his father Mithridates VI., though only at the age of 11 years.
The beginning of his reign was marked by ambition, cruelty, and
artifice. He murdered his own mother, who had been left by his father
co-heiress of the kingdom, and he fortified his constitution by
drinking antidotes against the poison with which his enemies at
court attempted to destroy him. He early inured his body to hardship,
and employed himself in many manly exercises, often remaining whole
months in the country, and making the frozen snow and the earth the
place of his repose. Naturally ambitious and cruel, he spared no
pains to acquire himself power and dominion. He murdered the two sons
whom his sister Laodice had had by Ariarathes king of Cappadocia, and
placed one of his own children, only eight years old, on the vacant
throne. These violent proceedings alarmed Nicomedes king of Bithynia,
who married Laodice the widow of Ariarathes. He suborned a youth to
be king of Cappadocia, as the third son of Ariarathes, and Laodice
was sent to Rome to impose upon the senate, and assure them that her
third son was still alive, and that his pretensions to the kingdom
of Cappadocia were just and well grounded. Mithridates used the same
arms of dissimulation. He also sent to Rome Gordius, the governor
of his son, who solemnly declared before the Roman people, that
the youth who sat on the throne of Cappadocia was the third son
and lawful heir of Ariarathes, and that he was supported as such by
Mithridates. This intricate affair displeased the Roman senate, and
finally to settle the dispute between the two monarchs, the powerful
arbiters took away the kingdom of Cappadocia from Mithridates, and
Paphlagonia from Nicomedes. These two kingdoms, being thus separated
from their original possessors, were presented with their freedom
and independence; but the Cappadocians refused it, and received
Ariobarzanes for king. Such were the first seeds of enmity between
Rome and the king of Pontus. _See:_ Mithridaticum bellum. Mithridates
never lost an opportunity by which he might lessen the influence
of his adversaries; and the more effectually to destroy their power
in Asia, he ordered all the Romans that were in his dominions to
be massacred. This was done in one night, and no less than 150,000,
according to Plutarch, or 80,000 Romans, as Appian mentions, were
made, at one blow, the victims of his cruelty. This universal
massacre called aloud for revenge. Aquilius, and soon after Sylla,
marched against Mithridates with a large army. The former was made
prisoner, but Sylla obtained a victory over the king’s generals,
and another decisive engagement rendered him master of all Greece,
Macedonia, Ionia, and Asia Minor, which had submitted to the
victorious arms of the monarch of Pontus. This ill fortune was
aggravated by the loss of about 200,000 men, who were killed in the
several engagements that had been fought; and Mithridates, weakened
by repeated ill success by sea and land, sued for peace from the
conqueror, which he obtained on condition of defraying the expenses
which the Romans had incurred by the war, and of remaining satisfied
with the possessions which he had received from his ancestors.
While these negotiations of peace were carried on, Mithridates
was not unmindful of his real interests. His poverty, and not his
inclinations, obliged him to wish for peace. He immediately took
the field, with an army of 140,000 infantry and 16,000 horse, which
consisted of his own forces and those of his son-in-law Tigranes king
of Armenia. With such a numerous army, he soon made himself master
of the Roman provinces in Asia; none dared to oppose his conquests,
and the Romans, relying on his fidelity, had withdrawn the greatest
part of their armies from the country. The news of his warlike
preparations was no sooner heard, than Lucullus the consul marched
into Asia, and without delay blocked up the camp of Mithridates, who
was then besieging Cyzicus. The Asiatic monarch escaped from him,
and fled into the heart of his kingdom. Lucullus pursued him with the
utmost celerity, and would have taken him prisoner after a battle,
had not the avidity of his soldiers preferred the plundering of a
mule loaded with gold, to the taking of a monarch who had exercised
such cruelties against their countrymen, and shown himself so
faithless to the most solemn engagements. After this escape,
Mithridates was more careful about the safety of his person, and he
even ordered his wives and sisters to destroy themselves, fearful of
their falling into the enemy’s hands. The appointment of Glabrio to
the command of the Roman forces, instead of Lucullus, was favourable
to Mithridates, and he recovered the greatest part of his dominions.
