, and
terminated
near N.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
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? MEKUii
MKROE.
ttscnpl i. n ? ? ( particular deities, we may venture a step
farther, adds the same writer, without fear of contradic-
tion, and assert that this worship had its origin in nat-
ural religion connected with agriculture. The great
works of nature were revered accordingly as they pro-
moted o; icf aided and hindered this. It seems nat-
ural that ;hs sun and moon, so far as they determined
the seasons and the year, the Nile and the earth as
sources of fruilfulness, the sandy deserts as the oppo-
ters of it, should all be personified. One thing is re-
markable, namely, that of all the representations of
Nubia yet known, there is not one which, according
:o our notions, is offensive to decency. But this wor-
ship had, besides, as we know with certainty, a sec-
ond element, oracles. Amnion was the original ora-
cle-god of Africa: if afterward, as was the case in
Egypt, ether deities delivered oracles, yet they were
of his race, of his kindred. Even beyond Egypt we
hear of the oracles of Ammon. "The only gods wor-
shipped in Meroe," says Herodotus (2, 29), "are
Zeus and Dionysus" (which he himself explains to be
A mmon and Osiris). "They also have an oracle of
Ammon, and undertake their expeditions when and
how the god commands. " How these oracles were
delivered we learn partly from history, partly from
representations on monuments. In the sanctuary
stands a ship; upon it many holy vessels; but. above
all, in the midst a portable tabernacle, surrounded with
curtains, which may be drawn back. In this is an
image of the god, set, according to Diodorus (2, 199),
hi precious stones; nevertheless, according to one
account, it could have no human shape. (Curtius,
4, 7. "Umbilico similis. ") This statement of Cur-
tius, however, is incorrect, not only because contra-
dicted by tho passage just quoted from Diodorus, but
also because we see on one of the common monu-
ments a complete portrait of Ammon. --The ship in
the great temples seems to have been very magnifi-
cent. Sesostris presented one to the temple of Am-
raon at Thebes, made of cedar, the inside of cedar
tod the outside of gold. (Diod. , 1, 57 ) The same
wea hung about with silver goblets. When the ora-
cle was to be consulted, it was carried around by a
body of priests in procession, and from certain move-
ments, either of the god or of the ship, both of which
the priests had well under their command, tho omens
were gathered, according to which the high-priest then
delivered the oracle. This ship is often represented,
both upon the Nubian and Egyptian monuments, some-
times standing still, and sometimes carried in proces-
sion; but never anywhere except in the innermost
ianctuary, which was its resting-place. Upon the
Nubian monuments hitherto made known we discover
this in two places; at Asseboa and Derar, and on each
twice. Those of Asseboa are both standing. In one
the tabernacle is veiled, but upon the other it is with-
out a curtain. (Gau, plate xlv. , B) Ammon ap-
",>cars in the same sitting upon a couch; before him
an altar with gifts. (Gau, plate xlv. , A ) Upon one
the king is kneeling before the ship at his devotions;
in the other he is coming towards it with an offering
of frankincense. In tfic sanctuary of the rock monu-
ment at Derar we a/so discover it twice. Once in
procession, borne by a number of priests (Gau, plate
li. , C. ); the tabernacle is veiled, the king meets it,
bringing frankincense: the other time at rest, (lhid. ,
plate lii. ) These processions are not only seen upon
? ? the great Egyptian temples at Phila? , Elephantis, and
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? MEROE.
MEROE.
At (ho time of his sovereignty," he continues, "Meroe
(s said to have contained 250,000 soldiers and 400,000
artificers. They still reckon there forty-five kings. "
Though these accounts lose themselves in the darkness
of tradition, yet we may, by tracing history upward, dis-
cover some certain chronological data. In the Persian
period Msrie was certainly free and independent, and
in important stato; otherwise Cambyses would hardly
have made so great preparations for his unfortunate ex-
pedition. {Herod. , 2, 25. ) The statement of Slrabo,
tccording to which Cambyses reached Meroe, may per-
haps be brought to accord with that of Herodotus, if we
understand him to mean northern Meroe, near Mount
Berkel. --During the last dynasty of the Pharaohs at
Sa'is, under Paammetichus and his successors, the
kingdom of Meroe not only resisted his yoke, although
his son Psammis undertook an expedition against
Ethiopia; but we have an important fact, which gives
a clew to the extent of the empire at that time towards
the south; the emigration of the Egyptian warrior-
caste. These migrated towards Meroe, whose ruler
assigned them dwellings about the sources of the Nile,
in the province of Gm'am, whose restless inhabitants
were expelled their country. (Herod, 2, 30) The
dominions of the ruler of Meroe, therefore, certainly
reached so far at that time, though his authority on
the borders fluctuated in consequence of the pastoral
hordes roving thereabout, and could only be fixed by
colonics. Let us go a century farther back, between
800 and 700 B. C. , and we shall mount to the flourish-
ing periods of this empire, contemporaneous with the
divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah; especially with
the reign of Uexekiuh, and the time of Isaiah, 750-
700, where we shall consequently have a light from the
Jewish annals, and the oracles of the prophets, in con-
nexion with Horodotus. This is the period in which
the three mighty rulers, Sabaco, Seuechus, and Tar-
haco started up as conquerors, and directed their
weapons against Egypt, which, at least Upper Egypt,
became an easy prey, from the unfortunate troubles
preceding the dodecarchy having just taken place. Ac-
cording to Eusebius (Chron, vol. 2, p. 181. --Com-
pare Marsham, p. 435), Sabaco reigned twelve, Seu-
echus also twelve, and Tarhaco twenty years: but by
Herodotus, who only mentions Sabaco, to whom he
gives a reign of fifty years, this name seems to des-
ignate the whole dynasty, which not unfrcqucntly fol-
lows that of its founder. Herodotus expressly says
that he had quilted Egypt at the command of his ora-
cle in Ethiopia (2, 137, tcqq. ). It may therefore be
seen, by the example of this conqueror, how great their
dependance must have been, in their native country,
upon the oracle of Amnion, when even the absent
monarch, as ruler of a conquered state, yielded obedi-
ence to it. Sabaco, however, is not represented by
nim as a barbarian or tyrant, but as a benefactor to the
community by the construction of dams. The chro-
nology of Seuechus and Tarhaco is determined by the
Jewish history. Seuechus was the contemporary of
Hosea, king of Israel, whose reign ended in 722, and
of Salmanassar (2 Kings, \7, 4; 19, 9). Tarhaco
was the contemporary of his successor Sennacherib,
and deterred him, in the year 714 B. C. , from the in-
vasion of Egypt merely by the rumour of his advance
against him. (2 Kings, 19, 9. ) His name, however,
does not seem to have been unknown to the Greeks.
Eratosthenes (ap. Strabo, 680) mentions him as a con-
? ? jueror who had penetrated into Europe, and as far as
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? MEROE.
