separated from the body. They were reckoned among the infernal
deities, and generally supposed to preside over the burying places
and the monuments of the dead. They were worshipped with great
solemnity, particularly by the Romans. The augurs always invoked
them when they proceeded to exercise their sacerdotal offices. Virgil
introduces his hero as sacrificing to the infernal deities, and
to the Manes, a victim whose blood was received in a ditch. The
word _manes_ is supposed to be derived from Mania, who was by some
reckoned the mother of those tremendous deities. Others derive it
from _manare, quod per omnia ætherea terrenaque manabant_, because
they filled the air, particularly in the night, and were intent
to molest and disturb the peace of mankind. Some say that _manes_
comes from _manis_, an old Latin word which signified _good_ or
_propitious_. The word _manes_ is differently used by ancient authors;
sometimes it is taken for the infernal regions, and sometimes it is
applied to the deities of Pluto’s kingdom, whence the epitaphs of the
Romans were always superscribed with D. M., _Dîs Manibus_, to remind
the sacrilegious and profane not to molest the monuments of the dead,
which were guarded with such sanctity. _Propertius_, bk. 1, poem 19.
――_Virgil_, bk. 4, _Georgics_, li. 469; _Æneid_, bk. 3, &c.――_Horace_,
bk. 1, satire 8, li. 28.――――A river of Locris.
=Manētho=, a celebrated priest of Heliopolis in Egypt, surnamed the
Mendesian, B.C. 261. He wrote in Greek a history of Egypt, which
has been often quoted and commended by the ancients, particularly
by Josephus. It was chiefly collected from the writings of Mercury,
and from the journals and annals which are preserved in the Egyptian
temples. This history has been greatly corrupted by the Greeks. The
author supported that all the gods of the Egyptians had been mere
mortals, and had all lived upon earth. This history, which is now
lost, had been epitomized, and some fragments of it are still extant.
There is extant a Greek poem ascribed to Manetho, in which the power
of the stars, which preside over the birth and fate of mankind, is
explained. The Apotelesmata of this author were edited in 4to, by
Gronovious, Leiden, 1698.
=Mania=, a goddess, supposed to be the mother of the Lares and Manes.
――――A female servant of queen Berenice the daughter of Ptolemy.――――A
mistress of Demetrius Poliorcetes, called also Demo, and Mania, from
her folly. _Plutarch_, _Demetrius_.
=Manilia lex=, by Manilius the tribune, A.U.C. 678. It required that
all the forces of Lucullus and his province, together with Bithynia,
which was then under the command of Glabrio, should be delivered to
Pompey, and that this general should, without any delay, declare war
against Mithridates, and still retain the command of the Roman fleet,
and the empire of the Mediterranean, as before.――――Another, which
permitted all those whose fathers had not been invested with public
offices, to be employed in the management of affairs.――――A woman
famous for her debaucheries. _Juvenal_, satire 6, li. 242.
=Mānīlius=, a Roman who married the daughter of Tarquin. He lived
at Tusculum, and received his father-in-law in his house, when
banished from Rome, &c. _Livy_, bk. 2, ch. 15.――――Caius, a celebrated
mathematician and poet of Antioch, who wrote a poetical treatise
on astronomy, of which five books are extant, treating of the fixed
stars. The style is not elegant. The age in which he lived is not
known, though some suppose that he flourished in the Augustan age. No
author, however, in the age of Augustus has made mention of Manilius.
The best editions of Manilius are those of Bentley, 4to, London, 1739,
and Stoeberus, 8vo, Strasbourg, 1767.――――Titus, a learned historian
in the age of Sylla and Marius. He is greatly commended by Cicero,
_pro Roscio_.――――Marcus, another mentioned by _Cicero_, _On Oratory_,
bk. 1, ch. 48, as supporting the character of a great lawyer, and of
an eloquent and powerful orator.
=Manĭmi=, a people in Germany. _Tacitus_, _Germania_, ch. 43.
