Mŏlossi, a people of Epirus, who inhabited that part of the country which was called Molossia, or Molossis from king Molossus. This country had the bay of Ambracia on the south, and the country of the Perrhæbeans on the east. The dogs of the place were famous, and received the name of Molossi among the Romans. Dodona was the capital of the country according to some writers. Others, however, reckon it as the chief city of Thesprotia. Lucretius, bk. 5, lis. 10, 62.—Lucan, bk. 4, li. 440.—Strabo, bk. 7.—Livy.—Justin, bk. 7, ch. 6.—Cornelius Nepos, bk. 2, ch. 8.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 495.—Horace, bk. 2, satire 6, li. 114.

Mŏlossia, or Molossis. See: Molossi.

Molossus, a son of Pyrrhus and Andromache. He reigned in Epirus, after the death of Helenus, and part of his dominions received the name of Molossia from him. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 11.——A surname of Jupiter in Epirus.——An Athenian general, &c. Pausanias, Theseus.——The father of Merion of Crete. See: Molus. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 6.

Molpadia, one of the Amazons, &c. Plutarch.

Molpus, an author who wrote a history of Lacedæmon.

Molus, a Cretan, father of Meriones. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 6.——A son of Deucalion.——Another, son of Mars and Demonice.

Molycrion, a town of Ætolia, between the Evenus and Naupactum. Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 3.

Momemphis, a town of Egypt. Strabo, bk. 17.

Momus, the god of pleasantry among the ancients, was son of Nox, according to Hesiod. He was continually employed in satirizing the gods, and whatever they did was freely turned to ridicule. He blamed Vulcan, because in the human form which he had made of clay, he had not placed a window in his breast, by which whatever was done or thought there might be easily brought to light. He censured the house which Minerva had made, because the goddess had not made it movable, by which means a bad neighbourhood might be avoided. In the bull which Neptune had produced, he observed that his blows might have been surer if his eyes had been placed near his horns. Venus herself was exposed to his satire; and when the sneering god had found no fault in the body of the naked goddess, he observed, as she retired, that the noise of her feet was too loud, and greatly improper in the goddess of beauty. These illiberal reflections upon the gods were the cause that Momus was driven from heaven. He is generally represented raising a mask from his face, and holding a small figure in his hand. Hesiod, Theogony.—Lucian, Hermotimus.

Mona, an island between Britain and Hibernia, anciently inhabited by a number of Druids. It is supposed by some to be the modern island of Anglesey, and by others, the island of Man. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 14, chs. 18 & 29.

Monæses, a king of Parthia, who favoured the cause of Marcus Antony against Augustus. Horace, bk. 3, ode 6, li. 9.——A Parthian in the age of Mithridates, &c.

Monda, a river between the Durius, and Tagus, in Portugal. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 22.

Monēsus, a general killed by Jason at Colchis, &c.

Monēta, a surname of Juno among the Romans. She received it because she advised them to sacrifice a pregnant sow to Cybele, to avert an earthquake. Cicero, De Divinatione, bk. 1, ch. 15. Livy says (bk. 7, ch. 28) that a temple was vowed to Juno under this name, by the dictator Furius, when the Romans waged war against the Aurunci, and that the temple was raised to the goddess by the senate, on the spot where the house of Manlius Capitolinus had formerly stood. Suidas, however, says, that Juno was surnamed Moneta, from assuring the Romans, when in the war against Pyrrhus they complained of want of pecuniary resources, that money could never fail to those who cultivated justice.

Monĭma, a beautiful woman of Miletus, whom Mithridates the Great married. When his affairs grew desperate, Mithridates ordered his wives to destroy themselves; Monima attempted to strangle herself, but when her efforts were unavailing, she ordered one of her attendants to stab her. Plutarch, Lucullus.

Monimus, a philosopher of Syracuse.

Monŏdus, a son of Prusias. He had one continued bone instead of a row of teeth, whence his name (μονος ὁδους). Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 16.

Monœcus, now Monaco, a town and port of Liguria, where Hercules had a temple; whence he is called Monœcius, and the harbour Herculis Portus. Strabo, bk. 4.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 830.

Monoleus, a lake of Æthiopia.

Monophăge, sacrifices in Ægina.

Monophĭlus, a eunuch of Mithridates. The king entrusted him with the care of one of his daughters; and the eunuch, when he saw the affairs of his master in a desperate situation, stabbed her, lest she should fall into the enemy’s hands, &c.

Mons Sacer, a mountain near Rome, where the Roman populace retired in a tumult, which was the cause of the election of the tribunes.

Mons Sevērus, a mountain near Rome, &c.

Montānus, a poet who wrote in hexameter and elegiac verses. Ovid, ex Ponto.——An orator under Vespasian.——A favourite of Messalina.——One of the senators whom Domitian consulted about boiling a turbot. Juvenal, satire 4.

Mony̆chus, a powerful giant, who could root up trees and hurl them like a javelin. He receives his name from his having the feet of a horse, as the word implies. Juvenal, satire 1, li. 11.

Mony̆ma. See: Monima.

