ページの画像
PDF
ePub

sculptor, who made for the Thespians a copy of the celebrated statue of Eros by Praxiteles, which originally stood at Thespiae, but was removed to Rome by the emperor Caligula. (Paus. ix. 27 SS 3, 4, Bekker.) The date of this artist can only be conjectured by supposing that his copy was made about the same time that the original was removed, in order to supply its loss. There is nothing to determine whether or no he was the same person as the statuary mentioned by Pliny, who made athletas et armatos et venatores, sacri ficantesque (H. N. xxxiv. 8. s. 19. § 34). [P. S.]

times reckoned as a part of Phoenicia, sometimes not. He seems to have been a hearer of Diogenes. He amassed great wealth as a usurer (μepodaveiOTHS), but was cheated out of it all, and committed suicide. Diogenes, who has given us a short life of him, with an epigram of his own upon him (ii. 99-100), informs us that he wrote nothing serious, but that his books were full of jests, like those of his contemporary Meleager; and Strabo and Stephanus call him σπουδόγελοιος ; that is, he was one of those cynic philosophers who threw all their teaching into a satirical form. In this character he is several times introduced by Lucian, who in one place speaks of him as τῶν παλαιῶν KUVŵV μáλA ÍλAKTIKÒV Kal KáρXарov (Bis Accus. 33). Even in the time of Diogenes, his works were somewhat uncertain ; and they are now entirely lost: but we have considerable fragments of Varro's Saturae Menippeae, which were written in imitation of Menippus. (Cic. Acad. i. 2, 8; Gell. ii. 18; Macrob. Sat. i. 11.) The recent edition of the fragments of Varro by Oehler contains a short but excellent dissertation on the date of Menippus, whom he places at B. c. 60.

MEÑO DOTUS (Mevódoros). 1. Of Samos, was the author of at least two works connected with the history of his native island. One bore the title Τῶν κατὰ Σάμον ἐνδόξων ἀναγραφή, and the other Περὶ τῶν κατὰ τὸ ἱερὸν τῆς Σαμίας Ηρας. (Athen. xiv. p. 655, xv. pp. 672, 673.)

2. Of Perinthus, is referred to by Diodorus Siculus (Fragm. lib. xxvi. 3, p. 513) as the author of a work entitled 'EXλnvikal прayμaтeîαι, in fifteen books, but is otherwise unknown.

The works of Menippus were, according to Diogenes (vi. 101), thirteen in number, namely, Νεκυία, Διαθῆκαι, Ἐπιστολαί κεκομψευμέναι ἀπὸ τοῦ τῶν θεῶν προσώπου, πρὸς τοὺς φυσικοὺς καὶ | μαθηματικοὺς καὶ γραμματικούς, καὶ γονὰς Ἐπικούρου καὶ τὰς θρησκευομένας ὑπ' αὐτῶν εἰκάδας, and others. (Comp. Menag. Observ. in loc.)

3. Of Stratonice, a Carian by birth, was the most accomplished orator of his time in all Asia. (About B. c. 79.) Cicero, who heard him, puts him almost on a level with the Attic orators (Brut. 91; Plut. Cic. 4; Diog. Laërt. vi. 101; Strab. xiv. p. 660).

4. Of Pergamus, a geographer, lived in the time of Augustus, and wrote a Пepinλous TS Tòs Saláτrns, of which an abridgement was made by Marcianus, and of which some fragments are preserved. He is also quoted several times by Ste phanus Byzantinus. (See Hoffmann, Menippos der Geograph. Leipz. 1841.) [P.S.]