MERGE.
tnm. iheii own body. Ammonium served as >> rest-
iug-placc Ijr the caravans passing from northern Afri-
ca to Meroe. Another still earlier settlement of this
kind was very probably Thebes in Upper Egypt. The
circumstance of a town flourishing to such an extent
in 'lie midst of a desert, of the same worship of
Amnion, of the all-powerful priest-caste, and its per-
manent connexion with Meroe (united with which it
founded Ammonium), conjoined with the express as-
? ertion of the Ethiopians that they were the founders
(Diod. , 3, 3), gives to this idea a degree of probability
bordering on certainty. The whole aspect of the cir-
cumstances connected with this wide-spread priest-
caste gains a clearer light, if we consider Ammonium,
Thebes, and Meroe the chief places of the African
caravan trade; in this view of the subject, the dark-
ness of -Ecypto-Ethiopian antiquity is cleared up, as
in the hands of this priest-caste the southern caravan
trade was placed, and they founded the proud tem-
ples and palaces along the banks of the Nile, and the
great trading edifices, which served their gods for
sanctuaries, themselves for dwellings, and their cara-
vans for place i of rest. To this caste, the states of
Meroe' and Upper Egypt very probably owed their
foundation ; except, indeed, that Egypt was much more
exposed to the crowding in of foreign relations from
Asia, than Meroe, separated as this last was from oth-
er countries by deserts, seas, and mountains. The
r'o<<n connexion, in high antiquity, between Ethiopia
and upper Egypt, is shown by the circumstance that
the oldest Egyptian states derived their origin partly
from Abyssinia; that Thebes and Meroe founded, in
common, a colony in Libya; that Ethiopian conquer-
ors several times advanced into Egypt, and, on the
other hand, that Egyptian kings undertook expeditions
to Ethiopia; that in both countries a similar worship,
similar manners and customs, and similar symbolical
? rrit. ig were found; and that the discontented soldier-
taste, when offended by Peammetichus, emigrated into
Ethiopia. By the Ethiopians Egypt was likewise pro-
fusely supplied with the productions of the southern
countries. Where else, indeed, could it have ob-
tained those aromatics and spices with which so many
thousands of its dead were annually embalmed 1
Whence those perfumes which burned upon its altars 1
Whence that immense quantity of coituu in which
the inhabitants clothed themselves, and which Egypt
itself furnished but sparingly 1 Whence, again, that
sarly report in Egypt of the Ethiopian gold-countries,
which Cambyses sought after, and lost half his army
in the fruitless speculation 1 Whence the quantity of
ivory and ebony which adorned the oldest works of art
of the Greeks as well as of the Hebrews 1 Whence,
especially, that early extension of the Ethiopian name,
which shines in the traditionary history of so many
nations, and which the Jewish poets as well as the
oldest Greek bards have celebrated \ Whence all
this, if the deserts which bordered on Ethiopia had
always kept the inhabitants isolated from those of
more northern countries 7--At a later period, in the
time of Ptolemy I. , it is astonishing how completely
that able prince had established the trade between his
own country, Indis, Ethiopia, and Arabia. The scries
of magnificent and similar monuments, interrupted on
the frontiers of Egypt, near Elephantine, and recom-
mencing on the southern side of the African desert, at
Mount Berkel, and especially at Meroe, to be contin-
? ? ued to Axum and Azab, certainly denote a people of
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? MEKOE
M ES
iti communication would mceaearily give rise to
moral and intellectual improvement. . --6. The curious
fact, that the images of some of the Egyptian gods
were at certain times conveyed up the Nile, from their
temples to others in Ethiopia; and, after the conclu-
sion of a festival, were brought back again into Egypt.
(Eustalh , ad II, 1, 424. )--7. The very remarkable
character of some of the Egyptian paintings, in which
Black (or, more correctly, dark-coloured) men aro rep-
resented in the costume of priests, as conferring on
certain red figures, similarly habited, the instruments
tnd symbols of the sacerdotal office. "This singular
representation," says Mr. Hamilton, "which is often
repeated in all the Egyptian temples, but only here at
Phils and at Elephantine with this distinction of col-
ur, may very naturally be supposed to commemorate
ne transmission of religious fables and the social in-
ilitutions from the tawny Ethiopians to the compara-
iively fair Egyptians. "--H. Other paintings of nearly
:he same purport. In the temple of Philoe, the sculp-
tures frequently depict two persons, who equally repre-
? ent the characters and symbols of Osiris, and two per-
luiis equally answering to those of Isis; but in both
cases one is invariably much older than the other, and
appears to be the superior divinity. Mr. Hamilton
conjectures that such 6gures represent the communi-
cation of religious rites from Ethiopia to Egypt, and
* the inferiority of the Egyptian Osiris. In these delin-
eations there is a very marked and positive distinction
between the dark figures and those of fairer complex-
ion; the former are most frequently conferring the
symbols of divinity and sovereignty on the other. --9.
The very interesting fact recorded by Diodorus, name-
ly, that the knowledge of picture-writing in Ethiopia
v. jj not a privilege confined solely to the caste of
priests as in Egypt, but that every one might attain it
as freely as they might in Egypt the writing in com-
tmn use. A proof at once of the earlier use of pic-
lu 'e-writing, or hieroglyphics, in Meroe' than in Egypt,
end also of its being applied to the purposes of trade.
--10. The more ancient form of the pyramid, ap-
proaching that of the primeval mound, occurs moro to
the south than the rectilinear form. Thus the pyra-
mids of Saccara are older in form than those of Djiza,
another proof of architecture's having come in from
the countries to the south. (Clarke's Travels, vol.
fi, p. 220, Lond. cd. )--From this body of evidence,
then, we come to the conclusion, that the same race
which ruled in Ethiopia and Meroe spread themselves
by colonics, in the first instance, to Upper Egypt; that
these latter colonies, in consequence of their great
prosperity, became in their turn the parents of others;
and as m all this they followed the course of the river,
there gradually became founded a succession of colo-
nies in the valley of the Nile, which, according to the
usual custom of the ancient world, were probably, at
first, independent of each other, and therefore formed
ust so many little states. Though, with the promul-
gation of their religion, either that of Ammon himself,
or of his kindred deities and temple-companions, after
whom even the settlements were named, the extension
of trade was the principal motive which tempted colo-
nists from Meroe to the countries beyond the desert;
yet there were many other causes, such as the fertil-
ity of the land, and the facility of making the rude na-
tive tribes subservient to themselves, which, in a pe-
riod of tranquillity, must have promoted the prosperity
? ? and accelerated the gradual progress of this coloniza-
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? M ES
MEJ
courtier 3 with whom *. Lc palace of Hadriar. had swa. in-
td. It was on this occasion that the stipend allowed
to Mesomedes suffered a reduction. {Jul. Cap. , Vit.