Mony̆mus, a servant of Corinth, who, not being permitted by his master to follow Diogenes the cynic, pretended madness, and obtained his liberty. He became a great admirer of the philosopher, and also of Crates, and even wrote something in the form of facetious stories. Diogenes Laërtius.

Mophis, an Indian prince conquered by Alexander.

Mopsium, a hill and town of Thessaly, between Tempe and Larissa. Livy, bk. 42.

Mopsopia, an ancient name of Athens, from Mopsus, one of its kings, and from thence the epithet of Mopsopius is often applied to an Athenian.

Mopsuhestia, or Mopsos, a town of Cilicia near the sea. Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 3, ch. 8.

Mopsus, a celebrated prophet, son of Manto and Apollo, during the Trojan war. He was consulted by Amphimachus king of Colophon, who wished to know what success would attend his arms in a war which he was going to undertake. He predicted the greatest calamities; but Calchas, who had been a soothsayer of the Greeks during the Trojan war, promised the greatest successes. Amphimachus followed the opinion of Calchas, but the opinion of Mopsus was fully verified. This had such an effect upon Calchas that he died soon after. His death is attributed by some to another mortification of the same nature. The two soothsayers, jealous of each other’s fame, came to a trial of their skill in divination. Calchas first asked his antagonist how many figs a neighbouring tree bore. “Ten thousand except one,” replied Mopsus, “and one single vessel can contain them all.” The figs were gathered, and his conjectures were true. Mopsus, now to try his adversary, asked him how many young ones a certain pregnant sow would bring forth. Calchas confessed his ignorance, and Mopsus immediately said that the sow would bring forth on the morrow 10 young ones, of which only one should be a male, all black, and that the females should all be known by their white streaks. The morrow proved the veracity of his prediction, and Calchas died by excess of the grief which this defeat produced. Mopsus after death was ranked among the gods; and had an oracle at Malia, celebrated for the true and decisive answers which it gave. Strabo, bk. 9.—Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 3.—Ammianus, bk. 14, ch. 8.—Plutarch, de Defectu Oraculorum.——A son of Ampyx and Chloris, born at Titaressa in Thessaly. He was the prophet and soothsayer of the Argonauts, and died at his return from Colchis by the bite of a serpent in Libya. Jason erected to him a monument on the sea-shore, where afterwards the Africans built him a temple where he gave oracles. He has often been confounded with the son of Manto, as their professions and their names were alike. Hyginus, fables 14, 128, 173.—Strabo, bk. 9.——A shepherd of that name in Virgil, Eclogues.

Morgantium (or ia), a town of Sicily, near the mouth of the Simethus. Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 3, ch. 18.

Morĭni, a people of Belgic Gaul, on the shores of the British ocean. The shortest passage to Britain was from their territories. They were called extremi hominum by the Romans, because situate on the extremities of Gaul. Their city, called Morinorum castellum, is now Mount Cassel, in Artois; and Morinorum civitas, is Terouenne, on the Lis. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 8, li. 726.—Cæsar, bk. 4, Gallic War, ch. 21.

Moritasgus, a king of the Senones at the arrival of Cæsar in Gaul. Cæsar, Gallic War.

Morius, a river of Bœotia. Plutarch.

Morpheus, the son and minister of the god Somnus, who naturally imitated the grimaces, gestures, words, and manners of mankind. He is sometimes called the god of sleep. He is generally represented as a sleeping child of great corpulence, and with wings. He holds a vase in one hand, and in the other are some poppies. He is represented by Ovid as sent to inform by a dream and a vision the unhappy Alcyone of the fate of her husband Ceyx. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, fable 10.

Mors, one of the infernal deities born of Night, without a father. She was worshipped by the ancients, particularly by the Lacedæmonians, with great solemnity, and represented not as an actually existing power, but as an imaginary being. Euripides introduces her in one of his tragedies on the stage. The moderns represent her as a skeleton armed with a scythe and a scymetar.

Mortuum mare. See: Mare Mortuum.

Morys, a Trojan killed by Meriones during the Trojan war. Homer, Iliad, bk. 13, &c.

Mosa, a river of Belgic Gaul falling into the German ocean, and now called the Maese or Meuse. The bridge over it, Mosæpons, is now supposed to be Maestricht. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 4, ch. 66.

Moscha, now Mascat, a port of Arabia on the Red sea.

Moschi, a people of Asia, at the west of the Caspian sea. Mela, bk. 1, ch. 2; bk. 3, ch. 5.—Lucan, bk. 3, li. 270.

Moschion, a name common to four different writers, whose compositions, character, and native place are unknown. Some fragments of their writings remain, some few verses and a treatise de morbis mulierum, edited by Gesner, 4to, Basil, 1566.

Moschus, a Phœnician who wrote the history of his country in his own mother tongue.——A philosopher of Sidon. He is supposed to be the founder of anatomical philosophy. Strabo.——A Greek Bucolic poet in the age of Ptolemy Philadelphus. The sweetness and elegance of his eclogues, which are still extant, make the world regret the loss of poetical pieces no ways inferior to the productions of Theocritus. The best editions of Moschus with Bion is that of Heskin, 8vo, Oxford, 1748.——A Greek rhetorician of Pergamus in the age of Horace, defended by Torquatus in an accusation of having poisoned some of his friends. Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 5, li. 9.

