_ex Ponto_.――――An orator under Vespasian.――――A favourite of Messalina.
――――One of the senators whom Domitian consulted about boiling a
turbot. _Juvenal_, satire 4.
=Mony̆chus=, a powerful giant, who could root up trees and hurl them
like a javelin. He receives his name from his having the feet of a
horse, as the word implies. _Juvenal_, satire 1, li. 11.
=Mony̆ma.= _See:_ Monima.
=Mony̆mus=, a servant of Corinth, who, not being permitted by his master
to follow Diogenes the cynic, pretended madness, and obtained his
liberty. He became a great admirer of the philosopher, and also of
Crates, and even wrote something in the form of facetious stories.
_Diogenes Laërtius._
=Mophis=, an Indian prince conquered by Alexander.
=Mopsium=, a hill and town of Thessaly, between Tempe and Larissa.
_Livy_, bk. 42.
=Mopsopia=, an ancient name of Athens, from Mopsus, one of its kings,
and from thence the epithet of _Mopsopius_ is often applied to an
Athenian.
=Mopsuhestia=, or =Mopsos=, a town of Cilicia near the sea. _Cicero_,
_Letters to his Friends_, bk. 3, ch. 8.
=Mopsus=, a celebrated prophet, son of Manto and Apollo, during the
Trojan war. He was consulted by Amphimachus king of Colophon, who
wished to know what success would attend his arms in a war which
he was going to undertake. He predicted the greatest calamities;
but Calchas, who had been a soothsayer of the Greeks during the
Trojan war, promised the greatest successes. Amphimachus followed
the opinion of Calchas, but the opinion of Mopsus was fully verified.
This had such an effect upon Calchas that he died soon after. His
death is attributed by some to another mortification of the same
nature. The two soothsayers, jealous of each other’s fame, came
to a trial of their skill in divination. Calchas first asked his
antagonist how many figs a neighbouring tree bore. “Ten thousand
except one,” replied Mopsus, “and one single vessel can contain them
all.” The figs were gathered, and his conjectures were true. Mopsus,
now to try his adversary, asked him how many young ones a certain
pregnant sow would bring forth. Calchas confessed his ignorance, and
Mopsus immediately said that the sow would bring forth on the morrow
10 young ones, of which only one should be a male, all black, and
that the females should all be known by their white streaks. The
morrow proved the veracity of his prediction, and Calchas died by
excess of the grief which this defeat produced. Mopsus after death
was ranked among the gods; and had an oracle at Malia, celebrated
for the true and decisive answers which it gave. _Strabo_, bk. 9.
――_Pausanias_, bk. 7, ch. 3.――_Ammianus_, bk. 14, ch. 8.――_Plutarch_,
_de Defectu Oraculorum_.――――A son of Ampyx and Chloris, born at
Titaressa in Thessaly. He was the prophet and soothsayer of the
Argonauts, and died at his return from Colchis by the bite of a
serpent in Libya. Jason erected to him a monument on the sea-shore,
where afterwards the Africans built him a temple where he gave
oracles. He has often been confounded with the son of Manto, as
their professions and their names were alike. _Hyginus_, fables 14,
128, 173.――_Strabo_, bk. 9.――――A shepherd of that name in _Virgil_,
_Eclogues_.
=Morgantium= (or ia), a town of Sicily, near the mouth of the Simethus.
_Cicero_, _Against Verres_, bk. 3, ch. 18.
=Morĭni=, a people of Belgic Gaul, on the shores of the British ocean.
The shortest passage to Britain was from their territories. They
were called _extremi hominum_ by the Romans, because situate on the
extremities of Gaul. Their city, called _Morinorum castellum_, is now
_Mount Cassel_, in Artois; and _Morinorum civitas_, is _Terouenne_,
on the Lis. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 8, li. 726.――_Cæsar_, bk. 4,
_Gallic War_, ch. 21.
=Moritasgus=, a king of the Senones at the arrival of Cæsar in Gaul.
_Cæsar_, _Gallic War_.