Ant. Pii, c. 7. )--We have two epigrams of this poet's
in the Anthology, and also a piece of a higher charac-
ter, a Hymn to Nemesis. Judging from this last spe-
cimen, Mesomedes must have possessed talents of no
mean order. The Hymn to Nemesis was published
fur the first time, with ancient musical notes, by Fell,
at the end of his edition of Aratus, Oxon. , 1762, 8vo.
I was subsequently given by Burette in the 5th vol.
? I the Mem. Ac I'Acad, des Inscr. , &c, by Brunck in
js Analecta, and by Snedorf in his work, " De Hym-
nis velcrum Gracorum," Hafn. , 1786, 8vo. (Schbll,
Hist. Lit. Gr. , vol. 4, p. 51. )
Mesopotamia, an extensive province of Asia, the
Greek name of which denotes between the rivers (from
uiaoc and jroTa/i6c. ) It was situate between t'. ic Eu-
phrates and the Tigris. The name itself, however,
does not appear to have been given to this tract prior
to the Macedonian conquest. The southern part of
Mesopotamia Xenophon calls Arabia (Anal. , 1, 5, I);
and other writers included this country, especially tb'"
northern part, under the general name of Syria. (Stra-
in, 737. ) The Romans always regarded Mesopotamia
as a mere division of Syria. (Mela, 1, 11. --Plin. , 5,
13. ) It is called by the Arabs at the present day
Al Jczira, or "the island. " In scripture it is styled
Aram and Aramcci; but as Aram also signifies Syria,
it is denominated, for distinction' sake, Aram Naha-
icim. or the "Syria of the rivers. " It was first peo-
pled by Aram, the father of the Syrians, though little
is known of its history till it became a province of the
Persian empire. Cushanrishlhalhaim, who is men-
tioned in Judges (3, 8, 10) as king of Mesopotamia,
appears to have been only a petty prince of a district
east of the Euphrates. In the time of Hezekiah, the
different states of Mesopotamia were subject to the
Assyrians (2 Kings, 19, 13), and subsequently belonged
in succession to the Chaldajan, Persian, and Syro-Ma-
cedonian monarchies. --Mesopotamia, which inclines
from the southeast to the northwest, commenced at
'. it. 33? 20' N.
, and terminated near N. Iat. 37? 30'.
Towards the south it extended as far as the bend form-
ed by the Euphrates at Cunaxa, and to the wall of
Semiramis, which separated it from Mcsene. To-
wards the north it was boundeC by a part of Mount
Taurus. The northern part of Mesopotamia, which
extended as far as the Chahoras, a tributary of the Eu-
phrates, is mountainous, and for the most part fruitful.
The southern portion consists chiefly of reddish hills,
and deserts without any trees, except liquorice-wood;
and, like the desert of Arabia, suffers, at a distance
from the rivers, a dearth of food and water. Here, on
the parched steppes or table-lands, where the simoom
often breathes destruction, hordes of Arabs have from
the earliest times wandered. When history, therefore,
speaks of the Romans and Persians as possessing Mes-
opotamia, we must understand the northern | art, which
abounded in all the necessaries of life. 1 he inhabi-
tants of this portion, who still speak an Armeno-Syriac
dialect, were called among themselves Mygdonians,
and their district was known by the name of Mygdo-
nia. (Polyb. , 5, 51. -- Stcph. Byz. , s. v. ) Subse-
quently, under the Syro-Macedonian monarchy, it took
ttie name of Anthemusia. (Amm Marcell. , 14, 9. --
Eutrop. , 8, 2. --Scxtus Ru/us, c. 20. ) In the time
? ? of the Parthian sway, about 120 B. C. , an Arab sheik,
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? MESSALA.
MESSALA.
? eel. In the course of this contest he wu also for
tome time stationed with an army on tlie Neapolitan
ahore; and Augustoa, having been not only defeated,
hut shipwrecked in one of the many naval engage-
ments which he fought with Pompey, sought shelter
in the most wretched condition in the camp of Mes-
ula, by whom he was received as a friend and matter
and treated with the tendercst care. The death of
Seitus Pompey at length opened both sea and land
to his successful adversary, and it was quickly follow-
? ed by the long-expected struggle for superiority be-
tween Antony and Augustus. --Messala was consul
fa) A. U. C. 721, the year of the battle of Actium, in
which he bore a distinguished part. After that dcci-
? ive victory and the firm establishment of the throne
of Augustus, he lived the general favourite of all par-
ties, and the chief ornamenUof a court where he still
asserted his freedom and dignity. While at Home
he resided in a house on the Palatine Hill, which had
formerly belonged to Marc Antony; but he was fre-
quently absent from the capital on the service of the
state. War after war was intrusted to his conduct,
and province after province was committed to his ad-
ministration. In some of his foreign expeditions he
was accompanied by the poet Tibullus, who has cel-
ebrated the military exploits of Messala in his famed
panegyric, and his own friendship and attachment to
nis patron in his elegies The triumph which Messa-
la obtained in 727, for his victories in a Gallic cam-
paign, completed the measure of his military honours;
and he filled in succession all the most important civ-
il offices in the state. Besides holding the consulship
in 721, he was elected into the college of Augurs, and
was intrusted wiih the superintendence of the aque-
ducts, one of those great public works for which
Rome has been to justly celebrated. In 736, on ac-
count of the absence of Augustus and Maecenas from
(to capital, he was nominated prefect of the city; but
he resigned that situation a few days after his appoint-
ment, regarding it as inconsistent with the ancient
constitution of his country. He is also believed to
hive been the person who, by command of the Con-
script fathers, first saluted Augustus in the senate-
bojse as the "Father of his country ;" a distinction
which was hestowed in a manner that drew tears from
the master of the Roman world (Suet. , Aug , 58), and
a reply, in which he declared that, having attained the
summit of his wishes, he had nothing more to desire
from the immortal gods but a continuance of ths same
attachment till the last moments of his Ufa. --From
this period the name of Messala is scarcely once men-
tioned by any contemporary writer. He survived,
however, ten or twelve years longer. Tiberius Csb-
sar, who was then a youth, fond of the liberal arts,
ind by no means ignorant of literature, paid Messala,
when in his old age, much deference and attention,
and attempted to imitate his style of oratory. (Suet. ,
Tib. , c 70. ) Towards the close of his life he was
dreadfully afflicted with ulcers in the sacra spina; and
It is said that, two years before his dea'. U, he was de-
prived of both sense and memory. He at length for-
got his own name (Plin , 7, 24), and became incapa-
ble of putting two words together with meaning. It
is mentioned in the Eusebian Chronicle that he per-
ched by abstaining from food when he had reached
the age of seventy-two; but if he were born in 690,
as is supposed, this computation would extend his ex-
? ? istence till the close of the reign of Augustus, which
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? M ES
M ES
to wnlch Julius Cxur had been assassinated. Mot-
Mla left by Tcrentia two sons, Marcus and Lucius.
