In
in expedition against Nineveh, he was defeated* by the
Scythians, who had made an irruption into Southern
Asia, and was deprived of his kingdom for 28 years.
in expedition against Nineveh, he was defeated* by the
Scythians, who had made an irruption into Southern
Asia, and was deprived of his kingdom for 28 years.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
Mar-
ceU. , 29, 20. )
? ? Matota, a deity among the Romans, the same as
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? JAX
MAX
*t; aaorned below by gilded rostra or beaks of 240
(hips, and every successive tier or story was enriched
with a profusion of sculpture, representing various an-
imals, righting centaurs, and other figures, all of which
were gilded; and on the summit were statues of si-
rens, made hollow, in order that the singers who
chanted the funeral dirge might be concealed 'ithin
them. --III. The Mausoleum of Augustus at Koine
was a structure of great magnitude and grandeur, and
circular in plan. It stood in the Campus Martins,
wkjre remains of it yet exist in the two concentric
circles forming the first and second stories of the
building, and the vaulted chambers between, which
supported the first or lowest terrace. Of these terra-
ces thero were three; consequently, four stages in the
building, gradually decreasing in diameter, the upper-
most of which was crowned with a colossal statue of
the emperor. The terraces themselves were planted
with trees. From traces of something of the kind
that yet remain, it is conjectured that there was ori-
ginally an advanced portico attached to the building,
in the same manner as that of the Pantheon, though
considerably smaller in proportion to the rest of the
plan, as it could not have been carried up higher than
. he first stage of the building. According to Hirt's
representation of it, in bis " Baukunat lei den Allen,"
it was a Corinthian hexastyle, advanced one inter-
column before the side-walls connecting it with the
circular edifice behind it. --IV. The Mausoleum of
Hadrian was also of great magnitude and grandeur,
and, like the preceding, circular in plan. It is now
converted into the Castle of St. Angelo, in which
shape it is familiar to almost every one. This is a
work of most massy construction, and originally pre-
sented an unbroken circular mass of building, erect-
ed upon a larger square basement, lofty in itself, yet
of moderate height in proportion to the superstruc-
ture, the latter being about twice as high as the for-
mer. This nearly solid rotunda, which was originally
coated with white marble, had on its summit numer-
ous fine statues, which were broken to pieces and the
fragments hurled down by the soldiers of Bclisarius
upon the Goths, who attempted to take the building
by storm. Neither are any remains now left of the
uppennost stage of the edifice, which assumed the
form of a circular peripteral temple, whose diameter
was about one third of the larger circle. According
to tradition, its peristyle consisted of the twenty-four
beautiful marble Corinthian columns which afterward
decorated the Basilica of Son Paolo fuori dellc Mura
(partially destroyed some few years ago by fire, but
now nearly restored); and its tholus or dome was
surmounted by a colossal pine-apple in bronze, now
placed in the gardens of the Vatican. (Eneycl. Us.
Knoul. , vol. 15, p. 21. )
Maxentius, Marcus Aurelius Valerius, son of
Maximianns, the colleague of Dioclesian in the em-
pire, was living in obscurity, when, after his father's
abdication, and the elevation of Constautine to the
rank of Csesar. he became envious of the latter, and
dissatisfied with the neglect which ho experienced
from Galerius. Accordingly, he stirred up a revolt
among the praetorian soldiers at Rome, and was pro-
claimed emperor A. D. 306. Galerius. who was then
in the East, sent orders to Severus Cresar, who had
the command of Italy, to march from Mediolanum to
Rome with all his forces, and put down ihc insurrec-
? ? tion. In the mean time, Maximianus, who lived in re-
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? M AX
MA Z
Kaximus marched out of Rome with troops to oppose
Maximinus, who had laid siege to Aquileia. The lat-
ter, however, experienced a brave resistance from the
garrison and people of that city, which excited still more
nis natural cruelty, and the soldiers, becoming weary of
him, mutinied and killed both him and his son, A. D.
238. Maximinus, the father, then G5 years old, was
a ferocious soldier and nothing else, and wonderful
tales are related of his voracity, and the quantity of
food and drink which he swallowed daily. His son is
amid to have been a handsome but arrogant . youth.
{Jul Cajrilol. , Vit. Maxim. -- Encycl. Us. Know! . ,
vol. 15, p. 23. )--II. Daia or Daza, an Illyrian peas-
ant, served in the Roman armies, and was raised by
Galerius, who was his relative, to the rank of military
inbune, and lastly to the dignity of Ciesar, A. D. 303,
it the time of the abdication of Dioclesian and Max-
imian, when he had for his share the government of
Syria and Egypt. After the death of Oalerius, A. D.
311, Maximinus and Licinius divided his dominiona
Between them, and Maximinus obtained the whole of
the Asistic provinces. Both he and Licinius behaved
jngratefully towards the family of Galerius, their
common benefactor. Valeria, the daughter of Diocle-
sian and widow of Galerius, having escaped from Li-
cinius into the dominions of Maximinus, the latter of-
? ered to marry her, and, on her refusal, banished her,
with her mother, to the deserts of Syria. He perse-
:uted the Christians, and made war against the Ar-
menians. A new war having broken out belwc, Li-
:inius and Maximinus, the latter advanced as far as
\drianopolis, but was defeated, fled into Asia, and
died of poison at Tarsus, A. D. 313. {Encycl. Us.