The sudden arrival of Pompey, however, soon put an end to his
victories. A battle, in the night, was fought near the Euphrates,
in which the troops of Pontus laboured under every disadvantage.
The engagement was by moonlight, and, as the moon then shone in
the face of the enemy, the lengthened shadows of the arms of the
Romans having induced Mithridates to believe that the two armies
were close together, the arrows of his soldiers were darted from a
great distance, and their efforts rendered ineffectual. A universal
overthrow ensued, and Mithridates, bold in his misfortunes, rushed
through the thick ranks of the enemy, at the head of 800 horsemen,
500 of which perished in the attempt to follow him. He fled to
Tigranes, but that monarch refused an asylum to his father-in-law,
whom he had before supported with all the collected forces of his
kingdom. Mithridates found a safe retreat among the Scythians, and,
though destitute of power, friends, and resources, yet he meditated
the destruction of the Roman empire, by penetrating into the heart
of Italy by land. These wild projects were rejected by his followers,
and he sued for peace. It was denied to his ♦ambassadors, and the
victorious Pompey declared that, to obtain it, Mithridates must ask
it in person. He scorned to trust himself into the hands of his enemy,
and resolved to conquer or to die. His subjects refused to follow him
any longer, and they revolted from him, and made his son Pharnaces
king. The son showed himself ungrateful to his father, and even,
according to some writers, he ordered him to be put to death. This
unnatural treatment broke the heart of Mithridates; he obliged his
wife to poison herself, and attempted to do the same himself. It was
in vain; the frequent antidotes he had taken in the early part of his
life strengthened his constitution against the poison, and, when this
was unavailing, he attempted to stab himself. The blow was not mortal;
and a Gaul, who was then present, at his own request, gave him the
fatal stroke, about 63 years before the christian era, in the 72nd
year of his age. Such were the misfortunes, abilities, and miserable
end of a man, who supported himself so long against the power of
Rome, and who, according to the declaration of the Roman authors,
proved a more powerful and indefatigable adversary to the capital of
Italy, than the great Annibal, and Pyrrhus, Perseus, or Antiochus.
Mithridates has been commended for his eminent virtues, and censured
for his vices. As a commander he deserves the most unbounded applause,
and it may create admiration to see him waging war with such success
during so many years against the most powerful people on earth,
led to the field by a Sylla, a Lucullus, and a Pompey. He was the
greatest monarch that ever sat on a throne, according to the opinion
of Cicero; and, indeed, no better proof of his military character can
be brought, than the mention of the great rejoicings which happened
in the Roman armies and in the capital at the news of his death.
No less than 12 days were appointed for public thanksgivings to the
immortal gods, and Pompey, who had sent the first intelligence of
his death to Rome, and who had partly hastened his fall, was rewarded
with the most uncommon honours. _See:_ Ampia lex. It is said that
Mithridates conquered 24 nations, whose different languages he
knew, and spoke with the same ease and fluency as his own. As a
man of letters he also deserves attention. He was acquainted with
the Greek language, and even wrote in that dialect a treatise on
botany. His skill in physic is well known, and even now there is a
celebrated antidote which bears his name, and is called _Mithridate_.
Superstition, as well as nature, had united to render him great; and
if we rely upon the authority of Justin, his birth was accompanied
by the appearance of two large comets, which were seen for 70 days
successively, and whose splendour eclipsed the mid-day sun, and
covered the fourth part of the heavens. _Justin_, bk. 37, ch. 1,
&c.――_Strabo._――_Diodorus_, bk. 14.――_Florus_, bk. 3, ch. 5, &c.
――_Plutarch_, _Sulla_; _Lucullus_; _Caius Marius_; & _Pompey_.