Mosella, a river of Belgic Gaul falling into the Rhine at Coblentz, and now called the Moselle. Florus, bk. 3, ch. 10.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 13, ch. 53.

Moses, a celebrated legislator and general among the Jews, well known in sacred history. He was born in Egypt 1571 B.C., and after he had performed his miracles before Pharaoh, conducted the Israelites through the Red sea, and given them laws and ordinances, during their peregrination of 40 years in the wilderness of Arabia, he died at the age of 120. His writings have been quoted and commended by several of the heathen authors, who have divested themselves of their prejudices against a Hebrew, and extolled his learning and the effects of his wisdom. Longinus.—Diodorus, bk. 1.

Mosychlus, a mountain of Lemnos. Nicander.

Mosynæci, a nation on the Euxine sea, in whose territories the 10,000 Greeks stayed on their return from Cunaxa. Xenophon.

Mothōne, a town of Magnesia, where Philip lost one of his eyes. Justin, bk. 7, ch. 6. The word is oftener spelt Methone.

Motya, a town of Sicily, besieged and taken by Dionysius tyrant of Syracuse.

Muciānus, a facetious and intriguing general under Otho and Vitellius, &c.

Mucius. See: Mutius.

Mucræ, a village of Samnium. Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 565.

Mulcĭber, a surname of Vulcan (a mulcendo ferrum), from his occupation. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 5. See: Vulcanus.

Mulŭcha, a river of Africa, dividing Numidia from Mauritania. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 2.

Mulvius pons, a bridge on the Flaminian way, about one mile distant from Rome. Martial, bk. 3, ltr. 14.

Lucius Mummius, a Roman consul sent against the Achæans, whom he conquered, B.C. 147. He destroyed Corinth, Thebes, and Chalcis, by order of the senate, and obtained the surname of Achaicus from his victories. He did not enrich himself with the spoils of the enemy, but returned home without any increase of fortune. He was so unacquainted with the value of the paintings and works of the most celebrated artists of Greece, which were found in the plunder of Corinth, that he said to those who conveyed them to Rome, that if they lost them or injured them, they should make others in their stead. Paterculus, bk. 1, ch. 13.—Strabo, bk. 8.—Pliny, bk. 34, ch. 7; bk. 37, ch. 1.—Florus, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 24.——Publius, a man commended by Caius Publicius for the versatility of his mind, and the propriety of his manners. Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 2.——A Latin poet. Macrobius, bk. 1, Saturnalia, ch. 10.——Marcus, a pretor. Cicero, Against Verres.——Spurius, a brother of Achaicus before mentioned, distinguished as an orator, and for his fondness for the stoic philosophy. Cicero, Brutus, ch. 25; Letters to Atticus, bk. 13, ltr. 6.——A lieutenant of Crassus defeated, &c. Plutarch, Crassus.

Munatius Plancus, a consul sent to the rebellious army of Germanicus. He was almost killed by the incensed soldiery, who suspected that it was through him that they had not all been pardoned and indemnified by a decree of the senate. Calpurnius rescued him from their fury.——An orator and disciple of Cicero. His father, grandfather, and great grandfather bore the same name. He was with Cæsar in Gaul, and was made consul with Brutus. He promised to favour the republican cause for some time, but he deserted again to Cæsar. He was long Antony’s favourite, but he left him at the battle of Actium to conciliate the favours of Octavius. His services were great in the senate; for through his influence and persuasion, that venerable body flattered the conqueror of Antony with the appellation of Augustus. He was rewarded with the office of censor. Plutarch, Antonius.——Gratus, a Roman knight who conspired with Piso against Nero. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15, ch. 30.——Suetonius, Augustus, ch. 23.——A friend of Horace, epode 3, li. 31.

Munda, a small town of Hispania Bætica, celebrated for a battle which was fought there on the 17th of March, B.C. 45, between Cæsar and the republican forces of Rome, under Labienus and the sons of Pompey. Cæsar obtained the victory after an obstinate and bloody battle, and by this blow put an end to the Roman republic. Pompey lost 30,000 men, and Cæsar only 1000, and 500 wounded. Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 400.—Hirtius, Spanish War, ch. 27.—Lucan, bk. 1.

Munītus, a son of Laodice, the daughter of Priam by Acamas. He was entrusted to the care of Æthra as soon as born, and at the taking of Troy he was made known to his father, who saved his life, and carried him to Thrace, where he was killed by the bite of a serpent. Parthenius, ch. 10.

Muny̆chia (and æ), a port of Attica, between the Piræus and the promontory of Sunium, called after king Munychus, who built there a temple to Diana, and in whose honour he instituted festivals called Munychia. The temple was held so sacred that whatever criminals fled there for refuge were pardoned. During the festivals they offered small cakes which they called amphiphontes, ἀπο τον ἁμφιφαειν, from shining all round, because there were lighted torches hung round when they were carried to the temple, or because they were offered at the full moon, at which time the solemnity was observed. It was particularly in honour of Diana, who is the same as the moon, because it was full moon when Themistocles conquered the Persian fleet at Salamis. The port of Munychia was well fortified and of great consequence; therefore the Lacedæmonians, when sovereigns of Greece, always kept a regular garrison there. Plutarch.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 709.—Strabo, bk. 2.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 1.