Know! . , vol. 15, p. 24. )
Maximus, I. Magnus, a native of Spain, who pro-
claimed himself emperor A. D. 383. The unpopular-
ity of Gratian favoured his usurpation, and he was ac-
knowledged by the troops. Gratian marched against
lim, but he was defeated, and soon after assassinated.
Maximus refused the honours of burial to the re-
aains of Gratian; and, when he had made himself
master of Britain, Gaul, and Spain, he sent ambassa-
dors into the East, and demanded of the Emperor The-
odosius to acknowledge him as his associate on the
throne. Thenao*ius endeavoured to amuse and de-
lay him, but Maximus resolved to enforce his claim by
arms, and, crossing the Alps, made himself master of
ftaly. Theodosius, however, marched against and be-
sieged him in Aquileia, where he was betrayed by his
own soldiers, and put to death, A. D. 383--II. Pe-
'ronius, a Roman senator, twice consul, and of pa-
trician origin. He caused the Emperor Valentinian
III. to be assassinated, and ascended the throne, but
was stoned to death, and his body thrown into the Ti-
ber by his own soldiers, A. D. 455, after a reign of
only 77 days. (Procop. , Bell. Vflnd. --Sidon. , Apoll. ,
I, 23. )--III. Tyrius, a nativo of Tyre, distinguished
ibr his eloquence, and who obtained some degree of
i-elebrity also as a philosopher of the New-Platonic
school. According to Suidas, he lived under Corn-
modus; but, according to Eusebiua and Syncellua, un-
Jer Antoninus Pius. The accounts of these chronol-
ogers may be reconciled by supposing that Maximus
flourished under Antoninus, and reached the time of
Commodua. Joseph Scaliger believed that Maximus
was one of the instructors of Marcus Aurclius; and
that emperor, in fact, mentions a Maximus among his
? ? preceptors; but this individual was Claudius Maximus,
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? MED
MED
Mt:iT*. a people in the north of Britain, nea: the
Vallum Seven. They are the same with the Maatai.
MtDii, daughter of i? etea, king of Colchis, and
famed for her skill in sorcery and enchantment.
When Jason came to Colchis in quest of the golden
fierce, she aided him in obtaining it, and then fled
with him in the Argo to Greece. (Vol. Argonauts )
Here she displayed her magic skill in the case of
/Eton, whom ahc restored from the decrepitude of
age to the bloom of early youth. In order to effect
ih. a change, she is said by the poets to have drawn off
all the blood from his veins, and then to have filled
them with the juices of certain herbs. This sudden
renovation of the parent of Jason so wrought upon the
daughters of Pelias, that they entreated Medea to per-
form the same act far their aged father. The Colchian
princeas eagerly availed herself of this opportunity to
avenge the wrongs which Pelias had done to Jason, and,
in order to pique still more the curiosity of his daugh-
ers, she ia said to have cut to pieces an old ram, and
then, boiling the parts in a caldron, to have caused a
young lamb to come forth from it. The daughters of
Pelias thereupon slew their father, and boiled his flesh
in a caldron; but Medea refused to perform the requi-
site ceremonies; and, in order to avoid the punishment
she had a right to expect for this cruel deed, fled with
Jason to Corinth. --According to another account, how-
ever, Medea did not restore . ? Eson to youth, he having
been driven by Pelias, before the return of Jason, to
the act of self-destruction. (Vid /Eson. )--After re-
siding for some time at Corinth, Medea found herself
deserted by Jason, who espoused the daughter of
Creon, the Corinthian king. Taking, thereupon, sum-
mary vengeance on her rival, and having destroyed her
two sons whom she had by Jason (vid. Jason), Medea
mounted a chariot drawn by winged serpents and fled
to Athens, where she had by King ^Egeus a son named
Medus. Being detected, however, in an attempt to
destroy Theseus (vid. Theseus), she fled from Athens
with her son. Medus conquered several barbarous
tribes, and also, say the poets, the country which he
named Media after himself; and he finally fell in bat-
tle with the Indians. Medea, returning unknown to
Colchis, found that her father . -Eeles had been robbed of
his throne by her brother Perses. She restored him, and
deprived the usurper of life. --Neither Jason nor Medea
can be well regarded as a real historical personage.