The elder of these, who was consul in 751, took the
Dame of Messalinus; he greatly distinguished himself
under Tiberius, when that prince commanded, before
his accession to the empire, in the war of Pannonia.
[Veil. Paterc, 2, 112. ) Messalinus inherited his
father's eloquence, and also followed the example he
lad set in devoted attachment to Augustus, and the
patronage he extended to literature. But, during the
rejgn of Tiberius, he was chiefly noted as one of the
most servile flatterers of that tyrant. {Tacit. , Ann. ,
3, 18. ) The younger son of Mcssala assumed the
name of Cotta, from his maternal family, and acted a
conspicuous, though by no means reputable part in
the first years of Tiberius. Both brothers were friends
and protectors of Ovid, who addressed to Messalinus
two of his epistles from Pontus, which are full of re-
spect for the memory of his illustrious father. (Dun-
top's Roman Lit. , vol. 3, p. 63, stqq. . Land, ed. )
Messalina, I. Valeria, the first wife of the Emper-
or Claudius, dishonoured his throne by her unbridled
and disgusting incontinence. Her cruelty equalled
her licentiousness. After a long career of guilt, she
openly married a young patrician named Silius, du-
ring the absence of the emperor, who had gone on a
visit to Ostia. Narcissus, the fr'. edman of Claudius,
was the only one who dar<< J to intorm Claudius of the
fact, and, when he had roused the sluggish resentment
of his imperial master, he brought him to Rome. The
arrival of Claudius dispersed in an instant all who had
thronged around Messalina; but still, though thus de-
serted, sho resolved to brave the s. orm, and sent to
the emperor demanding to be heard. Narcissus, how-
ever, fearing the effect of her presence on the feeble
spirit of her husband, despatched an order, as i. com-
ing from him, for her immediate punishment. The
order found her in the gardens of Lucullus. She en-
deavoured to destroy herself, but her courage failing,
(he was put to death by a tribune who had been sent
for thai purpose, A. D. 48. (Tacit. , Ann. , 11 et 12.
--Suetonius, Vit. Claud. )--U. Called also Statilia,
&e grand-daughter of Statihus Taurus, who haH been
consul and had enjoyed a triumph during the reign
of Augustus. She was married four times before she
came to the imperial throne. The last of her four
husbanJs was Atticus Vcstimis, a man of consular
rank, who had ventured to aspire to her hand, al-
though he was not ignorant that ho had Nero for a
rival. The tyrant, who had long favoured Vcstinrs
as one pf the companions of his debaucheries, cr>w
resolved to destroy him, and accordingly compelled
him to open his veins. Messalina was transferred to
the imperial bed. After the death of Nero she en-
deavoured to regain her former rank, as empress, by
means of Otho, whom she bad captivated by her beau-
ty, and hoped to espouse. But ( Mho's fall having de-
stroyed all these expectations, she turned her atten-
tion to literary subjects, and obtained applause by
some public discourses which she delivered. (Biogr.
Univ. , vol. 28, p. 43! . )
Mkssalinus, M. Valerius, son of Valerius Mcssa-
la Corvinus. (Consult remarks at the close of the ar-
ticle Messala. )
Mkssana, an ancient and celebrated city of Sicily,
situate on the straits which separate Italy from that
island. The first settlers in this quarter would seem
? ? to have been a body of wandering Siculi, who gave
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? MES
MES
jeshies estaolishing in it the remnant of the former in-
habitants, added a considerable number of Locrians,
Methymnseans, and Messenian exiles. The latter,
however, through fear of offending the Lacedemonians,
vcrc afterward transferred to the district of Abacene,
ind there founded Tyndaris. Messana thus came to
contain as mixed a popula'ion as before. (Diod. , 14,
78. ) I". remained under tl<<r sway of Dionysius and
his son; and subsequently, after enjoying a short pe-
riod of freedom, it passed into the hands of Agathocles.
(Diod. , 19, 102. ) The following year the inhabitants
revolted from his sway, and put themselves under the
protection of the Carthaginians. (Diod. , 19, 110. )
Soon, however, a new misfortune befell the unlucky
city. It was seized by the Mamertini (vid. Matnerti-
ni), its male inhabitants were either slaughtered or
driven out, and their wives and children became the
property of the conquerors. Messana now took the
name of Mamertina, though in process of time the other
appellation once more gained the ascendancy. (Po-
lyb. , 1, 7. --Diod. , 21, 13. -- Plin. , 3, 7. ) This act of
perfidy and cruelty passed unpunished. Syracuse was
too much occupied with intestine commotions to attend
to it, and the Carthaginians gladly made a league with
the Mamertini, since by them Pyrrhus would be pre-
vented from crossing over into Sicily and seizing on a
post so important to his future operations. (Diod. , 22,
8. ) The Mamertini, however, could not lay aside their
old habits of robbery. They harassed all their neigh-
bours, and even became troublesome to Syracuse,
where King Hiero had at last succeeded in establish-
ing order and tranquillity. This monarch defeated
the lawless banditti, and would have taken their city,
had not the Carthaginians interposed to defend it. A
body of these, with the approbation of part of the in-
habitants, took possession of the citadel; while another
portion of the inhabitants called in the assistance of
the Romans, and thus the first of the Punic wars had
its origin. (Vid. Punic vim Bcllum. and compare Po-
lyb. , 1, 9, seqq. -- Diod. , 22, 15. -- Id. , 23, 2, seqq. )
Messana and the Mamertines remained from hence-
forth under the Roman power; but the city, as before,
could ncrver enjoy any long period of repose. It suf-
fered in the early civil wars between Marius and Sylla,
in the war of the slaves in Sicily, and, more particular-
y, in the contest between Sextus Pompcy and the tri-
umvir Octavianus. Messana formed during this war
the chief station of Pompey's fleet, and his principal
place of supply, and the city was plundered at its close.
(Appian, B. Civ-, 5, 122. ) A Roman colony was af-
terward planted here. (Mannert, Geogr. , vol. 9, pt.
2, p. 267, seqq. )--The modern Messina corresponds
to the ancient city. Even in later times, the fates
seem to have conspired against this unfortunate place.
A pNgue swept away a great part of the inhabitants;
then rebellion spread its ravages; and firully, the dread-
ful earthquake in 1783 completed tke downfall of a
city which rivalled, if it did nor wirpass, Palermo.
(Hoare's Classical Tour, vol. 2. r 203. ) Although
the town has since been rebuilt according to a regular
plan and although it has bean declared a free port,
Messina is not so important as it once was. It con-
tained before the last catastrophe a hundred thousand
inhabitants: the present population does not amount
to seventy thousand (Malte Brun, Geogr. , vol. 7, p.