=Morius=, a river of Bœotia. _Plutarch._
=Morpheus=, the son and minister of the god Somnus, who naturally
imitated the grimaces, gestures, words, and manners of mankind. He is
sometimes called the god of sleep. He is generally represented as a
sleeping child of great corpulence, and with wings. He holds a vase
in one hand, and in the other are some poppies. He is represented by
Ovid as sent to inform by a dream and a vision the unhappy Alcyone
of the fate of her husband Ceyx. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 11,
fable 10.
=Mors=, one of the infernal deities born of Night, without a father.
She was worshipped by the ancients, particularly by the Lacedæmonians,
with great solemnity, and represented not as an actually existing
power, but as an imaginary being. Euripides introduces her in one of
his tragedies on the stage. The moderns represent her as a skeleton
armed with a scythe and a scymetar.
=Mortuum mare.= _See:_ Mare Mortuum.
=Morys=, a Trojan killed by Meriones during the Trojan war. _Homer_,
_Iliad_, bk. 13, &c.
=Mosa=, a river of Belgic Gaul falling into the German ocean, and now
called the _Maese_ or _Meuse_. The bridge over it, _Mosæpons_, is now
supposed to be _Maestricht_. _Tacitus_, _Histories_, bk. 4, ch. 66.
=Moscha=, now _Mascat_, a port of Arabia on the Red sea.
=Moschi=, a people of Asia, at the west of the Caspian sea. _Mela_,
bk. 1, ch. 2; bk. 3, ch. 5.――_Lucan_, bk. 3, li. 270.
=Moschion=, a name common to four different writers, whose compositions,
character, and native place are unknown. Some fragments of their
writings remain, some few verses and a treatise _de morbis mulierum_,
edited by Gesner, 4to, Basil, 1566.
=Moschus=, a Phœnician who wrote the history of his country in his own
mother tongue.――――A philosopher of Sidon. He is supposed to be the
founder of anatomical philosophy. _Strabo._――――A Greek Bucolic poet
in the age of Ptolemy Philadelphus. The sweetness and elegance of his
eclogues, which are still extant, make the world regret the loss of
poetical pieces no ways inferior to the productions of Theocritus.
The best editions of Moschus with Bion is that of Heskin, 8vo,
Oxford, 1748.――――A Greek rhetorician of Pergamus in the age of Horace,
defended by Torquatus in an accusation of having poisoned some of his
friends. _Horace_, bk. 1, ltr. 5, li. 9.
=Mosella=, a river of Belgic Gaul falling into the Rhine at Coblentz,
and now called the _Moselle_. _Florus_, bk. 3, ch. 10.――_Tacitus_,
_Annals_, bk. 13, ch. 53.
=Moses=, a celebrated legislator and general among the Jews, well
known in sacred history. He was born in Egypt 1571 B.C., and after he
had performed his miracles before Pharaoh, conducted the Israelites
through the Red sea, and given them laws and ordinances, during their
peregrination of 40 years in the wilderness of Arabia, he died at the
age of 120. His writings have been quoted and commended by several of
the heathen authors, who have divested themselves of their prejudices
against a Hebrew, and extolled his learning and the effects of his
wisdom. _Longinus._――_Diodorus_, bk. 1.
=Mosychlus=, a mountain of Lemnos. _Nicander._
=Mosynæci=, a nation on the Euxine sea, in whose territories the 10,000
Greeks stayed on their return from Cunaxa. _Xenophon._
=Mothōne=, a town of Magnesia, where Philip lost one of his eyes.
_Justin_, bk. 7, ch. 6. The word is oftener spelt Methone.
=Motya=, a town of Sicily, besieged and taken by Dionysius tyrant of
Syracuse.
=Muciānus=, a facetious and intriguing general under Otho and Vitellius,
&c.
=Mucius.= _See:_ Mutius.
=Mucræ=, a village of Samnium. _Silius Italicus_, bk. 8, li. 565.
=Mulcĭber=, a surname of Vulcan (_a mulcendo ferrum_), from his
occupation. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 2, li. 5. _See:_ Vulcanus.
=Mulŭcha=, a river of Africa, dividing Numidia from Mauritania. _Pliny_,
bk. 5, ch. 2.
=Mulvius pons=, a bridge on the Flaminian way, about one mile distant
from Rome. _Martial_, bk. 3, ltr. 14.
