Part 161

"Casander died of disease (a rare end among this seed of dragon's teeth) in 297 B. C., and so the Greeks were left to assert their liberty, and Demetrius to machinate and effect his establishment on the throne of Macedonia, as well as to keep the world in fear and suspense by his naval forces, and his preparations to reconquer his father's position. Lysimachus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy were watching one another, and alternating in alliance and in war. All these princes, as well as Demetrius and Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, were connected in marriage; they all married as many wives as they pleased, apparently without remonstrance from their previous consorts. So the whole complex of the warring kings were in close family relations. … Pyrrhus was now a very rising and ambitions prince; if not in alliance with Demetrius, he was striving to extend his kingdom of Epirus into Macedonia, and would doubtless have succeeded, but for the superior power of Lysimachus. This Thracian monarch, in spite of serious reverses against the barbarians of the North, who took both him and his son prisoners, and released them very chivalrously, about this time possessed a solid and secure kingdom, and moreover an able and righteous son, Agathocles, so that his dynasty might have been established, but for the poisonous influence of Arsinoe, the daughter of Ptolemy, whom he, an old man, had married in token of an alliance after the battle of Ipsus. … The family quarrel which upset the world arose in this wise. To seal the alliance after Ipsus, old king Ptolemy sent his daughter Arsinoe to marry his rival and friend Lysimachus, who, on his side, had sent his daughter, another Arsinoe, in marriage to the younger Ptolemy (Philadelphus). This was the second son of the great Ptolemy, who had chosen him for the throne in preference to his eldest son, Keraunos, a man of violent and reckless character, who accordingly left the country, and went to seek his fortune at foreign courts. Meanwhile the old Ptolemy, for safety's sake, installed his second son as king of Egypt during his own life, and abdicated at the age of 83 [B. C. 283], full of honours, nor did he leave the court, where he appeared as a subject before his son as king. Keraunos naturally visited, in the first instance, the Thracian court, where he not only had a half sister (Arsinoe) queen, but where his full sister, Lysandra, was married to the crown prince, the gallant and popular Agathocles; but Keraunos and the queen conspired against this prince; they persuaded old Lysimachus that he was a traitor, and so Keraunos was directed to put him to death. {2064} This crime caused unusual excitement and odium all through the country, and the relations and party of the murdered prince called on Seleucus to avenge him. He did so, and advanced with an army against Lysimachus, whom he defeated and slew in a great battle, somewhere not far from the field of Ipsus. It was called the plain of Coron (B. C. 281). Thus died the last but one of Alexander's Companions, at the age of 80, he, too, in battle. Ptolemy was already laid in his peaceful grave (B. C. 283). There remained the last and greatest, the king of Asia, Seleucus. He, however, gave up all his Asiatic possessions from the Hellespont to the Indus to his son Antiochus, and meant to spend his last years in the home of his fathers, Macedonia; but as he was entering that kingdom he was murdered by Keraunos, whom he brought with him in his train. This bloodthirsty adventurer was thus left with an army which had no leader, in a kingdom which had no king; for Demetrius' son, Antigonus, the strongest claimant, had not yet made good his position. All the other kings, whose heads were full with their newly acquired sovereignties, viz., Antiochus in Asia and Ptolemy II. in Egypt, joined with Keraunos in buying off the dangerous Pyrrhus [king of Epirus—see ROME: B. C. 282-275], by bribes of men, money, and elephants, to make his expedition to Italy, and leave them to settle their affairs. The Greek cities, as usual, when there was a change of sovereign in Macedonia, rose and asserted what they were pleased to call their liberty, so preventing Antigonus from recovering his father's dominions. Meanwhile Keraunos established himself in Macedonia; he even, like our Richard, induced the queen, his step-sister, his old accomplice against Agathocles, to marry him! but it was only to murder her children by Lysimachus, the only dangerous claimants to the Thracian provinces. The wretched queen fled to Samothrace, and thence to Egypt, where she ended her guilty and chequered career as queen of her full brother Ptolemy II. (Philadelphus), and was deified during her life! Such then was the state of Alexander's Empire in 280 B. C. All the first Diadochi were dead, and so were even the sons of two of them, Demetrius and Agathocles. The son of the former was a claimant for the throne of Macedonia, which he acquired after long and doubtful struggles. Antiochus, who had long been regent of the Eastern provinces beyond Mesopotamia, had come suddenly, by his father's murder, into possession of so vast a kingdom, that he could not control the coast of Asia Minor, where sundry free cities and dynasts sought to establish themselves. Ptolemy II. was already king of Egypt, including the suzerainty of Cyrene, and had claims on Palestine and Syria. Ptolemy Keraunos, the double-dyed villain and murderer, was in possession of the throne of Macedonia, but at war with the claimant Antigonus. Pyrrhus of Epirus was gone to conquer a new kingdom in the West. Such was the state of things when a terrible new scourge [the invasion of the Gauls] broke over the world."