=Manlia lex=, by the tribune Publius Manlius, A.U.C. 557. It revived
the office of _treviri epulones_, first instituted by Numa. The
_epulones_ were priests, who prepared banquets for Jupiter and the
gods at public festivals, &c.
=Manlius Torquātus=, a celebrated Roman, whose youth was distinguished
by a lively and cheerful disposition. These promising talents
were, however, impeded by a difficulty of speaking; and the father,
unwilling to expose his son’s rusticity at Rome, detained him in
the country. The behaviour of the father was publicly censured, and
Marius Pomponius the tribune cited him to answer for his unfatherly
behaviour to his son. Young Manlius was informed of this, and with
a dagger in his hand he entered the house of the tribune, and made
him solemnly promise that he would drop the accusation. This action
of Manlius endeared him to the people, and soon after he was chosen
military tribune. In a war against the Gauls, he accepted the
challenge of one of the enemy, whose gigantic stature and ponderous
arms had rendered him terrible and almost invincible in the eyes of
the Romans. The Gaul was conquered, and Manlius stripped him of his
arms, and from the collar (_torquis_) which he took from the enemy’s
neck, he was ever after surnamed _Torquatus_. Manlius was the
first Roman who was raised to the dictatorship without having been
previously consul. The severity of Torquatus to his son has been
deservedly censured. This father had the courage and heart to put to
death his son, because he had engaged one of the enemy, and obtained
an honourable victory, without his previous permission. This uncommon
rigour displeased many of the Romans; and though Torquatus was
honoured with a triumph, and commended by the senate for his services,
yet the Roman youth showed their disapprobation of the consul’s
severity, by refusing him at his return the homage which every other
conqueror received. Some time after the censorship was offered to
him, but he refused it, observing that the people could not bear
his severity, nor he the vices of the people. From the rigour of
Torquatus, all edicts and actions of severity and justice have been
called _Manliana edicta_. _Livy_, bk. 7, ch. 10.――_Valerius Maximus_,
bk. 6, ch. 9.――――Marcus, a celebrated Roman, whose valour was
displayed in the field of battle, even at the early age of 16. When
Rome was taken by the Gauls, Manlius with a body of his countrymen
fled into the Capitol, which he defended when it was suddenly
surprised in the night by the enemy. This action gained him the
surname of _Capitolinus_, and the geese, which by their clamour had
awakened him to arm himself in his own defence, were ever after held
sacred among the Romans. A law which Manlius proposed to abolish
the taxes on the common people, raised the senators against him. The
dictator Cornelius Cossus seized him as a rebel, but the people put
on mourning, and delivered from prison their common father. This did
not in the least check his ambition; he continued to raise factions,
and even secretly to attempt to make himself absolute, till at
last the tribunes of the people themselves became his accusers. He
was tried in the Campius Martius; but when the distant view of the
Capitol which Manlius had saved seemed to influence the people in his
favour, the court of justice was removed, and Manlius was condemned.
He was thrown down from the Tarpeian rock, A.U.C. 371, and to
render his ignominy still greater, none of his family were afterwards
permitted to bear the surname of _Marcus_, and the place where his
house had stood was deemed unworthy to be inhabited. _Livy_, bk. 5,
ch. 31; bk. 6, ch. 5.――_Florus_, bk. 1, chs. 13 & 26.――_Valerius
Maximus_, bk. 6, ch. 3.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 6, li. 825.
――――Imperiosus, father of Manlius Torquatus. He was made dictator. He
was accused of detaining his son at home. _See:_ Manlius Torquatus.