=Lucius Mummius=, a Roman consul sent against the Achæans, whom he
conquered, B.C. 147. He destroyed Corinth, Thebes, and Chalcis, by
order of the senate, and obtained the surname of _Achaicus_ from
his victories. He did not enrich himself with the spoils of the
enemy, but returned home without any increase of fortune. He was so
unacquainted with the value of the paintings and works of the most
celebrated artists of Greece, which were found in the plunder of
Corinth, that he said to those who conveyed them to Rome, that if
they lost them or injured them, they should make others in their
stead. _Paterculus_, bk. 1, ch. 13.――_Strabo_, bk. 8.――_Pliny_,
bk. 34, ch. 7; bk. 37, ch. 1.――_Florus_, bk. 2, ch. 6.――_Pausanias_,
bk. 5, ch. 24.――――Publius, a man commended by Caius Publicius for
the versatility of his mind, and the propriety of his manners.
_Cicero_, _On Oratory_, bk. 2.――――A Latin poet. _Macrobius_, bk. 1,
_Saturnalia_, ch. 10.――――Marcus, a pretor. _Cicero_, _Against Verres_.
――――Spurius, a brother of Achaicus before mentioned, distinguished as
an orator, and for his fondness for the stoic philosophy. _Cicero_,
_Brutus_, ch. 25; _Letters to Atticus_, bk. 13, ltr. 6.――――A
lieutenant of Crassus defeated, &c. _Plutarch_, _Crassus_.
=Munatius Plancus=, a consul sent to the rebellious army of Germanicus.
He was almost killed by the incensed soldiery, who suspected that it
was through him that they had not all been pardoned and indemnified
by a decree of the senate. Calpurnius rescued him from their fury.
――――An orator and disciple of Cicero. His father, grandfather, and
great grandfather bore the same name. He was with Cæsar in Gaul, and
was made consul with Brutus. He promised to favour the republican
cause for some time, but he deserted again to Cæsar. He was long
Antony’s favourite, but he left him at the battle of Actium to
conciliate the favours of Octavius. His services were great in the
senate; for through his influence and persuasion, that venerable body
flattered the conqueror of Antony with the appellation of Augustus.
He was rewarded with the office of censor. _Plutarch_, _Antonius_.
――――Gratus, a Roman knight who conspired with Piso against Nero.
_Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 15, ch. 30.――――_Suetonius_, _Augustus_,
ch. 23.――――A friend of Horace, epode 3, li. 31.
=Munda=, a small town of Hispania Bætica, celebrated for a battle which
was fought there on the 17th of March, B.C. 45, between Cæsar and
the republican forces of Rome, under Labienus and the sons of Pompey.
Cæsar obtained the victory after an obstinate and bloody battle, and
by this blow put an end to the Roman republic. Pompey lost 30,000
men, and Cæsar only 1000, and 500 wounded. _Silius Italicus_, bk. 3,
li. 400.――_Hirtius_, _Spanish War_, ch. 27.――_Lucan_, bk. 1.
=Munītus=, a son of Laodice, the daughter of Priam by Acamas. He was
entrusted to the care of Æthra as soon as born, and at the taking of
Troy he was made known to his father, who saved his life, and carried
him to Thrace, where he was killed by the bite of a serpent.
_Parthenius_, ch. 10.
=Muny̆chia= (and æ), a port of Attica, between the Piræus and the
promontory of Sunium, called after king _Munychus_, who built there
a temple to Diana, and in whose honour he instituted festivals called
_Munychia_. The temple was held so sacred that whatever criminals
fled there for refuge were pardoned. During the festivals they
offered small cakes which they called _amphiphontes_, ἀπο τον
ἁμφιφαειν, _from shining all round_, because there were lighted
torches hung round when they were carried to the temple, or because
they were offered at the full moon, at which time the solemnity was
observed. It was particularly in honour of Diana, who is the same as
the moon, because it was full moon when Themistocles conquered the
Persian fleet at Salamis. The port of Munychia was well fortified and
of great consequence; therefore the Lacedæmonians, when sovereigns
of Greece, always kept a regular garrison there. _Plutarch._――_Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 2, li. 709.――_Strabo_, bk. 2.――_Pausanias_,
bk. 1, ch. 1.