――_Valerius Maximus_, bk. 4, ch. 6, &c.――_Dio Cassius_, bk. 30,
&c.――_Appian_, _Mithridatic Wars_.――_Pliny_, bk. 2, ch. 97; bk. 7,
ch. 24; bk. 25, ch. 2; bk. 33, ch. 3, &c.――_Cicero_, _On Pompey’s
Command_, &c.――_Paterculus_, bk. 2, ch. 18.――_Eutropius_, bk. 5.
――_Josephus_, bk. 14.――_Orosius_, bk. 6, &c.
♦ ‘ambassaders’ replaced with ‘ambassadors’
=Mithridātes=, a king of Parthia, who took Demetrius prisoner.――――A
man made king of Armenia by Tiberius. He was afterwards imprisoned
by Caligula, and set at liberty by Claudius. He was murdered by one
of his nephews, and his family were involved in his ruin. _Tacitus_,
_Annals_.――――Another, king of Armenia.――――A king of Pergamus, who
warmly embraced the cause of Julius Cæsar, and was made king of
Bosphorus by him. Some supposed him to be the son of the great
Mithridates by a concubine. He was murdered, &c.――――A king of
Iberia.――――Another of Comagena.――――A celebrated king of Parthia, who
enlarged his possessions by the conquest of some of the neighbouring
countries. He examined with a careful eye the constitution and
political regulations of the nations he had conquered, and framed
from them, for the service of his own subjects, a code of laws.
_Justin._――_Orosius._――――Another, who murdered his father, and made
himself master of the crown.――――A king of Pontus, put to death by
order of Galba, &c.――――A man in the armies of Artaxerxes. He was
rewarded by the monarch for having wounded Cyrus the younger; but,
when he boasted that he had killed him, he was cruelly put to death.
_Plutarch_, _Artaxerxes_.――――A son of Ariobarzanes, who basely
murdered Datames. _Cornelius Nepos_, _Datames_.
=Mithridātĭcum bellum=, begun 89 years B.C., was one of the longest and
most celebrated wars ever carried on by the Romans against a foreign
power. The ambition of Mithridates, from whom it receives its name,
may be called the cause and origin of it. His views upon the kingdom
of Cappadocia, of which he was stripped by the Romans, first engaged
him to take up arms against the republic. Three Romans officers,
Lucius Cassius the proconsul, Marcus Aquilius, and Quintus Oppius,
opposed Mithridates with the troops of Bithynia, Cappadocia,
Paphlagonia, and Gallo-græcia. The army of these provinces, together
with the Roman soldiers in Asia, amounted to 70,000 men and 6000
horse. The forces of the king of Pontus were greatly superior to
these; he led 250,000 foot, 40,000 horse, and 130 armed chariots into
the field of battle, under the command of Neoptolemus and Archelaus.
His fleet consisted of 400 ships of war, well manned and provisioned.
In an engagement the king of Pontus obtained the victory, and
dispersed the Roman forces in Asia. He became master of the greatest
part of Asia, and the Hellespont submitted to his power. Two of the
Roman generals were taken, and Marcus Aquilius, who was principally
entrusted with the conduct of the war, was carried about in Asia, and
exposed to the ridicule and insults of the populace, and at last put
to death by Mithridates, who ordered melted gold to be poured down
his throat, as a slur upon the avidity of the Romans. The conqueror
took every possible advantage; he subdued all the islands of the
Ægean sea, and, though Rhodes refused to submit to his power, yet
all Greece was soon overrun by his general Archelaus, and made
tributary to the kingdom of Pontus. Meanwhile the Romans, incensed
against Mithridates on account of his perfidy, and of his cruelty
in massacring 80,000 of their countrymen in one day all over Asia,
appointed Sylla to march into the east. Sylla landed in Greece, where
the inhabitants readily acknowledged his power; but Athens shut her
gates against the Roman commander, and Archelaus, who defended it,
defeated, with the greatest courage, all the efforts and operations
of the enemy. This spirited defence was of short duration. Archelaus
retreated into Bœotia, where Sylla soon followed him. The two hostile
armies drew up in a line of battle near Chæronea, and the Romans
obtained the victory, and of the almost innumerable forces of the
Asiatics, no more than 10,000 escaped. Another battle in Thessaly,
near Orchomenos, proved equally fatal to the king of Pontus. Dorylaus,
one of his generals, was defeated, and he soon after sued for peace.
