a goddess among the Romans, daughter of Honour and
Reverence. _Ovid_, bk. 5; _Fasti_, li. 25.
=Majoriānus Julius Valerius=, an emperor of the western Roman empire,
raised to the imperial throne A.D. 457. He signalized himself by his
private as well as public virtues. He was massacred, after a reign
of 37 years, by one of his generals, who envied in his master the
character of an active, virtuous, and humane emperor.
=Majorca=, the greatest of the islands called Baleares, on the coast of
Spain, in the Mediterranean. _Strabo._
=Mala Fortuna=, the goddess of evil fortune, was worshipped among the
Romans. _Cicero_, _de Natura Deorum_, bk. 3.
=Malēa=, a promontory of Lesbos.――――Another in Peloponnesus, at the
south of Laconia. The sea is so rough and boisterous there, that the
dangers which attended a voyage round it gave rise to the proverb
of _Cum ad Maleam deflexeris, obliviscere quæ sunt domi_. _Strabo_,
bks. 8 & 9.――_Lucan_, bk. 6, li. 58.――_Plutarch_, _Aratus_.――_Virgil_,
_Æneid_, bk. 5, li. 193.――_Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 3.――_Livy_, bk. 21,
ch. 44.――_Ovid_, _Amores_, bk. 2, poem 16, li. 24; poem 11, li. 20.
――_Pausanias_, bk. 3, ch. 23.
=Maleventum=, the ancient name of Beneventum. _Livy_, bk. 9, ch. 27.
=Malho=, or =Matho=, a general of an army of Carthaginian mercenaries,
258 B.C.
=Malia=, a city of Phthiotis, near mount Œta and Thermopylæ. There were
in its neighbourhood some hot mineral waters which the poet Catullus
has mentioned. From Malia a gulf or small bay in the neighbourhood,
at the western extremities of the island of Eubœa, has received the
name of the gulf of Malia, _Maliacum Fretum_, or _Maliacus Sinus_.
Some call it the gulf of Lamia, from its vicinity to Lamia. It is
often taken for the _Sinus Pelasgicus_ of the ancients. _Pausanias_,
bk. 1, ch. 4.――_Herodotus._
=Malii=, a people of Mesopotamia.
=Malis=, a servant-maid of Omphale, beloved by Hercules.
=Mallea=, or =Mallia aqua=. _See:_ Malia.
=Malleŏlus=, a man who murdered his mother, &c. _Cicero_, _Rhetorica ad
Herennium_, bk. 1, ch. 13.
=Mallius=, a Roman consul defeated by the Gauls, &c.
=Mallophŏra= (_lanam ferens_), a surname under which Ceres had a temple
at Megara, because she had taught the inhabitants the utility of
wool, and the means of tending sheep to advantage. This temple is
represented as so old in the age of Pausanias, that it was falling
to decay. _Pausanias_, bk. 1, ch. 44.
=Mallos=, a town of Cilicia. _Lucan_, bk. 3, li. 227.
=Malthīnus=, a name under which Horace has lashed some of his friends
or enemies. Bk. 1, satire 2, li. 27.
=Mamaus=, a river of Peloponnesus.
=Mamercus=, a tyrant of Catana, who surrendered to Timoleon. His
attempts to speak in a public assembly at Syracuse were received
with groans and hisses, upon which he dashed his head against a
wall, and endeavoured to destroy himself. The blows were not fatal,
and Mamercus was soon after put to death as a robber, B.C. 340.
_Polyænus_, bk. 5.――_Cornelius Nepos_, _Timoleon_.――――A dictator at
Rome, B.C. 437.――――A consul with Decimus Brutus.
=Mamerthes=, a Corinthian who killed his brother’s son in hopes of
reigning, upon which he was torn to pieces by his brother. _Ovid_,
_Ibis_.
=Mamertīna=, a town of Campania, famous for its wines.――――A name of
Messana in Sicily. _Martial_, bk. 13, ltr. 117.――_Strabo_, bk. 7.
=Mamertīni=, a mercenary band of soldiers which passed from Campania
into Sicily, at the request of Agathocles. When they were in the
service of Agathocles, they claimed the privilege of voting at the
election of magistrates at Syracuse, and had recourse to arms to
support their unlawful demands. The sedition was appeased by the
authority of some leading men, and the Campanians were ordered to
leave Sicily. In their way to the coast they were received with great
kindness by the people of Messana, and soon returned perfidy for
hospitality. They conspired against the inhabitants, murdered all
the males in the city, and married their wives and daughters, and
rendered themselves masters of the place. After this violence they
assumed the name of Mamertini, and called their city _Mamertina_,
from a provincial word, which in their language signified _martial_
or _warlike_. The Mamertines were afterwards defeated by Hiero, and
totally disabled from repairing their ruined affairs. _Plutarch_,
_Pyrrhus_, &c.
