MaeSIA, a district of the ancient Illyric.u.m, bordering on Pannonia, containing what is now called _Bulgaria_, and part of _Servia_.
MAGNESIA: there were anciently three cities of the name; one in Ionia, on the Maeander, which, it is said, was given to Themistocles by Artaxerxes, with these words, _to furnish his table with bread_; it is now called _Guzel-Hissard_, in Asiatic Turkey: the second was at the foot of Mount Sipylus, in Lydia; but has been destroyed by earthquakes: the third Magnesia was a maritime town of Thessaly, on the Egean Sea.
MAGONTIAc.u.m, a town of Gallia Belgica; now _Mentz_, situate at the confluence of the Rhine and the Maine.
MARCODURUM, a village of Gallia Belgica; now _Duren_ on the _Roer_.
MARCOMANIANS, a people of Germany, between the Rhine, the Danube, and the Neckar. They removed to the country of the Boii, and having expelled the inhabitants, occupied the country now called _Bohemia_.
See Manners of the Germans, s. 42.
MARDI, a people of the Farther Asia, near the Caspian Sea.
MARITIME ALPS. See ALPS.
MARSACI, a people in the north of Batavia, inhabiting the sea-coast.
MARSI, a people of Italy, who dwelt round the Lacus Fucinus. Another people called Marsi, in Germany, to the south of the Frisii, in the country now called _Paderborne_ and _Munster_.
Ma.s.sILLIA, a town of Gallia Narbonensis, formerly celebrated for polished manners and learning; now _Ma.r.s.eilles_, a port town of Provence.
MATTIACI, a branch of the Catti in Germany. Their capital town was
MATTIUM, supposed now to be _Marpourg_ in _Hesse_.
MAURITANIA, a large region of Africa, extending from east to west along the Mediterranean, divided by the emperor Claudius into _Caesariensis_, the eastern part, and _Tingitana_, the western. It had Numidia to the east, and Getulia to the south; and was also bounded by the Atlantic ocean, the straits of Gibraltar, and the Mediterranean to the north. The natives were called Mauri, and thence the name of _Mauritania_; now _Barbary_.
MEDIA, a country of the Farther Asia, bounded on the west by Armenia, on the east by Parthia, on the north by the Caspian Sea, on the south by Persia. _Ecbatana_ was the capital.
MEDIOLANUM, now _Milan_ in Italy.
MEDIOMATRICI, a people of Gallia Belgica; now the diocese of _Metz_.
MELITENE, a city of Cappadocia.
MEMPHIS, a city of Egypt, famous for its pyramids.
MENAPII, a people of Belgia; now _Brabant_ and _Flanders_.
MESOPOTAMIA, a large country in the middle of Asia; so called, because it lies, [Greek: mesae potamon], between two rivers, the Euphrates on the west, and the Tigris on the east.
MESSENA, or MESSANA, an ancient and celebrated city of Sicily, on the strait between that island and Italy. It still retains the name of _Messina_.
MEVANIA, a town of Umbria, near the c.l.i.tumnus, a river that runs from east to west into the Tiber.
MILETUS, an ancient city of Ionia, in Asia Minor; now totally destroyed.
MILVIUS PONS, a bridge over the Tiber, at the distance of two miles from Rome, on the _Via Flamminia_; now called _Ponte-Molle_.
MINTURNae, a town on the confines of Campania, near the river Liris.
MISENUM, a promontory of Campania, with a good harbour, near the _Sinus Puteola.n.u.s_, or the bay of Naples, on the north side. It was the station for the Roman fleets. Now _Capo di Miseno_.
MITYLENE, the capital city of the isle of Lesbos, and now gives name to the whole island.
MONA, an island separated from the coast of the Ordovices by a narrow strait, the ancient seat of the Druids. Now the isle of _Anglesey_.
MONaeCI PORTUS, now _Monaco_, a port town in the territory of _Genoa_.
MORINI, a people of Belgia, inhabiting the diocese of _Tournay_, and the country about _St. Omer_ and _Boulogne_.
MOSA, a large river of Belgic Gaul; it receives a branch of the Rhine, called _Vahalis_, and falls into the German Ocean below the Briel. It is now the _Maese_, or _Meuse_.
MOSELLA, a river, which, running through Lorrain, falls into the Rhine at _Coblentz_, now called the _Moselle_.
MOSTENI, the common name of the people and their town on the river Hermus, in Lydia.
MUSULANI, an independent savage people in Africa, on the confines of Carthage, Numidia, and Mauritania.
MUTINA, now _Modena_, a city of Lombardy, in Italy.
MYRINA, a town of _aeolis_, or _aeolia_, in the Hither Asia; now _Sanderlik_.
N.
NABALIA, the name of the channel made by Drusus from the Rhine to the river Sala; now the _Ysell_. See Annals, ii. s. 8.
NABATHaeI, a people between the Euphrates and the Red Sea; comprehending Arabia Petraea, and bounded by Palestine on the north.
NAR, a river which rises in Umbria, and, falling into the lake _Velinus_, rushes thence with a violent and loud cascade, and empties itself into the Tiber.
NARBON GAUL, the southern part of Gaul, bounded by the Pyrenees to the west, the Mediterranean to the south, and the Alps and the Rhine to the east.
NARNIA, a town of Umbria, on the river _Nar_; now _Narni_, in the territory of the Pope.
NAUPORTUM, a town on a cognominal river in Pannonia.
NAVA, a river of Gallia Belgica, which runs north-east into the west side of the Rhine; now the _Nahe_.
NAVARIA, now _Novara_, a city of Milan.
NEMETES, a people originally of Germany, removed to the diocese of _Spire_, on the Rhine.
NICEPHORUS, a river of Asia that washes the walls of _Tigranocerta_, and runs into the _Tigris_; _D"Anville_ says, now called _Khabour_.
NICOPOLIS: there were several towns of this name, viz. in Egypt, Armenia, Bithynia, on the Euxine, &c. A town of the same name was built by Augustus, on the coast of Epirus, as a monument of his victory at Actium.
NINOS, the capital of _a.s.syria_; called also _Nineve_.