Sylla listened to the terms of accommodation, as his presence at Rome
was now become necessary to quell the commotions and cabals which
his enemies had raised against him. He pledged himself to the king
of Pontus to confirm him in the possession of his dominions, and to
procure him the title of friend and ally of Rome; and Mithridates
consented to relinquish Asia and Paphlagonia, to deliver Cappadocia
to Ariobarzanes, and Bithynia to Nicomedes, and to pay to the Romans
2000 talents to defray the expenses of the war, and to deliver into
their hands 70 galleys, with all their rigging. Though Mithridates
seemed to have re-established peace in his dominions, yet Fimbria,
whose sentiments were contrary to those of Sylla, and who made
himself master of the army of Asia by intrigue and oppression,
kept him under continual alarms, and rendered the existence of his
power precarious. Sylla, who had returned from Greece to ratify the
treaty which had been made with Mithridates, rid the world of the
tyrannical Fimbria; and the king of Pontus, awed by the resolution
and determined firmness of his adversary, agreed to the conditions,
though with reluctance. The hostile preparations of Mithridates,
which continued in the time of peace, became suspected by the Romans,
and Muræna, who was left as governor of Asia in Sylla’s absence, and
who wished to make himself known by some conspicuous action, began
hostilities by taking Comana and plundering the temple of Bellona.
Mithridates did not oppose him, but he complained of this breach of
peace before the Roman senate. Muræna was publicly reprimanded; but,
as he did not cease from hostilities, it was easily understood that
he acted by the private directions of the Roman people. The king
upon this marched against him, and a battle was fought, in which both
the adversaries claimed the victory. This was the last blow which
the king of Pontus received in this war, which is called the second
Mithridatic war, and which continued for about three years. Sylla
at that time was made perpetual dictator at Rome, and he commanded
Muræna to retire from the kingdom of Mithridates. The death of Sylla
changed the face of affairs; the treaty of peace between the king
of Pontus and the Romans, which had never been committed to writing,
demanded frequent explanations, and Mithridates at last threw off
the mask of friendship, and declared war. Nicomedes, at his death,
left his kingdom to the Romans, but Mithridates disputed their
right to the possessions of the deceased monarch, and entered the
field with 120,000 men, besides a fleet of 400 ships in his ports,
16,000 horsemen to follow him, and 100 chariots armed with scythes.
Lucullus was appointed over Asia, and entrusted with the care of
the Mithridatic war. His valour and prudence showed his merit; and
Mithridates, in his vain attempts to take Cyzicum, lost no less
than 300,000 men. Success continually attended the Roman arms. The
king of Pontus was defeated in several bloody engagements, and with
difficulty saved his life, and retired to his son-in-law Tigranes
king of Armenia. Lucullus pursued him; and, when his applications
for the person of the fugitive monarch had been despised by Tigranes,
he marched to the capital of Armenia, and terrified, by his sudden
approach, the numerous forces of the enemy. A battle ensued. The
Romans obtained an easy victory, and no less than 100,000 foot
of the Armenians perished, and only five men of the Romans were
killed. Tigranocerta, the rich capital of the country, fell into
the conqueror’s hands. After such signal victories, Lucullus had the
mortification to see his own troops mutiny, and to be dispossessed of
the command by the arrival of Pompey. The new general showed himself
worthy to succeed Lucullus. He defeated Mithridates, and rendered
his affairs so desperate, that the monarch fled for safety into the
country of the Scythians; where, for a while, he meditated the ruin
