Chapter M (5)

=Metelli [Metellus]=, the surname of the family of the Cæcilii at Rome,
the most known of whom were:――A general who defeated the Achæans,
took Thebes, and invaded Macedonia, &c.――――Quintus Cæcilius, who
rendered himself illustrious by his successes against Jugurtha the
Numidian king, from which he was surnamed _Numidicus_. He took, in
this expedition, the celebrated Marius as his lieutenant, and he had
soon cause to repent of the confidence he had placed in him. Marius
raised himself to power by defaming the character of his benefactor,
and Metellus was recalled to Rome, and accused of extortion and
ill-management. Marius was appointed successor to finish the
Numidian war, and Metellus was acquitted of the crimes laid to his
charge before the tribunal of the Roman knights, who observed that
the probity of his whole life and the greatness of his exploits
were greater proofs of his innocence than the most powerful
arguments. _Cicero_, _On Oratory_, bk. 1, ch. 48.――_Sallust_,
_Jugurthine War_.――――Lucius Cæcilius, another, who saved from the
flames the palladium, when Vesta’s temple was on fire. He was then
high priest. He lost his sight and one of his arms in doing it, and
the senate, to reward his zeal and piety, permitted him always to
be drawn to the senate-house in a chariot, an honour which no one
had ever before enjoyed. He also gained a great victory over the
Carthaginians in the first Punic war, and led in his triumph 13
generals and 120 elephants taken from the enemy. He was honoured
with the dictatorship, and the office of master of horse, &c.
――――Quintus Cæcilius Celer, another, who distinguished himself
by his spirited exertions against Catiline. He married Clodia
the sister of Clodius, who disgraced him by her incontinence and
lasciviousness. He died 57 years B.C. He was greatly lamented by
Cicero, who shed tears at the loss of one of his most faithful
and valuable friends. _Cicero_, _For Marcus Cæcilius._――――Lucius
Cæcilius, a tribune in the civil wars of Julius Cæsar and Pompey.
He favoured the cause of Pompey, and opposed Cæsar when he entered
Rome with a victorious army. He refused to open the gates of
Saturn’s temple, in which were deposited great treasures, upon
which they were broken open by Cæsar, and Metellus retired,
when threatened with death.――――Quintus Cæcilius, the grandson of
the high priest, who saved the palladium from the flames, was a
warlike general, who, from his conquest of Crete and Macedonia,
was surnamed _Macedonicus_. He had six sons, of whom four are
particularly mentioned by Plutarch.――――Quintus Cæcilius, surnamed
_Balearicus_, from his conquest of the Baleares.――――Lucius Cæcilius,
surnamed _Diadematus_, but supposed the same as that called Lucius
with the surname of _Dalmaticus_, from a victory obtained over
the Dalmatians during his consulship with Mutius Scævola.――――Caius
Cæcilius, surnamed _Caprarius_, who was consul with Carbo, A.U.C.
641.――――The fourth was Marcus, and of these four brothers it is
remarkable, that two of them triumphed in one day, but over what
nations is not mentioned by _Eutropius_, ch. 4.――――Nepos, a consul,
&c.――――Another, who accused Caius Curio, his father’s detractor,
and who also vented his resentment against Cicero when going to
banishment.――――Another, who, as tribune, opposed the ambition
of Julius Cæsar.――――A general of the Roman armies against
the Sicilians and Carthaginians. Before he marched he offered
sacrifices to all the gods, except Vesta, for which neglect the
goddess was so incensed that she demanded the blood of his daughter
Metella. When Metella was going to be immolated, the goddess placed
a heifer in her place, and carried her to a temple at Lanuvium,
of which she became the priestess.――――Lucius Cæcilius, or Quintus,
surnamed _Creticus_, from his conquest in Crete, B.C. 66, is
supposed by some to be the son of Metellus Macedonicus.――――Cimber,
one of the conspirators against Julius Cæsar. It was he who gave
the signal to attack and murder the dictator in the senate-house.
――――Pius, a general in Spain, against Sertorius, on whose head
he set a price of 100 talents, and 20,000 acres of land. He
distinguished himself also in the Marsian war, and was high priest.
He obtained the name of _Pius_ from the sorrow he showed during the
banishment of his father Metellus _Numidicus_, whom he caused to be
recalled. _Paterculus_, bk. 2, ch. 5.――_Sallust_, _Jugurthine War_,
ch. 44.――――A consul who commanded in Africa, &c. _Valerius Maximus._
――_Pliny._――_Plutarch._――_Livy._――_Paterculus_, bk. 2.――_Florus_,
bk. 3, ch. 8.――_Pausanias_, bk. 7, chs. 8 & 13.――_Cicero_,
_Tusculanæ Disputationes_, &c.――_Juvenal_, satire 3, li. 138.
――_Appian_, _Civil Wars_.――_Cæsar_, _Civil War_.――_Sallust_,
_Jugurthine War_.

=Metharma=, a daughter of Pygmalion king of Cyprus, and mother of
Adonis by Cinyras, &c. _Apollodorus_, bk. 3, ch. 14.

=Methīon=, the father of Phorbas, &c. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 5,
fable 3.

=Methodius=, a bishop of Tyre, who maintained a controversy against
Porphyry. The best edition of his works is that of Paris, folio, 1657.

=Methōne=, a town of Peloponnesus, where king Philip gained his first
battle over the Athenians, B.C. 360.――――A town of Macedonia, south
of Pella, in the siege of which, according to _Justin_, bk. 7, ch. 6,
Philip lost his right eye.――――Another in Magnesia. _Homer_, _Iliad_,
bk. 2, li. 71.

=Methydrium=, a town of Peloponnesus, near Megalopolis. _Valerius
Flaccus._

=Methymna= (now _Porto Petero_), a town of the island of Lesbos, which
received its name from a daughter of ♦Macareus. It is the second
city of the island in greatness, population, and opulence, and its
territory is fruitful, and the wines it produces excellent. It was
the native place of Arion. When the whole island of Lesbos revolted
from the power of the Athenians, Methymna alone remained firm to its
ancient allies. _Diodorus_, bk. 5.――_Thucydides_, bk. 3.――_Horace_,
bk. 2, satire 8, li. 50.――_Virgil_, _Georgics_, bk. 3, li. 90.

♦ ‘Marcareus’ replaced with ‘Macareus’

=Metiadūsa=, a daughter of Eupalamus, who married Cecrops, by whom she
had Pandion. _Apollodorus_, bk. 3, ch. 15.

=Metilia lex=, was enacted A.U.C. 536, to settle the power of the
dictator, and of his master of horse, within certain bounds.

=Metilii=, a patrician family, brought from Alba to Rome by Tullus
Hostilius. _Dionysius of Halicarnassus._

=Metilius=, a man who accused Fabius Maximus before the senate, &c.

