Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/1079

Rh METHAPUS. opposed it. (Cic. ad Fam. xv. 21. § 2.) This is, however, mere conjecture, for the name of the colleague of Treboiiius is not even mentioned in the passage of Cicero referred to above. Cicero speaks {ad Alt. iv, 7. § 2), in B. c. 5Q^ soon after his return from exile, of a Metellus who had lately died, and who had always acted badly towards liim. A% this Metellus cannot be any of the cele- brated persona of that name, Drumann supposes him to have been the colleague of Trebonius. 27. L. Caecilius Metellus Creticus, a son probably of No. 24 (comp. Cic. Verr. iii, 68), was tribune of the plebs, B. c. 49, and, true to the here- ditary principles of his family, distinguished him- self by his warm support of the aristocracy. He did not fly from Rome on the approach of Caesar with Pompey and the rest of his party, but re- mained behind in the city. He also showed his courage in attempting to prevent Caesar from taking possession of the sacred treasury, and only gave way upon being threatened with death. (Plut. Goes. 35, Pomp. 62; Dion Cass. xli. 17; Appian, B. C. ii. 41 ; Caes. D. C. i. 33 ; Lucan, iii. 114, &c. ; Cic. ad Ait. x. 4, 8.) He soon after- wards left Rome, and was at Capua at the begin- ning of March, when Pompey was on the point of leaving Italy. Cicero mentions Clodia as his mother-in-law, who may perhaps have been the wife of Metellus, consul B. c. 60. [No. 20.] {Cic. ad Ait ix. 6. §3.) There was a Metellus who fought on the side of Antony in the last civil war, was taken pri- soner at the battle of Actium, and whose life was spared by Octavian at the intercession of his son, who had fought on the side of the latter. (Appian, B. C. iv. 42.) The elder of these Metelli may have been the tribune of B. c. 49 ; but this is only conjecture. 28. M. Caecilius Metellus, son probably of No. 25, is mentioned by Cicero in B. c. 60 {ad Jtt.u.l.%]). See No. 25. 29. Q. Caecilius Metellus Creticus, consul A. D. 7 with A. Licinius Nerva, was probably grandson of No. 23, and son of No. 26, if the latter ever existed. (Dion Cass. Iv. 30 ; Fasti.) 30. L. (Caecilius) Metellus, a triumvir of the mint, whose name is only known from coins, a specimen of which is annexed. The obverse has the head of Apollo, with (l.) metel. a. alb. s. f. : the reverse, a man sitting on shields, whom Victory is crowning from behind, with c. mal., and beneath, roma. It thus appears that the col- leagues of this Metellus were A. Albinus and C. Malleolus. (Eckhel, vol. v. p. 279.) METHODIUS. 10(^5 COIN OP L. MKTBLLUS. METHAPUS (M^0a7ros), an Athenian who is said to have introduced at Thebes the worship of the Cabeiri. He was much skilled in all kinds of mysteries and orgies, and made several alterations in the mysteries at Andania. (Pans. iv. 1. § 5 ; Wekkei.^Die Aeschjl. Tril. p. 270.) [L. S.J METHARME (MeSap/UTj), a daughter of king Pygmalion, and wife of Cinyras. (Apollod. iii. 14. § 3 ; comp. Cinyras.) [L. S.] METHO'DIUS (Me0o'5ios). 1. Surnamed the Apostle of Bohemia, enjoys great reputation in the history of the church as well as of the fine arts. He lived in the ninth century of our era, was a native of Thessalonica, and went to Con- stantinople, where he entered a convent of the order of St. Basilius Cyrillus. For some time he lived in Rome, and devoted himself to painting, in which he rose to such celebrity that, after his return to Constantinople, he received an invitation from Bogoris, king of Bulgaria, to repair to his court at Nicopolis. The king being fond of pic- tures representing battles and the like bloody sub- jects, requested him to execute something more terrible for him than he had ever seen before ; and upon this suggestion, Methodius painted the Last Judgment with such effect, that Bogoris, whose mind had already a turn for the Christian religion, entreated the skilful monk to baptize him forthwith, and thus enable him to find pardon with God on the day of the last judgment. This was exactly what Methodius had in view when he chose that subject. The conversion of the king was followed by that of the army ; and in a short time the whole nation adopted the Christian religion. At that period Christianity was daily losing ground in Asia, where the influence of Mohammedanism became over- whelming ; but the losses in the South were more than balanced by the victories of the Cross in the North, obtained through the noble zeal of the Greek clergy, among whom our Methodius and (his brother?) Cyrillus, Avere then the most luminous stars. Shortly after the conversion of the Bulgarians, which took place in 853 and the following years (perhaps only in 861), Methodius was sent into the countries north of the Danube, where he dis- played the greatest activity among the Slavonian population of Pannonia and the adjacent countries: he resided there in the quality of archbishop of Pannonia, and he repaired thither as early as 859, or at least not later than 863. He is said to have assisted Cyrillus in inventing the Slavonian alpha- bet, which is the parent of the present Russian and Servian alphabets ; and he was active in translating the whole of the Bible and several liturgical books into the Slavonian languages. In 878 he was summoned by pope John VIII. to come to Rome, and to show cause why he should not be punished for having translated the mass into Slavonian, and introduced it in that form into the churches of his diocese ; but it appears he did not obey the summons. About 890 Methodius converted duke Borziwoi of Bohemia, who soon afterwards became king of Magna Moravia, to the Christian religion ; and now all the Bo- hemians and Moravians, many millions in num- ber, submitted likewise to the rite of baptism. There are, however, doubts as to the conversion of Bohemia by Methodius, respecting which the reader will find more information in the sources quoted below. The time of the death of Methodius is not exactly known, but thus much is certain, that he died after 893, and perhaps in the beginning of the tenth century, at a very advanced age. In later years he was canonised. The Greeks and Slavonians celebrate him on the 1 1th of May ; but in the Mariyroloijium the day is the 9th of March. As to his proficiency ia