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

3. The author of a work on the Athenian painter Theodorus. (Diog. Laërt. ii. 104.) [L. S.] MENO'DOTUS (Mηvódoтos), a physician of Nicomedeia in Bithynia, who was a pupil of Antiochus of Laodiceia, and tutor to Herodotus of Tarsus ; he belonged to the medical sect of the Empirici, and lived probably about the beginning of the second century after Christ. Diog. Laërt. ix. § 116; Galen, De Meth. Med. ii. 7, vol. x. p. 142, Introd. c. 4. vol. xiv. p. 683; Sext. Empir. Pyrrhon. Hypotyp. i. § 222, p. 57, ed. Fabric.) He refuted some of the opinions of Asclepiades of Bithynia (Gal. De Nat. Facult. i. 14, vol. ii. p. 52), and was exceedingly severe against the Dogmatici (id. De Subfig. Empir. c. 9, 13, vol. ii. pp. 343, 346, ed. Chart.). He enjoyed a considerable reputation in his day, and is several times quoted and mentioned by Galen. (De Cur. Rat, per Ven. Sect. c. 9, vol. xi. p. 277; Comment. in Hippocr." Der Artic." iii. 62, vol. xviii. pt. i. p. 575; Comment. in Hippocr." De Rat. Vict. in Morb. Acut." iv. 17, vol. xv. p. 766; De Libr. Propr. c. 9, vol. xix. p. 38; De Compos. Medicam. sec. Locos, vi. i. vol. xii. p. 904.) He appears to have written some works which are quoted by Diogenes Laërtius, but are not now extant. There is, however, among Galen's writings a short treatise entitled, Taλhvov ПaрappáσтOV τοῦ Μηνοδότου Προτρεπτικός Λόγος ἐπὶ τὰς Téxvas, Galeni Paraphrastae Menodoti Suasoria ad Artes Oratio. This is supposed to have been written originally by Menodotus, and afterwards revised and polished by Galen; but its history is not quite satisfactorily made out, and its genuine ness (as far as Galen is concerned) has been doubted. Its object is sufficiently expressed by the title, and it is composed in a somewhat decla matory style, which has perhaps caused it to be both unduly admired, and unjustly depreciated On the one hand, Erasmus translated it himself into Latin, and it has been several times published apart from Galen's other works; and on the other, a writer in the Cambridge Museum Criticum (vol ii. p. 318) calls it "a very inferior composition, incorrect in language, inelegant in arrangement, and weak in argument." Perhaps the latest ed tion is that by Abr. Willet, Greek and Latin, 8r Lugd. Bat. 1812. [W. A. G.] MENO'DOTUS, sculptor. [DIODOTUS, No. 21 MENOECEUS (MEVOIKEUS). 1. A Theba

MENIPPUS, artists. Diogenes Laërtius (vi. 101) mentions a statuary and two painters of this [P.S.]

name.

MENO'CHARES (Mnvoxáρns), an officer of Demetrius Soter, king of Syria. In B. c. 161, when Demetrius had escaped from Rome and established himself on the Syrian throne, he sent Menochares to plead his cause with Tiberius Gracchus [No. 6.] and his fellow-commissioners, then in Cappadocia. In the following year, Menochares was sent by Demetrius to Rome, to conciliate the senate by the present of a golden crown and the surrender of Leptines, the assassin of Cn. Octavius, the Roman envoy. (Polyb. xxxi. 4, 6; Diod. xxxi. Exc. Leg. xxv. p. 626.) [LEPTINES, No. 6.] [E.E.] MENODO'RUS, freedman of Pompey. [ME

NAS.]

MENODO'RUS (Mŋvódwpos), a writer on botany and materia medica, quoted by Athenaeus (Deipnos. ii. p. 59), who says he was a follower of Erasistratus, and a friend of the physician Hicesius. He lived, therefore, probably at the end of the first century B. C., and is perhaps the person who is quoted by Andromachus (ap. Gal. de Compos. Medicam. sec. Locos, vii. 3, vol. xiii. p. 64). [W. A. G.] MENODO'RUS (Mevóowpos), of Athens, a

REN

ENC

12 t

for

(D

wit

[ocr errors]

F&C

Bic

sam

Ge

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[blocks in formation]

2. A grandson of the former, and a son of Creon. (Eurip. Phoen. 768.) In the war of the Seven Argives against Thebes, Teiresias declared that the Thebans should conquer, if Menoeceus would sacrifice himself for his country. Menoeceus accordingly killed himself outside the gates of Thebes (Eurip. Phoen. 913, 930; Apollod. iii. 6. §7). Pausanias (ix. 25. § 1) relates that Me [Pinoeceus killed himself in consequence of an oracle of the Delphian god. His tomb was shown at Thebes near the Neitian gate. (Paus. l. c.; comp. Stat. Theb. x. 755, &c., 790.) [L. S.]

MENOETAS. [MELEAGER, No. 2.] MENOETES. The name of two mythical personages. (Virg. Aen. v. 161, &c.; Ov. Met. xii. 116.) [L. S.] MENOETIUS (Mevoltios). 1. A son of Iapetus and Clymene or Asia, and a brother of Atlas, Prometheus and Epimetheus, was killed by Zeus te with a flash of lightning, in the fight of the Titans, [Land thrown into Tartarus. (Hes. Theog. 507, &c., 514; Apollod. i. 2. § 3; Schol. ad Aeschyl. Prom. of 347.)