732, Am. ed. )
M kssap! i, a co. ntry of Italy in Magna Griecia, com-
? ? monly supposed to have been the same with Iapygia,
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? MEKUii
MKROE.
ttscnpl i. n ? ? ( particular deities, we may venture a step
farther, adds the same writer, without fear of contradic-
tion, and assert that this worship had its origin in nat-
ural religion connected with agriculture. The great
works of nature were revered accordingly as they pro-
moted o; icf aided and hindered this. It seems nat-
ural that ;hs sun and moon, so far as they determined
the seasons and the year, the Nile and the earth as
sources of fruilfulness, the sandy deserts as the oppo-
ters of it, should all be personified. One thing is re-
markable, namely, that of all the representations of
Nubia yet known, there is not one which, according
:o our notions, is offensive to decency. But this wor-
ship had, besides, as we know with certainty, a sec-
ond element, oracles. Amnion was the original ora-
cle-god of Africa: if afterward, as was the case in
Egypt, ether deities delivered oracles, yet they were
of his race, of his kindred. Even beyond Egypt we
hear of the oracles of Ammon. "The only gods wor-
shipped in Meroe," says Herodotus (2, 29), "are
Zeus and Dionysus" (which he himself explains to be
A mmon and Osiris). "They also have an oracle of
Ammon, and undertake their expeditions when and
how the god commands. " How these oracles were
delivered we learn partly from history, partly from
representations on monuments. In the sanctuary
stands a ship; upon it many holy vessels; but. above
all, in the midst a portable tabernacle, surrounded with
curtains, which may be drawn back. In this is an
image of the god, set, according to Diodorus (2, 199),
hi precious stones; nevertheless, according to one
account, it could have no human shape. (Curtius,
4, 7. "Umbilico similis. ") This statement of Cur-
tius, however, is incorrect, not only because contra-
dicted by tho passage just quoted from Diodorus, but
also because we see on one of the common monu-
ments a complete portrait of Ammon. --The ship in
the great temples seems to have been very magnifi-
cent. Sesostris presented one to the temple of Am-
raon at Thebes, made of cedar, the inside of cedar
tod the outside of gold. (Diod. , 1, 57 ) The same
wea hung about with silver goblets. When the ora-
cle was to be consulted, it was carried around by a
body of priests in procession, and from certain move-
ments, either of the god or of the ship, both of which
the priests had well under their command, tho omens
were gathered, according to which the high-priest then
delivered the oracle. This ship is often represented,
both upon the Nubian and Egyptian monuments, some-
times standing still, and sometimes carried in proces-
sion; but never anywhere except in the innermost
ianctuary, which was its resting-place. Upon the
Nubian monuments hitherto made known we discover
this in two places; at Asseboa and Derar, and on each
twice. Those of Asseboa are both standing. In one
the tabernacle is veiled, but upon the other it is with-
out a curtain. (Gau, plate xlv. , B) Ammon ap-
",>cars in the same sitting upon a couch; before him
an altar with gifts. (Gau, plate xlv. , A ) Upon one
the king is kneeling before the ship at his devotions;
in the other he is coming towards it with an offering
of frankincense. In tfic sanctuary of the rock monu-
ment at Derar we a/so discover it twice. Once in
procession, borne by a number of priests (Gau, plate
li. , C. ); the tabernacle is veiled, the king meets it,
bringing frankincense: the other time at rest, (lhid. ,
plate lii. ) These processions are not only seen upon
? ? the great Egyptian temples at Phila? , Elephantis, and
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? MEROE.
MEROE.
At (ho time of his sovereignty," he continues, "Meroe
(s said to have contained 250,000 soldiers and 400,000
artificers. They still reckon there forty-five kings. "
Though these accounts lose themselves in the darkness
of tradition, yet we may, by tracing history upward, dis-
cover some certain chronological data. In the Persian
period Msrie was certainly free and independent, and
in important stato; otherwise Cambyses would hardly
have made so great preparations for his unfortunate ex-
pedition. {Herod. , 2, 25. ) The statement of Slrabo,
tccording to which Cambyses reached Meroe, may per-
haps be brought to accord with that of Herodotus, if we
understand him to mean northern Meroe, near Mount
Berkel. --During the last dynasty of the Pharaohs at
Sa'is, under Paammetichus and his successors, the
kingdom of Meroe not only resisted his yoke, although
his son Psammis undertook an expedition against
Ethiopia; but we have an important fact, which gives
a clew to the extent of the empire at that time towards
the south; the emigration of the Egyptian warrior-
caste. These migrated towards Meroe, whose ruler
assigned them dwellings about the sources of the Nile,
in the province of Gm'am, whose restless inhabitants
were expelled their country. (Herod, 2, 30) The
dominions of the ruler of Meroe, therefore, certainly
reached so far at that time, though his authority on
the borders fluctuated in consequence of the pastoral
hordes roving thereabout, and could only be fixed by
colonics. Let us go a century farther back, between
800 and 700 B. C. , and we shall mount to the flourish-
ing periods of this empire, contemporaneous with the
divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah; especially with
the reign of Uexekiuh, and the time of Isaiah, 750-
700, where we shall consequently have a light from the
Jewish annals, and the oracles of the prophets, in con-
nexion with Horodotus. This is the period in which
the three mighty rulers, Sabaco, Seuechus, and Tar-
haco started up as conquerors, and directed their
weapons against Egypt, which, at least Upper Egypt,
became an easy prey, from the unfortunate troubles
preceding the dodecarchy having just taken place. Ac-
cording to Eusebius (Chron, vol. 2, p. 181. --Com-
pare Marsham, p. 435), Sabaco reigned twelve, Seu-
echus also twelve, and Tarhaco twenty years: but by
Herodotus, who only mentions Sabaco, to whom he
gives a reign of fifty years, this name seems to des-
ignate the whole dynasty, which not unfrcqucntly fol-
lows that of its founder. Herodotus expressly says
that he had quilted Egypt at the command of his ora-
cle in Ethiopia (2, 137, tcqq. ). It may therefore be
seen, by the example of this conqueror, how great their
dependance must have been, in their native country,
upon the oracle of Amnion, when even the absent
monarch, as ruler of a conquered state, yielded obedi-
ence to it. Sabaco, however, is not represented by
nim as a barbarian or tyrant, but as a benefactor to the
community by the construction of dams. The chro-
nology of Seuechus and Tarhaco is determined by the
Jewish history. Seuechus was the contemporary of
Hosea, king of Israel, whose reign ended in 722, and
of Salmanassar (2 Kings, \7, 4; 19, 9). Tarhaco
was the contemporary of his successor Sennacherib,
and deterred him, in the year 714 B. C. , from the in-
vasion of Egypt merely by the rumour of his advance
against him. (2 Kings, 19, 9. ) His name, however,
does not seem to have been unknown to the Greeks.
Eratosthenes (ap. Strabo, 680) mentions him as a con-
? ? jueror who had penetrated into Europe, and as far as
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? MEROE.