(Compare remarks at the close of the article Jason. )
Whether the former, whose name is nearly identical
with lasion, Iasios, Iasos, is merely a personification
of the Ionian race ('Idovtc), or, in reference to a myth
to be noticed in the sequel, signifies the healing, ato-
ning god or hero, may be doubted. Medea, however,
seems to be plainly only another form of Juno, and to
have been separated from her in a way of which many
instances occur in ancient legends. She is the coun-
selling (/ir/dof) goddess; and in the history of Jason
we find Juno alwaya acting in this capacity towards
him, who, as Homer says, "teas very dear to her"
(<W. , 13, 72); an obscure hint, perhaps, of the love
of Jason and Medea. Medea, also, always acts a
friendly part; and it seems highly probable that the
atrocities related of her are pure fictions of the Attic
dramatists. (Midler, Qrctiom. , p. 68. ) The bringing
of Jason and Medea to Corinth seems also to indicate
? connexion between the latter and Juno, who was
worshipped there under the titlo of Acraa, and the
? ? graves of tho children of Medea were in the temple of
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? MED
MED
money. The Cossaii were defeated by Alexander,
but thev never appear to have been completely subdued
by the 'Macedonians. -- According to Herodotus (1,
101), the Medes were originally divided into six tribes,
the Buss, Paretaceni, Struchates, Arizanti, Budii, and
Magi. They were originally called Arii (Herod. , 7,
62); which word appears to contain the same root as
Ar-taei, the ancient name of the Persians. (Herod. ,
7, 61. ) It is not improbable that this name was ori-
ginally applied to most of the Indo-Germanic nations.
Tacitus speaks of the Arii as one of the most power-
ful of the German tribes (Germ. , 43); and India
proper is called in the most ancient Sanscrit works,
Arrya-varla, "holy land. " The same name was re-
tained in the province of Ariana, and is still employed
in the East as the proper name of Persia, namely, Iran.
(Vid. Aria. )--Media originally formed part of the As-
syrian empire, but its history as an independent king
dom is given so differently by Herodotus and Ciesias,
as to render it probable that the narrative of Ctesias
must refer to a different dynasty in Eastern Asia.
Ctesias makes the Median monarchy last 282 years;
and, as Media was conquered by Cyrus about B. C.
660, it follows that the Median monarchy would com-
mence, according to his account, about B. C. 842.
Herodotus, on the contrary, assigns to the Median
monarchy a period of 128 years, which, including the 28
years during which the Scythians had possession of the
country, would place the commencement of the Medi-
an monarchy B. C. 716. The founder of this monar-
chy was Arbaces, according to Ctesias, who reckons
eight kings from him to Astyages. According to the
account of Herodotus, however, there were four kings
of Media: 1. Dejoces, who reigned B. C. 716-657.
--2. Phraortcs, B. C. 657-635, greatly extended the
Median empire, subdued the Persians and many other
nations, but fell in an expedition against the Assyrians
Of Ninus (Nineveh). --3. Cyaxares, B. C. 635-595, com-
pletely organized the military force of the empire, and
extended its boundaries as far west as the llalvs.
In
in expedition against Nineveh, he was defeated* by the
Scythians, who had made an irruption into Southern
Asia, and was deprived of his kingdom for 28 years.
After the expulsion of the Scythians, he took Nineveh,
and subdued the Assyrian empire, with the exception
of the Babylonian district (UaCv? . uiir,c ftoipvc). --4.
Astyages, B. C. 595-560, who was dethroned by his
grandson Cyrus, and Media reduced to a Persian
province. The history of the rise of the Persian mon-
archy is related differently by Xcnophon, who also
makes a fifth Median king, Cyaxares II. , succeed As-
tyages. --The Medes revolted during the reign of Da-
rius II. , the father of the younger Cyrus, about B. C.
408, but were again subdued. (Herod. , 1, 130. --
Xen. , Hist. Gr. , 1,2, 19. ) They do not appear, after
this time, to have made any farther attempt at recov-
ering their independence. On the downfall of the
Persian empire they formed a part of the kingdom of
the Seleucide, and were subsequently subject to the
Parthians. (Encycl. Us. Knowl. , vol. 16, p. 54. )
Mediolanum, I. a city of Cisalpine Gaul, among
the Insubrcs, now Milan. According to Livy (5, 34),
it was founded by the Insnbres, ana called by them
Mediolanum, from a place of the same name among
the AZdui in Gaul (Compare Pliny, 3, 17. --Plot. ,
p. 63. ) This city is named for the first time in his-
tory by Polybius (2, 34), in his account of the Gallic
? ? wars. The capture of it by Cn. Scipio and Marcellus
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? MEDITERRANEUM MAKE.
MEUITEKKAMOlM MAKE.
seveial energies and capabilities would be developed.
The comparative shortness of the distances of the sev-
eral places, rendering navigation easy and pleasant
in small and imperfect vessels, would, by facilitating
intercourse from an early period, tend to diffuse and
rromote civilization; while commerce, by bringing
together men of different habits, manners, and lan-
guages, and fe. '. j circulating practical information,
would supply the materials for the perfection of the
arts and sciences. --The navigation of the Mediterra-
nean must no doubt be of very early date. The story
of Minos destroying pirates {Thucyd. , 1, 4) takes for
granted the fact, that there must have been merchant.