2. A son of Ceuthonymus, a guard of the oxen d of Pluto. (Apollod. ii. 5. § 10; comp. HERACLES.) 3. A son of Actor and Aegina, a step-brother Lof Aeacus, and husband of Polymele, by whom he became the father of Patroclus. He resided at EcOpus, and took part in the expedition of the Argoc) nauts (Hom. Il. xi. 785, xvi. 14, xviii. 326). Some accounts call his mother Damocrateia, and a daughter of Aegina; and instead of Polymele they call his wife Sthenele or Periapis (Apollod. Lii. 13. § 8; Schol. ad Pind. Ol. ix. 107; Strab. p. 425; comp. Val. Flacc. i. 407; Eustath. ad Hom. 112). When Patroclus, during a game, fanad slain the son of Amphidamas, Menoetius fled Iwith him to Peleus in Phthia, and had him educated there (Hom. Il. xi. 770, xxiii. 85, &c.; Schol. ad Pind. Ol. ix. 104). Menoetius was a friend of Heracles. (Diod. iv. 39.) [L. S.]

MENO'GENES (Mevoyévns), one of the numerous commentators on Homer, who wrote a work in 23 books on the catalogue of ships in the second book of the Iliad. (Eustath. ad Пom. p. 199, ed. Basil.) [L. S.]

MENO'GENES, a statuary, who was admired for his quadrigae. (Plin. H. N. xxxiv. 8. s. 19. $30.) [P. S.]

er MENON (Mévwv). 1. A citizen of Pharsalus isin Thessaly, who aided the Athenians at Eion with 12 talents and 200 horsemen, raised by himself from his own penestae, and was rewarded by hem for these services with the freedom of the ity. (Dem. c. Arist. pp. 686, 687; Pseudo-Dem. repl σvvτáčews, p. 173; Wolf, Proleg. ad Dem. c. Lept. p. 74.) By some this Menon has been idenified with the Pharsalian who commanded the roops sent from his native city to the aid of the Athenians in the first year of the Peloponnesian var, B. c. 431; while the above-mentioned assistnce at Eion is referred by them to the eighth year of the same war, B. C. 424. (Thuc. ii. 22, iv. 102, tc.; Gedik. ad Plat. Men. p. 70.) Perhaps, lowever, the service may have been rendered at he siege of Eion by Cimon in B. c. 476; and in hat case the Menon alluded to by Demosthenes

[ocr errors]

may have been the father of the leader of Thessalian cavalry mentioned by Thucydides in B. c. 431 (Herod. vii. 107; Plut. Cim. 7; Paus. viii. 8; Thirlwall's Greece, vol. iii. p. 3.) [BOGES.]

2. An Athenian, a fellow-workman of PHEIDIAS, was suborned to bring against him the accusation by which he was ruined. For this service the faction which had employed Menon obtained for him from the people the privilege of aréλ€1α. (Plut. Per. 31.)

3. A Thessalian adventurer, was a favourite of Aristippus of Larissa, who placed him in command of the forces, which he had obtained by the help of Cyrus the Younger in order to make head against a party opposed to him. When Cyrus began his expedition, in B. C. 401, Menon was sent by Aristippus to his aid with 1500 men, and joined the prince's army at Colossae. Cyrus having reached the borders of Cappadocia, employed Menon to escort back into her own country Epyaxa, the wife of Syennesis, the Cilician king. In passing through the defiles on the frontiers Menon lost a number of his men, who, according to one account, were cut off by the Cilicians; and in revenge for this, his troops plundered the city of Tarsus and the royal palace. When the Cyrean army reached the Euphrates, Menon persuaded the soldiers under his command to be the first to cross the river, and thus to ingratiate themselves with the prince. At the battle of Cunaxa he commanded the left wing of the Greeks, and, after the battle, when Clearchus sent to Ariaeus to make an offer of placing him on the Persian throne, he formed one of the mission at his own request, as being connected with Ariaeus by ties of friendship and hospitality. He was again one of the four generals who accompanied Clearchus to his fatal interview with Tissaphernes, and was detained, together with his colleagues. Clearchus, in seeking the interview for the purpose of delivering up on both sides those who had striven to excite their mutual suspicions, had been instigated in a great measure by resentment against Menon, whom he suspected of having calumniated him to Ariaeus and Tissaphernes, with the view of obtaining the entire command of the army for himself. According to the statement which Ariaeus made to the Greeks immediately after the apprehension of the generals, Menon and Proxenus were honourably treated by the Persians, as having revealed the treachery of which he said Clearchus had been guilty; and Ctesias relates, in ignorance certainly of the details and in direct opposition to Xenophon, that Clearchus himself distrusted Tissaphernes, and that the army was induced by the arts of Menon to compel him to agree to the interview. That Menon did really act a treacherous part towards his countrymen is by no means improbable, as well from the circumstances of the case as from his character, even if we make all allowance for some colouring which Xenophon's personal hostility to the man may have thrown into his invective against him. As to his fate, Ctesias merely says that he was not executed with the other generals; but Xenophon tells us that he was put to death by lingering tortures, which lasted for a whole year. If this latter account is the true one, Bishop Thirlwall's hypothesis seems not improbable, viz., that he was given up to the vengeance of Parysatis as a compensation for the rejection of her entreaties on behalf of Clearchus and his colleagues. There can be no doubt of the identity of the subject of the 3 x 2

