MACEDONIA.
 

MAU.ESTUS.
 

 iojulcs 11, who obtained the throne 68   Vid.

 Aristobulus.  For tha remainder of the history

 of the house of the Maccabees, vid. Hyro inus II.

 and Herodes L

  Macedonia (Maze sbovia : MaKebbveg), a coun

 tiy in Europe, north of Greece, wMch is said to

 have derived  its name from  an ancient King

 Macedon,  a son of Jupiter (Zeus) and Thyia, a

 daughter of Deucalion.  The name  first  occurs

 in Herodotus, but its more ancient form appears

 to have  }een  Macetia (HaKeria); and, accord¬

 ingly, tha  Macedonians are  sometimes  ealled

 Macete.    The country is said to have been

 originally  named Emathia. The boundaries  of

 Macedonia differed at different periods.   In the

 time of Herodotus the name Macedonis  desig¬

 nated only the country to the south and west

 of the  River Lydias.   The  boundaries  of the

 ancient Macedonian monarchy, before the time

 of Philip, the father of Alexander, were  on the

 south Olympus and the Cambunian Mountains,

 wMch separated it  from  Thessaly and Epirus,

 on the east the River Strymon, whieh separated

 it from Thrace, and on the north and  west R

 lyria and Paaonia, from which it was divided by

 no well defined  Unfits.   Macedonia was greatly

 enlarged by the conquests of Philip.   He  added

to his kingdom Paaonia on  the north, so that the

mountains Seordus and Orbelus now separated

it from Mcesia; a part of Thrace on the east as

far as the River Nestus, which  Thracian district

 was usually called Macedonia adjecta ;  the pen¬

insula  Chaleidiee  on  the south; and on  the

West a  part of  Illyria, as far as the Lake Lych-

nitis.  On  the conquest of the country by  the

Romans, B.C. 168, Macedonia  was  divided into

four disti iets, wMch were quite independent  of

one another:  1. The country between the Stry¬

mon and the Nestus, with a part of Thrace east

of the Nestus, as far  as the Hebrus, and also

including the territory of Heraelea Sintica and

Bisaltice, west of the Strymon; the capital of

this district was AmpMpolis.    2. The  country

between the Strymon and the Axius, exclusive

of those  parts already named, but including

 Chaleidiee; the capital Thessalonica.   3. The

 country between the Axius  and  Peneus;  the

 capital Pella.   4. The mountainous country in

 the West;  the  capital Pelagonia.   After  the

 conquest  of the  Achaaans in  146, Macedonia

 was formed into a Roman province, and  Thes¬

 saly and Illyria were incorporated-with it; but,

 al the same time,  the district east of the Nestus

 was  again assigned to  Thrace.  The Roman

 province   of Macedonia  accordingly extended

 from the iEgaean to the Adriatic Seas, and was

 bounded on the south by the province of Achaia.

 It was originally governed by a proconsul;  it

 was  made by Tiberius one of the provinces of

 the Caesar; but it was restored to the  senate

 by Claudius.  Micedoma  may be described  as

 a large plain, surrounded on three sides by lofty

 mountains.    Through thin plain, however,  run

 many smaller  ranges of mountains,  between

 ■which  are wide  and  fertile valleys, extending

 from Jhe coast  far into the interior.  The cMef

 mountains  were Scordus  or Soardus,  on  the

 northwestern frontier, toward  Illyria and Dar¬

 dania ;  further east,  Orbelus and   Scomius,

 whieh separated it  from Mcesia ; and Rhodope,

 which extended fram  Scomius in a southeast-

             464
 

erly direction,  forming  the  lx aitlary  betweea

Macedonia and Thrace.   On tl e southern fron¬

tier were the Cambunii Montes  and Olympus.

The chief rivers were in the  direction of  east

to west, the  Nestus, the  Strymon, the Axius,

the largest of all, the Ludias or Lydtas, and r' e

Haliacmon.  The great  bulk of the inhiiDit-

ants of Macedonia consisted  of  Thracian  and

Ulyriau tribes.   At an early period some Greek

tribes settled iu the southern  part of the coun¬

try.  Thej are  said to have come from Argos,

and to have been led by Gauanes, Aeropus, and

Perdiccas, the three sons of  Temenus the Hera-

clid.  Perdiccas, the youngest of the brothers,

was looked upon as the  founder of the  Macedo¬

nian monarchy.   A later tradition, however, re¬

garded Caranus, who  was also a  Heraclid from

Argos, as the founder of the monarchy.  These

Greek  settlers  intermarried with the  origmal

inhabitants of the  country.  The  dialect  which

they spoke was akin to the Doric, but it  con¬

tained  many barbarous  words and forms ;  and

the Macedonians were  accordingly  never re¬

garded by the other Greeks as  genuine Hellenes.

Moreover, it was only in the south  of  Macedonia

that the  Greek language was spoken; in  the

north and  northwest of the country the Illyrian

tribes  continued to speak their own language,

and  to preserve their  ancient habits and  cus¬

toms.  Very little is  known of the  history of

Macedonia  till  the reign of Amyntas  I, who

was  a contemporary of Darius Hystaspis -,  but

from that time  their Mstory is more or less in¬

timately  connected with that  of Greece, till at

length Philip, the father  of Alexander the Great,

became the  virtual master of the  whole of

Greece.   The conquests of  Alexander, extend¬

ed the Macedonian supremacy  over a great part

of Asia ;  and the Macedonian kings continued to

exercise their sovei eignty over Greece till  the

conquest of Perseus by the Romans, 168, brought

the Macedonian monarchy to a  close. The details

of the Macedonian  Mstory are given in the live3

of the separate Mngs.

   Macella (now Macellaro), a small  fortified

town in the west of Sicily, southeast of Segesta.

   Maoer, Muihies. 1.  A Roman poet, a native

of Verona,  died in Asia B.C.  16.  He wrote a

poem or poems  upon birds, snakes, and mediemal

plants, in  imitation, it would appear, of  the

Theriaea of Nicander.   (Ov,  Trist, iv, 10,  44.)

The work now  extant, entitled  " ./Emilius Macer

de Herbarum Virtutibus," belongs to the Middle

Ages.— 2. We  must  carefully distinguish from

^Emilius  Macer of Verona, a  poet Macer, who

wrote  on the Trojan  war, and who must have

been alive m A.D. 12, since he is addressed by

Ovid  in  that year (ex-Pont,  ii,  10, 2).—3. A

Roman jurist, who lived in the reign of Alex¬

ander Severus.  He wrote several works, extracts

from which are  given in  the Digest

   Macer,  Clodius, was governor of Africa at

Nero's death, A.D. 68, when he laid claim to the

throne.    He was murdered at the  instigation

of Galba  by the procurator Trebonius Garuel-

anus.

   Maoer, Licinius.  Vid. Lioinius.

   Macestus  (MaKnarog: now  Simaid-Su,  and

lower Susugherli), a considerable river of Mysia,

rises  in  the northwest of  Phrygia, and flows

north through  Mysia  mto the Rhyndacus.   Tt