=Mētiŏchus=, a son of Miltiades, who was taken by the Phœnicians,
and given to Darius king of Persia. He was tenderly treated by the
monarch, though his father had conquered the Persian armies in the
plains of Marathon. _Plutarch._――_Herodotus_, bk. 6, ch. 41.――――An
Athenian entrusted with the care of the roads, &c. _Plutarch._

=Metion=, a son of Erechtheus king of Athens and Praxithea. He married
Alcippe daughter of Mars and Agraulos. His sons drove Pandion from
the throne of Athens, and were afterwards expelled by Pandion’s
children. _Apollodorus_, bk. 3, ch. 15.――_Pausanias_, bk. 2, ch. 6.

=Metis=, one of the Oceanides. She was Jupiter’s first wife, celebrated
for her great prudence and sagacity above the rest of the gods.
Jupiter, who was afraid lest she should bring forth into the world
a child more cunning and greater than himself, devoured her in the
first month of her pregnancy. Some time after this adventure the god
had his head opened, from which issued Minerva, armed from head to
foot. According to Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 2, Metis gave a portion to
Saturn, and obliged him to throw up the children whom he had devoured.
_Hesiod_, _Theogony_, li. 890.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 7, ch. 3.
――_Hyginus._

=Metiscus=, a charioteer to Turnus. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 12, li. 469.

=Metius Curtius=, one of the Sabines who fought against the Romans,
on account of the stolen virgins.――――Suffetius, a dictator of Alba,
in the reign of Tullus Hostilius. He fought against the Romans,
and at last, finally to settle their disputes, he proposed a single
combat between the Horatii and Curiatii. The Albans were conquered,
and Metius promised to assist the Romans against their enemies.
In a battle against the Veientes and Fidenates, Metius showed his
infidelity by forsaking the Romans at the first onset, and retired
to a neighbouring eminence, to wait for the event of the battle, and
to fall upon whatever side proved victorious. The Romans obtained the
victory, and Tullus ordered Metius to be tied between two chariots,
which were drawn by four horses two different ways, and his limbs
were torn away from his body, about 669 years before the christian
era. _Livy_, bk. 1, ch. 23, &c.――_Florus_, bk. 1, ch. 3.――_Virgil_,
_Æneid_, bk. 8, li. 642.――――A critic. _See:_ Tarpa.――――Carus, a
celebrated informer under Domitian, who enriched himself with the
plunder of those who were sacrificed to the emperor’s suspicion.

=Metœcia=, festivals instituted by Theseus in commemoration of the
people of Attica having removed to Athens.

=Meton=, an astrologer and mathematician of Athens. His father’s
name was Pausanias. He refused to go to Sicily with his countrymen,
and pretended to be insane, because he foresaw the calamities that
attended that expedition. In a book called _Enneadecaterides_, or
the cycle of 19 years, he endeavoured to adjust the course of the
sun and the moon, and supported that the solar and lunar years could
regularly begin from the same point in the heavens. This is called by
the moderns _the golden numbers_. He flourished B.C. 432. _Vitruvius_,
bk. 1.――_Plutarch_, _Nicias_. A native of Tarentum, who pretended to
be intoxicated that he might draw the attention of his countrymen,
when he wished to dissuade them from making an alliance with king
Pyrrhus. _Plutarch_, _Pyrrhus_.

=Metŏpe=, the wife of the river Sangarius. She was mother of Hecuba.
――――The daughter of Ladon, who married the Asopus.――――A river of
Arcadia.

=Metra=, the daughter of Eresichthon, a Thessalian prince, beloved by
Neptune. When her father had spent all his fortune to gratify the
canine hunger under which he laboured, she prostituted herself to her
neighbours, and received for reward oxen, goats, and sheep, which she
presented to Eresichthon. Some say that she had received from Neptune
the power of changing herself into whatever animal she pleased,
and that her father sold her continually to gratify his hunger, and
that she instantly assumed a different shape, and became again his
property. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 8, fable 21.

=Metragryrte=, one of the names of Tellus, or Cybele.

=Metrobius=, a player greatly favoured by Sylla. _Plutarch._

=Metrŏcles=, a pupil of Theophrastus, who had the care of the education
of Cleombrotus and Cleomenes. He suffocated himself when old and
infirm. _Diogenes Laërtius._

=Metrodōrus=, a physician of Chios, B.C. 444. He was the disciple of
Democritus, and had Hippocrates among his pupils. His compositions
on medicine, &c., are lost. He supported that the world was eternal
and infinite, and denied the existence of motion. _Diogenes Laërtius._
――――A painter and philosopher of Stratonice, B.C. 171. He was sent
to Paulus Æmylius, who, after the conquest of Perseus, demanded of
the Athenians a philosopher and a painter; the former to instruct
his children, and the latter to make a painting of his triumphs.
Metrodorus was sent, as in him alone were united the philosopher and
the painter. _Pliny_, bk. 35, ch. 11.――_Cicero_, bk. 5, _De Finibus
Bonorum et Malorum_, ch. 1; _On Oratory_, bk. 4; _Academica._
――♦_Diogenes Laërtius_, _Epicurus_.――――A friend of Mithridates, sent
as ambassador to Tigranes king of Armenia. He was remarkable for his
learning, moderation, humanity, and justice. He was put to death by
his royal master for his infidelity, B.C. 72. _Strabo._――_Plutarch._
――――Another, of a very retentive memory.

♦ ‘Diod.’ replaced with ‘Diogenes Laërtius’

=Metrophănes=, an officer of Mithridates, who invaded Eubœa, &c.

=Metropŏlis=, a town of Phrygia on the Mæander.――――Another of Thessaly
near Pharsalia.

=Mettius=, a chief of the Gauls, imprisoned by Julius Cæsar. _Cæsar_,
_Gallic War_.

=Mettus.= _See:_ Metius.

=Metulum=, a town of Liburnia, in besieging of which Augustus was
wounded. _Dio Cassius_, bk. 49.

=Mevania=, now _Bevagna_, a town of Umbria, on the Clitumnus,
the birthplace of the poet Propertius. _Lucan_, bk. 1, li. 473.
――_Propertius_, bk. 4, poem 1, li. 124.

=Mevius=, a wretched poet. _See:_ Mævius.

=Mezentius=, a king of the Tyrrhenians when Æneas came into Italy. He
was remarkable for his cruelties, and put his subjects to death by
slow tortures, or sometimes tied a man to a dead corpse face to face,
and suffered him to die in that condition. He was expelled by his
subjects, and fled to Turnus, who employed him in his war against the
Trojans. He was killed by Æneas, with his son Lausus. _Dionysius of
Halicarnassus_, bk. 1, ch. 15.――_Justin_, bk. 43, ch. 1.――_Livy_, bk.
1, ch. 2.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 7, li. 648; bk. 8, li. 482.――_Ovid_,
_Fasti_, bk. 4, li. 881.

=Micea=, a virgin of Elis, daughter of Philodemus, murdered by a
soldier called Lucius, &c. _Plutarch_, _Mulierum virtutes_.