――――Volsco, a Roman consul who received an army of Scipio in Asia,
and made war against the Gallo-grecians, whom he conquered. He
was honoured with a triumph at his return, though it was at first
strongly opposed. _Florus_, bk. 3, ch. 11.――_Livy_, bk. 38, ch. 12,
&c.――――Caius, or Aulus, a senator sent to Athens to collect the best
and wisest laws of Solon, A.U.C. 300. _Livy_, bk. 2, ch. 54; bk. 3,
ch. 31.――――Another, called also Cincinnatus. He made war against the
Etrurians and Veientes with great success, and he died of a wound
which he had received in a battle.――――Another, who in his pretorship
reduced Sardinia. He was afterwards made dictator.――――Another, who
was defeated by a rebel army of slaves in Sicily.――――A pretor in Gaul,
who fought against the Boii, with very little success.――――Another,
called Attilius, who defeated a Carthaginian fleet, &c.――――Another,
who conspired with Catiline against the Roman republic.――――Another,
in whose consulship the temple of Janus was shut.――――Another, who was
banished under Tiberius for his adultery.――――A Roman appointed judge
between his son Silanus and the province of Macedonia. When all the
parties had been heard, the father said, “It is evident that my son
has suffered himself to be bribed, therefore I deem him unworthy
of the republic and of my house, and I order him to depart from my
presence.” Silanus was so struck at the rigour of his father, that
he hanged himself. _Valerius Maximus_, bk. 5, ch. 5.――――A learned man
in the age of Cicero.
=Mannus=, the son of Thiasto, both famous divinities among the Germans.
_Tacitus_, _Germania_, ch. 2.
=Julius Mansuētus=, a friend of Vitellius, who entered the Roman armies,
and left his son, then very young, at home. The son was promoted by
Galba, and soon after met a detachment of the partisans of Vitellius
in which his father was. A battle was fought, and Mansuetus was
wounded by the hand of his son, &c. _Tacitus_, _Histories_, bk. 3,
ch. 25.
=Mantinea=, a town of Arcadia in Peloponnesus. It was taken by Aratus
and Antigonus, and, on account of the latter, it was afterwards
called _Antigonia_. The emperor Adrian built there a temple in honour
of his favourite Alcinous. It is famous for the battle which was
fought there between Epaminondas at the head of the Thebans, and
the combined forces of Lacedæmon, Achaia, Elis, Athens, and Arcadia,
about 363 years before Christ. The Theban general was killed in the
engagement, and from that time Thebes lost its power and consequence
among the Grecian states. _Strabo_, bk. 8.――_Cornelius Nepos_,
_Epaminondas_.――_Diodorus_, bk. 15.――_Ptolemy_, bk. 3, ch. 16.
=Mantineus=, the father of Ocalea, who married Abas the son of Lynceus
and Hypermnestra. _Apollodorus_, bk. 2, ch. 9.
=Mantinōrum oppidum=, a town of Corsica, now supposed to be _Bastia_.
=Mantius=, a son of Melampus.
=Manto=, a daughter of the prophet Tiresias, endowed with the gift
of prophecy. She was made prisoner by the Argives when the city of
Thebes fell into their hands, and as she was the worthiest part of
the booty, the conquerors sent her to Apollo the god of Delphi, as
the most valuable present they could make. Manto, often called Daphne,
remained for some time at Delphi, where she officiated as priestess,
and where she gave oracles. From Delphi she came to Claros in Ionia,
where she established an oracle of Apollo. Here she married Rhadius
the sovereign of the country, by whom she had a son called Mopsus.
Manto afterwards visited Italy, where she married Tiberinus the king
of Alba, or, as the poets mention, the god of the river Tiber. From
this marriage sprang Ocnus, who built a town in the neighbourhood,
which, in honour of his mother, he called Mantua. Manto, according to
a certain tradition, was so struck at the misfortunes which afflicted
Thebes, her native country, that she gave way to her sorrow, and was
turned into a fountain. Some suppose her to be the same who conducted
Æneas into hell, and who sold the Sibylline books to Tarquin the
Proud. She received divine honours after death. _Virgil_, _Æneid_,
bk. 1, li. 199; bk. 10, li. 199.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 6,
li. 157.――_Diodorus_, bk. 4.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 3, ch. 7.――_Strabo_,
bks. 14 & 16.――_Pausanias_, bk. 9, chs. 10 & 33; bk. 7, ch. 3.