Muræna, a celebrated Roman, left at the head of the armies of the republic in Asia by Sylla. He invaded the dominions of Mithridates with success, but soon after met with a defeat. He was honoured with a triumph at his return to Rome. He commanded one of the wings of Sylla’s army at the battle against Archelaus near Chæronea. He was ably defended in an oration by Cicero, when his character was attacked and censured. Cicero, for Lucius Murena.—Appian, Mithridatic Wars.——A man put to death for conspiring against Augustus, B.C. 22.

Murcia. See: Murtia.

Murcus, an enemy of the triumvirate of Julius Cæsar.——Statius, a man who murdered Piso in Vesta’s temple in Nero’s reign. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 1, ch. 43.

Murgantia, a town of Samnium. Livy, bk. 25, ch. 27.

Murrhēnus, a friend of Turnus, killed by Æneas, &c. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, li. 529.

Mursa, now Essek, a town of Hungary, where the Drave falls into the Danube.

Murtia, or Myrtia (a μυρτος), a supposed surname of Venus, because she presided over the myrtle. This goddess was the patroness of idleness and cowardice. Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4, ch. 32.

Mus, a Roman consul. See: Decius.

Musa Antonius, a freedman and physician of Augustus. He cured his imperial master of a dangerous disease under which he laboured, by recommending to him the use of the cold bath. He was greatly rewarded for this celebrated cure. He was honoured with a brazen statue by the Roman senate, which was placed near that of Æsculapius, and Augustus permitted him to wear a golden ring, and to be exempted from all taxes. He was not so successful in recommending the use of the cold bath to Marcellus, as he had been to Augustus, and his illustrious patient died under his care. The cold bath was for a long time discontinued, till Charmis of Marseilles introduced it again, and convinced the world of its great benefits. Musa was brother to Euphorbus the physician of king Juba. Two small treatises, de herbâ Botanicâ, and de tuendâ Valetudine, are supposed to be the productions of his pen.——A daughter of Nicomedes king of Bithynia. She attempted to recover her father’s kingdom from the Romans, but to no purpose, though Cæsar espoused her cause. Paterculus, bk. 2.—Suetonius, Julius Cæsar.

Musæ, certain goddesses who presided over poetry, music, dancing, and all the liberal arts. They were daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne, and were nine in number: Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polyhymnia, Calliope, and Urania. Some suppose that there were in ancient times only three Muses, Melete, Mneme, and Aœde; others four, Telxiope, Aœde, Arche, Melete. They were, according to others, daughters of Pierus and Antiope, from which circumstance they are called Pierides. The name of Pierides might probably be derived from mount Pierus, where they were born. They have been severally called Castalides, Aganippides, Lebethrides, Aonides, Heliconiades, &c., from the places where they were worshipped, or over which they presided. Apollo, who was the patron and the conductor of the Muses, has received the name of Musagetes, or leader of the Muses. The same surname was also given to Hercules. The palm tree, the laurel, and all the fountains of Pindus, Helicon, Parnassus, &c., were sacred to the Muses. They were generally represented as young, beautiful, and modest virgins. They were fond of solitude, and commonly appeared in different attire, according to the arts and sciences over which they presided. See: Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, &c. Sometimes they were represented as dancing in a chorus, to intimate the near and indissoluble connection which exists between the liberal arts and sciences. The Muses sometimes appear with wings, because by the assistance of wings they freed themselves from the violence of Pyrenæus. Their contest with the daughters of Pierus is well known. See: Pierides. The worship of the Muses was universally established, particularly in the enlightened parts of Greece, Thessaly, and Italy. No sacrifices were ever offered to them, though no poet ever began a poem without a solemn invocation to the goddesses who presided over verse. There were festivals instituted in their honour in several parts of Greece, especially among the Thespians, every fifth year. The Macedonians observed also a festival in honour of Jupiter and the Muses. It had been instituted by king Archelaus, and it was celebrated with stage plays, games, and different exhibitions, which continued nine days, according to the number of the Muses. Plutarch, Amatorius.—Pollux.—Aeschines, Against Timarchus.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 29.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 3.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, ch. 21.—Hesiod, Theogony.—Virgil, Æneid.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 310.—Homer, Hymn 25 to the Muses and Apollo.—Juvenal, satire 7.—Diodorus, bk. 1.—Martial, bk. 4, ltr. 14.