vessels carrying something worth plundering from the
earliest recorded period. If, with Strabo, we allow
the accuracy of Homer's descriptions, it by r. ) means
follows that the Greeks knew everything that could
have been known to every other nation at that time;
and the stories told of the jealousy with which the
Phoenicians and Carthaginians guarded their discover-
ies, prove at least that geographical knowledge was
not common property: and with regard to these very
nations, the knowledge which the Greeks could have
had of them, among other barbarians, must have been
inferior to that which we possess in the minute ac-
curacy of the Scriptures alone. The story of Utica
having been established 130 years before Carthage,
proves a regular communication between this place
and Syria, a distance of upward of 1200 miles; and
we may conclude that occasional voyages of that en-
terprising people had already extended the bounds of
knowledge far beyond these limits. If the precise
time of the discovery of places, lying, as it were, in
the thoroughfare of this sea, is so uncertain, the his-
lory of the places in the deep bays of the northern
shores must be still more obscure: we shall therefore
give at once a slight sketch of the geography of this
Ms from Strabo, who wrote in the first century of our
? ra. --The stadium adopted by Strabo was that of
Eratosthenes, 700 stadia making 1? of latitude or lon-
gitude on the equator, or 60 nautical miles; hence a
stadium is 0. 0857 of a nautical mile, the mile being
about 6082 feet. The Mediterranean was dividccTinto
three basins: the first comprised the sea between the
Columns of Hercules and Sicily; the second, between
Sicily and Rhodes; the third, between Rhodes and the
shores of Syria. Strabo supposed that the parallel of lat-
itude of 36$? passed through the Sacred Promontory
(Cape St. Vincent) between the Pillars of Hercules, di-
viding this part of the Mediterranean in the middle of
its breadth, which was believed by navigators to be 5000
stadia, or 42S}- nautical miles, from the Gulf of Lyons
to the shores of Africa, hut which measures only 330.
The sea here, however, lies altogether to the north of
'. his parallel; and hence, as the configuration of the
European shores seems to have been tolerably good,
the coast of Africa must have been proportiombly dis-
torted. This parallel was carried through the straits
of Sicily, Rhodes, and the Gulf of Issus, now the Gulf
of Scandcroon. In consequence of the above suppo-
sition, he placed Massilia (Marseille) to the southward
instead of the northward of Byzantium. He supposed
Sardinia and Corsica to lie northwest and southeast
instead of north and south, and made the distance of
Sardinia from the coast of Africa 2400 stadia, or 206
miles instead of 100, which is the true distance.
From the Columns of Hercules to the Straits of Sicily
? ? be considers to he 12,000 stadia, or 1028 miles: it is
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? MED
MEG
S>>. --Compare Arittot. , it Munio, c. 3. --GtUius, N.
A. , 10, 7. ) Diodorua Siculus, i/ kiiH' i/uilr duXaooa
(4, 18--Compare Polyb. , 3, 37. --Smb. , 83. -- Ap-
ptan. Bell. Milhradat. , c. 93. -- Mazimut Tyriut,
14, 3). Maximus Tyrius, i/ iripo ? du'Kaaoa (41, 1).
Strabo, 7/ hiroc $<i? . aaoa. (Compare Marc. Jicracl,
Peripl. , p. 85. -- Agathem. , 2, 4. ) Aristotle, q cvtoc
WpaxXeiuv ott/Xuv dukanaa (Meteor. , 2, 1. --Com-
pare Dion. Hal, 1,3. --Plut, Vit. Pomp. ,c. 26). The
Latin writers in general, as we have already said, give
it the appellation of Nottrum Mare (Sallutt. , Jug. , c.
17. --Mela, 1, 1, 5. --Lit. , 26, 4. --Cat. , B. G. , 6, 1.
Amen. , Or. Marit. , v. 56. --Compare Duker, ad Flor. ,
3, 6, 9. -- Cort. ad Sallutt. , B. Jug. , c. 18). Pliny
styles it Mare internum (3, proem. , c. 5). Florus,
Mare inlettinum (4, 2). Later writers, not classical,
have Mare Mediterraneum. (Solin. , e. 22. ) Isidorus
gives the following explanation of th i name: " Quia
per medium lerram usque ad Orientem perfunditur, Eu-
'opam et A/ricam Atiamque determinant. " (Orig. ,
13, 13. -- Compare 1'riscian. , Peritg. , 52. ) Oroaius
? ays, " Mare nostrum quod Magnum generaiiter dici-
mus;" and Isidorus remarks, "quia cetera maria in
eomparatione cjut minora tunt. " (Orot. , 1,2. --hid. ,
Orig. , 13, 16--Compare Hardouin, ad Plin, 9, 18.
-- Burmann,ad Vol. FlaccArg. , 1, 50. ) According
to Polybius (3, 42), that part of tho Mediterranean
which Isy between the Pillars of Hercules and the
Rhone was called Xapddviov rrikayoc, while Aristotle
calls the part between the Pillars and Sardinia ? ap-
iovucoc (Meteor. , 2, 1. --Id. , de Mund. , 3. --Eratotth. ,
tp. Plin. , 3, 10). Strabo gives the part between the
Pillars and the Pyrenees the name of Mnpuciv ire? . ayoc
(122. --Compare Agathem. , 1, 3. -- Dionyt. Perieg. ,
v. 69. -- Niceph. Blcm. , cd. Spohn. , p. 3). Pliny re-
marks, " Hitpanum mare, qualenut Hitpanias aUuit;
th alixs Ibericum aul Balearicum" (3, 2. -- Id. ibid,
4,34. --Compare Solin. , c. 23. --AmpcL, c. 7. --Ptol. ,
t, 6). According to Zonaras (Annul , 8, p. 406), the
tei to the east of the Pyrenees was called the . SV<< of
tit Bcbryciant.