=Mantua=, a town of Italy beyond the Po, founded about 300 years before
Rome, by Bianor or Ocnus the son of Manto. It was the ancient capital
of Etruria. When Cremona, which had followed the interest of Brutus,
was given to the soldiers of Octavius, Mantua also, which was in the
neighbourhood, shared the common calamity, though it had favoured
the party of Augustus, and many of the inhabitants were tyrannically
deprived of their possessions. Virgil, who was among them, and a
native of the town, and from thence often called _Mantuanus_, applied
for redress to Augustus, and obtained it by means of his poetical
talents. _Strabo_, bk. 5.――_Virgil_, _Eclogues_, poem 1, &c.;
_Georgics_, ch. 3, li. 12; _Æneid_, bk. 10, li. 180.――_Ovid_,
_Amores_, bk. 3, poem 15.
=Maracanda=, a town of Sogdiana.
=Mărătha=, a village of Arcadia. _Pausanias_, bk. 8, ch. 28.
=Mărăthon=, a village of Attica, 10 miles from Athens, celebrated for
the victory which the 10,000 Athenians and 1000 Platæans, under the
command of Miltiades, gained over the Persian army, consisting of
100,000 foot and 10,000 horse, or, according to Valerius Maximus,
of 300,000, or, as Justin says, of 600,000, under the command of
Datis and Artaphernes, on the 28th of Sept. 490, B.C. In this battle,
according to Herodotus, the Athenians lost only 192 men, and the
Persians 6300. Justin has raised the loss of the Persians in this
expedition and in the battle to 200,000 men. To commemorate this
immortal victory of their countrymen, the Greeks raised small
columns, with the names inscribed on the tombs of the fallen heroes.
It was also in the plains of Marathon that Theseus overcame a
celebrated bull, which ravaged the neighbouring country. Erigone
is called _Marathonia virgo_, as being born at Marathon. _Statius_,
bk. 5, _Sylvæ_, poem 3, li. 74.――_Cornelius Nepos_, _Miltiades._
――_Herodotus_, bk. 6, &c.――_Justin_, bk. 2, ch. 9.――_Valerius
Maximus_, bk. 5, ch. 3.――_Plutarch_, _Parallela minora_――――A king of
Attica, son of Epopeus, who gave his name to a small village there.
_Pausanias_, bk. 2, ch. 1.――――A king of Sicyon.
=Marăthos=, a town of Phœnicia. _Mela_, bk. 1, ch. 12.
=Marcella=, a daughter of Octavia the sister of Augustus by Marcellus.
She married Agrippa.
=Marcellīnus Ammiānus=, a celebrated historian who carried arms under
Constantius, Julian, and Valens, and wrote a history of Rome from the
reign of Domitian, where Suetonius stops, to the emperor Valens. His
style is neither elegant nor laboured, but it is greatly valuable
for its veracity, and in many of the actions he mentions, the author
was nearly concerned. This history was composed at Rome, where
Ammianus retired from the noise and troubles of the camp, and does
not betray that severity against the christians which other writers
have manifested, though the author was warm in favour of paganism,
the religion which for a while was seated on the throne. It was
divided into 31 books, of which only the 18 last remain, beginning at
the death of Magnentius. Ammianus has been liberal in his encomiums
upon Julian, whose favours he enjoyed and who so eminently patronised
his religion. The negligence with which some facts are sometimes
mentioned, has induced many to believe that the history of Ammianus
has suffered much from the ravages of time, and that it has descended
to us mutilated and imperfect. The best editions of Ammianus are
those of Gronovius, folio, and 4to, Leiden, 1693, and of Ernesti,
8vo, Lipscomb, 1773.――――An officer under Julian.