of the Roman empire, and, with more wildness than prudence, secretly
resolved to invade Italy by land, and march an army across the
northern wilds of Asia and Europe to the Apennines. Not only the
kingdom of Mithridates had fallen into the enemy’s hands, but also
all the neighbouring kings and princes were subdued, and Pompey saw
prostrate at his feet Tigranes himself, that king of kings, who had
lately treated the Romans with such contempt. Meantime, the wild
projects of Mithridates terrified his subjects; and they, fearful
to accompany him in a march of above 2000 miles across a barren and
uncultivated country, revolted, and made his son king. The monarch,
forsaken in his old age, even by his own children, put an end to his
life [_See:_ Mithridates VII.], and gave the Romans cause to rejoice,
as the third Mithridatic war was ended in his fall, B.C. 63. Such
were the unsuccessful struggles of Mithridates against the power
of Rome. He was always full of resources, and the Romans had never
a greater or more dangerous war to sustain. The duration of the
Mithridatic war is not precisely known. According to Justin, Orosius,
Floras, and Eutropius, it lasted 40 years; but the opinion of others,
who fix its duration to 30 years, is far more credible; and, indeed,
by proper calculation, there elapsed no more than 26 years from the
time that Mithridates first entered the field against the Romans,
till the time of his death. _Appian_, _ Mithridatic Wars_.――_Justin_,
bk. 37, &c.――_Florus_, bk. 2, &c.――_Livy._――_Plutarch_, _Lucullus_,
&c.――_Orosius._――_Paterculus._――_Dionysius of Halicarnassus._
=Mithridātis=, a ♦daughter of Mithridates the Great. She was poisoned
by her father.
♦ ‘daughther’ replaced with ‘daughter’
=Mithrobarzānes=, a king of Armenia, &c.――――An officer sent by Tigranes
against Lucullus, &c. _Plutarch._――――The father-in-law of Datames.
=Mĭty̆lēne= and =Hĭty̆lĕnæ=, the capital city of the island of Lesbos,
which receives its name from Mitylene the daughter of Macareus, a
king of the country. It was greatly commended by the ancients for
the stateliness of its buildings and the fruitfulness of its soil,
but more particularly for the great men whom it produced. Pittacus,
Alcæus, Sappho, Terpander, Theophanes, Hellenicus, &c., were all
natives of Mitylene. It was long a seat of learning, and, with Rhodes
and Athens, it had the honour of having educated many of the great
men of Rome and Greece. In the Peloponnesian war the Mityleneans
suffered greatly for their revolt from the power of Athens; and, in
the Mithridatic wars, they had the boldness to resist the Romans,
and disdain the treaties which had been made between Mithridates and
Sylla. _Cicero_, _On the Agrarian Law_.――_Strabo_, bk. 13.――_Mela_,
bk. 2, ch. 7.――_Diodorus_, bks. 3 & 12.――_Paterculus_, bk. 1, ch. 4.
――_Horace_, bk. 1, ode 7, &c.――_Thucydides_, bk. 3, &c.――_Plutarch_,
_Pompey_, &c.
=Mitys=, a man whose statue fell upon his murderer, and crushed him to
death, &c. _Aristotle_, bk. 10, _Poetics_.――――A river of Macedonia.
=Mizæi=, a people of Elymais.
=Mnasalces=, a Greek poet, who wrote epigrams. _Athenæus._――_Strabo._
=Mnasias=, an historian of Phœnicia.――――Another of Colophon.――――A third
of Patræ, in Achaia, who flourished 141 B.C.
=Mnasicles=, a general of Thymbro, &c. _Diodorus_, ♦bk. 18.
♦ ‘58’ replaced with ‘18’
=Mnasīlus=, a youth who assisted Chromis to tie the old Silenus, whom
they found asleep in a cave. Some imagine that Virgil spoke of Varus
under the name of Mnasilus. _Virgil_, _Eclogues_, poem 6, li. 13.
=Mnasippidas=, a Lacedæmonian, who imposed upon the credulity of the
people, &c. _Polyænus._
=Mnasippus=, a Lacedæmonian, sent with a fleet of 65 ships and 1500 men
to Corcyra, where he was killed, &c. _Diodorus_, bk. 15.
=Mnasitheus=, a friend of Aratus.
=Mnason=, a tyrant of Elatia, who gave 1200 pieces of gold for 12
pictures of 12 gods to Asclepiodorus. _Pliny_, bk. 35, ch. 16.