MERGE.
tnm. iheii own body. Ammonium served as >> rest-
iug-placc Ijr the caravans passing from northern Afri-
ca to Meroe. Another still earlier settlement of this
kind was very probably Thebes in Upper Egypt. The
circumstance of a town flourishing to such an extent
in 'lie midst of a desert, of the same worship of
Amnion, of the all-powerful priest-caste, and its per-
manent connexion with Meroe (united with which it
founded Ammonium), conjoined with the express as-
? ertion of the Ethiopians that they were the founders
(Diod. , 3, 3), gives to this idea a degree of probability
bordering on certainty. The whole aspect of the cir-
cumstances connected with this wide-spread priest-
caste gains a clearer light, if we consider Ammonium,
Thebes, and Meroe the chief places of the African
caravan trade; in this view of the subject, the dark-
ness of -Ecypto-Ethiopian antiquity is cleared up, as
in the hands of this priest-caste the southern caravan
trade was placed, and they founded the proud tem-
ples and palaces along the banks of the Nile, and the
great trading edifices, which served their gods for
sanctuaries, themselves for dwellings, and their cara-
vans for place i of rest. To this caste, the states of
Meroe' and Upper Egypt very probably owed their
foundation ; except, indeed, that Egypt was much more
exposed to the crowding in of foreign relations from
Asia, than Meroe, separated as this last was from oth-
er countries by deserts, seas, and mountains. The
r'o<<n connexion, in high antiquity, between Ethiopia
and upper Egypt, is shown by the circumstance that
the oldest Egyptian states derived their origin partly
from Abyssinia; that Thebes and Meroe founded, in
common, a colony in Libya; that Ethiopian conquer-
ors several times advanced into Egypt, and, on the
other hand, that Egyptian kings undertook expeditions
to Ethiopia; that in both countries a similar worship,
similar manners and customs, and similar symbolical
? rrit. ig were found; and that the discontented soldier-
taste, when offended by Peammetichus, emigrated into
Ethiopia. By the Ethiopians Egypt was likewise pro-
fusely supplied with the productions of the southern
countries. Where else, indeed, could it have ob-
tained those aromatics and spices with which so many
thousands of its dead were annually embalmed 1
Whence those perfumes which burned upon its altars 1
Whence that immense quantity of coituu in which
the inhabitants clothed themselves, and which Egypt
itself furnished but sparingly 1 Whence, again, that
sarly report in Egypt of the Ethiopian gold-countries,
which Cambyses sought after, and lost half his army
in the fruitless speculation 1 Whence the quantity of
ivory and ebony which adorned the oldest works of art
of the Greeks as well as of the Hebrews 1 Whence,
especially, that early extension of the Ethiopian name,
which shines in the traditionary history of so many
nations, and which the Jewish poets as well as the
oldest Greek bards have celebrated \ Whence all
this, if the deserts which bordered on Ethiopia had
always kept the inhabitants isolated from those of
more northern countries 7--At a later period, in the
time of Ptolemy I. , it is astonishing how completely
that able prince had established the trade between his
own country, Indis, Ethiopia, and Arabia. The scries
of magnificent and similar monuments, interrupted on
the frontiers of Egypt, near Elephantine, and recom-
mencing on the southern side of the African desert, at
Mount Berkel, and especially at Meroe, to be contin-
? ? ued to Axum and Azab, certainly denote a people of
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? MEKOE
M ES
iti communication would mceaearily give rise to
moral and intellectual improvement. . --6. The curious
fact, that the images of some of the Egyptian gods
were at certain times conveyed up the Nile, from their
temples to others in Ethiopia; and, after the conclu-
sion of a festival, were brought back again into Egypt.
(Eustalh , ad II, 1, 424. )--7. The very remarkable
character of some of the Egyptian paintings, in which
Black (or, more correctly, dark-coloured) men aro rep-
resented in the costume of priests, as conferring on
certain red figures, similarly habited, the instruments
tnd symbols of the sacerdotal office. "This singular
representation," says Mr. Hamilton, "which is often
repeated in all the Egyptian temples, but only here at
Phils and at Elephantine with this distinction of col-
ur, may very naturally be supposed to commemorate
ne transmission of religious fables and the social in-
ilitutions from the tawny Ethiopians to the compara-
iively fair Egyptians. "--H. Other paintings of nearly
:he same purport. In the temple of Philoe, the sculp-
tures frequently depict two persons, who equally repre-
? ent the characters and symbols of Osiris, and two per-
luiis equally answering to those of Isis; but in both
cases one is invariably much older than the other, and
appears to be the superior divinity. Mr. Hamilton
conjectures that such 6gures represent the communi-
cation of religious rites from Ethiopia to Egypt, and
* the inferiority of the Egyptian Osiris. In these delin-
eations there is a very marked and positive distinction
between the dark figures and those of fairer complex-
ion; the former are most frequently conferring the
symbols of divinity and sovereignty on the other. --9.
The very interesting fact recorded by Diodorus, name-
ly, that the knowledge of picture-writing in Ethiopia
v. jj not a privilege confined solely to the caste of
priests as in Egypt, but that every one might attain it
as freely as they might in Egypt the writing in com-
tmn use. A proof at once of the earlier use of pic-
lu 'e-writing, or hieroglyphics, in Meroe' than in Egypt,
end also of its being applied to the purposes of trade.
--10. The more ancient form of the pyramid, ap-
proaching that of the primeval mound, occurs moro to
the south than the rectilinear form. Thus the pyra-
mids of Saccara are older in form than those of Djiza,
another proof of architecture's having come in from
the countries to the south. (Clarke's Travels, vol.
fi, p. 220, Lond. cd. )--From this body of evidence,
then, we come to the conclusion, that the same race
which ruled in Ethiopia and Meroe spread themselves
by colonics, in the first instance, to Upper Egypt; that
these latter colonies, in consequence of their great
prosperity, became in their turn the parents of others;
and as m all this they followed the course of the river,
there gradually became founded a succession of colo-
nies in the valley of the Nile, which, according to the
usual custom of the ancient world, were probably, at
first, independent of each other, and therefore formed
ust so many little states. Though, with the promul-
gation of their religion, either that of Ammon himself,
or of his kindred deities and temple-companions, after
whom even the settlements were named, the extension
of trade was the principal motive which tempted colo-
nists from Meroe to the countries beyond the desert;
yet there were many other causes, such as the fertil-
ity of the land, and the facility of making the rude na-
tive tribes subservient to themselves, which, in a pe-
riod of tranquillity, must have promoted the prosperity
? ? and accelerated the gradual progress of this coloniza-
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? M ES
MEJ
courtier 3 with whom *. Lc palace of Hadriar. had swa. in-
td. It was on this occasion that the stipend allowed
to Mesomedes suffered a reduction. {Jul. Cap. , Vit.