_J. P. Mahaffy, The Story of Alexander's Empire, chapter 7._

ALSO IN: _C. Thirlwall, History of Greece, chapter 60 (volume 8)._

MACEDONIA: B. C. 280-279. Invasion by the Gauls. Death of Ptolemy Keraunos.

See GAULS: B. C. 280-279.

MACEDONIA: B. C. 277-244. Strife for the throne. Failures of Pyrrhus. Success of Antigonus Gonatus. His subjugation of Athens and Corinth.

"On the retirement of the Gauls, Antipater, the nephew of Cassander, came forward for the second time, and was accepted as king by a portion, at any rate, of the Macedonians. But a new pretender soon appeared upon the scene. Antigonus Gonatus, the son of Demetrius Poliorcetes, who had maintained himself since that monarch's captivity as an independent prince in Central or Southern Hellas, claimed the throne once filled by his father, and, having taken into his service a body of Gallic mercenaries, defeated Antipater and made himself master of Macedonia. His pretensions being disputed by Antiochus Soter, the son of Seleucus, who had succeeded to the throne of Syria, he engaged in war with that prince, crossing into Asia and uniting his forces with those of Nicomedes, the Bithynian king, whom Antiochus was endeavouring to conquer. To this combination Antiochus was forced to yield: relinquishing his claims, he gave his sister, Phila, in marriage to Antigonus, and recognised him as king of Macedonia. Antigonus upon this fully established his power, repulsing a fresh attack of the Gauls. … But he was not long left in repose. In B. C. 274, Pyrrhus finally quitted Italy, having failed in all his schemes, but having made himself a great reputation. Landing in Epirus with a scanty force, he found the condition of Macedonia and of Greece favourable to his ambition. Antigonus had no hold on the affections of his subjects, whose recollections of his father, Demetrius, were unpleasing. The Greek cities were, some of them, under tyrants, others occupied against their will by Macedonian garrisons. Above all, Greece and Macedonia were full of military adventurers, ready to flock to any standard which offered them a fair prospect of plunder. Pyrrhus, therefore, having taken a body of Celts into his pay, declared war against Antigonus, B. C. 273, and suddenly invaded Macedonia. Antigonus gave him battle, but was worsted, owing to the disaffection of his soldiers, and being twice defeated became a fugitive and a wanderer. The victories of Pyrrhus, and his son Ptolemy, placed the Macedonian crown upon the brow of the former, who might not improbably have become the founder of a great power, if he could have turned his attention to consolidation, instead of looking out for fresh conquests. But the arts and employments of peace had no charm for the Epirotic knight-errant. Hardly was he settled in his seat when, upon the invitation of Cleonymus of Sparta, he led an expedition into the Peloponnese, and attempted the conquest of that rough and difficult region. Repulsed from Sparta, which he had hoped to surprise, he sought to cover his disappointment by the capture of Argos; but here he was still more unsuccessful. Antigonus, now once more at the head of an army, watched the city, prepared to dispute its occupation, while the lately threatened Spartans hung upon the invader's rear. {2065} In a desperate attempt to seize the place by night, the adventurous Epirote was first wounded by a soldier and then slain by the blow of a tile, thrown from a housetop by an Argive woman, B. C. 271. On the death of Pyrrhus the Macedonian throne was recovered by Antigonus, who commenced his second reign by establishing his influence over most of the Peloponnese, after which he was engaged in a long war with the Athenians (B. C. 268 to 263), who were supported by Sparta and by Egypt [see ATHENS: B. C. 288-263]. These allies rendered, however, but little help; and Athens must have soon succumbed, had not Antigonus been called away to Macedonia by the invasion of Alexander, son of Pyrrhus. This enterprising prince carried, at first, all before him, and was even acknowledged as Macedonian king; but ere long Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, having defeated Alexander near Derdia, re-established his father's dominion over Macedon, and, invading Epirus, succeeded in driving the Epirotic monarch out of his paternal kingdom. The Epirots soon restored him; but from this time he remained at peace with Antigonus, who was able once more to devote his undivided attention to the subjugation of the Greeks. In B. C. 263 he took Athens, and rendered himself complete master of Attica; and, in B. C. 244, … he contrived by a treacherous stratagem to obtain possession of Corinth. But at this point his successes ceased. A power had been quietly growing up in a corner of the Peloponnese [the Achaian League—see GREECE: B. C. 280-146] which was to become a counterpoise to Macedonia, and to give to the closing scenes of Grecian history an interest little inferior to that which had belonged to its earlier pages."