=Mnasyrium=, a place in Rhodes. _Strabo_, bk. 14.
=Mnemon=, a surname given to Artaxerxes on account of his retentive
memory. _Cornelius Nepos_, _Kings_.――――A Rhodian.
=Mnēmŏsy̆ne=, a daughter of Cœlus and Terra, mother of the nine Muses
by Jupiter, who assumed the form of a shepherd to enjoy her company.
The word _Mnemosyne_ signifies _memory_, and therefore the poets
have rightly called memory the mother of the Muses, because it is to
that mental endowment that mankind are indebted for their progress
in science. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 6, fable 4.――_Pindar_,
_Isthmean_, ch. 6.――_Hesiod_, _Theogony_.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1,
ch. 1, &c.――――A fountain of Bœotia, whose waters were generally drunk
by those who consulted the oracle of Trophonius. _Pausanias_, bk. 9,
ch. 39.
=Mnesarchus=, a celebrated philosopher of Greece, pupil to Panætius,
&c. _Cicero_, _On Oratory_, bk. 1, ch. 11.
=Mnesidămus=, an officer who conspired against the lieutenant of
Demetrius. _Polyænus_, bk. 5.
=Mnesilaus=, a son of Pollux and Phœbe. _Apollodorus._
=Mnesimăche=, a daughter of Dexamenus king of Olenus, courted by
Eurytion, whom Hercules killed. _Apollodorus_, bk. 2.
=Mnesimăchus=, a comic poet.
=Mnester=, a freedman of Agrippina, who murdered himself at the death
of his mistress. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 14, ch. 9.
=Mnestheus=, a Trojan, descended from Assaracus. He was a competitor
for the prize given to the best sailing vessel by Æneas, at the
funeral games of Anchises in Sicily, and became the progenitor of the
family of the Memmii at Rome. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 4, li. 116, &c.
――――A son of Peteus. _See:_ Menestheus.――――A freedman of Aurelian, &c.
_Eutropius_, bk. 9.――_Aurelius Victor._
=Mnestia=, a daughter of Danaus. _Apollodorus._
=Mnestra=, a mistress of Cimon.
=Mnĕvis=, a celebrated bull, sacred to the sun in the town of
Heliopolis. He was worshipped with the same superstitious ceremonies
as Apis, and, at his death, he received the most magnificent funeral.
He was the emblem of Osiris. _Diodorus_, bk. 1.――_Plutarch_, _de
Iside et Osiride_.
=Moaphernes=, the uncle of Strabo’s mother, &c. _Strabo_, bk. 12.
=Modestus=, a Latin writer, whose book _De re Militari_ has been
elegantly edited in 2 vols., 8vo, Vesaliæ, 1670.
=Modia=, a rich widow at Rome. _Juvenal_, satire 3, li. 130.
=Mœcia=, one of the tribes at Rome. _Livy_, bk. 8, ch. 17.
=Mœnus=, now _Mayne_, a river of Germany, which falls into the Rhine
near Mentz. _Tacitus_, _Germania_, ch. 28.
=Mœragĕtes=, _fatorum ductor_, a surname of Jupiter. _Pausanias_,
bk. 5, ch. 15.
=Mœris=, a king of India, who fled at the approach of Alexander.
_Curtius_, bk. 9, ch. 8.――――A steward of the shepherd Menalcas in
_Virgil’s_, _Eclogues_, poem 9.――――A king of Egypt. He was the last
of the 300 kings from Menes to Sesostris, and reigned 68 years.
_Herodotus_, bk. 2, ch. 13.――――A celebrated lake in Egypt, supposed
to have been dug by the king of the same name. It is about 220 miles
in circumference, and intended as a reservoir for the superfluous
waters during the inundation of the Nile. There were two pyramids in
it, 600 feet high, half of which lay under the water, and the other
appeared above the surface. _Herodotus_, bk. 2, ch. 4, &c.――_Mela_,
bk. 1, ch. 6.――_Pliny_, bk. 36, ch. 12.