Ant. Pii, c. 7. )--We have two epigrams of this poet's
in the Anthology, and also a piece of a higher charac-
ter, a Hymn to Nemesis. Judging from this last spe-
cimen, Mesomedes must have possessed talents of no
mean order. The Hymn to Nemesis was published
fur the first time, with ancient musical notes, by Fell,
at the end of his edition of Aratus, Oxon. , 1762, 8vo.
I was subsequently given by Burette in the 5th vol.
? I the Mem. Ac I'Acad, des Inscr. , &c, by Brunck in
js Analecta, and by Snedorf in his work, " De Hym-
nis velcrum Gracorum," Hafn. , 1786, 8vo. (Schbll,
Hist. Lit. Gr. , vol. 4, p. 51. )
Mesopotamia, an extensive province of Asia, the
Greek name of which denotes between the rivers (from
uiaoc and jroTa/i6c. ) It was situate between t'. ic Eu-
phrates and the Tigris. The name itself, however,
does not appear to have been given to this tract prior
to the Macedonian conquest. The southern part of
Mesopotamia Xenophon calls Arabia (Anal. , 1, 5, I);
and other writers included this country, especially tb'"
northern part, under the general name of Syria. (Stra-
in, 737. ) The Romans always regarded Mesopotamia
as a mere division of Syria. (Mela, 1, 11. --Plin. , 5,
13. ) It is called by the Arabs at the present day
Al Jczira, or "the island. " In scripture it is styled
Aram and Aramcci; but as Aram also signifies Syria,
it is denominated, for distinction' sake, Aram Naha-
icim. or the "Syria of the rivers. " It was first peo-
pled by Aram, the father of the Syrians, though little
is known of its history till it became a province of the
Persian empire. Cushanrishlhalhaim, who is men-
tioned in Judges (3, 8, 10) as king of Mesopotamia,
appears to have been only a petty prince of a district
east of the Euphrates. In the time of Hezekiah, the
different states of Mesopotamia were subject to the
Assyrians (2 Kings, 19, 13), and subsequently belonged
in succession to the Chaldajan, Persian, and Syro-Ma-
cedonian monarchies. --Mesopotamia, which inclines
from the southeast to the northwest, commenced at
'. it. 33? 20' N.
, and terminated near N. Iat. 37? 30'.
Towards the south it extended as far as the bend form-
ed by the Euphrates at Cunaxa, and to the wall of
Semiramis, which separated it from Mcsene. To-
wards the north it was boundeC by a part of Mount
Taurus. The northern part of Mesopotamia, which
extended as far as the Chahoras, a tributary of the Eu-
phrates, is mountainous, and for the most part fruitful.
The southern portion consists chiefly of reddish hills,
and deserts without any trees, except liquorice-wood;
and, like the desert of Arabia, suffers, at a distance
from the rivers, a dearth of food and water. Here, on
the parched steppes or table-lands, where the simoom
often breathes destruction, hordes of Arabs have from
the earliest times wandered. When history, therefore,
speaks of the Romans and Persians as possessing Mes-
opotamia, we must understand the northern | art, which
abounded in all the necessaries of life. 1 he inhabi-
tants of this portion, who still speak an Armeno-Syriac
dialect, were called among themselves Mygdonians,
and their district was known by the name of Mygdo-
nia. (Polyb. , 5, 51. -- Stcph. Byz. , s. v. ) Subse-
quently, under the Syro-Macedonian monarchy, it took
ttie name of Anthemusia. (Amm Marcell. , 14, 9. --
Eutrop. , 8, 2. --Scxtus Ru/us, c. 20. ) In the time
? ? of the Parthian sway, about 120 B. C. , an Arab sheik,
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? MESSALA.
MESSALA.
? eel. In the course of this contest he wu also for
tome time stationed with an army on tlie Neapolitan
ahore; and Augustoa, having been not only defeated,
hut shipwrecked in one of the many naval engage-
ments which he fought with Pompey, sought shelter
in the most wretched condition in the camp of Mes-
ula, by whom he was received as a friend and matter
and treated with the tendercst care. The death of
Seitus Pompey at length opened both sea and land
to his successful adversary, and it was quickly follow-
? ed by the long-expected struggle for superiority be-
tween Antony and Augustus. --Messala was consul
fa) A. U. C. 721, the year of the battle of Actium, in
which he bore a distinguished part. After that dcci-
? ive victory and the firm establishment of the throne
of Augustus, he lived the general favourite of all par-
ties, and the chief ornamenUof a court where he still
asserted his freedom and dignity. While at Home
he resided in a house on the Palatine Hill, which had
formerly belonged to Marc Antony; but he was fre-
quently absent from the capital on the service of the
state. War after war was intrusted to his conduct,
and province after province was committed to his ad-
ministration. In some of his foreign expeditions he
was accompanied by the poet Tibullus, who has cel-
ebrated the military exploits of Messala in his famed
panegyric, and his own friendship and attachment to
nis patron in his elegies The triumph which Messa-
la obtained in 727, for his victories in a Gallic cam-
paign, completed the measure of his military honours;
and he filled in succession all the most important civ-
il offices in the state. Besides holding the consulship
in 721, he was elected into the college of Augurs, and
was intrusted wiih the superintendence of the aque-
ducts, one of those great public works for which
Rome has been to justly celebrated. In 736, on ac-
count of the absence of Augustus and Maecenas from
(to capital, he was nominated prefect of the city; but
he resigned that situation a few days after his appoint-
ment, regarding it as inconsistent with the ancient
constitution of his country. He is also believed to
hive been the person who, by command of the Con-
script fathers, first saluted Augustus in the senate-
bojse as the "Father of his country ;" a distinction
which was hestowed in a manner that drew tears from
the master of the Roman world (Suet. , Aug , 58), and
a reply, in which he declared that, having attained the
summit of his wishes, he had nothing more to desire
from the immortal gods but a continuance of ths same
attachment till the last moments of his Ufa. --From
this period the name of Messala is scarcely once men-
tioned by any contemporary writer. He survived,
however, ten or twelve years longer. Tiberius Csb-
sar, who was then a youth, fond of the liberal arts,
ind by no means ignorant of literature, paid Messala,
when in his old age, much deference and attention,
and attempted to imitate his style of oratory. (Suet. ,
Tib. , c 70. ) Towards the close of his life he was
dreadfully afflicted with ulcers in the sacra spina; and
It is said that, two years before his dea'. U, he was de-
prived of both sense and memory. He at length for-
got his own name (Plin , 7, 24), and became incapa-
ble of putting two words together with meaning. It
is mentioned in the Eusebian Chronicle that he per-
ched by abstaining from food when he had reached
the age of seventy-two; but if he were born in 690,
as is supposed, this computation would extend his ex-
? ? istence till the close of the reign of Augustus, which
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? M ES
M ES
to wnlch Julius Cxur had been assassinated. Mot-
Mla left by Tcrentia two sons, Marcus and Lucius.