present article with the Menon introduced in the dialogue of Plato, which bears his name. (Xen. Anab. i. 1. 10, 2. §§ 6, 20—25, 4. §§ 13-17, 5. §§ 11-17, 7. § 1, 8. § 4, ii. 1. § 5, 2. § 1, 5. §§ 28, 31, 38, 6. §§ 21-29; Diod. xiv. 19, 27; Ctes. Pers. ap. Phot. Bibl. p. 132; Plut. Artax. 18; Diog. Laert. ii. 50; Suid. s. v. Mévwv; Athen. xi. pp. 505, a, b, 506, b; Thirlwall's Greece, vol. iv. pp. 324, 325; Gedik. ad Plat. Men. p. 70.)

4. A citizen of Pharsalus in Thessaly, and a man of great influence and reputation, took a prominent part in the Lamian war, and commanded the Thessalian cavalry in the battle with the Macedonians, in which LEONNATUS was slain. Plutarch tells us that his services were highly valued by the confederates, and that he held a place in their estimation second only to Leosthenes. At the battle of Cranon (B. c. 322), he and Antiphilus, the Athenian, were defeated by Antipater and Craterus, though the Thessalian horse under his command maintained in the action its superiority over that of the enemy; and they felt themselves compelled to open a negotiation with the conquerors, which led to the dissolution of the Greek confederacy. But when Antipater was obliged to cross over to Asia against Perdiccas, the Aetolians renewed the war, and were zealously seconded in Thessaly by Menon, through whose influence it probably was that most of the Thessalian towns were induced to take part in the insurrection. Soon after, however, he was defeated by Polysperchon in a pitched battle, in which he himself was slain, B. c. 321. His daughter Phthia he gave in marriage to Aeacides, king of Epeirus, by whom she became the mother of Pyrrhus. (Diod. xviii. 15, 17, 38; Plut. Pyrrh. 1, Phoc. 24, 25; Droysen, Gesch. der Nachf. Alex. pp. 71, 87, 127, 155.) [E. E.]

only from coins and some inscriptions quoted by Ursinus. The interpretation of the figures on the reverse of these coins, of which a specimen is given below, is very uncertain. It has been conjectured that they have reference to the lex Julia, by which the civitas was given to the allies, and that the latter are symbolically represented stepping into the chariot of the Roman people. This hypothesis is supposed to be favoured by the head on the obverse, which is believed to be that of Libertas, as the pileus is behind it. (Eckhel, vol. v. p. 212.)

FARSVLE

COIN OF L. FARSULEIUS MENSOR.

MENTES (Mévτns). 1. The leader of the Cicones in the Trojan war, whose appearance Apollo assumed when he went to encourage Hector. (Hom. П. xvii. 73.)

2. A son of Anchialus, king of the Taphians north of Ithaca. He was connected by ties of hospitality with the house of Odysseus. When Athena visited Telemachus, she assumed the personal appearance of Mentes. (Hom. Od. i. 105, 181, &c.; Strab. x. p. 456.) [L. S.]