=Muræna=, a celebrated Roman, left at the head of the armies of the
republic in Asia by Sylla. He invaded the dominions of Mithridates
with success, but soon after met with a defeat. He was honoured
with a triumph at his return to Rome. He commanded one of the wings
of Sylla’s army at the battle against Archelaus near Chæronea. He
was ably defended in an oration by Cicero, when his character was
attacked and censured. _Cicero_, _for Lucius Murena_.――_Appian_,
_Mithridatic Wars_.――――A man put to death for conspiring against
Augustus, B.C. 22.
=Murcia.= _See:_ Murtia.
=Murcus=, an enemy of the triumvirate of Julius Cæsar.――――Statius, a
man who murdered Piso in Vesta’s temple in Nero’s reign. _Tacitus_,
_Histories_, bk. 1, ch. 43.
=Murgantia=, a town of Samnium. _Livy_, bk. 25, ch. 27.
=Murrhēnus=, a friend of Turnus, killed by Æneas, &c. _Virgil_, _Æneid_,
bk. 12, li. 529.
=Mursa=, now _Essek_, a town of Hungary, where the Drave falls into the
Danube.
=Murtia=, or =Myrtia= (_a_ μυρτος), a supposed surname of Venus,
because she presided over the _myrtle_. This goddess was the
patroness of idleness and cowardice. _Varro_, _de Lingua Latina_,
bk. 4, ch. 32.
=Mus=, a Roman consul. _See:_ Decius.
=Musa Antonius=, a freedman and physician of Augustus. He cured his
imperial master of a dangerous disease under which he laboured, by
recommending to him the use of the cold bath. He was greatly rewarded
for this celebrated cure. He was honoured with a brazen statue by the
Roman senate, which was placed near that of Æsculapius, and Augustus
permitted him to wear a golden ring, and to be exempted from all
taxes. He was not so successful in recommending the use of the cold
bath to Marcellus, as he had been to Augustus, and his illustrious
patient died under his care. The cold bath was for a long time
discontinued, till Charmis of Marseilles introduced it again, and
convinced the world of its great benefits. Musa was brother to
Euphorbus the physician of king Juba. Two small treatises, _de
herbâ Botanicâ_, and _de tuendâ Valetudine_, are supposed to be the
productions of his pen.――――A daughter of Nicomedes king of Bithynia.
She attempted to recover her father’s kingdom from the Romans, but
to no purpose, though Cæsar espoused her cause. _Paterculus_, bk. 2.
――_Suetonius_, _Julius Cæsar_.
=Musæ=, certain goddesses who presided over poetry, music, dancing,
and all the liberal arts. They were daughters of Jupiter and
Mnemosyne, and were nine in number: Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene,
Terpsichore, Erato, Polyhymnia, Calliope, and Urania. Some suppose
that there were in ancient times only three Muses, Melete, Mneme,
and Aœde; others four, Telxiope, Aœde, Arche, Melete. They were,
according to others, daughters of Pierus and Antiope, from which
circumstance they are called _Pierides_. The name of Pierides might
probably be derived from mount Pierus, where they were born. They
have been severally called _Castalides_, _Aganippides_, _Lebethrides_,
_Aonides_, _Heliconiades_, &c., from the places where they were
worshipped, or over which they presided. Apollo, who was the patron
and the conductor of the Muses, has received the name of _Musagetes_,
or leader of the Muses. The same surname was also given to Hercules.
The palm tree, the laurel, and all the fountains of Pindus, Helicon,
Parnassus, &c., were sacred to the Muses. They were generally
represented as young, beautiful, and modest virgins. They were fond
of solitude, and commonly appeared in different attire, according to
the arts and sciences over which they presided. _See:_ Clio, Euterpe,
Thalia, Melpomene, &c. Sometimes they were represented as dancing
in a chorus, to intimate the near and indissoluble connection which
exists between the liberal arts and sciences. The Muses sometimes
appear with wings, because by the assistance of wings they freed
themselves from the violence of Pyrenæus. Their contest with the
daughters of Pierus is well known. _See:_ Pierides. The worship
of the Muses was universally established, particularly in the
enlightened parts of Greece, Thessaly, and Italy. No sacrifices
were ever offered to them, though no poet ever began a poem without
a solemn invocation to the goddesses who presided over verse. There
were festivals instituted in their honour in several parts of Greece,
especially among the Thespians, every fifth year. The Macedonians
observed also a festival in honour of Jupiter and the Muses. It
had been instituted by king Archelaus, and it was celebrated with
stage plays, games, and different exhibitions, which continued
nine days, according to the number of the Muses. _Plutarch_,
_Amatorius_.――_Pollux._――_Aeschines_, _Against Timarchus_.