=Micipsa=, a king of Numidia, son of Masinissa, who, at his death,
B.C. 119, left his kingdom between his sons Adherbal and Hiempsal,
and his nephew Jugurtha. Jugurtha abused his uncle’s favours by
murdering his two sons. _Sallust_, _Jugurthine War_.――_Florus_, bk. 3,
ch. 1.――_Plutarch_, _Gaius Gracchus_.

=Micythus=, a youth through whom Diomedon, by order of the Persian
king, made an attempt to bribe Epaminondas. _Cornelius Nepos_,
_Epaminondas_, ch. 4.――――A slave of Anaxilaus of Rhegium. _Herodotus_,
bk. 7, ch. 170.

=Mĭdas=, a king of Phrygia, son of Gordius, or Gorgius. In the
early part of his life, according to some traditions, he found a
large treasure, to which he owed his greatness and opulence. The
hospitality he showed to Silenus the preceptor of Bacchus, who had
been brought to him by some peasants, was liberally rewarded; and
Midas, when he conducted the old man back to the god, was permitted
to choose whatever recompence he pleased. He had the imprudence and
the avarice to demand of the god that whatever he touched might be
turned into gold. His prayer was granted, but he was soon convinced
of his injudicious choice; and when the very meats which he attempted
to eat became gold in his mouth, he begged Bacchus to take away a
present which must prove so fatal to the receiver. He was ordered
to wash himself in the river Pactolus, whose sands were turned into
gold by the touch of Midas. Some time after this adventure, Midas had
the imprudence to support that Pan was superior to Apollo in singing
and playing upon the flute, for which rash opinion the offended
god changed his ears into those of an ass, to show his ignorance
and stupidity. This Midas attempted to conceal from the knowledge
of his subjects, but one of his servants saw the length of his
ears, and being unable to keep the secret, and afraid to reveal it,
apprehensive of the king’s resentment, he opened a hole in the earth,
and after he had whispered there that Midas had the ears of an ass,
he covered the place as before, as if he had buried his words in the
ground. On that place, as the poets mention, grew a number of reeds,
which, when agitated by the wind, uttered the same sound that had
been buried beneath, and published to the world that Midas had the
ears of an ass. Some explain the fable of the ears of Midas by the
supposition that he kept a number of informers and spies, who were
continually employed in gathering every seditious word that might
drop from the mouths of his subjects. Midas, according to Strabo,
died of drinking hot bull’s blood. This he did, as Plutarch mentions,
to free himself from the numerous ill dreams which continually
tormented him. Midas, according to some, was son of Cybele. He
built a town, which he called Ancyræ. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_,
bk. 11, fable 5.――_Plutarch_, _de Superstitione_.――_Strabo_, bk. 1.
――_Hyginus_, fables 191, 274.――_Maximus Tyrius_, ch. 30.――_Pausanias_,
bk. 1, ch. 4.――_Valerius Maximus_, bk. 1, ch. 6.――_Herodotus_, bk. 1,
ch. 14.――_Ælian_, _Varia Historia_, bks. 4 & 12.――_Cicero_, _De
Divinatione_, bk. 1, ch. 36; bk. 2, ch. 31.

=Midea=, a town of Argolis. _Pausanias_, bk. 6, ch. 20.――――Of Lycia.
_Statius_, _Thebiad_, bk. 4, li. 45.――――Of Bœotia, drowned by the
inundations of the lake Copais. _Strabo_, bk. 8.――――A nymph, who had
Aspledon by Neptune. _Pausanias_, bk. 9, ch. 38.――――A mistress of
Electryon. _Apollodorus._

=Milānion=, a youth who became enamoured of Atalanta. He is supposed by
some to be the same as Meleager or Hippomanes. _Ovid_, _Ars Amatoria_,
bk. 2, li. 188.――――A son of Amphidamas.

=Mīlēsii=, the inhabitants of Miletus. _See:_ Miletus.

=Milesiorum murus=, a place of Egypt, at the entrance of one of the
mouths of the Nile.

=Milesius=, a surname of Apollo.――――A native of Miletus.

=Milētia=, one of the daughters of Scedasus, ravished with her sister
by some young Thebans. _Plutarch_ & _Pausanias_.

=Milētium=, a town of Calabria, built by the people of Miletus of Asia.
――――A town of Crete. _Homer_, _Iliad_, bk. 2, li. 154.

=Mīlētus=, a son of Apollo, who fled from Crete to avoid the wrath
of Minos, whom he meditated to dethrone. He came to Caria, where
he built a city which he called by his own name. Some suppose that
he only conquered a city there called Anactoria, which assumed
his name. They further say, that he put the inhabitants to the
sword, and divided the women among his soldiers. Cyanea, a daughter
of the Mæander, fell to his share. _Strabo_, bk. 14.――_Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 9, li. 446.――_Pausanias_, bk. 7, ch. 2.
――_Apollodorus_, bk. 3, ch. 1.――――A celebrated town of Asia Minor,
the capital of all Ionia, situate about 10 stadia south of the mouth
of the river Mæander, near the sea coast on the confines of Ionia and
Caria. It was founded by a Cretan colony under Miletus, or, according
to others, by Neleus the son of Codrus, or by Sarpedon, Jupiter’s
son. It has successively been called _Lelegeis_, _Pithyusa_, and
_Anactoria_. The inhabitants, called _Milesii_, were very powerful,
and long maintained an obstinate war against the kings of Lydia.
They early applied themselves to navigation, and planted no less
than 80 colonies, or, according to Seneca, 380, in different parts
of the world. Miletus gave birth to Thales, Anaximenes, Anaximander,
Hecatæus, Timotheus the musician, Pittacus, one of the seven wise
men, &c. Miletus was also famous for a temple and an oracle of Apollo
Didymæus, and for its excellent wool, with which were made stuffs and
garments, held in the highest reputation, both for softness, elegance,
and beauty. The words _Milesiæ fabulæ_, or _Milesiaca_, were used to
express wanton and ludicrous plays. _Ovid_, _Tristia_, bk. 2, li. 413.
――_Capitolinus_, _Life of Albinus_, ch. 11.――_Virgil_, _Georgics_, bk.
3, li. 306.――_Strabo_, bk. 15.――_Pausanias_, bk. 7, ch. 2.――_Mela_,
bk. 1, ch. 17.――_Pliny_, bk. 5, ch. 29.――_Herodotus_, bk. 1, &c.
――_Seneca_, _de Consolatione ad Helviam_.

=Milias=, a part of Lycia.

=Milichus=, a freedman who discovered Piso’s conspiracy against Nero.
_Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 15, ch. 54.

=Milinus=, a Cretan king, &c.

=Milionia=, a town of the Samnites, taken by the Romans.