ceU. , 29, 20. )
? ? Matota, a deity among the Romans, the same as
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? JAX
MAX
*t; aaorned below by gilded rostra or beaks of 240
(hips, and every successive tier or story was enriched
with a profusion of sculpture, representing various an-
imals, righting centaurs, and other figures, all of which
were gilded; and on the summit were statues of si-
rens, made hollow, in order that the singers who
chanted the funeral dirge might be concealed 'ithin
them. --III. The Mausoleum of Augustus at Koine
was a structure of great magnitude and grandeur, and
circular in plan. It stood in the Campus Martins,
wkjre remains of it yet exist in the two concentric
circles forming the first and second stories of the
building, and the vaulted chambers between, which
supported the first or lowest terrace. Of these terra-
ces thero were three; consequently, four stages in the
building, gradually decreasing in diameter, the upper-
most of which was crowned with a colossal statue of
the emperor. The terraces themselves were planted
with trees. From traces of something of the kind
that yet remain, it is conjectured that there was ori-
ginally an advanced portico attached to the building,
in the same manner as that of the Pantheon, though
considerably smaller in proportion to the rest of the
plan, as it could not have been carried up higher than
. he first stage of the building. According to Hirt's
representation of it, in bis " Baukunat lei den Allen,"
it was a Corinthian hexastyle, advanced one inter-
column before the side-walls connecting it with the
circular edifice behind it. --IV. The Mausoleum of
Hadrian was also of great magnitude and grandeur,
and, like the preceding, circular in plan. It is now
converted into the Castle of St. Angelo, in which
shape it is familiar to almost every one. This is a
work of most massy construction, and originally pre-
sented an unbroken circular mass of building, erect-
ed upon a larger square basement, lofty in itself, yet
of moderate height in proportion to the superstruc-
ture, the latter being about twice as high as the for-
mer. This nearly solid rotunda, which was originally
coated with white marble, had on its summit numer-
ous fine statues, which were broken to pieces and the
fragments hurled down by the soldiers of Bclisarius
upon the Goths, who attempted to take the building
by storm. Neither are any remains now left of the
uppennost stage of the edifice, which assumed the
form of a circular peripteral temple, whose diameter
was about one third of the larger circle. According
to tradition, its peristyle consisted of the twenty-four
beautiful marble Corinthian columns which afterward
decorated the Basilica of Son Paolo fuori dellc Mura
(partially destroyed some few years ago by fire, but
now nearly restored); and its tholus or dome was
surmounted by a colossal pine-apple in bronze, now
placed in the gardens of the Vatican. (Eneycl. Us.
Knoul. , vol. 15, p. 21. )
Maxentius, Marcus Aurelius Valerius, son of
Maximianns, the colleague of Dioclesian in the em-
pire, was living in obscurity, when, after his father's
abdication, and the elevation of Constautine to the
rank of Csesar. he became envious of the latter, and
dissatisfied with the neglect which ho experienced
from Galerius. Accordingly, he stirred up a revolt
among the praetorian soldiers at Rome, and was pro-
claimed emperor A. D. 306. Galerius. who was then
in the East, sent orders to Severus Cresar, who had
the command of Italy, to march from Mediolanum to
Rome with all his forces, and put down ihc insurrec-
? ? tion. In the mean time, Maximianus, who lived in re-
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? M AX
MA Z
Kaximus marched out of Rome with troops to oppose
Maximinus, who had laid siege to Aquileia. The lat-
ter, however, experienced a brave resistance from the
garrison and people of that city, which excited still more
nis natural cruelty, and the soldiers, becoming weary of
him, mutinied and killed both him and his son, A. D.
238. Maximinus, the father, then G5 years old, was
a ferocious soldier and nothing else, and wonderful
tales are related of his voracity, and the quantity of
food and drink which he swallowed daily. His son is
amid to have been a handsome but arrogant . youth.
{Jul Cajrilol. , Vit. Maxim. -- Encycl. Us. Know! . ,
vol. 15, p. 23. )--II. Daia or Daza, an Illyrian peas-
ant, served in the Roman armies, and was raised by
Galerius, who was his relative, to the rank of military
inbune, and lastly to the dignity of Ciesar, A. D. 303,
it the time of the abdication of Dioclesian and Max-
imian, when he had for his share the government of
Syria and Egypt. After the death of Oalerius, A. D.
311, Maximinus and Licinius divided his dominiona
Between them, and Maximinus obtained the whole of
the Asistic provinces. Both he and Licinius behaved
jngratefully towards the family of Galerius, their
common benefactor. Valeria, the daughter of Diocle-
sian and widow of Galerius, having escaped from Li-
cinius into the dominions of Maximinus, the latter of-
? ered to marry her, and, on her refusal, banished her,
with her mother, to the deserts of Syria. He perse-
:uted the Christians, and made war against the Ar-
menians. A new war having broken out belwc, Li-
:inius and Maximinus, the latter advanced as far as
\drianopolis, but was defeated, fled into Asia, and
died of poison at Tarsus, A. D. 313. {Encycl. Us.