Musæus, an ancient Greek poet, supposed to have been son or disciple of Linus or Orpheus, and to have lived about 1410 years before the christian era. Virgil has paid great honour to his memory by placing him in the Elysian fields attended by a great multitude, and taller by the head than his followers. None of the poet’s compositions are extant. The elegant poem of the loves of Leander and Hero was written by a Musæus, who flourished in the fourth century, according to the more received opinions. Among the good editions of Musæus two may be selected as the best; that of Rover, 8vo, Leiden, 1727, and that of Schroder, 8vo, Leovard, 1743. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 677.—Diogenes Laërtius.——A Latin poet, whose compositions were very obscene. Martial, bk. 12, ltr. 96.——A poet of Thebes who lived during the Trojan war.

Musonius Rufus, a stoic philosopher of Etruria in the reign of Vespasian. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 3, ch. 81.

Mustēla, a man greatly esteemed by Cicero. Letters to Atticus, bk. 12.——A gladiator. Cicero.

♦Muta, a goddess who presided over silence, among the Romans. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 2, li. 580.

♦ corrected alphabetic order.

Muthullus, a river of Numidia. Sallust, Jugurthine War, ch. 48.

Mutia, a daughter of Quintus Mutius Scævola, and sister of Metellus Celer. She was Pompey’s third wife. Her incontinent behaviour so disgusted her husband, that at his return from the Mithridatic war, he divorced her, though she had borne him three children. She afterwards married Marcus Scaurus. Augustus greatly esteemed her. Plutarch, Pompey.——A wife of Julius Cæsar, beloved by Clodius the tribune. Suetonius, Julius Cæsar, ch. 50.——The mother of Augustus.

Mutia lex, the same as that which was enacted by Licinius Crassus, and Quintus Mutius, A.U.C. 657. See: Licinia lex.

Mutica, or Mutyce, a town of Sicily west of the cape Pachynus. Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 3, ch. 43.

Mutilia, a woman intimate with Livia Augusta. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 4, ch. 12.

Mutĭna, a Roman colony of Cisalpine Gaul, where Marcus Antony besieged Decimus Brutus, whom the consuls Pansa and Hirtius delivered. Two battles on the 15th of April, B.C. 43, were fought there, in which Antony was defeated, and at last obliged to retire. Mutina is now called Modena. Lucan, bk. 1, li. 41; bk. 7, li. 872.—Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 592.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 822.—Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 10, ltr. 14; Brutus, ltr. 5.

Mutīnes, one of Annibal’s generals, who was honoured with the freedom of Rome on delivering up Agrigentum. Livy, bk. 25, ch. 41; bk. 27, ch. 5.

Mutinus. See: Mutunus.

Mutius, the father-in-law of Caius Marius.——A Roman who saved the life of young Marius by conveying him away from the pursuit of his enemies in a load of straw.——A friend of Tiberius Gracchus, by whose means he was raised to the office of a tribune.——Caius Scævola, surnamed Cordus, became famous for his courage and intrepidity. When Porsenna king of Etruria had besieged Rome to reinstate Tarquin in all his rights and privileges, Mutius determined to deliver his country from so dangerous an enemy. He disguised himself in the habit of a Tuscan, and as he could fluently speak the language, he gained an easy introduction into the camp, and soon into the royal tent. Porsenna sat alone with his secretary when Mutius entered. The Roman rushed upon the secretary and stabbed him to the heart, mistaking him for his royal master. This occasioned a noise, and Mutius, unable to escape, was seized and brought before the king. He gave no answer to the inquiries of the courtiers, and only told them that he was a Roman; and to give them a proof of his fortitude, he laid his right hand on an altar of burning coals, and sternly looking at the king, and without uttering a groan, he boldly told him that 300 young Romans like himself had conspired against his life, and entered the camp in disguise, determined either to destroy him or perish in the attempt. This extraordinary confession astonished Porsenna; he made peace with the Romans, and retired from their city. Mutius obtained the surname of Scævola, because he had lost the use of his right hand by burning it in the presence of the Etrurian king. Plutarch, Parallela minora.—Florus, bk. 1, ch. 10.—Livy, bk. 2, ch. 12.——Quintus Scævola, a Roman consul. He obtained a victory over the Dalmatians, and signalized himself greatly in the Marsian war. He is highly commended by Cicero, whom he instructed in the study of civil law. Cicero.—Plutarch.——Another, appointed proconsul of Asia, which he governed with so much popularity, that he was generally proposed to others as a pattern of equity and moderation. Cicero speaks of him as eloquent, learned, and ingenious, equally eminent as an orator and as a lawyer. He was murdered in the temple of Vesta, during the civil war of Marius and Sylla, 82 years before Christ. Plutarch.—Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 1, ch. 48.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 22.

Mutūnus, or Mutīnus, a deity among the Romans, much the same as the Priapus of the Greeks. The Roman matrons, and particularly new married women, disgraced themselves by the obscene ceremonies which custom obliged them to observe before the statue of this impure deity. Augustine, City of God, bk. 4, ch. 9; bk. 6, ch. 9.—Lactantius, bk. 1, ch. 20.

Mutuscæ, a town of Umbria. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 711.

Muzeris, a town of India, now Vizindruk. Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 23.

Myagrus, or Myodes, a divinity among the Egyptians, called also Achor. He was entreated by the inhabitants to protect them from flies and serpents. His worship passed into Greece and Italy. Pliny, bk. 10, ch. 28.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 26.