_G. Rawlinson, Manual of Ancient History, pages 261-263._

ALSO IN: _B. G. Niebuhr, Lectures on Ancient History, lectures 100-102._

MACEDONIA: B. C. 214-168. The Roman conquest. Extinction of the kingdom.

See GREECE: B. C. 214-146.

MACEDONIA: B. C. 205-197. Last relations with the Seleucid empire.

See SELEUCIDÆ: B. C. 224-187.

Slavonic occupation.

See SLAVONIC PEOPLES: 6-7TH CENTURIES.

MACEDONIA: End----------

MACEDON IAN DYNASTY, The.

See BYZANTINE EMPIRE: A. D. 820-1057.

MACEDONIAN PHALANX.

See PHALANX, MACEDONIAN.

MACEDONIAN WARS, The.

See GREECE: B. C. 214-146.

MACERATA, Battle of (1815).

See ITALY (SOUTHERN): A. D. 1815.

McHENRY, Fort, The bombardment of, by the British.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1814 (AUGUST-SEPTEMBER).

MACHICUIS, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: PAMPAS TRIBES.

MACHINE, Political.

See STALWARTS.

MACK, Capitulation of, at Ulm.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1805 (MARCH-DECEMBER).

MACKENZIE, William Lyon, and the Canadian Rebellion.

See CANADA: A. D.1837; and 1837-1838.

MACKINAW: Start--------

MACKINAW (MICHILLIMACKINAC): Discovery and first Jesuit Mission.

See CANADA: A. D. 1634-1673.

MACKINAW: Rendezvous of the Coureurs de Bois.

See COUREURS DE BOIS.

MACKINAW: A. D. 1763. Captured by the Indians.

See PONTIAC'S WAR.

MACKINAW: End--------

McKINLEY TARIFF ACT, The.

See TARIFF LEGISLATION (UNITED STATES): A. D. 1890.

McLEOD CASE, The.

See CANADA: A. D. 1840-1841.

MacMAHON, Marshal, President of the French Republic, A. D. 1873-1879.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1871-1876; and 1875-1889.

MACON, Fort, Capture of.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (JANUARY-APRIL: NORTH CAROLINA).

McPHERSON, General: Death in the Atlanta campaign.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1864 (MAY: GEORGIA); and (MAY-SEPTEMBER: GEORGIA).

MACRINUS, Roman Emperor, A. D. 217-218.

MACUSHI, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: CARIBS AND THEIR KINDRED.

MADAGASCAR: A. D. 1882-1883. French claims and demands enforced by war.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1875-1889.

MADEIRA ISLAND, Discovery of.

In the year 1419, Joham Gonçalvez Zarco and Tristam Vaz, "seeing from Porto Santo something that seemed like a cloud, but yet different (the origin of so much discovery, noting the difference in the likeness), built two boats, and, making for this cloud, soon found themselves alongside a beautiful island, abounding in many things, but most of all in trees, on which account they gave it the name of Madeira (wood)."

_A. Helps, Spanish Conquest, book 1, chapter 1._

MADISON, James, and the framing and adoption of the Federal Constitution.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1787; 1787-1789.

Presidential election and administration.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1808 to 1817.

MADRAS: A. D. 1640. The founding of the city.

See INDIA: A. D. 1600-1702.

MADRAS: A. D. 1746-1748. Taken by the French. Restored to England.

See INDIA: A. D. 1743-1752.

MADRAS: A. D. 1758-1759. Unsuccessful siege by the French.

See INDIA: A. D. 1758-1761.

MADRID: Start--------

MADRID: A. D. 1560. Made the capital of Spain by Philip II.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1559-1563.

MADRID: A. D. 1706-1710. Taken and retaken by the French and Austrian claimants of the crown.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1706; and 1707-1710.

MADRID: A. D. 1808. Occupied by the French. Popular insurrection.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1807-1808.

MADRID: A. D. 1808. Arrival of Joseph Bonaparte, as king, and his speedy flight.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1808 (MAY-SEPTEMBER).

MADRID: A. D. 1808 (December). Recovery by the French. Return of King Joseph Bonaparte.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1808 (SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER).