=Mīlo=, a celebrated athlete of Crotona in Italy. His father’s name was
Diotimus. He early accustomed himself to carry the greatest burdens,
and by degrees became a monster in strength. It is said that he
carried on his shoulders a young bullock four years old, for above 40
yards, and afterwards killed it with one blow of his fist, and ate it
up in one day. He was seven times crowned at the Pythian games, and
six at Olympia. He presented himself a seventh time, but no one had
the courage or boldness to enter the lists against him. He was one of
the disciples of Pythagoras, and to his uncommon strength the learned
preceptor and his pupils owed their life. The pillar which supported
the roof of the school suddenly gave way, but Milo supported the
whole weight of the building, and gave the philosopher and his
auditors time to escape. In his old age Milo attempted to pull up
a tree by the roots and break it. He partly effected it, but his
strength being gradually exhausted, the tree, when half cleft,
re-united, and his hands remained pinched in the body of the tree.
He was then alone, and being unable to disentangle himself, he was
eaten up by the wild beasts of the place, about 300 years before
the christian era. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 15.――_Cicero_, _de
Senectute_.――_Valerius Maximus_, bk. 9, ch. 12.――_Strabo_, bk. 16.
――_Pausanias_, bk. 6, ch. 11.――――Titus Annius, a native of Lanuvium,
who attempted to obtain the consulship at Rome by intrigue and
seditious tumults. Clodius the tribune opposed his views, yet Milo
would have succeeded had not an unfortunate event totally frustrated
his hopes. As he was going into the country, attended by his wife and
a numerous retinue of gladiators and servants, he met on the Appian
road his enemy Clodius, who was returning to Rome with three of his
friends and some domestics completely armed. A quarrel arose between
the servants. Milo supported his attendants, and the dispute became
general. Clodius received many severe wounds, and was obliged to
retire to a neighbouring cottage. Milo pursued his enemy in his
retreat, and ordered his servants to despatch him. Eleven of the
servants of Clodius shared his fate, as also the owner of the house
who had given them a reception. The body of the murdered tribune
was carried to Rome, and exposed to public view. The enemies of Milo
inveighed bitterly against the violence and barbarity with which the
sacred person of a tribune had been treated. Cicero undertook the
defence of Milo, but the continual clamours of the friends of Clodius,
and the sight of an armed soldiery, which surrounded the seat of
judgment, so terrified the orator, that he forgot the greatest part
of his arguments, and the defence he made was weak and injudicious.
Milo was condemned and banished to Massilia. Cicero soon after sent
his exiled friend a copy of the oration which he had delivered in his
defence, in the form in which we have it now; and Milo, after he had
read it, exclaimed, “O Cicero, hadst thou spoken before my accusers
in those terms, Milo would not be now eating figs at Marseilles.” The
friendship and cordiality of Cicero and Milo were the fruits of long
intimacy and familiar intercourse. It was by the successful labours
of Milo that the orator was recalled from banishment and restored to
his friends. _Cicero_, _For Milo_.――_Paterculus_, bk. 2, chs. 47 &
68.――_Dio Cassius_, bk. 40.――――A general of the forces of Pyrrhus.
He was made governor of Tarentum, and that he might be reminded of
his duty to his sovereign, Pyrrhus sent him as a present a chain,
which was covered with the skin of Nicias the physician, who had
perfidiously offered the Romans to poison his royal master for a sum
of money. _Polyænus_, bk. 8, &c.――――A tyrant of Pisa in Elis, thrown
into the river Alpheus by his subjects for his oppression. _Ovid_,
_Ibis_, li. 325.

=Milōnius=, a drunken buffoon at Rome, accustomed to dance when
intoxicated. _Horace_, bk. 2, satire 1, li. 24.

=Miltas=, a soothsayer, who assisted Dion in explaining prodigies, &c.

=Miltiădes=, an Athenian, son of Cypselus, who obtained a victory in a
chariot race at the Olympic games, and led a colony of his countrymen
to the Chersonesus. The causes of this appointment are striking
and singular. The Thracian Dolonci, harassed by a long war with the
Absynthians, were directed by the oracle of Delphi to take for their
king the first man they met in their return home, who invited them
to come under his roof and partake of his entertainments. This was
Miltiades, whom the appearance of the Dolonci, their strange arms
and garments, had struck. He invited them to his house, and was made
acquainted with the commands of the oracle. He obeyed, and when the
oracle of Delphi had approved a second time the choice of the Dolonci,
he departed for the Chersonesus, and was invested by the inhabitants
with sovereign power. The first measure he took was to stop the
further incursions of the Absynthians, by building a strong wall
across the isthmus. When he had established himself at home, and
fortified his dominions against foreign invasion, he turned his arms
against Lampsacus. His expedition was unsuccessful; he was taken in
an ambuscade, and made prisoner. His friend Crœsus king of Lydia was
informed of his captivity, and he procured his release by threatening
the people of Lampsacus with his severest displeasure. He lived a
few years after he had recovered his liberty. As he had no issue, he
left his kingdom and his possessions to Stesagoras the son of Cimon,
who was his brother by the same mother. The memory of Miltiades
was greatly honoured by the Dolonci, and they regularly celebrated
festivals and exhibited shows in commemoration of a man to whom they
owed their greatness and preservation. Some time after Stesagoras
died without issue, and Miltiades the son of Cimon, and the brother
of the deceased, was sent by the Athenians with one ship to take
possession of the Chersonesus. At his arrival Miltiades appeared
mournful, as if lamenting the recent death of his brother. The
principal inhabitants of the country visited the new governor to
condole with him; but their confidence in his sincerity proved fatal
to them. Miltiades seized their persons, and made himself absolute
in Chersonesus; and to strengthen himself he married Hegesipyla, the
daughter of Olorus the king of the Thracians. His prosperity, however,
was of short duration. In the third year of his government his
dominions were threatened by an invasion of the Scythian Nomades,
whom Darius had some time before irritated by entering their country.
He fled before them, but as their hostilities were but momentary,
he was soon restored to his kingdom. Three years after he left
Chersonesus and set sail for Athens, where he was received with
great applause. He was present at the celebrated battle of Marathon,
in which all the chief officers ceded their power to him, and left
the event of the battle to depend upon his superior abilities.
He obtained an important victory [_See:_ Marathon] over the more
numerous forces of his adversaries; and when he had demanded of his
fellow-citizens an olive crown as the reward of his valour in the
field of battle, he was not only refused, but severely reprimanded
for presumption. The only reward, therefore, that he received for
a victory which proved so beneficial to the interests of universal
Greece, was in itself simple and inconsiderable, though truly great
in the opinion of that age. He was represented in the front of a
picture among the rest of the commanders who fought at the battle of
Marathon, and he seemed to exhort and animate his soldiers to fight
with courage and intrepidity. Some time after Miltiades was entrusted
with a fleet of 70 ships, and ordered to punish those islands which
had revolted to the Persians. He was successful at first, but a
sudden report that the Persian fleet was coming to attack him,
changed his operations as he was besieging Paros. He raised the
siege and returned to Athens, where he was accused of treason, and
♦particularly of holding a correspondence with the enemy. The falsity
of these accusations might have appeared, if Miltiades had been
able to come into the assembly. A wound which he had received before
Paros detained him at home, and his enemies, taking advantage of his
absence, became more eager in their accusations and louder in their
clamours. He was condemned to death, but the rigour of the sentence
was retracted on the recollection of his great services to the
Athenians, and he was put into prison till he had paid a fine of
50 talents to the state. His inability to discharge so great a
sum detained him in confinement, and soon after his wounds became
incurable, and he died about 489 years before the christian era. His
body was ransomed by his son Cimon, who was obliged to borrow and
pay the 50 talents, to give his father a decent burial. The crimes
of Miltiades were probably aggravated in the eyes of his countrymen
when they remembered how he made himself absolute in Chersonesus;
and in condemning the barbarity of the Athenians towards a general
who was the source of their military prosperity, we must remember the
jealousy which ever reigns among a free and independent people, and
how watchful they are in defence of the natural rights which they
see wrested from others by violence and oppression. Cornelius Nepos
has written the life of Miltiades the son of Cimon; but his history
is incongruous and not authentic; and the author, by confounding the
actions of the son of Cimon with those of the son of Cypselus, has
made the whole dark and unintelligible. Greater reliance in reading
the actions of both the Miltiades is to be placed on the narration
of Herodotus, whose veracity is confirmed, and who was indisputably
more informed and more capable of giving an account of the life and
exploits of men who flourished in his age, and of which he could see
the living monuments. Herodotus was born about six years after the
famous battle of Marathon, and Cornelius Nepos, as a writer of the
Augustan age, flourished about 450 years after the age of the father
of history. _Cornelius Nepos_, _Lives_.――_Herodotus_, bk. 4, ch. 137;
bk. 6, ch. 34, &c.――_Plutarch_, _Cimon_.――_Valerius Maximus_, bk. 5,
ch. 3.――_Justin_, bk. 2.――_Pausanias._――――An Archon of Athens.