Know! . , vol. 15, p. 24. )
Maximus, I. Magnus, a native of Spain, who pro-
claimed himself emperor A. D. 383. The unpopular-
ity of Gratian favoured his usurpation, and he was ac-
knowledged by the troops. Gratian marched against
lim, but he was defeated, and soon after assassinated.
Maximus refused the honours of burial to the re-
aains of Gratian; and, when he had made himself
master of Britain, Gaul, and Spain, he sent ambassa-
dors into the East, and demanded of the Emperor The-
odosius to acknowledge him as his associate on the
throne. Thenao*ius endeavoured to amuse and de-
lay him, but Maximus resolved to enforce his claim by
arms, and, crossing the Alps, made himself master of
ftaly. Theodosius, however, marched against and be-
sieged him in Aquileia, where he was betrayed by his
own soldiers, and put to death, A. D. 383--II. Pe-
'ronius, a Roman senator, twice consul, and of pa-
trician origin. He caused the Emperor Valentinian
III. to be assassinated, and ascended the throne, but
was stoned to death, and his body thrown into the Ti-
ber by his own soldiers, A. D. 455, after a reign of
only 77 days. (Procop. , Bell. Vflnd. --Sidon. , Apoll. ,
I, 23. )--III. Tyrius, a nativo of Tyre, distinguished
ibr his eloquence, and who obtained some degree of
i-elebrity also as a philosopher of the New-Platonic
school. According to Suidas, he lived under Corn-
modus; but, according to Eusebiua and Syncellua, un-
Jer Antoninus Pius. The accounts of these chronol-
ogers may be reconciled by supposing that Maximus
flourished under Antoninus, and reached the time of
Commodua. Joseph Scaliger believed that Maximus
was one of the instructors of Marcus Aurclius; and
that emperor, in fact, mentions a Maximus among his
? ? preceptors; but this individual was Claudius Maximus,
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? MED
MED
Mt:iT*. a people in the north of Britain, nea: the
Vallum Seven. They are the same with the Maatai.
MtDii, daughter of i? etea, king of Colchis, and
famed for her skill in sorcery and enchantment.
When Jason came to Colchis in quest of the golden
fierce, she aided him in obtaining it, and then fled
with him in the Argo to Greece. (Vol. Argonauts )
Here she displayed her magic skill in the case of
/Eton, whom ahc restored from the decrepitude of
age to the bloom of early youth. In order to effect
ih. a change, she is said by the poets to have drawn off
all the blood from his veins, and then to have filled
them with the juices of certain herbs. This sudden
renovation of the parent of Jason so wrought upon the
daughters of Pelias, that they entreated Medea to per-
form the same act far their aged father. The Colchian
princeas eagerly availed herself of this opportunity to
avenge the wrongs which Pelias had done to Jason, and,
in order to pique still more the curiosity of his daugh-
ers, she ia said to have cut to pieces an old ram, and
then, boiling the parts in a caldron, to have caused a
young lamb to come forth from it. The daughters of
Pelias thereupon slew their father, and boiled his flesh
in a caldron; but Medea refused to perform the requi-
site ceremonies; and, in order to avoid the punishment
she had a right to expect for this cruel deed, fled with
Jason to Corinth. --According to another account, how-
ever, Medea did not restore . ? Eson to youth, he having
been driven by Pelias, before the return of Jason, to
the act of self-destruction. (Vid /Eson. )--After re-
siding for some time at Corinth, Medea found herself
deserted by Jason, who espoused the daughter of
Creon, the Corinthian king. Taking, thereupon, sum-
mary vengeance on her rival, and having destroyed her
two sons whom she had by Jason (vid. Jason), Medea
mounted a chariot drawn by winged serpents and fled
to Athens, where she had by King ^Egeus a son named
Medus. Being detected, however, in an attempt to
destroy Theseus (vid. Theseus), she fled from Athens
with her son. Medus conquered several barbarous
tribes, and also, say the poets, the country which he
named Media after himself; and he finally fell in bat-
tle with the Indians. Medea, returning unknown to
Colchis, found that her father . -Eeles had been robbed of
his throne by her brother Perses. She restored him, and
deprived the usurper of life. --Neither Jason nor Medea
can be well regarded as a real historical personage.
(Compare remarks at the close of the article Jason. )
Whether the former, whose name is nearly identical
with lasion, Iasios, Iasos, is merely a personification
of the Ionian race ('Idovtc), or, in reference to a myth
to be noticed in the sequel, signifies the healing, ato-
ning god or hero, may be doubted. Medea, however,
seems to be plainly only another form of Juno, and to
have been separated from her in a way of which many
instances occur in ancient legends. She is the coun-
selling (/ir/dof) goddess; and in the history of Jason
we find Juno alwaya acting in this capacity towards
him, who, as Homer says, "teas very dear to her"
(<W. , 13, 72); an obscure hint, perhaps, of the love
of Jason and Medea. Medea, also, always acts a
friendly part; and it seems highly probable that the
atrocities related of her are pure fictions of the Attic
dramatists. (Midler, Qrctiom. , p. 68. ) The bringing
of Jason and Medea to Corinth seems also to indicate
? connexion between the latter and Juno, who was
worshipped there under the titlo of Acraa, and the
? ? graves of tho children of Medea were in the temple of
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? MED
MED
money. The Cossaii were defeated by Alexander,
but thev never appear to have been completely subdued
by the 'Macedonians. -- According to Herodotus (1,
101), the Medes were originally divided into six tribes,
the Buss, Paretaceni, Struchates, Arizanti, Budii, and
Magi. They were originally called Arii (Herod. , 7,
62); which word appears to contain the same root as
Ar-taei, the ancient name of the Persians. (Herod. ,
7, 61. ) It is not improbable that this name was ori-
ginally applied to most of the Indo-Germanic nations.