MENTO, C. JU'LIUS. 1. Was consul in B.C. 431. He was superseded in the command of the Volscian war, which, from dissension with his colleague, he conducted unsuccessfully, by the dictator A. Postumius Tubertus. Mento was left in charge of the city, where he dedicated a temple to Apollo. (Liv. iv. 26, 27, 29.)

2. A rhetorician, cited by Seneca. (Contr. 2, 5, 7, 8, 14, 20, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32.) [W.B.D.] MENTOR (Mévтwp). 1. A son of Eurys

2. A son of Heracles by Asopis. (Apollod. ii 7. § 8.)

MENON, artist. [See above, No. 2.] MENOPHANTUS (MηvópavTOS), the sculptor of a beautiful statue of Aphrodite, which was found on the Caelian mount at Rome, and after-theus, fell, like his father and brothers, in a battle wards came into the possession of prince Chigi. against the Heracleids and Athenians. (Diod. iv. It was first described by Winckelmann (Gesch. d. 57; Apollod. ii. 8. § 1.) Kunst, b. v. c. 2. § 3 note), and it is figured in the Museo Capitolino (vol. iv. p. 392), and in Müller's Denkmäler d. alten Kunst (vol. ii. pl. xxv. No. 275). The attitude is nearly the same as that of the Venus de Medici, but the left-hand holds a fold of a piece of drapery, which falls down upon what is apparently a box, on the end of which is the inscription АПO THC EN TPWAAI ΑΦΡΟΔΙΤΗΣ ΜΗΝΟΦΑΝΤΟΣ ΕΠΟΙΕΙ, The execution is extremely good, and the eyes, forehead, and hair are particularly admired. We know nothing further of the original statue, from which the copy of Menophantus was made, nor of Menophantus himself. [P.S.]

MENS, i. e. mind, a personification of mind, worshipped by the Romans. She had a sanctuary on the Capitol, which had been built, according to some, about the time of the battle of lake Trasimenus, B. c. 217, and according to others a century later. The object of her worship was, that the citizens might always be guided by a right and just spirit (Ov. Fast. vi. 241; Liv. xxii. 9, 10, xxiii. 31; Cic. De Nat. Deor. ii. 22, De Leg. ii. 11; Plut. De Fort. Rom. 5; August. De Civ. Dei, iv. 21; Lactant. i. 20). A festival in honour of Mens was celebrated on the 8th of June. [L. S.] MENSOR, L. FARSULEIUS, a name known

3. A son of Alcimus and a friend of Odysseus, who, on quitting Ithaca, entrusted to him the care of his house. (Hom. Od. ii. 226, &c., xxii. 235.) Athena assumed his appearance when she conducted Telemachus to Pylos. (Od. ii. 269, 402, iii. 13, &c., iv. 654.) On Odysseus' return, Mentor assisted him in the contest with the suitors, and brought about a reconciliation between him and the people (xxii. 206, xxiv. 445, &c.).

4. The father of Imbrius, and son of Imbrus, at Pedaeus, was an ally of the Trojans. (Hom. Il xiii. 171.) [L. S.]

MENTOR (MEVTwp), a Greek of Rhodes, the brother of Memnon [MEMNON]. With his brother Memnon he rendered active assistance to Artabazus. When the latter found himself compelled to take refuge at the court of Philip, Mentor entered the service of Nectanabis, king of Egypt. He was appointed to the command of his Greek forces, and afterwards led a force of 4000 Greeks to the assistance of Tennes, king of Sidon, in his revolt against Dareius Ochus. Tennes treache rously betrayed the Sidonians [TENNES], and at his command Mentor, who had been left in charge of the city, directed his troops to open the gates to

[ocr errors]