The elder of these, who was consul in 751, took the
Dame of Messalinus; he greatly distinguished himself
under Tiberius, when that prince commanded, before
his accession to the empire, in the war of Pannonia.
[Veil. Paterc, 2, 112. ) Messalinus inherited his
father's eloquence, and also followed the example he
lad set in devoted attachment to Augustus, and the
patronage he extended to literature. But, during the
rejgn of Tiberius, he was chiefly noted as one of the
most servile flatterers of that tyrant. {Tacit. , Ann. ,
3, 18. ) The younger son of Mcssala assumed the
name of Cotta, from his maternal family, and acted a
conspicuous, though by no means reputable part in
the first years of Tiberius. Both brothers were friends
and protectors of Ovid, who addressed to Messalinus
two of his epistles from Pontus, which are full of re-
spect for the memory of his illustrious father. (Dun-
top's Roman Lit. , vol. 3, p. 63, stqq. . Land, ed. )
Messalina, I. Valeria, the first wife of the Emper-
or Claudius, dishonoured his throne by her unbridled
and disgusting incontinence. Her cruelty equalled
her licentiousness. After a long career of guilt, she
openly married a young patrician named Silius, du-
ring the absence of the emperor, who had gone on a
visit to Ostia. Narcissus, the fr'. edman of Claudius,
was the only one who dar<< J to intorm Claudius of the
fact, and, when he had roused the sluggish resentment
of his imperial master, he brought him to Rome. The
arrival of Claudius dispersed in an instant all who had
thronged around Messalina; but still, though thus de-
serted, sho resolved to brave the s. orm, and sent to
the emperor demanding to be heard. Narcissus, how-
ever, fearing the effect of her presence on the feeble
spirit of her husband, despatched an order, as i. com-
ing from him, for her immediate punishment. The
order found her in the gardens of Lucullus. She en-
deavoured to destroy herself, but her courage failing,
(he was put to death by a tribune who had been sent
for thai purpose, A. D. 48. (Tacit. , Ann. , 11 et 12.
--Suetonius, Vit. Claud. )--U. Called also Statilia,
&e grand-daughter of Statihus Taurus, who haH been
consul and had enjoyed a triumph during the reign
of Augustus. She was married four times before she
came to the imperial throne. The last of her four
husbanJs was Atticus Vcstimis, a man of consular
rank, who had ventured to aspire to her hand, al-
though he was not ignorant that ho had Nero for a
rival. The tyrant, who had long favoured Vcstinrs
as one pf the companions of his debaucheries, cr>w
resolved to destroy him, and accordingly compelled
him to open his veins. Messalina was transferred to
the imperial bed. After the death of Nero she en-
deavoured to regain her former rank, as empress, by
means of Otho, whom she bad captivated by her beau-
ty, and hoped to espouse. But ( Mho's fall having de-
stroyed all these expectations, she turned her atten-
tion to literary subjects, and obtained applause by
some public discourses which she delivered. (Biogr.
Univ. , vol. 28, p. 43! . )
Mkssalinus, M. Valerius, son of Valerius Mcssa-
la Corvinus. (Consult remarks at the close of the ar-
ticle Messala. )
Mkssana, an ancient and celebrated city of Sicily,
situate on the straits which separate Italy from that
island. The first settlers in this quarter would seem
? ? to have been a body of wandering Siculi, who gave
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? MES
MES
jeshies estaolishing in it the remnant of the former in-
habitants, added a considerable number of Locrians,
Methymnseans, and Messenian exiles. The latter,
however, through fear of offending the Lacedemonians,
vcrc afterward transferred to the district of Abacene,
ind there founded Tyndaris. Messana thus came to
contain as mixed a popula'ion as before. (Diod. , 14,
78. ) I". remained under tl<<r sway of Dionysius and
his son; and subsequently, after enjoying a short pe-
riod of freedom, it passed into the hands of Agathocles.
(Diod. , 19, 102. ) The following year the inhabitants
revolted from his sway, and put themselves under the
protection of the Carthaginians. (Diod. , 19, 110. )
Soon, however, a new misfortune befell the unlucky
city. It was seized by the Mamertini (vid. Matnerti-
ni), its male inhabitants were either slaughtered or
driven out, and their wives and children became the
property of the conquerors. Messana now took the
name of Mamertina, though in process of time the other
appellation once more gained the ascendancy. (Po-
lyb. , 1, 7. --Diod. , 21, 13. -- Plin. , 3, 7. ) This act of
perfidy and cruelty passed unpunished. Syracuse was
too much occupied with intestine commotions to attend
to it, and the Carthaginians gladly made a league with
the Mamertini, since by them Pyrrhus would be pre-
vented from crossing over into Sicily and seizing on a
post so important to his future operations. (Diod. , 22,
8. ) The Mamertini, however, could not lay aside their
old habits of robbery. They harassed all their neigh-
bours, and even became troublesome to Syracuse,
where King Hiero had at last succeeded in establish-
ing order and tranquillity. This monarch defeated
the lawless banditti, and would have taken their city,
had not the Carthaginians interposed to defend it. A
body of these, with the approbation of part of the in-
habitants, took possession of the citadel; while another
portion of the inhabitants called in the assistance of
the Romans, and thus the first of the Punic wars had
its origin. (Vid. Punic vim Bcllum. and compare Po-
lyb. , 1, 9, seqq. -- Diod. , 22, 15. -- Id. , 23, 2, seqq. )
Messana and the Mamertines remained from hence-
forth under the Roman power; but the city, as before,
could ncrver enjoy any long period of repose. It suf-
fered in the early civil wars between Marius and Sylla,
in the war of the slaves in Sicily, and, more particular-
y, in the contest between Sextus Pompcy and the tri-
umvir Octavianus. Messana formed during this war
the chief station of Pompey's fleet, and his principal
place of supply, and the city was plundered at its close.
(Appian, B. Civ-, 5, 122. ) A Roman colony was af-
terward planted here. (Mannert, Geogr. , vol. 9, pt.
2, p. 267, seqq. )--The modern Messina corresponds
to the ancient city. Even in later times, the fates
seem to have conspired against this unfortunate place.
A pNgue swept away a great part of the inhabitants;
then rebellion spread its ravages; and firully, the dread-
ful earthquake in 1783 completed tke downfall of a
city which rivalled, if it did nor wirpass, Palermo.
(Hoare's Classical Tour, vol. 2. r 203. ) Although
the town has since been rebuilt according to a regular
plan and although it has bean declared a free port,
Messina is not so important as it once was. It con-
tained before the last catastrophe a hundred thousand
inhabitants: the present population does not amount
to seventy thousand (Malte Brun, Geogr. , vol. 7, p.
732, Am. ed. )
M kssap! i, a co. ntry of Italy in Magna Griecia, com-
? ? monly supposed to have been the same with Iapygia,
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