Tacitus speaks of the Arii as one of the most power-
ful of the German tribes (Germ. , 43); and India
proper is called in the most ancient Sanscrit works,
Arrya-varla, "holy land. " The same name was re-
tained in the province of Ariana, and is still employed
in the East as the proper name of Persia, namely, Iran.
(Vid. Aria. )--Media originally formed part of the As-
syrian empire, but its history as an independent king
dom is given so differently by Herodotus and Ciesias,
as to render it probable that the narrative of Ctesias
must refer to a different dynasty in Eastern Asia.
Ctesias makes the Median monarchy last 282 years;
and, as Media was conquered by Cyrus about B. C.
660, it follows that the Median monarchy would com-
mence, according to his account, about B. C. 842.
Herodotus, on the contrary, assigns to the Median
monarchy a period of 128 years, which, including the 28
years during which the Scythians had possession of the
country, would place the commencement of the Medi-
an monarchy B. C. 716. The founder of this monar-
chy was Arbaces, according to Ctesias, who reckons
eight kings from him to Astyages. According to the
account of Herodotus, however, there were four kings
of Media: 1. Dejoces, who reigned B. C. 716-657.
--2. Phraortcs, B. C. 657-635, greatly extended the
Median empire, subdued the Persians and many other
nations, but fell in an expedition against the Assyrians
Of Ninus (Nineveh). --3. Cyaxares, B. C. 635-595, com-
pletely organized the military force of the empire, and
extended its boundaries as far west as the llalvs.
In
in expedition against Nineveh, he was defeated* by the
Scythians, who had made an irruption into Southern
Asia, and was deprived of his kingdom for 28 years.
After the expulsion of the Scythians, he took Nineveh,
and subdued the Assyrian empire, with the exception
of the Babylonian district (UaCv? . uiir,c ftoipvc). --4.
Astyages, B. C. 595-560, who was dethroned by his
grandson Cyrus, and Media reduced to a Persian
province. The history of the rise of the Persian mon-
archy is related differently by Xcnophon, who also
makes a fifth Median king, Cyaxares II. , succeed As-
tyages. --The Medes revolted during the reign of Da-
rius II. , the father of the younger Cyrus, about B. C.
408, but were again subdued. (Herod. , 1, 130. --
Xen. , Hist. Gr. , 1,2, 19. ) They do not appear, after
this time, to have made any farther attempt at recov-
ering their independence. On the downfall of the
Persian empire they formed a part of the kingdom of
the Seleucide, and were subsequently subject to the
Parthians. (Encycl. Us. Knowl. , vol. 16, p. 54. )
Mediolanum, I. a city of Cisalpine Gaul, among
the Insubrcs, now Milan. According to Livy (5, 34),
it was founded by the Insnbres, ana called by them
Mediolanum, from a place of the same name among
the AZdui in Gaul (Compare Pliny, 3, 17. --Plot. ,
p. 63. ) This city is named for the first time in his-
tory by Polybius (2, 34), in his account of the Gallic
? ? wars. The capture of it by Cn. Scipio and Marcellus
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? MEDITERRANEUM MAKE.
MEUITEKKAMOlM MAKE.
seveial energies and capabilities would be developed.
The comparative shortness of the distances of the sev-
eral places, rendering navigation easy and pleasant
in small and imperfect vessels, would, by facilitating
intercourse from an early period, tend to diffuse and
rromote civilization; while commerce, by bringing
together men of different habits, manners, and lan-
guages, and fe. '. j circulating practical information,
would supply the materials for the perfection of the
arts and sciences. --The navigation of the Mediterra-
nean must no doubt be of very early date. The story
of Minos destroying pirates {Thucyd. , 1, 4) takes for
granted the fact, that there must have been merchant.