e

Daieius. Mentor with his troops was taken into
the Persian service. When Dareius Ochus marched
Deci upon Egypt, one division of his Greek forces was
be placed under the command of Mentor and the
Jeunuch Bagoas. When this division came before
Bubastus, Mentor contrived that a report should
reach the garrison, which consisted partly of
Greeks, that all who surrendered would be par-
Le doned.
The Greek commanders on both sides
were eager to be the first to make and to receive
(the submission; and Mentor contrived that Bagoas
in entering the city should be taken prisoner by
the Greeks. Having then himself received the
surrender of the city, and procured the release of
Bagoas, he secured the favour of Dareius and the
gratitude of Bagoas, and was rewarded with a
satrapy including all the western coast of Asia
Minor. His influence with Dareius also enabled
him to procure the pardon of his brother Memnon
and of Artabazus. While engaged in the govern-
ment of his satrapy he treacherously secured the
rperson of Hermeias, tyrant of Atarneus, the friend
of Aristotle [HERMEIAS; ARISTOTELES], and hav-
ing forged letters in his name, obtained possession of
his fortresses. He sent Hermeias to Dareius, who
I put him to death. He died in possession of his
satrapy, and was succeeded by his brother Memnon.
His wife's name was Barsine. His three daughters
fell into the hands of Parmenion at Damascus.
One of them was subsequently married to Near-
Li chus. (Diod. xvi. 42, &c. 49–52; Arrian, vii. 4.
$9; Curt. iii. 13. § 14.)
[C. P. M.]
MENTOR, the most celebrated silver-chaser
among the Greeks, must have flourished before B. C.
da 356, for Pliny states that his choicest works perished
in the conflagration of the temple of Artemis at
An Ephesus (H. N. xxxv. 12. s. 55). Others of them
were burnt in the Capitol, and none were extant in
Pliny's time (l. c.; comp. vii. 38. s. 39). His
works were vases and cups, the latter chiefly of the
Ekind called Thericlea (see Ernesti, Clav. Cic., and
bar Orelli, Onom. Tullian. s. v.). The statement of
Pliny respecting the utter loss of his works must
be understood of the large vases, and not of the
di smaller cups, many of which existed, and were
most highly prized (Cic. Verr. iv. 18; Martial,
iii. 41, iv. 39, viii. 50, ix. 59, xiv. 91; Propert.
i. 14. 2; Juv. viii. 104). Some of them were,
233 however, certainly spurious. (Plin. H. N. xxxiii.
11. s. 53.) Lucian (Lexiph. p. 332, ed. Wetstein)
uses the phrase Mevтoроuрyn πоτńρia to describe
elaborately-wrought silver cups.
[P.S.]

dd:

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors]

MENYLLUŠ (Mévvλλos). 1. A Macedonian,
who was appointed by Antipater to command the
garrison which he established at Munychia after
the Lamian war, B. c. 322. He is said by Plu-
tarch to have been a just and good man, and
to have sought as far as possible to prevent the
garrison from molesting the Athenians. He was
on friendly terms with Phocion, upon whom he in
vain sought to force valuable presents. On the
death of Antipater, B. c. 319, he was replaced by
Nicanor. (Diod. xviii. 18; Plut. Phoc. 28-31.)

to quit Rome within five days. (Polyb. xxxi. 18,
xxxii. 1.) During his stay at Rome on the former
occasion, Menyllus took an active part, in conjunc-
tion with the historian Polybius, in effecting the
escape of Demetrius, the young king of Syria, who
was detained at Rome as a hostage. (Id. xxxi. 20
-22.) [DEMETRIUS.]
[E. H. B.]

MÉNYTES or INDEX. [HERACLES.]
MEPHITIS, a Roman divinity who had a
grove and temple in the Esquiliae, on a spot which
it was thought fatal to enter. (Plin. H. N. ii. 93.
s. 95; Varro, De L. L. v. 49.) Who this Me-
phitis was is very obscure, though it is probable
that she was invoked against the influence of the
mephitic exhalations of the earth in the grove of
Albunea. She was perhaps one of the Italian
sibyls. Servius (ad Aen. vii. 84) mentions that
Mephitis as a male divinity was connected with
Leucothea in the same manner as Adonis with
Aphrodite, and that others identified her with
Juno. (Comp. Tac. Ann. iii. 33.) [L. S.]

MERCATOR, ISIODO'RUS, also called Isi-
dorus Peccator, a Spanish bishop, about A. D. 830,
respecting whom see Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. x.
p. 497, vol. xii. P. 159.