My̆căle, a celebrated magician, who boasted that she could draw down the moon from her orb. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 263.——A city and promontory of Asia Minor opposite Samos, celebrated for a battle which was fought there between the Greeks and Persians on the 22nd of September, 479 B.C., the same day that Mardonius was defeated at Platæa. The Persians were about 100,000 men, that had just returned from the unsuccessful expedition of Xerxes in Greece. They had drawn their ships to the shore and fortified themselves, as if determined to support a siege. They suffered the Greeks to disembark from their fleet without the least molestation, and were soon obliged to give way before the cool and resolute intrepidity of an inferior number of men. The Greeks obtained a complete victory, slaughtered some thousands of the enemy, burned their camp, and sailed back to Samos with an immense booty, in which were seventy chests of money among other very valuable things. Herodotus.—Justin, bk. 2, ch. 14.—Diodorus.——A woman’s name. Juvenal, satire 4, li. 141.

Mycalessus, an inland town of Bœotia, where Ceres had a temple. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 19.

My̆cēnæ, a town of Argolis, in Peloponnesus, built by Perseus son of Danae. It was situate on a small river at the east of the Inachus, about 50 stadia from Argos, and received its name from Mycene, a nymph of Laconia. It was once the capital of a kingdom, whose monarchs reigned in the following order: Acrisius, 1344 B.C.; Perseus, Electryon, Mæstor, and Sthenelus, and Sthenelus alone for eight years; Atreus and Thyestes, Agamemnon, Ægysthus, Orestes, Æpytus, who was dispossessed 1104 B.C., on the return of the Heraclidæ. The town of Mycenæ was taken and laid in ruins by the Argives, B.C. 568; and it was almost unknown where it stood in the age of the geographer Strabo. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 16.—Strabo, bk. 8.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 839.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3. The word Mycenæus is used for Agamemnon, as he was one of the kings of Mycenæ.

Mycēnis (idis), a name applied to Iphigenia, as residing at Mycenæ. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 34.

Mycerīnus, a son of Cheops king of Egypt. After the death of his father he reigned with great justice and moderation. Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 129.

Myciberna, a town of the Hellespont. Diodorus, bk. 12.

Mycithus, a servant of Anaxilaus tyrant of Rhegium. He was entrusted with the care of the kingdom, and of the children of the deceased prince, and he exercised his power with such fidelity and moderation, that he acquired the esteem of all the citizens, and at last restored the kingdom to his master’s children when come to years of maturity, and retired to peace and solitude with a small portion. He is called by some Micalus. Justin, bk. 4, ch. 2.

Mycon, a celebrated painter, who with others assisted in making and perfecting the Pœcile of Athens. He was the rival of Polygnotus. Pliny, bks. 33 & 35.——A youth of Athens changed into a poppy by Ceres.

Mycŏnos (or e), one of the Cyclades between Delos and Icaria, which received its name from Myconus, an unknown person. It is about three miles at the east of Delos, and is 36 miles in circumference. It remained long uninhabited on account of the frequent earthquakes to which it was subject. Some suppose that the giants whom Hercules killed were buried under that island, whence arose the proverb of everything is under Mycone, applied to those who treat of different subjects under one and the same title, as if none of the defeated giants had been buried under no other island or mountain about Mycone. Strabo observes, and his testimony is supported by that of modern travellers, that the inhabitants of Mycone became bald very early, even at the age of 20 or 25, from which circumstance they were called, by way of contempt, the bald heads of Mycone. Pliny says that the children of the place were always born without hair. The island was poor, and the inhabitants very avaricious; whence Archilochus reproached a certain Pericles, that he came to a feast like a Myconian, that is, without previous invitation. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 76.—Strabo, bk. 10.—Pliny, bk. 11, ch. 37; bk. 12, ch. 7; bk. 14, ch. 1.—Athenæus, bk. 1.—Thucydides, bk. 3, ch. 29.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, li. 463.

Mydon, one of the Trojan chiefs who defended Troy against the Greeks. He was killed by Antilochus. Homer, Iliad, bk. 5, li. 580.

Myecphŏris, a town in Egypt, in a small island near Bubastis.

Myēnus, a mountain of Ætolia. Plutarch, de Fluviis.

Mygdon, a brother of Amycus, killed in a war against Hercules.——A brother of Hecuba. See: Mygdonus.

Mygdŏnia, a small province of Macedonia, near Thrace, between the rivers Axius and Strymon. The inhabitants, called Mygdones, migrated into Asia, and settled near Troas, where the country received the name of their ancient habitation. Cybele was called Mygdonia, from the worship she received in Mygdonia in Phrygia. Horace, bk. 2, ode 12, li. 22; bk. 3, ode 16, li. 41.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 45.——A small province of Mesopotamia bears also the name of Mygdonia, and was probably peopled by a Macedonian colony. Flaccus, bk. 3, &c.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 10.—Ovid, Heroides, poem 20.—Horace, bk. 2, ode 12.