=Marcellus Marcus Claudius=, a famous Roman general, who, after the
first Punic war, had the management of an expedition against the
Gauls, where he obtained the _Spolia opima_, by killing with his
own hand Viridomarus the king of the enemy. Such success rendered
him popular, and soon after he was entrusted to oppose Annibal in
Italy. He was the first Roman who obtained some advantage over this
celebrated Carthaginian, and showed his countrymen that Annibal
was not invincible. The troubles which were raised in Sicily by the
Carthaginians at the death of Hieronymus, alarmed the Romans, and
Marcellus, in his third consulship, was sent with a powerful force
against Syracuse. He attacked it by sea and land, but his operations
proved ineffectual, and the invention and industry of a philosopher
[_See:_ Archimedes] were able to baffle all the efforts, and to
destroy all the great and stupendous machines and military engines
of the Romans during three successive years. The perseverance of
Marcellus at last obtained the victory. The inattention of the
inhabitants during their nocturnal celebration of the festivals
of Diana, favoured his operations; he forcibly entered the town,
and made himself master of it. The conqueror enriched the capital
of Italy with the spoils of Syracuse, and when he was accused of
rapaciousness, for stripping the conquered city of all its paintings
and ornaments, he confessed that he had done it to adorn the public
buildings of Rome, and to introduce a taste for the fine arts and
elegance of the Greeks among his countrymen. After the conquest
of Syracuse, Marcellus was called upon by his country to oppose
a second time Annibal. In this campaign he behaved with greater
vigour than before; the greatest part of the towns of the Samnites,
which had revolted, were recovered by force of arms, and 3000 of the
soldiers of Annibal made prisoners. Some time after an engagement
with the Carthaginian general proved unfavourable; Marcellus had the
disadvantage; but on the morrow a more successful skirmish vindicated
his military character, and the honour of the Roman soldiers.
Marcellus, however, was not sufficiently vigilant against the snares
of his adversary. He imprudently separated himself from his camp, and
was killed in an ambuscade in the 60th year of his age, in his fifth
consulship, A.U.C. 546. His body was honoured with a magnificent
funeral by the conqueror, and his ashes were conveyed in a silver
urn to his son. Marcellus claims our commendation for his private
as well as public virtues; and the humanity of the general will ever
be remembered who, at the surrender of Syracuse, wept at the thought
that many were going to be exposed to the avarice and rapaciousness
of an incensed soldiery, which the policy of Rome and the laws of war
rendered inevitable. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 6, li. 855.――_Paterculus_,
bk. 2, ch. 38.――_Plutarch_, _Lives_, &c.――――One of his descendants,
who bore the same name, signalized himself in the civil wars of Cæsar
and Pompey, by his firm attachment to the latter. He was banished by
Cæsar, but afterwards recalled at the request of the senate. Cicero
undertook his defence in an oration which is still extant.――――The
grandson of Pompey’s friend rendered himself popular by his universal
benevolence and affability. He was son of Marcellus, by Octavia the
sister of Augustus. He married Julia, that emperor’s daughter, and
was publicly intended as his successor. The suddenness of his death,
at the early age of 18, was the cause of much lamentation at Rome,
particularly in the family of Augustus, and Virgil procured himself
great favours by celebrating the virtues of this amiable prince.
_See:_ Octavia. Marcellus was buried at the public expense. _Virgil_,
_Æneid_, bk. 6, li. 883.――_Suetonius_, _Augustus_.――_Plutarch_,
_Marcellus_.――_Seneca_, _de Consolatione ad Marciam_.――_Paterculus_,
bk. 2, ch. 93.――――The son of the great Marcellus who took Syracuse,
was caught in the ambuscade which proved fatal to his father, but he
forced his way from the enemy and escaped. He received the ashes of
his father from the conqueror. _Plutarch_, _Marcellus_.――――A man who
conspired against Vespasian.――――The husband of Octavia the sister of
Augustus.――――A conqueror of Britain.――――An officer under the emperor
Julian.――――A man put to death by Galba.――――A man who gave Cicero
information of Catiline’s conspiracy.――――A colleague of Cato in
the questorship.――――A native of Pamphylia, who wrote an heroic poem
on physic, divided into 42 books. He lived in the reign of Marcus
Aurelius.――――A Roman drowned in a storm, &c.