MADRID: A. D. 1812. Evacuation by the French. Occupation of the city by Wellington and his army.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1812 (JUNE-AUGUST).

MADRID: A. D. 1823. Again occupied by the French.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1814-1827.

{2066}

MADRID, The Treaty of (1526).

See FRANCE: A. D. 1525-1526.

MADRID: End--------

MÆATÆ, The.

A common or national name given by the Romans to the tribes in Scotland which dwelt between the Forth and the Clyde, next to "the wall."

MÆOTIS PALUS, PALUS MÆOTIS.

The ancient Greek name of the body of water now called the Sea of Azov.

MAESTRICHT: Start--------

MAESTRICHT: A. D. 1576. The Spanish Fury.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1575-1577.

MAESTRICHT: A. D. 1579. Spanish siege, capture and massacre.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1577-1581.

MAESTRICHT: A. D. 1632. Siege and capture by the Dutch.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1621-1633.

MAESTRICHT: A. D. 1673. Siege and capture by Vauban and Louis XIV.

See NETHERLANDS (HOLLAND): A. D. 1672-1674.

MAESTRICHT: A. D. 1676. Unsuccessfully besieged by William of Orange.

See NETHERLANDS (HOLLAND): A. D. 1674-1678.

MAESTRICHT: A. D. 1678. Restored to Holland.

See NIMEGUEN, PEACE OF.

MAESTRICHT: A. D. 1748. Taken by the French and restored to Holland.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1746-1747; and AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, CONGRESS AND TREATY.

MAESTRICHT: A. D. 1793. Unsuccessful siege by the French.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1793 (FEBRUARY-APRIL).

MAESTRICHT: A. D. 1795. Ceded to France.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1794-1795 (OCTOBER-MAY).

MAESTRICHT: End--------

MAFRIAN.

See JACOBITE CHURCH.

MAGADHA, The kingdom of.

See INDIA: B. C. 327-312; and 312—.

MAGDALA, Capture of (1868).

See ABYSSINIA: A. D. 1854-1889.

MAGDEBURG: A. D. 1631. Siege, storming, and horrible sack and massacre by the troops of Tilly.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1630-1631.

MAGELLAN, Voyage of.

See AMERICA: A. D. 1519-1524.

MAGENTA, Battle of (1859).

See ITALY: A. D. 1856-1859.

MAGESÆTAS, The.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 547-633.

MAGIANS. MAGI.

The priesthood of the ancient Iranian religion—the religion of the Avesta and of Zarathrustra, or Zoroaster—as it existed among the Medes and Persians. In Eastern Iran the priests were called Athravas. In Western Iran "they are not called Athravas, but Magush. This name is first found in the inscription which Darius caused to be cut on the rock-wall of Behistun; afterwards it was consistently used by Western writers, from Herodotus to Agathias, for the priests of Iran."

_M. Duncker, History of Antiquity, book 7, chapter 8 (volume 5)._

"The priests of the Zoroastrians, from a time not long subsequent to Darius Hystaspis, were the Magi. This tribe, or caste, originally perhaps external to Zoroastrianism, had come to be recognised as a true priestly order; and was entrusted by the Sassanian princes with the whole control and direction of the religion of the state. Its chief was a personage holding a rank but very little inferior to the king. He bore the title of 'Tenpet,' 'Head of the Religion,' or 'Movpetan Movpet,' 'Head of the Chief Magi.'"

_G. Rawlinson, Seventh Great Oriental Monarchy, chapter 28._

"To the whole ancient world Zoroaster's lore was best known by the name of the doctrine of the Magi, which denomination was commonly applied to the priests of India, Persia, and Babylonia. The earliest mention of them is made by the prophet Jeremiah (xxxix. 3), who enumerated among the retinue of King Nebuchadnezzar at his entry into Jerusalem, the 'Chief of the Magi' ('rab mag' in Hebrew), from which statement we may distinctly gather that the Magi exercised a great influence at the court of Babylonia 600 years B. C. They were, however, foreigners, and are not to be confounded with the indigenous priests. … The name Magi occurs even in the New Testament. In the Gospel according to St. Matthew (ii. 1), the Magi (Greek 'magoi,' translated in the English Bible by 'wise men') came from the East to Jerusalem, to worship the new-born child Jesus at Bethlehem. That these Magi were priests of the Zoroastrian religion, we know from Greek writers."

_M. Haug, Essays on the Religion of the Parsis, 1._

See, also, ZOROASTRIANS.