Mygdŏnus, or Mygdon, a brother of Hecuba, Priam’s wife, who reigned in part of Thrace. His son Corœbus was called Mygdonides, from him. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 341.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 3.——A small river running through Mesopotamia.

Mylassa (orum), a town of Caria. Livy, bk. 38, ch. 39.

Myle, or Mylas, a small river on the east of Sicily, with a town of the same name. Livy, bk. 24, chs. 30 & 31.—Suetonius, Augustus, ch. 16.——Also a town of Thessaly, now Mulazzo. Livy, bk. 42, ch. 54.

Myles, a son of Lelex.

Mylitta, a surname of Venus among the Assyrians, in whose temples all the women were obliged to prostitute themselves to strangers. Herodotus, bk. 1, chs. 131 & 199.—Strabo, bk. 16.

Myndus, a maritime town of Caria near Halicarnassus. Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 3, ltr. 8.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 16.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 29.

Mynes, a prince of Lyrnessus, who married Briseis. He was killed by Achilles, and his wife became the property of the conqueror. Homer, Iliad, bk. 3.

Myniæ. See: Minyæ.

Myŏnia, a town of Phocis. Pausanias.

Myonēsus, a town and promontory of Ionia, now Jalanghi-Liman. Livy, bk. 37, chs. 13 & 27.

Myra (orum, or æ), a town of Lycia, on a high hill, two miles from the sea. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 27.—Strabo, bk. 14.

Myriandros, a town of Seleucia in Syria, on the bay of Issus, which is sometimes called Sinus Myriandricus. Livy, bk. 2, ch. 108.

Myrīna, a maritime town of Æolia, called also Sebastopolis, and now Sanderlic. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 2, ch. 47.—Livy, bk. 33, ch. 30.—Strabo, bk. 13.——A queen of the Amazons, &c. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 4.——A town of Lemnos, now Palio Castro. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.——A town of Asia, destroyed by an earthquake in Trajan’s reign.——The wife of Thoas king of Lemnos, by whom she had ♦Hypsipyle.

♦ ‘Hipsipyle’ replaced with ‘Hypsipyle’ for consistency

Myrīnus, a surname of Apollo, from Myrina in Æolia, where he was worshipped.——A gladiator. Martial, bk. 12, ltr. 29.

Myriœ, a town of Arcadia, called also Megalopolis.

Myrlææ, or Apamea, a town of Bithynia. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 32.

Myrmecĭdes, an artist of Miletus, mentioned as making chariots so small that they could be covered by the wing of a fly. He also inscribed an elegiac distich on a grain of Indian sesamum. Cicero, bk. 4, Academica.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 1.

Myrmĭdŏnes, a people on the southern borders of Thessaly, who accompanied Achilles to the Trojan war. They received their name from Myrmidon, a son of Jupiter and Eurymedusa, who married one of the daughters of Æolus son of Hellen. His son Actor married Ægina the daughter of the Asopus. He gave his name to his subjects, who dwelt near the river Peneus in Thessaly. According to some, the Myrmidons received their name from their having been originally ants, μυρμηκες. See: Æacus. According to Strabo, they received it from their industry, because they imitated the diligence of the ants, and like them were indefatigable, and were continually employed in cultivating the earth. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 654.—Strabo.—Hyginus, fable 52.

Myron, a tyrant of Sicyon.——A man of Priene, who wrote a history of Messenia. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 6.——A celebrated statuary of Greece, peculiarly happy in imitating nature. He made a cow so much resembling life, that even bulls were deceived and approached her as if alive, as is frequently mentioned by many epigrams in the Anthologia. He flourished about 442 years before Christ. Ovid, Ars Amatoria, bk. 3, li. 319.—Pausanias.—Juvenal satire 8.—Propertius, bk. 2, poem 41.

Myronianus, an historian. Diogenes Laërtius.

Myronides, an Athenian general who conquered the Thebans. Polyænus.

Myrrha, a daughter of Cinyras king of Cyprus. She became enamoured of her father, and introduced herself into his bed unknown. She had a son by him, called Adonis. When Cinyras was apprised of the incest he had committed, he attempted to stab his daughter, and Myrrha fled into Arabia, where she was changed into a tree called myrrh. Hyginus, fables 58 & 275.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 10, li. 298.—Plutarch, Parallela minora.—Apollodorus, bk. 3.

Myrsĭlus, a son of Myrsus, the last of the Heraclidæ who reigned in Lydia. He is also called Candaules. See: Candaules.

Myrsus, the father of Candaules. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 7.——A Greek historian in the age of Solon.

Myrtăle, a courtesan of Rome, mistress to the poet Horace, bk. 1, ode 33.

Myrtea, a surname of Venus. See: Murtia.