=Mœdi=, a people of Thrace, conquered by Philip of Macedonia.
=Mœon=, a Sicilian, who poisoned Agathocles, &c.
=Mœra=, a dog. _See:_ Mera.
=Mœsia=, a country of Europe, bounded on the south by the mountains of
Dalmatia, north by mount Hæmus, extending from the confluence of the
Savus and the Danube to the shores of the Euxine. It was divided into
Upper and Lower Mœsia. Lower Mœsia was on the borders of the Euxine,
and contained that tract of country which received the name of Pontus
from its vicinity to the sea, and which is now part of _Bulgaria_.
Upper Mœsia lies beyond the other, in the inland country, now called
_Servia_. _Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 26.――_Virgil_, _Georgics_, bk. 1,
li. 102.
=Moleia=, a festival in Arcadia, in commemoration of a battle in which
Lycurgus obtained the victory.
=Molion=, a Trojan prince, who distinguished himself in the defence
of his country against the Greeks as the friend and companion of
Thymbræus. They were slain by Ulysses and Diomedes. _Homer_, _Iliad_,
bk. 11, li. 320.
=Molīŏne=, the wife of Actor son of Phorbas. She became mother
of Cteatus and Eurytus, who, from her, are called _Molionides_.
_Pausanias_, bk. 8, ch. 14.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 2, ch. 7.
=Molo=, a philosopher of Rhodes, called also Apollonius. Some are of
opinion that Apollonius and Molo are two different persons, who were
both natives of Alabanda, and disciples of Menecles, of the same
place. They both visited Rhodes, and there opened a school, but Molo
flourished some time after Apollonius. Molo had Cicero and Julius
Cæsar among his pupils. _See:_ Apollonius. _Cicero_, _On Oratory_.
――――A prince of Syria, who revolted against Antiochus, and killed
himself when his rebellion was attended with ill success.
=Moloeis=, a river of Bœotia, near Platæa.
=Mŏlorchus=, an old shepherd near Cleonæ, who received Hercules with
great hospitality. The hero, to repay the kindness he received,
destroyed the Nemæan lion, which laid waste the neighbouring country
and, therefore, the Nemæan games, instituted on this occasion, are to
be understood by the words _Lucus Molorchi_. There were two festivals
instituted in his honour, called _Molorcheæ_. _Martial_, bk. 9,
ltr. 44; bk. 14, ltr. 44.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 2, ch. 5.――_Virgil_,
_Georgics_, bk. 3, li. 19.――_Statius_, _Thebiad_, bk. 4, li. 160.
=Mŏlossi=, a people of Epirus, who inhabited that part of the country
which was called _Molossia_, or _Molossis_ from king Molossus. This
country had the bay of Ambracia on the south, and the country of
the Perrhæbeans on the east. The dogs of the place were famous,
and received the name of _Molossi_ among the Romans. Dodona was the
capital of the country according to some writers. Others, however,
reckon it as the chief city of Thesprotia. _Lucretius_, bk. 5,
lis. 10, 62.――_Lucan_, bk. 4, li. 440.――_Strabo_, bk. 7.――_Livy._
――_Justin_, bk. 7, ch. 6.――_Cornelius Nepos_, bk. 2, ch. 8.
――_Virgil_, _Georgics_, bk. 3, li. 495.――_Horace_, bk. 2, satire 6,
li. 114.
=Mŏlossia=, or =Molossis=. _See:_ Molossi.
=Molossus=, a son of Pyrrhus and Andromache. He reigned in Epirus,
after the death of Helenus, and part of his dominions received the
name of Molossia from him. _Pausanias_, bk. 1, ch. 11.――――A surname
of Jupiter in Epirus.――――An Athenian general, &c. _Pausanias_,
_Theseus_.――――The father of Merion of Crete. _See:_ Molus. _Homer_,
_Odyssey_, bk. 6.
=Molpadia=, one of the Amazons, &c. _Plutarch._
=Molpus=, an author who wrote a history of Lacedæmon.