=Marcia lex=, by Marcius Censorinus. It forbade any man to be invested
with the office of censor more than once.
=Marcia=, the wife of Regulus. When she heard that her husband had
been put to death at Carthage in the most excruciating manner, she
retorted the punishment, and shut up some Carthaginian prisoners in a
barrel, which she had previously filled with sharp nails. The senate
was obliged to stop the wantonness of her cruelty. _Diodorus_, bk. 24.
――――A favourite of the emperor Commodus, whom he poisoned.――――A
vestal virgin, punished for her incontinence.――――A daughter of Philip,
who married Cato the censor. Her husband gave her to his friend
Hortensius for the sake of procreating children, and after his death
he took her again to his own house.――――An ancient name of the island
of Rhodes.――――A daughter of Cato of Utica.――――A stream of water.
_See:_ Martia aqua.
=Marciāna=, a sister of the emperor Trajan, who, on account of her
public and private virtues and her amiable disposition, was declared
Augusta and empress by her brother. She died A.D. 113.
=Marcianopŏlis=, the capital of Lower Mœsia in Greece. It receives its
name in honour of the empress Marciana.
=Marciānus=, a native of Thrace, born of an obscure family. After he
had for some time served in the army as a common soldier, he was made
private secretary to one of the officers of Theodosius. His winning
address and uncommon talents raised him to higher stations; and
on the death of Theodosius II., A.D. 450, he was invested with the
imperial purple in the east. The subjects of the Roman empire had
reason to be satisfied with their choice. Marcianus showed himself
active and resolute, and when Attila, the barbarous king of the Huns,
asked of the emperor the annual tribute, which the indolence and
cowardice of his predecessors had regularly paid, the successor of
Theodosius firmly said that he kept his gold for his friends, but
that iron was the metal which he had prepared for his enemies. In
the midst of universal popularity Marcianus died, after a reign of
six years, in the 69th year of his age, as he was making warlike
preparations against the barbarians that had invaded Africa. His
death was lamented, and indeed his merit was great, since his
reign has been distinguished by the appellation of the golden age.
Marcianus married Pulcheria, the sister of his predecessor. It is
said, that in the years of his obscurity he found a man who had been
murdered, and that he had the humanity to give him a private burial,
for which circumstance he was accused of the homicide and imprisoned.
He was condemned to lose his life, and the sentence would have been
executed, had not the real murderer been discovered, and convinced
the world of the innocence of Marcianus.――――Capella, a writer. _See:_
Capella.
=Marcus Marcius Sabīnus=, was the progenitor of the Marcian family at
Rome. He came to Rome with Numa, and it was he who advised Numa to
accept of the crown which the Romans offered to him. He attempted
to make himself king of Rome, in opposition to Tullus Hostilius, and
when his efforts proved unsuccessful he killed himself. His son, who
married a daughter of Numa, was made high priest by his father-in-law.
He was father of Ancus Marcius. _Plutarch_, _Numa_.――――A Roman who
accused Ptolemy Auletes king of Egypt of misdemeanour in the Roman
senate.――――A Roman consul, defeated by the Samnites. He was more
successful against the Carthaginians, and obtained a victory, &c.
――――Another consul, who obtained a victory over the Etrurians.
――――Another, who defeated the Hernici.――――A Roman who fought against
Asdrubal.――――A man whom Catiline hired to assassinate Cicero.
=Marcius Saltus=, a place in Liguria, &c.
=Marcomanni=, a people of Germany, who originally dwelt on the banks of
the Rhine and the Danube. They proved powerful enemies to the Roman
emperors. Augustus granted them peace, but they were afterwards
subdued by Antoninus and Trajan, &c. _Paterculus_, bk. 2, ch. 109.
――_Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 2, chs. 46 & 62; _Germania_, ch. 42.
=Marcus=, a prænomen common to many of the Romans. _See:_ Æmilius,
Lepidus, &c.――――A son of Cato, killed at Philippi, &c.――――Caryensis,
a general of the Achæan league, 255 B.C.