♦ ‘paticularly’ replaced with ‘particularly’

=Milto=, a favourite mistress of Cyrus the younger. _See:_ Aspasia.

=Milvius=, a parasite at Rome, &c. _Horace_, bk. 2, satire 7.――――A
bridge at Rome over the Tiber, now called _Pont de Molle_. _Cicero_,
_Letters to Atticus_, bk. 13, ltr. 33.――_Sallust_, _Catilinæ
Coniuratio_, ch. 45.――_Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 13, ch. 47.

=Milyas=, a country of Asia Minor, better known by the name of Lycia.
Its inhabitants, called _Milyades_, and afterwards _Solymi_, were
among the numerous nations which formed the army of Xerxes in his
invasion of Greece. _Herodotus._――_Cicero_, _Against Verres_, bk. 1,
ch. 38.

=Mimallŏnes=, the Bacchanals, who, when they celebrated the orgies
of Bacchus, put horns on their heads. They are also called
_Mimallonides_, and some derive their name from the mountain
Mimas. _Persius_, bk. 1, li. 99.――_Ovid_, _Ars Amatoria_, li. 541.
――_Statius_, _Thebiad_, bk. 4, li. 660.

=Mimas=, a giant whom Jupiter destroyed with thunder. _Horace_, bk. 3,
ode 4.――――A high mountain of Asia Minor, near Colophon. _Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 2, fable 5.――――A Trojan, son of Theano and
Amycus, born on the same night as Paris, with whom he lived in
great intimacy. He followed the fortune of Æneas, and was killed by
Mezentius. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 10, li. 702.

=Mimnermus=, a Greek poet and musician of Colophon in the age of Solon.
He chiefly excelled in elegiac poetry, whence some have attributed
the invention of it to him; and, indeed, he was the poet who made
elegy an amorous poem, instead of a mournful and melancholy tale.
In the expression of love, Propertius prefers him to Homer, as this
verse shows:

_Plus in amore valet Mimnermi versus Homero_.

In his old age Mimnermus became enamoured of a young girl called
Nanno. Some few fragments of his poetry remain, collected by Stobæus.
He is supposed by some to be the inventor of the pentameter verse,
which others, however, attribute to Callinus or Archilochus. The
surname of _Ligustiades_, λιγυς (_shrill-voiced_), has been applied
to him, though some imagine the word to be the name of his father.
_Strabo_, bks. 1 & 14.――_Pausanias_, bk. 9, ch. 29.――_Diogenes
Laërtius_, bk. 1.――_Propertius_, bk. 1, poem 9, li. 11.――_Horace_,
bk. 1, ltr. 6, li. 65.

=Mincius=, now _Mincio_, a river of Venetia, flowing from the lake
Benacus, and falling into the Po. Virgil was born on its banks.
_Virgil_, _Eclogues_, poem 7, li. 13; _Germania_, ch. 3, li. 15;
_Æneid_, bk. 10, li. 206.

=Mindărus=, a commander of the Spartan fleet during the Peloponnesian
war. He was defeated by the Athenians, and died 410 B.C. _Plutarch._

=Mīnēĭdes=, the daughters of Minyas or Mineus, king of Orchomenos
in Bœotia. They were three in number, Leuconoe, Leucippe, and
Alcithoe. Ovid calls the two first Clymene and Iris. They derided
the orgies of Bacchus, for which impiety the god inspired them
with an unconquerable desire of eating human flesh. They drew
lots which of them should give up her son as food to the rest. The
lot fell upon Leucippe, and she gave up her son Hippasus, who was
instantly devoured by the three sisters. They were changed into
bats. In commemoration of this bloody crime, it was usual among
the Orchomenians for the high priest, as soon as the sacrifice
was finished, to pursue, with a drawn sword, all the women who had
entered the temple, and even to kill the first he came up to. _Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 4, fable 12.――_Plutarch_, _Quæstiones Græcæ_,
ch. 38.