――_Pausanias_, bk. 9, ch. 29.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1, ch. 3.――_Cicero_,
_de Natura Deorum_, bk. 3, ch. 21.――_Hesiod_, _Theogony_.――_Virgil_,
_Æneid_.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 4, li. 310.――_Homer_, _Hymn 25
to the Muses and Apollo_.――_Juvenal_, satire 7.――_Diodorus_, bk. 1.
――_Martial_, bk. 4, ltr. 14.
=Musæus=, an ancient Greek poet, supposed to have been son or disciple
of Linus or Orpheus, and to have lived about 1410 years before the
christian era. Virgil has paid great honour to his memory by placing
him in the Elysian fields attended by a great multitude, and taller
by the head than his followers. None of the poet’s compositions are
extant. The elegant poem of the loves of Leander and Hero was written
by a Musæus, who flourished in the fourth century, according to the
more received opinions. Among the good editions of Musæus two may
be selected as the best; that of Rover, 8vo, Leiden, 1727, and that
of Schroder, 8vo, Leovard, 1743. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 6, li. 677.
――_Diogenes Laërtius._――――A Latin poet, whose compositions were very
obscene. _Martial_, bk. 12, ltr. 96.――――A poet of Thebes who lived
during the Trojan war.
=Musonius Rufus=, a stoic philosopher of Etruria in the reign of
Vespasian. _Tacitus_, _Histories_, bk. 3, ch. 81.
=Mustēla=, a man greatly esteemed by Cicero. _Letters to Atticus_,
bk. 12.――――A gladiator. _Cicero._
♦=Muta=, a goddess who presided over silence, among the Romans. _Ovid_,
_Fasti_, bk. 2, li. 580.
♦ corrected alphabetic order.
=Muthullus=, a river of Numidia. _Sallust_, _Jugurthine War_, ch. 48.
=Mutia=, a daughter of Quintus Mutius Scævola, and sister of Metellus
Celer. She was Pompey’s third wife. Her incontinent behaviour so
disgusted her husband, that at his return from the Mithridatic
war, he divorced her, though she had borne him three children. She
afterwards married Marcus Scaurus. Augustus greatly esteemed her.
_Plutarch_, _Pompey_.――――A wife of Julius Cæsar, beloved by Clodius
the tribune. _Suetonius_, _Julius Cæsar_, ch. 50.――――The mother of
Augustus.
=Mutia lex=, the same as that which was enacted by Licinius Crassus,
and Quintus Mutius, A.U.C. 657. _See:_ Licinia lex.
=Mutica=, or =Mutyce=, a town of Sicily west of the cape Pachynus.
_Cicero_, _Against Verres_, bk. 3, ch. 43.
=Mutilia=, a woman intimate with Livia Augusta. _Tacitus_, _Annals_,
bk. 4, ch. 12.
=Mutĭna=, a Roman colony of Cisalpine Gaul, where Marcus Antony
besieged Decimus Brutus, whom the consuls Pansa and Hirtius delivered.
Two battles on the 15th of April, B.C. 43, were fought there, in
which Antony was defeated, and at last obliged to retire. Mutina is
now called _Modena_. _Lucan_, bk. 1, li. 41; bk. 7, li. 872.――_Silius
Italicus_, bk. 8, li. 592.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 15, li. 822.
――_Cicero_, _Letters to his Friends_, bk. 10, ltr. 14; _Brutus_,
ltr. 5.
=Mutīnes=, one of Annibal’s generals, who was honoured with the freedom
of Rome on delivering up Agrigentum. _Livy_, bk. 25, ch. 41; bk. 27,
ch. 5.
=Mutinus.= _See:_ Mutunus.