MERCATOR, MA'RIUS, distinguished among
ecclesiastical writers as a most zealous antagonist of
the Pelagians and the Nestorians, appears to have
commenced his literary career during the pontificate
of Zosimus, A. D. 218, at Rome, where he drew
up a discourse against the opinions of Coelestius,
which he transmitted to Africa and received in
reply an epistle from St. Augustin, still extant (Ep.
cxciii. ed. Bened.). Having repaired to Constan-
tinople about ten years afterwards, for the purpose
of counteracting the designs of the banished Ju-
lianus [JULIANUS ECLANENSIS], he presented his
Commonitorium to Theodosius. He then became
deeply involved in the controversy regarding the
Incarnation, and in this found active occupation for
the remainder of his life, which must have extended
beyond the middle of the fifth century, since we
find mention made in his writings of the Eutychians,
whose name does not appear among the catalogue
of heretics, until after the council of Chalcedon,
held in 451. Mercator seems undoubtedly to
have been a layman, but we are absolutely ignorant
of every circumstance connected with his origin and
personal history. Hence, in the absence of all as-
certained facts, an ample field is thrown open for
that unprofitable species of labour which seeks to
create substance out of shadow; and here the
exertions of Garnier and Gabriel Gerberon are
especially conspicuous, but it would be a mere
waste of time and space to recount their visions.

The works of Mercator refer exclusively to the
Pelagian and Nestorian heresies, and consist for
the most part, in so far as the latter is concerned,
of passages extracted and translated from the chief
Greek authorities upon both sides, and arranged in
such a manner as to enable the orthodox to com-
prehend the doctrines advanced by their opponents,
and the arguments by which they were confuted.

2. Of Alabanda, was sent ambassador to Rome, 1. Commonitorium super nomine Coelestii, com-
in B. c. 162, by Ptolemy VI. Philometor, to plead posed originally in Greek, presented in 429 to the
his cause against his younger brother Physcon. emperor Theodosius, and translated into Latin
The senate, however, espoused the cause of the some years afterwards. The object of this piece
latter, and the next year Menyllus was sent again was to procure the expulsion of Julianus and Coe-
to endeavour to excuse Ptolemy for his non-com- lestius from Constantinople, by giving a history of
pliance with the orders of the senate. But they the rise and progress of their errors, and by ex-
refused to listen to him, and ordered the embassy | posing the fatal tendency of their doctrines. We

learn from the full title that this end was accomplished, and that the two hierarchs, with their followers, were banished by an imperial edict, and subsequently condemned in the Council of Ephesus (231) by the judgment of 275 bishops.

2. Commonitorium adversus Haeresin Pelagii et Coelestii vel etiam Scripta Juliani, made up of excerpts from the writings of Julianus, with answers (subnotationes) annexed by Mercator. Garnier gives to this production the title Liber Subnotationum ad Pieritium Presbyterum, and considers it as consisting of two parts, the first, or Commonitorium, being a preface or introduction; the second, or Subnotationes ad Verba Juliani, forming the main body of the work.

3. Refutatio Symboli Theodori Mopsuestani, an examination of the false doctrine with regard to the Nature of Christ, contained in a creed attributed to Theodorus of Mopsuestia, the friend and supporter of Julianus. Of the following it will be enough to give the names :-4. Comparatio Dogmatum Pauli Samosateni et Nestorii. 5. Sermones V. Nestorii adversus Dei Genitricem Mariam. 6. Nestorii Epistola ad Cyrillum Alexandrinum. 7. Cyrilli Alexandrini Epistola ad Nestorium. 8. Cyrilli Alexandrini Epistola secunda ad Nestorium. 9. Cyrilli Alexandrini Epistola ad Clericos suos. 10. Excerpta ex Codicibus Nestorii. 11. Nestorii Sermones IV. adversus Haeresim Pelagianam. 12. Nestorii Epistola ad Coelestium. 13. Nestorii Blasphemiarum Capitula, containing the replies of Nestorius to the letters of Pope Coelestinus and Cyril of Alexandria. 14. Synodus Ephesiana adversus Nestorium, extracts from those proceedings of this council which were most hostile to the views of Nestorius. 15. Cyrilli Alexandrini Apologeticus adversus Orientales. 16. Cyrilli Alexandrini Apologeticus adversus Theodoretum. 17. Fragmenta Theodoreti, Diodori et Ibae. 18. Eutherii Tyanensis Fragmentum. 19. Nestori Epistola ad Papam Coelestinum. 20. Epistola Synodica Cyrilli ad Nestorium. 21. Cyrilli Scholia de Incarnatione Unigeniti. Among the lost works of this author we may reckon the Libri contra Pelagianos, of which we hear in the epistle of St. Augustin (cxciii.). Dupin hazards a conjecture that the Hypognosticon, commonly attributed to the bishop of Hippo, may be in reality the treatise in question.

[ocr errors]

Dupin, Ecclesiastical History of the Fifth Century;
the preface of Garnier; and the Prolegomena of
Galland.
[W. R.]