=Mĭnerva=, the goddess of wisdom, war, and all the liberal arts, was
produced from Jupiter’s brain without a mother. The god, as it is
reported, married Metis, whose superior prudence and sagacity above
the rest of the gods, made him apprehend that the children of such
a union would be of a more exalted nature, and more intelligent
than their father. To prevent this, Jupiter devoured Metis in
her pregnancy, and some time after, to relieve the pains which he
suffered in his head, he ordered Vulcan to cleave it open. Minerva
came all armed and grown up from her father’s brain, and immediately
was admitted into the assembly of the gods, and made one of the most
faithful counsellors of her father. The power of Minerva was great
in heaven; she could hurl the thunders of Jupiter, prolong the life
of men, bestow the gift of prophecy, and, indeed, she was the only
one of all the divinities whose authority and consequence were equal
to those of Jupiter. The actions of Minerva are numerous, as well as
the kindnesses by which she endeared herself to mankind. Her quarrel
with Neptune concerning the right of giving a name to the capital
of Cecropia deserves attention. The assembly of the gods settled
the dispute by promising the preference to whichever of the two
gave the most useful and necessary present to the inhabitants of the
earth. Neptune, upon this, struck the ground with his trident, and
immediately a horse issued from the earth. Minerva produced the olive,
and obtained the victory by the unanimous voice of the gods, who
observed that the olive, as the emblem of peace, is far preferable
to the horse, the symbol of war and bloodshed. The victorious deity
called the capital _Athenæ_, and became the tutelar goddess of the
place. Minerva was always very jealous of her power, and the manner
in which she punished the presumption of Arachne is well known.
_See:_ Arachne. The attempts of Vulcan to offer her violence, are
strong marks of her virtue. Jupiter had sworn by the Styx to give
to Vulcan, who had made him a complete suit of armour, whatever he
desired. Vulcan demanded Minerva, and the father of the gods, who
had permitted Minerva to live in perpetual celibacy, consented, but
privately advised his daughter to make all the resistance she could
to frustrate the attempts of her lover. The prayers and force of
Vulcan proved ineffectual, and her chastity was not violated, though
the god left on her body the marks of his passion, and, from the
impurity which proceeded from this scuffle, and which Minerva threw
down upon the earth, wrapped up in wool, was born Erichthon, an
uncommon monster. _See:_ Erichthonius. Minerva was the first who
built a ship, and it was her zeal for navigation, and her care for
the Argonauts, which placed the prophetic tree of Dodona behind the
ship Argo, when going to Colchis. She was known among the ancients by
many names. She was called Athena, Pallas [_See:_ Pallas], Parthenos,
from her remaining in perpetual celibacy; Tritonia, because
worshipped near the lake Tritonis; Glaucopis, from the blueness of
her eyes; Agorea, from her presiding over markets; Hippia, because
she first taught mankind how to manage the horse; Stratea and Area,
from her martial character; Coryphagenes, because born from Jupiter’s
brain; Sais, because worshipped at Sais, &c. Some attributed to her
the invention of the flute, whence she was surnamed Andon, Luscinia,
Musica, Salpiga, &c. She, as it is reported, once amused herself
in playing upon her favourite flute before Juno and Venus, but
the goddesses ridiculed the distortion of her face in blowing the
instrument. Minerva, convinced of the justness of their remarks
by looking at herself in a fountain near mount Ida, threw away the
musical instrument, and denounced a melancholy death to him who
found it. Marsyas was the miserable proof of the veracity of her
expressions. The worship of Minerva was universally established;
she had magnificent temples in Egypt, Phœnicia, all parts of Greece,
Italy, Gaul, and Sicily. Sais, Rhodes, and Athens particularly
claimed her attention, and it is even said that Jupiter rained a
shower of gold upon the island of Rhodes, which had paid so much
veneration and such an early reverence to the divinity of his
daughter. The festivals celebrated in her honour were solemn and
magnificent. _See:_ Panathenæa. She was invoked by every artist,
and particularly such as worked in wool, embroidery, painting, and
sculpture. It was the duty of almost every member of society to
implore the assistance and patronage of a deity who presided over
sense, taste, and reason. Hence the poets have had occasion to say,

_Tu nihil invitâ dices faciesve Minervâ_,

and,

_Qui bene placârit Pallada, doctus erit_.

Minerva was represented in different ways, according to the different
characters in which she appeared. She generally appeared with a
countenance full more of masculine firmness and composure, than of
softness and grace. Most usually she was represented with a helmet on
her head, with a large plume nodding in the air. In one hand she held
a spear, and in the other a shield, with the dying head of Medusa
upon it. Sometimes this Gorgon’s head was on her breastplate, with
living serpents writhing round it, as well as round her shield and
helmet. In most of her statues she is represented as sitting, and
sometimes she holds in one hand a distaff, instead of a spear. When
she appeared as the goddess of the liberal arts she was arrayed in
a variegated veil, which the ancients called _peplum_. Sometimes
Minerva’s helmet was covered at the top with the figure of a cock,
a bird which, on account of his great courage, is properly sacred to
the goddess of war. Some of her statues represented her helmet with
a sphinx in the middle, supported on either side by griffins. In
some medals, a chariot drawn by four horses, or sometimes a dragon
or a serpent, with winding spires, appear at the top of her helmet.
She was partial to the olive tree; the owl and the cock were her
favourite birds, and the dragon among reptiles was sacred to her.
The functions, offices, and actions of Minerva seem so numerous, that
they undoubtedly originate in more than one person. Cicero speaks of
five persons of this name; a Minerva, mother of Apollo; a daughter
of the Nile, who was worshipped at Sais, in Egypt; a third, born from
Jupiter’s brain; a fourth, daughter of Jupiter and Coryphe; and a
fifth, daughter of Pallas, generally represented with winged shoes.
This last put her father to death because he attempted her virtue.
_Pausanias_, bks. 1, 2, 3, &c.――_Horace_, bk. 1, ode 16; bk. 3,
ode 4.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 2, &c.――_Strabo_, bks. 6, 9, & 13.
――_Philostratus_, _Imagines_, bk. 2.――_Ovid_, _Fasti_, bk. 3, &c.;
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 6.――_Cicero_, _de Natura Deorum_, bk. 1, ch. 15;
bk. 3, ch. 23, &c.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1, &c.――_Pindar_, _Olympian_,
poem 7.――_Lucan_, bk. 9, li. 354.――_Sophocles_, _Œdipus_.――_Homer_,
_Iliad_, &c.; _Odyssey_; _Hymn to Pallas Athena_.――_Diodorus_,
bk. 5.――_Hesiod_, _Theogony_.――_Aeschylus_, _Eumenides_.――_Lucian_,
_Dialogues_.――_Clement of Alexandria_, _Stromateis_, bk. 2.
――_Orpheus_, _Hymns_, poem 31.――_Quintus Smyrnæus_, bk. 14, li. 448.
――_Apollonius_, bk. 1.――_Hyginus_, fable 168.――_Statius_, _Thebiad_,
bk. 2, li. 721; bk. 7, &c.――_Callimachus_, _Hymn to Demeter_.
――_Ælian_, _Varia Historia_, bk. 12.――_Cornelius Nepos_, _Pausanias_.
――_Plutarch_, _Lycurgus_, &c.――_Thucydides_, bk. 1.――_Herodotus_,
bk. 5.

=Minervæ Castrum=, a town of Calabria, now _Castro_.――――Promontorium, a
cape at the most southern extremity of Campania.

=Mĭnervālia=, festivals at Rome in honour of Minerva, celebrated in
the months of March and June. During this solemnity scholars obtained
some relaxation from their studious pursuits, and the present,
which it was usual for them to offer to their masters, was called
_Minerval_, in honour of the goddess Minerva, who patronized
over literature. _Varro_, _de Re Rustica_, bk. 3, ch. 2.――_Ovid_,
_Tristia_, bk. 3, li. 809.――_Livy_, bk. 9, ch. 30.