=Mutius=, the father-in-law of Caius Marius.――――A Roman who saved
the life of young Marius by conveying him away from the pursuit of
his enemies in a load of straw.――――A friend of Tiberius Gracchus,
by whose means he was raised to the office of a tribune.――――Caius
Scævola, surnamed _Cordus_, became famous for his courage and
intrepidity. When Porsenna king of Etruria had besieged Rome to
reinstate Tarquin in all his rights and privileges, Mutius determined
to deliver his country from so dangerous an enemy. He disguised
himself in the habit of a Tuscan, and as he could fluently speak the
language, he gained an easy introduction into the camp, and soon into
the royal tent. Porsenna sat alone with his secretary when Mutius
entered. The Roman rushed upon the secretary and stabbed him to the
heart, mistaking him for his royal master. This occasioned a noise,
and Mutius, unable to escape, was seized and brought before the king.
He gave no answer to the inquiries of the courtiers, and only told
them that he was a Roman; and to give them a proof of his fortitude,
he laid his right hand on an altar of burning coals, and sternly
looking at the king, and without uttering a groan, he boldly told him
that 300 young Romans like himself had conspired against his life,
and entered the camp in disguise, determined either to destroy him
or perish in the attempt. This extraordinary confession astonished
Porsenna; he made peace with the Romans, and retired from their city.
Mutius obtained the surname of _Scævola_, because he had lost the use
of his right hand by burning it in the presence of the Etrurian king.
_Plutarch_, _Parallela minora_.――_Florus_, bk. 1, ch. 10.――_Livy_,
bk. 2, ch. 12.――――Quintus Scævola, a Roman consul. He obtained a
victory over the Dalmatians, and signalized himself greatly in the
Marsian war. He is highly commended by Cicero, whom he instructed in
the study of civil law. _Cicero._――_Plutarch._――――Another, appointed
proconsul of Asia, which he governed with so much popularity, that
he was generally proposed to others as a pattern of equity and
moderation. Cicero speaks of him as eloquent, learned, and ingenious,
equally eminent as an orator and as a lawyer. He was murdered in the
temple of Vesta, during the civil war of Marius and Sylla, 82 years
before Christ. _Plutarch._――_Cicero_, _On Oratory_, bk. 1, ch. 48.
――_Paterculus_, bk. 2, ch. 22.
=Mutūnus=, or =Mutīnus=, a deity among the Romans, much the same as
the Priapus of the Greeks. The Roman matrons, and particularly new
married women, disgraced themselves by the obscene ceremonies which
custom obliged them to observe before the statue of this impure deity.
_Augustine_, _City of God_, bk. 4, ch. 9; bk. 6, ch. 9.――_Lactantius_,
bk. 1, ch. 20.
=Mutuscæ=, a town of Umbria. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 7, li. 711.
=Muzeris=, a town of India, now _Vizindruk_. _Pliny_, bk. 6, ch. 23.
=Myagrus=, or =Myodes=, a divinity among the Egyptians, called also
Achor. He was entreated by the inhabitants to protect them from flies
and serpents. His worship passed into Greece and Italy. _Pliny_,
bk. 10, ch. 28.――_Pausanias_, bk. 8, ch. 26.
=My̆căle=, a celebrated magician, who boasted that she could draw down
the moon from her orb. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 12, li. 263.――――A
city and promontory of Asia Minor opposite Samos, celebrated for a
battle which was fought there between the Greeks and Persians on the
22nd of September, 479 B.C., the same day that Mardonius was defeated
at Platæa. The Persians were about 100,000 men, that had just
returned from the unsuccessful expedition of Xerxes in Greece. They
had drawn their ships to the shore and fortified themselves, as if
determined to support a siege. They suffered the Greeks to disembark
from their fleet without the least molestation, and were soon obliged
to give way before the cool and resolute intrepidity of an inferior
number of men. The Greeks obtained a complete victory, slaughtered
some thousands of the enemy, burned their camp, and sailed back to
Samos with an immense booty, in which were seventy chests of money
among other very valuable things. _Herodotus._――_Justin_, bk. 2,
ch. 14.――_Diodorus._――――A woman’s name. _Juvenal_, satire 4, li. 141.
=Mycalessus=, an inland town of Bœotia, where Ceres had a temple.
_Pausanias_, bk. 9, ch. 19.