=Molus=, a Cretan, father of Meriones. _Homer_, _Odyssey_, bk. 6.――――A
son of Deucalion.――――Another, son of Mars and Demonice.
=Molycrion=, a town of Ætolia, between the Evenus and Naupactum.
_Pausanias_, bk. 5, ch. 3.
=Momemphis=, a town of Egypt. _Strabo_, bk. 17.
=Momus=, the god of pleasantry among the ancients, was son of Nox,
according to Hesiod. He was continually employed in satirizing the
gods, and whatever they did was freely turned to ridicule. He blamed
Vulcan, because in the human form which he had made of clay, he had
not placed a window in his breast, by which whatever was done or
thought there might be easily brought to light. He censured the house
which Minerva had made, because the goddess had not made it movable,
by which means a bad neighbourhood might be avoided. In the bull
which Neptune had produced, he observed that his blows might have
been surer if his eyes had been placed near his horns. Venus herself
was exposed to his satire; and when the sneering god had found no
fault in the body of the naked goddess, he observed, as she retired,
that the noise of her feet was too loud, and greatly improper in the
goddess of beauty. These illiberal reflections upon the gods were the
cause that Momus was driven from heaven. He is generally represented
raising a mask from his face, and holding a small figure in his hand.
_Hesiod_, _Theogony_.――_Lucian_, _Hermotimus_.
=Mona=, an island between Britain and Hibernia, anciently inhabited by
a number of Druids. It is supposed by some to be the modern island of
_Anglesey_, and by others, the island of _Man_. _Tacitus_, _Annals_,
bk. 14, chs. 18 & 29.
=Monæses=, a king of Parthia, who favoured the cause of Marcus Antony
against Augustus. _Horace_, bk. 3, ode 6, li. 9.――――A Parthian in the
age of Mithridates, &c.
=Monda=, a river between the Durius, and Tagus, in Portugal. _Pliny_,
bk. 4, ch. 22.
=Monēsus=, a general killed by Jason at Colchis, &c.
=Monēta=, a surname of Juno among the Romans. She received it because
she advised them to sacrifice a pregnant sow to Cybele, to avert an
earthquake. _Cicero_, _De Divinatione_, bk. 1, ch. 15. _Livy_ says
(bk. 7, ch. 28) that a temple was vowed to Juno under this name, by
the dictator Furius, when the Romans waged war against the Aurunci,
and that the temple was raised to the goddess by the senate, on
the spot where the house of Manlius Capitolinus had formerly stood.
_Suidas_, however, says, that Juno was surnamed _Moneta_, from
assuring the Romans, when in the war against Pyrrhus they complained
of want of pecuniary resources, that money could never fail to those
who cultivated justice.
=Monĭma=, a beautiful woman of Miletus, whom Mithridates the Great
married. When his affairs grew desperate, Mithridates ordered his
wives to destroy themselves; Monima attempted to strangle herself,
but when her efforts were unavailing, she ordered one of her
attendants to stab her. _Plutarch_, _Lucullus_.
=Monimus=, a philosopher of Syracuse.
=Monŏdus=, a son of Prusias. He had one continued bone instead of a row
of teeth, whence his name (μονος ὁδους). _Pliny_, bk. 7, ch. 16.
=Monœcus=, now _Monaco_, a town and port of Liguria, where Hercules had
a temple; whence he is called _Monœcius_, and the harbour _Herculis
Portus_. _Strabo_, bk. 4.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 6, li. 830.
=Monoleus=, a lake of Æthiopia.
=Monophăge=, sacrifices in Ægina.
=Monophĭlus=, a eunuch of Mithridates. The king entrusted him with the
care of one of his daughters; and the eunuch, when he saw the affairs
of his master in a desperate situation, stabbed her, lest she should
fall into the enemy’s hands, &c.
=Mons Sacer=, a mountain near Rome, where the Roman populace retired in
a tumult, which was the cause of the election of the tribunes.
=Mons Sevērus=, a mountain near Rome, &c.