=Mĭnio=, now _Mignone_, a river of Etruria, falling into the Tyrrhene
sea. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 10, li. 183.――――One of the favourites of
Antiochus king of Syria.

=Minnæi=, a people of Arabia, on the Red sea. _Pliny_, bk. 12, ch. 14.

=Minoa=, a town of Sicily, built by Minos when he was pursuing Dædalus,
and called also _Heraclea_.――――A town of Peloponnesus.――――A town of
Crete.

=Minois=, belonging to Minos. Crete is called _Minoia regna_, as being
the legislator’s kingdom. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 6, li. 14.――――A
patronymic of Ariadne. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 8, li. 157.

=Minos=, a king of Crete, son of Jupiter and Europa, who gave laws to
his subjects, B.C. 1406, which still remained in full force in the
age of the philosopher Plato. His justice and moderation procured
him the appellation of the favourite of the gods, the confidant of
Jupiter, the wise legislator, in every city of Greece; and, according
to the poets, he was rewarded for his equity, after death, with the
office of supreme and absolute judge in the infernal regions. In this
capacity, he is represented sitting in the middle of the shades and
holding a sceptre in his hand. The dead plead their different causes
before him, and the impartial judge shakes the fatal urn, which is
filled with the destinies of mankind. He married Ithona, by whom he
had Lycastes, who was the father of Minos II. _Homer_, _Odyssey_,
bk. 19, li. 178.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 6, li. 432.――_Apollodorus_,
bk. 3, ch. 1.――_Hyginus_, fable 41.――_Diodorus_, bk. 4.――_Horace_,
bk. 1, ode 28.

=Minos II.=, was a son of Lycastes, the son of Minos I. king of Crete.
He married Pasiphae the daughter of Sol and Perseis, and by her
he had many children. He increased his paternal dominions by the
conquest of the neighbouring islands, but he showed himself cruel
in the war which he carried on against the Athenians, who had put
to death his son Androgeus. _See:_ Androgeus. He took Megara by
the treachery of Scylla [_See:_ Scylla], and, not satisfied with
a victory, he obliged the vanquished to bring him yearly to Crete
seven chosen boys, and the same number of virgins, to be devoured
by the Minotaur. _See:_ Minotaurus. This bloody tribute was at last
abolished when Theseus had destroyed the monster. _See:_ Theseus.
When Dædalus, whose industry and invention had fabricated the
labyrinth, and whose imprudence, in assisting Pasiphae in the
gratification of her unnatural desires, had offended Minos, fled
from the place of his confinement with wings [_See:_ Dædalus], and
arrived safe in Sicily, the incensed monarch pursued the offender,
resolved to punish his infidelity. Cocalus king of Sicily, who
had hospitably received Dædalus, entertained his royal guest with
dissembled friendship; and that he might not deliver to him a man
whose ingenuity and abilities he so well knew, he put Minos to death.
Some say that it was the daughters of Cocalus who put the king of
Crete to death, by detaining him so long in a bath till he fainted,
after which they suffocated him. Minos died about 35 years before
the Trojan war. He was father of Androgeus, Glaucus, and Deucalion,
and two daughters, Phædra and Ariadne. Many authors have confounded
the two monarchs of this name, the grandfather and the grandson,
but Homer, Plutarch, and Diodorus prove plainly that they were
two different persons. _Pausanias_, _Achaia_, ch. 4.――_Plutarch_,
_Theseus_.――_Hyginus_, fable 41.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 8,
li. 141.――_Diodorus_, bk. 4.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 6, li. 21.
――_Plutarch_, _Parallela minora_.――_Athenæus._――_Flaccus_, bk. 14.

=Minōtaurus=, a celebrated monster, half a man and half a bull,
according to this verse of Ovid, _Ars Amatoria_, bk. 2, li. 24,

_Semibovemque virum, semivirumque bovem_.

It was the fruit of Pasiphae’s amour with a bull. Minos refused to
sacrifice a white bull to Neptune, an animal which he had received
from the god for that purpose. This offended Neptune, and he made
Pasiphae the wife of ♦Minos enamoured of this fine bull, which had
been refused to his altars. Dædalus prostituted his talents in being
subservient to the queen’s unnatural desires, and, by his means,
Pasiphae’s horrible passions were gratified, and the Minotaur came
into the world. Minos confined in the labyrinth a monster which
convinced the world of his wife’s lasciviousness and indecency, and
reflected disgrace upon his family. The Minotaur usually devoured
the chosen young men and maidens, whom the tyranny of Minos yearly
extracted from the Athenians. Theseus delivered his country from this
shameful tribute, when it had fallen to his lot to be sacrificed to
the voracity of the Minotaur, and, by means of Ariadne, the king’s
daughter, he destroyed the monster, and made his escape from the
windings of the labyrinth. The fabulous traditions of the Minotaur,
and of the infamous commerce of Pasiphae with a favourite bull, have
been often explained. Some suppose that Pasiphae was enamoured of one
of her husband’s courtiers, called Taurus, and that Dædalus favoured
the passion of the queen by suffering his house to become the retreat
of the two lovers. Pasiphae, some time after, brought twins into the
world, one of whom greatly resembled Minos, and the other Taurus.
In the natural resemblance of their countenance with that of their
supposed fathers originated their name, and consequently the fable
of the Minotaur. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 8, fable 2.――_Hyginus_,
fable 40.――_Plutarch_, _Theseus_.――_Palæphatus._――_Virgil_, _Æneid_,
bk. 6, li. 26.

♦ ‘Minys’ replaced with ‘Minos’

=Minthe=, a daughter of Cocytus, loved by Pluto. Proserpine discovered
her husband’s amour, and changed his mistress into an herb, called by
the same name, _mint_. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 10, li. 729.

=Minturnæ=, a town of Campania, between Sinuessa and Formiæ. It was in
the marshes, in its neighbourhood, that Marius concealed himself in
the mud, to avoid the partisans of Sylla. The people condemned him to
death, but when his voice alone had terrified the executioner, they
showed themselves compassionate, and favoured his escape. Marica was
worshipped there; hence _Maricæ regna_ applied to the place. _Strabo_,
bk. 2.――_Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 4.――_Livy_, bk. 8, ch. 10; bk. 10, ch. 21;
bk. 27, ch. 38.――_Paterculus_, bk. 2, ch. 14.――_Lucan_, bk. 2, li. 424.

=Mĭnŭtia=, a vestal virgin, accused of debauchery on account of the
beauty and elegance of her dress. She was condemned to be buried
alive because a female supported the false accusation, A.U.C. 418.
_Livy_, bk. 8, ch. 15.――――A public way from Rome to Brundusium.
_See:_ Via.