MAGNA CARTA.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1215.

MAGNA GRÆCIA.

"It was during the height of their prosperity, seemingly, in the sixth century B. C., that the Italic Greeks [in southern Italy] either acquired for, or bestowed upon, their territory the appellation of Magna Græcia, which at that time it well deserved; for not only were Sybaris and Kroton then the greatest Grecian cities situated near together, but the whole peninsula of Calabria may be considered as attached to the Grecian cities on the coast. The native Œnotrians and Sikels occupying the interior had become hellenised, or semi-hellenised, with a mixture of Greeks among them—common subjects of these great cities."

_G. Grote, History of Greece, part 2, chapter 22._

On the Samnite conquest of Magna Græcia

See SAMNITES.

MAGNANO, Battle of (1799).

See FRANCE: A. D, 1798-1799 (AUGUST-APRIL).

MAGNATÆ, The.

See IRELAND, TRIBES OF EARLY CELTIC INHABITANTS.

MAGNESIA.

The eastern coast of Thessaly was anciently so called. The Magnetes who occupied it were among the people who became subject to the Thessalians or Thesprotians, when the latter came over from Epirus and occupied the valley of the Peneus.

_G. Grote, History of Greece, part 2, chapter 3._

Two towns named Magnesia in Asia Minor were believed to be colonies from the Magnetes of Thessaly. One was on the south side of the Meander; the other, more northerly, near the river Harmus.

_G. Grote, History of Greece, part 2, chapter 13._

MAGNESIA, Battle of (B. C. 190).

See SELEUCIDÆ: B. C. 224-187.

MAGNUS I., King of Denmark, A. D. 1042-1047.

Magnus I. (called The Good), King of Norway, 1035-1047.

Magnus I., King of Sweden, 1275-1290.

Magnus II., King of Norway, 1066-1069.

Magnus II., King of Sweden, 1319-1350, and 1359-1363; and VII. of Norway, 1319-1343.

Magnus III., King of Norway, 1093-1103.

Magnus IV., King of Norway, 1130-1134.

Magnus V., King of Norway, 1162-1186.

Magnus VI., King of Norway, 1263-1280.

{2067}

MAGYARS, The.

See HUNGARIANS.

MAHARAJA.

See RAJA.

MAHDI, Al, Caliph, A. D. 775-785.

MAHDI, The.

"The religion of Islam acknowledges the mission of Jesus, but not His divinity. Since the Creation, it teaches, five prophets had appeared before the birth of Mahomet—Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus—each being greater than his predecessor, and each bringing a fuller and higher revelation than the last. Jesus ranks above all the prophets of the old dispensation, but below those of the new, inaugurated by Mahomet. In the final struggle He will be but the servant and auxiliary of a more august personage—the Mahdi. The literal meaning of the word Mahdi is not, as the newspapers generally assert, 'He who leads,' a meaning more in consonance with European ideas, but 'He who is led.' … If he leads his fellow-men it is because he alone is the 'well-guided one,' led by God—the Mahdi. The word Mahdi is only an epithet which may be applied to any prophet, or even to any ordinary person; but used as a proper name it indicates him who is 'well-guided' beyond all others, the Mahdi 'par excellence,' who is to end the drama of the world, and of whom Jesus shall only be the vicar. … The Koran does not speak of the Mahdi, but it seems certain that Mahomet must have announced him. … The idea of the Mahdi once formed, it circulated throughout the Mussulman world: we will follow it rapidly in its course among the Persians, the Turks, the Egyptians, and the Arabs of the Soudan; but without for an instant pretending to pass in review all the Mahdis who have appeared upon the prophetic stage; for their name is Legion."

_J. Darmesteter, The Mahdi, Past and Present, chapters 1-2. _

See, also, ISLAM; ALMOHADES; and EGYPT: A. D. 1870-1883, and 1884-1885.

MAHDIYA: Taken by the Moorish Corsair, Dragut, and retaken by the Spaniards (1550).

See BARBARY STATES: A. D. 1543-1560.

MAHMOUD I., Turkish Sultan, A. D. 1730-1754.

Mahmoud II., Turkish Sultan, 1808-1839.

Mahmoud, the Afghan, Shah of Persia, 1722-1725.

Mahmoud, the Gaznevide, The Empire of.

See TURKS: A. D. 999-1183.

MAHOMETAN CONQUEST: Start--------

MAHOMETAN CONQUEST AND EMPIRE.

MAHOMETAN CONQUEST: A. D. 609-632. The Mission of the Prophet.