Myrtĭlus, son of Mercury and Phaetusa, or Cleobule, or Clymene, was arm-bearer to Œnomaus king of Pisa. He was so experienced in riding and in the management of horses, that he rendered those of Œnomaus the swiftest in all Greece. His infidelity proved at last fatal to him. Œnomaus had been informed by an oracle that his daughter Hippodamia’s husband would cause his death, and on that account he resolved to marry her only to him who should overcome him in a chariot race. This seemed totally impossible, and to render it more terrible, Œnomaus declared that death would be the consequence of a defeat in the suitors. The charms of Hippodamia were so great, that many sacrificed their life in the fruitless endeavour to obtain her hand. Pelops at last presented himself, undaunted at the fate of those who had gone before him, but before he entered the course he bribed Myrtilus, and assured him that he should share Hippodamia’s favours if he returned victorious from the race. Myrtilus, who was enamoured of Hippodamia, gave an old chariot to Œnomaus, which broke in the course and caused his death. Pelops gained the victory, and married Hippodamia; and when Myrtilus had the audacity to claim the reward promised to his perfidy, Pelops threw him headlong into the sea, where he perished. The body of Myrtilus, according to some, was carried by the waves to the sea-shore, where he received an honourable burial, and as he was the son of Mercury, he was made a constellation. Diodorus, bk. 4.—Hyginus, fable 84 & 224.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 14.—Apollonius, bk. 1.

Myrtis, a Greek woman who distinguished herself by her poetical talents. She flourished about 500 years B.C., and instructed the celebrated Corinna in the several rules of versification. Pindar himself, as some report, was also one of her pupils.

Myrtōum mare, a part of the Ægean sea which lies between Eubœa, Attica, and Peloponnesus, as far as cape Melea. It receives this name from Myrto, a woman; or from Myrtos, a small island opposite to Carystos in Eubœa; or from Myrtilus the son of Mercury, who was drowned there, &c. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 14.—Hyginus, fable 84.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 11.

Myrtuntium, a name given to that part of the sea which lies on the coast of Epirus, between the bay of Ambracia and Leucas.

Myrtūsa, a mountain of Libya. Callimachus, Hymn to Apollo.

Mys (Myos), an artist famous in working and polishing silver. He beautifully represented the battle of the Centaurs and Lapithæ, on a shield in the hand of Minerva’s statue made by Phidias. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 28.—Martial, bk. 8, ltrs. 34 & 51; bk. 14, ltr. 93.—Propertius, bk. 3, poem 9, li. 14.

Myscellus, or Miscellus, a native of Rhypæ in Achaia, who founded Crotona in Italy according to an oracle, which told him to build a city where he found rain with fine weather. The meaning of the oracle long perplexed him, till he found a beautiful woman all in tears in Italy, which circumstance he interpreted in his favour. According to some, Myscellus, who was the son of Hercules, went out of Argos without the permission of the magistrates, for which he was condemned to death. The judges had put each a black ball as a sign of condemnation, but Hercules changed them all and made them white, and had his son acquitted, upon which Myscellus left Greece and came to Italy, where he built Crotona. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 19.—Strabo, bks. 6 & 8.—Suidas.

Mysia, a country of Asia Minor, generally divided into major and minor. Mysia minor was bounded on the north and west by the Propontis and Bithynia, and Phrygia on the southern and eastern borders. Mysia major had Æolia on the south, the Ægean on the west, and Phrygia on the north and east. Its chief cities were Cyzicum, Lampsacus, &c. The inhabitants were once very warlike, but they greatly degenerated; and the words Mysorum ultimus were emphatically used to signify a person of no merit. The ancients generally hired them to attend their funerals as mourners, because they were naturally melancholy and inclined to shed tears. They were once governed by monarchs. They are supposed to be descended from the Mysians of Europe, a nation which inhabited that part of Thrace which was situate between mount Hæmus and the Danube. Strabo.—Herodotus, bk. 1, &c.—Cicero, Against Verres.—Flaccus, ch. 27.—Florus, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Appian, Mithridatic Wars.——A festival in honour of Ceres, surnamed Mysia from Mysias, an Argive, who raised her a temple near Pallene in Achaia. Some derive the words ἀπο του μυσιαν, to cloy, or satisfy, because Ceres was the first who satisfied the wants of men by giving them corn. The festival continued during seven days, &c.

Myson, a native of Sparta, one of the seven wise men of Greece. When Anacharsis consulted the oracle of Apollo, to know which was the wisest man in Greece, he received for answer, he who was now ploughing his fields. This was Myson. Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.

Mystes, a son of the poet Valgius, whose early death was so lamented by the father, that Horace wrote an ode to allay the grief of his friend. Horace, bk. 2, ode 9.

Mythecus, a sophist of Syracuse. He studied cookery, and when he thought himself sufficiently skilled in dressing meat, he went to Sparta, where he gained much practice, especially among the younger citizens. He was soon after expelled the city by the magistrates, who observed that the aid of Mythecus was unnecessary, as hunger was the best seasoning.

My̆tilēne. See: Mitylene.

Myus (Myuntis), a town of Ionia on the confines of Caria, founded by a Grecian colony. It is one of the 12 capital cities of Ionia, situate at the distance of about 30 stadia from the mouth of the Mæander. Artaxerxes king of Persia gave it to Themistocles to maintain him in meat. Magnesia was to support him in bread, and Lampsacus in wine. Cornelius Nepos, Themistocles.—Strabo, bk. 14.—Herodotus, bk. 4, ch. 142.—Diodorus, bk. 11.