=Mĭnŭtius Augurinus=, a Roman consul slain in a battle against the
Samnites.――――A tribune of the people, who put Mælius to death when
he aspired to the sovereignty of Rome. He was honoured with a brazen
statue for causing the corn to be sold at a reduced price to the
people. _Livy_, bk. 4, ch. 16.――_Pliny_, bk. 18, ch. 3.――――Rufus, a
master of horse to the dictator Fabius Maximus. His disobedience to
the commands of the dictator was productive of an extension of his
prerogative, and the master of the horse was declared equal in power
to the dictator. Minutius, soon after this, fought with ill success
against Annibal, and was saved by the interference of Fabius; which
circumstance had such an effect upon him, that he laid down his power
at the feet of his deliverer, and swore that he would never act again
but by his directions. He was killed at the battle of Cannæ. _Livy.
_――_Cornelius Nepos_, _Hannibal_.――――A Roman consul who defended
Coriolanus from the insults of the people, &c.――――Another, defeated
by the Æqui, and disgraced by the dictator Cincinnatus.――――An officer
under Cæsar, in Gaul, who afterwards became one of the conspirators
against his patron. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 6, ch. 29.――――A
tribune who warmly opposed the views of Caius Gracchus.――――A Roman,
chosen dictator, and obliged to lay down his office, because, during
the time of his election, the sudden cry of a rat was heard.――――A
Roman, one of the first who were chosen questors.――――Felix, an
African lawyer, who flourished 207 A.D. He has written an elegant
dialogue in defence of the christian religion, called _Octavius_,
from the principal speaker in it. This book was long attributed
to Arnobius, and even printed as an eighth book (_Octavus_), till
Balduinus discovered the imposition in his edition of Felix, 1560.
The two last editions are that of Davies, 8vo, Cambridge, 1712; and
of Gronovius, 8vo, Leiden, 1709.

=Minyæ=, a name given to the inhabitants of Orchomenos in Bœotia,
from Minyas king of the country. Orchomenos the son of Minyas
gave his name to the capital of the country, and the inhabitants
still retained their original appellation, in contradistinction to
the Orchomenians of Arcadia. A colony of Orchomenians passed into
Thessaly and settled in Iolchos; from which circumstance the people
of the place, and particularly the Argonauts, were called Minyæ. This
name they received, according to the opinion of some, not because a
number of Orchomenians had settled among them, but because the chief
and noblest of them were descended from the daughters of Minyas. Part
of the Orchomenians accompanied the sons of Codrus when they migrated
to Ionia. The descendants of the Argonauts, as well as the Argonauts
themselves, received the name of Minyæ. They first inhabited Lemnos,
where they had been born from the Lemnian women who had murdered
their husbands. They were driven from Lemnos by the Pelasgi about
1160 years before the christian era, and came to settle in Laconia,
from whence they passed into Calliste with a colony of Lacedæmonians.
_Hyginus_, fable 14.――_Pausanias_, bk. 9, ch. 6.――_Apollonius_, bk. 1,
_Argonautica_.――_Herodotus_, bk. 4, ch. 145.

=Mĭnyas=, a king of Bœotia, son of Neptune and Tritogenia the daughter
of Æolus. Some make him the son of Neptune and Callirrhoe, or of
Chryses, Neptune’s son, and Chrysogenia the daughter of Halmus.
He married Clytodora, by whom he had Presbon, Periclymenus, and
Eteoclymenus. He was father of Orchomenos, Diochithondes, and Athamas,
by a second marriage with Phanasora the daughter of Paon. According
to Plutarch and Ovid, he had three daughters, called Leuconoe,
Alcithoe, and Leucippe. They were changed into bats. _See:_ Mineides.
_Pausanias_, bk. 9, ch. 36.――_Plutarch_, _Quæstiones Græcæ_, ch. 38.
――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 4, lis. 1 & 468.

=Miny̆cus=, a river of Thessaly, falling into the sea near Arene, called
afterwards Orchomenus. _Homer_, _Iliad_, bk. 11.――_Strabo_, bk. 8.

=Minyeides.= _See:_ Mineides.

=Minyia=, a festival observed at Orchomenus, in honour of Minyas the
king of the place. The Orchomenians were called Minyæ, and the river
upon whose banks their town was built, Mynos.――――A small island near
Patmos.

=Minytus=, one of Niobe’s sons. _Apollodorus._

=Miraces=, a eunuch of Parthia, &c. _Flaccus_, bk. 6, li. 690.

=Misēnum=, or =Misenus=. _See:_ Misenus.

=Misēnus=, a son of Æolus, who was piper to Hector. After Hector’s
death he followed Æneas to Italy, and was drowned on the coast
of Campania, because he had challenged one of the Tritons. Æneas
afterwards found his body on the sea-shore, and buried it on a
promontory which bears his name, now _Miseno_. There was also a town
of the same name on the promontory, at the west of the bay of Naples,
and it had also a capacious harbour, where Augustus and some of
the Roman emperors generally kept stationed one of their fleets.
_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 3, li. 239; bk. 6, lis. 164 & 234.――_Strabo_,
bk. 5.――_Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 4.――_Livy_, bk. 24, ch. 13.――_Tacitus_,
_Histories_, bk. 2, ch. 9; _Annals_, bk. 15, ch. 51.

=Misitheus=, a Roman celebrated for his virtues and his misfortunes. He
was father-in-law to the emperor Gordian, whose counsels and actions
he guided by his prudence and moderation. He was sacrificed to the
ambition of Philip, a wicked senator who succeeded him as prefect of
the pretorian guards. He died A.D. 243, and left all his possessions
to be appropriated for the good of the public.

=Mithras=, a god of Persia, supposed to be the sun, or, according to
others, Venus Urania. His worship was introduced at Rome, and the
Romans raised him altars, on which was this ♦inscription, _Deo Soli
Mithræ_, or _Soli Deo invicto Mithræ_. He is generally represented
as a young man, whose head is covered with a turban, after the manner
of the Persians. He supports his knee upon a bull that lies on the
ground, and one of whose horns he holds in one hand, while with
the other he plunges a dagger into his neck. _Statius_, _Thebiad_,
bk. 1, li. 720.――_Curtius_, bk. 4, ch. 13.――_Claudian_, _de consulatu
Stilichonis_, bk. 1.

♦ ‘incription’ replaced with ‘inscription’

=Mithracenses=, a Persian who fled to Alexander after the murder of
Darius by Bessus. _Curtius_, bk. 5.

=Mithradātes=, a herdsman of Astyages, ordered to put young Cyrus
to death. He refused, and educated him at home as his own son, &c.
_Herodotus._――_Justin._

=Mithrēnes=, a Persian who betrayed Sardes, &c. _Curtius_, bk. 3.

=Mithridātes I.=, was the third king of Pontus. He was tributary to the
crown of Persia, and his attempts to make himself independent proved
fruitless. He was conquered in a battle, and obtained peace with
difficulty. Xenophon calls him merely a governor of Cappadocia. He
was succeeded by Ariobarzanes, B.C. 363. _Diodorus._――_Xenophon._