MERCURIUS, a Roman divinity of commerce
and gain, probably one of the dii lucrii. The cha-
racter of the god is clear from his name, which is
connected with mera and mercari. (Paul. Diac. p,
124, ed. Müller; Schol. ad Pers. Sat. v. 112.) A
temple was built to him as early as B. c. 495 (Liv.
ii. 21, 27; Ov. Fast. v. 669), near the Circus
Maximus (P. Vict. Reg. Urb. xi.); and an altar of
the god existed near the Porta Capena, by the
side of a well; and in later times a temple seems
to have been built on the same spot. (Ov. Fast.
v. 673; P. Vict. Reg. Urb. i.) Under the name
of the ill-willed (malevolus), he had a statue in
what was called the vicus sobrius, or the sober
street, in which no shops were allowed to be kept.
and milk was offered to him there instead of wine.
(Fest. pp. 161, 297, ed. Müller.) This statue had
a purse in its hand, to indicate his functions.
(Schol. ad Pers. l.c.) His festival was celebrated
on the 25th of May, and chiefly by merchants,
who also visited the well near the Porta Capena,
to which magic powers were ascribed; and with
water from that well they used to sprinkle them-
selves and their merchandise, that they might be
purified, and yield a large profit. (Ov. Fast. v.
670, &c.; Fest. p. 148, ed. Müller.)

The Romans of later times identified Mercurius, the patron of merchants and tradespeople, with the Greek Hermes, and transferred all the attributes and myths of the latter to the former (Hor. Carm. i. 10), although the Fetiales never recognised the identity; and instead of the caduceus used a sacred branch as the emblem of peace. The resemblance between Mercurius and Hermes is indeed very slight; and their identification is a proof of the thoughtless manner in which the Romans acted in this respect. [Comp. HERMES.] [L. S.]

Some

MERCURIUS MO'NACHUS (Μερκούριος Móvaxos), the reputed author of a short treatise (or fragment) on the Pulse, published at Naples, in Greek and Latin, with notes and a long intro. duction, by Salvator Cyrillus, 8vo. 1812. It does not seem to be derived from Greek sources, and nothing is known respecting the writer. suppose him to have been a monk, who lived in It is remarkable that no ancient writer, if we the south of Italy, about the tenth century; but except St. Augustine in the letter named above, Sprengel, in the last edition of his Gesch. der Arztakes any notice of Mercator, who remained alto-neikunde (ii. p. 560, quoted by Choulant in his gether unknown until the seventeenth century, when Holstein discovered a MS. of his works in the Vatican, and soon after a second was found by Labbe, in the library of the Chapter of Beauvais. Labbe printed the Commonitorium super Nomine Coelesti, in his collection of councils, fol. Paris, 1671, vol. ii. pp. 1512-1517; a selection from the Vatican MS. was published by Gabriel Gerberon, a Benedictine, under the assumed name of Righerius, 12mo. Brux. 1673, and in the same year the first complete edition appeared at Paris in folio, under the editorial inspection of the learned Garnier, the text being formed upon a comparison of the only two existing MSS. The most esteemed edition is that of Baluze, 8vo. Par. 1684, reprinted with additions and corrections, by Galland, in his Bibliotheca Patrum, vol. viii. pp. 615-737, fol. Venet. 1772. A very full account of the labours of Garnier and Baluze will be found in Schönemann, Bibl. Patrum Lat. vol. ii. § 16. See also

Handb. der Bücherkunde für die Aeltere Medicin)
conjectures that he lived in the thirteenth century,
and derived his opinions from some one who had
travelled in the East, perhaps Carpini. Cardinal
Mai, however, in the preface to the fourth volume
of his collection Classicor. Auctor. e Vatican. Codicib
Editor. (p. xii. &c.) affirms, apparently from actual
inspection of some manuscripts containing the
work, that it does not belong to Mercurius at all,
but to a person called Abitianus. The writer has
no means of deciding whether this assertion is cor
rect, but it agrees well enough with the proof
arising from internal evidence that the work is de-
rived from Oriental sources, for this Abitianus must
be no other than the celebrated Arabic physician
Abú 'Alí Ibn Síná, commonly called Avicenna.
[ABITIANUS.]
[W. A. G.]
MERCURIUS TRISMEGISTŪS. [HERMES
TRISMEGISTUS.]

MEREN'DA, was a surname, of rare occur

« 前へ次へ »