vessels carrying something worth plundering from the
earliest recorded period. If, with Strabo, we allow
the accuracy of Homer's descriptions, it by r. ) means
follows that the Greeks knew everything that could
have been known to every other nation at that time;
and the stories told of the jealousy with which the
Phoenicians and Carthaginians guarded their discover-
ies, prove at least that geographical knowledge was
not common property: and with regard to these very
nations, the knowledge which the Greeks could have
had of them, among other barbarians, must have been
inferior to that which we possess in the minute ac-
curacy of the Scriptures alone. The story of Utica
having been established 130 years before Carthage,
proves a regular communication between this place
and Syria, a distance of upward of 1200 miles; and
we may conclude that occasional voyages of that en-
terprising people had already extended the bounds of
knowledge far beyond these limits. If the precise
time of the discovery of places, lying, as it were, in
the thoroughfare of this sea, is so uncertain, the his-
lory of the places in the deep bays of the northern
shores must be still more obscure: we shall therefore
give at once a slight sketch of the geography of this
Ms from Strabo, who wrote in the first century of our
? ra. --The stadium adopted by Strabo was that of
Eratosthenes, 700 stadia making 1? of latitude or lon-
gitude on the equator, or 60 nautical miles; hence a
stadium is 0. 0857 of a nautical mile, the mile being
about 6082 feet. The Mediterranean was dividccTinto
three basins: the first comprised the sea between the
Columns of Hercules and Sicily; the second, between
Sicily and Rhodes; the third, between Rhodes and the
shores of Syria. Strabo supposed that the parallel of lat-
itude of 36$? passed through the Sacred Promontory
(Cape St. Vincent) between the Pillars of Hercules, di-
viding this part of the Mediterranean in the middle of
its breadth, which was believed by navigators to be 5000
stadia, or 42S}- nautical miles, from the Gulf of Lyons
to the shores of Africa, hut which measures only 330.
The sea here, however, lies altogether to the north of
'. his parallel; and hence, as the configuration of the
European shores seems to have been tolerably good,
the coast of Africa must have been proportiombly dis-
torted. This parallel was carried through the straits
of Sicily, Rhodes, and the Gulf of Issus, now the Gulf
of Scandcroon. In consequence of the above suppo-
sition, he placed Massilia (Marseille) to the southward
instead of the northward of Byzantium. He supposed
Sardinia and Corsica to lie northwest and southeast
instead of north and south, and made the distance of
Sardinia from the coast of Africa 2400 stadia, or 206
miles instead of 100, which is the true distance.
From the Columns of Hercules to the Straits of Sicily
? ? be considers to he 12,000 stadia, or 1028 miles: it is
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? MED
MEG
S>>. --Compare Arittot. , it Munio, c. 3. --GtUius, N.
A. , 10, 7. ) Diodorua Siculus, i/ kiiH' i/uilr duXaooa
(4, 18--Compare Polyb. , 3, 37. --Smb. , 83. -- Ap-
ptan. Bell. Milhradat. , c. 93. -- Mazimut Tyriut,
14, 3). Maximus Tyrius, i/ iripo ? du'Kaaoa (41, 1).
Strabo, 7/ hiroc $<i? . aaoa. (Compare Marc. Jicracl,
Peripl. , p. 85. -- Agathem. , 2, 4. ) Aristotle, q cvtoc
WpaxXeiuv ott/Xuv dukanaa (Meteor. , 2, 1. --Com-
pare Dion. Hal, 1,3. --Plut, Vit. Pomp. ,c. 26). The
Latin writers in general, as we have already said, give
it the appellation of Nottrum Mare (Sallutt. , Jug. , c.
17. --Mela, 1, 1, 5. --Lit. , 26, 4. --Cat. , B. G. , 6, 1.
Amen. , Or. Marit. , v. 56. --Compare Duker, ad Flor. ,
3, 6, 9. -- Cort. ad Sallutt. , B. Jug. , c. 18). Pliny
styles it Mare internum (3, proem. , c. 5). Florus,
Mare inlettinum (4, 2). Later writers, not classical,
have Mare Mediterraneum. (Solin. , e. 22. ) Isidorus
gives the following explanation of th i name: " Quia
per medium lerram usque ad Orientem perfunditur, Eu-
'opam et A/ricam Atiamque determinant. " (Orig. ,
13, 13. -- Compare 1'riscian. , Peritg. , 52. ) Oroaius
? ays, " Mare nostrum quod Magnum generaiiter dici-
mus;" and Isidorus remarks, "quia cetera maria in
eomparatione cjut minora tunt. " (Orot. , 1,2. --hid. ,
Orig. , 13, 16--Compare Hardouin, ad Plin, 9, 18.
-- Burmann,ad Vol. FlaccArg. , 1, 50. ) According
to Polybius (3, 42), that part of tho Mediterranean
which Isy between the Pillars of Hercules and the
Rhone was called Xapddviov rrikayoc, while Aristotle
calls the part between the Pillars and Sardinia ? ap-
iovucoc (Meteor. , 2, 1. --Id. , de Mund. , 3. --Eratotth. ,
tp. Plin. , 3, 10). Strabo gives the part between the
Pillars and the Pyrenees the name of Mnpuciv ire? . ayoc
(122. --Compare Agathem. , 1, 3. -- Dionyt. Perieg. ,
v. 69. -- Niceph. Blcm. , cd. Spohn. , p. 3). Pliny re-
marks, " Hitpanum mare, qualenut Hitpanias aUuit;
th alixs Ibericum aul Balearicum" (3, 2. -- Id. ibid,
4,34. --Compare Solin. , c. 23. --AmpcL, c. 7. --Ptol. ,
t, 6). According to Zonaras (Annul , 8, p. 406), the
tei to the east of the Pyrenees was called the . SV<< of
tit Bcbryciant.