=Mamilia lex=, _de limitibus_, by the tribune Mamilius. It ordained
that in the boundaries of the lands five or six feet of land should
be left uncultivated, which no person could convert into private
property. It also appointed commissioners to see it carried into
execution.
=Mamilii=, a plebeian family at Rome, descended from the Aborigines.
They first lived at Tusculum, from whence they came to Rome. _Livy_,
bk. 3, ch. 29.
=Mamilius Octavius=, a son-in-law of Tarquin, who behaved with uncommon
bravery at the battle of Regillæ. He is also called Manilius. _See:_
Manilius.
=Mammea=, the mother of the emperor Severus, who died A.D. 235.
=Mamŭrius Veturius=, a worker in brass in Numa’s reign. He was ordered
by the monarch to make a number of ancylia or shields, like that
one which had fallen from heaven, that it might be difficult to
distinguish the true one from the others. He was very successful in
his undertaking, and he asked for no other reward, but that his name
might be frequently mentioned in the hymns which were sung by the
Salii in the feast of the Ancylia. This request was granted. _Ovid_,
_Fasti_, bk. 3, li. 392.――_Varro_, _de Lingua Latina_, bk. 5, ch. 6.
=Mamurra=, a Roman knight born at Formiæ. He followed the fortune of
Julius Cæsar in Gaul, where he greatly enriched himself. He built a
magnificent palace on mount Cœlius, and was the first who incrusted
his walls with marble. Catullus has attacked him in his epigrams.
Formiæ is sometimes called _Mamurrarum urbs_. _Pliny_, bk. 36, ch. 6.
=Manastăbal=, son of Masinissa, who was father to the celebrated
Jugurtha. _Sallust_, _Jugurthine War_.
=Caius Mancīnus=, a Roman general, who, though at the head of an army
of 30,000 men, was defeated by 4000 Numantians, B.C. 138. He was
dragged from the senate, &c. _Cicero_, _Orator_, bk. 1, ch. 40.
=Mandāne=, a daughter of king Astyages, married by her father to
Cambyses, an ignoble person of Persia. The monarch had dreamed
that his daughter’s urine had drowned all his city, which had been
interpreted in an unfavourable manner by the soothsayers, who assured
him that his daughter’s son would dethrone him. The marriage of
Mandane with Cambyses would, in the monarch’s opinion, prevent the
effects of the dream, and the children of this connection would, like
their father, be poor and unnoticed. The expectations of Astyages
were frustrated. He was dethroned by his grandson. _See:_ Cyrus.
_Herodotus_, bk. 1, ch. 107.
=Mandānes=, an Indian prince and philosopher, whom Alexander invited
by his ambassador, on pain of death, to come to his banquet, as
being the son of Jupiter. The philosopher ridiculed the threats and
promises of Alexander, &c. _Strabo_, bk. 15.
=Mandēla=, a village in the country of the Sabines, near Horace’s
country seat. _Horace_, bk. 1, ltr. 18, li. 105.
=Mandonius=, a prince of Spain, who for some time favoured the cause
of the Romans. When he heard that Scipio the Roman commander was
ill, he raised commotions in the provinces, for which he was severely
reprimanded and punished. _Livy_, bk. 29.
=Mandrŏcles=, a general of Artaxerxes, &c. _Cornelius Nepos_, _Datames_.
=Mandron=, a king of the Bebryces, &c. _Polyænus_, bk. 8.
=Mandubii=, a people of Gaul (now _Burgundy_), in Cæsar’s army, &c.
_Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 7, ch. 78.
=Mandubratius=, a young Briton who came over to Cæsar in Gaul. His
father Immanuentius was king in Britain, and had been put to death by
order of Cassivelaunus. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 5, ch. 20.
=Manduria=, a city of Calabria near Tarentum, whose inhabitants were
famous for eating dog’s flesh. _Pliny_, bk. 2, ch. 103.――_Livy_,
bk. 27, ch. 15.
=Manes=, a son of Jupiter and Tellus, who reigned in Mæonia. He was
father of Cotys, by Callirrhoe the daughter of Oceanus.