Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/268

 252 MAGNATA. that the Tarentine colony of Heraclea was selected in the first instance for the place of assembly, as the Tarentines seem at first to have kept aloof from the contest, and it is very doubtful whether they were included in the league at all. But it was natural that, when the Tarentines assumed the leading posi- tion among the allied cities, the councils should be transfeiTed to their colony of Heraclea, just as Alexander of Epirus afterwards sought to transfer them from thence to the river Acalandrus in the Thurian territory, as a mark of enmity towards the Tarentines. (Strab. I. c.) [E. H. B.J MAGNATA. [Nagnatae.] HIAGNE'SIA, MAGNE'TES. [Tiiessalia.] MAGNE'SIA (Mayvnaia: Etli. Vldyv-qs.) 1. A city in Ionia, generally with the addition vphs or eTrl MaiwSpo) (ad Maeandram), to distinguish it from the Lydian Magnesia, was a considerable city, situated on the slope of mount Thorax, on the banks of the small river Lethaeus, a tributary of the Maeander. Its distance from Miletus was 120 stadia or 15 miles. (Strab. xiv. pp. 636, 647; riin. V. 31.) It was an Aeolian city, said to have been founded by Magnesians from Europe, in the east of Thessaly, who were joined by some Cretans. It soon attained great power and prosperity, so as to be able to cope even with Ephesus (Callinus, ap. Strab. siv. p. 647.) At a later time, however, the city was taken and destroyed by the Cimmerians; perhaps about b. c. 726. In the year following the deserted site was occupied, and the place rebuilt by the Milesians,or, according to Athenaeus (sii. p. 525), by the Ephesians. Themistocles during his exile took up his residence at Magnesia, the town having been assigned to him by Artaserses to supply him with bread. (Nepos, Themist. 10; Diod. xi. 57.) The Persian satraps of Lydia also occasionally re- sided in the place. (Herod, i. 161, iii. 122.) The territory of Magnesia was extremely fertile, and pro- duced excellent wine, figs, and cucumbers (Atben. i. p. 29, ii. p. 59, iii. p. 78.) The town contained a temple of Dindymene, the mother of the gods ; and the wife of Themistocles, or, according to others, his daughter, was priestess of that divinity; but, says Strabo (p. 647), the temple no longer exists, the town having been transferred to another place. The new town which the geographer saw, was most re- markable for its temple of Artemis Leucophryene, which in size and in the number of its treasures was indeed surpab.sedby the temple of Ephesus, but in beauty and the harmony of its parts was superior to all the temples in Asia Minor. The change m the site of the town alluded to by Strabo, is not noticed by any other author. The temple, as we learn from Vi'truvius (vii. Praefat.), was built by the architect Hermogene.s, in the Ionic style. In the time of the Piomans, JIagnesia was added to the kingdom of Pergamus, after Antiochus had been driven eastward beyond Mount Taunis. (Liv. sxxvii. 45, xxxviii. 13.) After this time the town seems to have decayed, and is rarely mentioned, though it is still noticed by Pliny (v. 31) and Tacitus (Ann. iv. 55). liierocles (p. 659) ranks it among the bishoprics of Asia, and later documents seem to imply that at one time it bore the name of Maeandropolis. (Concil. Constantin. iii. p. 666.) The existence of the town in the time of the emperors Aurelius and Gallienus is attested by coins. Formerly the site of JIagnesia was identified with the modern Guzel-kissar ; but it is now generally admitted, that Inek-bazar, where ruins of the temple MAGNOPOLIS. of Ai-temis Leucophryene still exist, is the site of the ancient Magnesia, {h^'^ke, Asia Minor, pp.242, foil. ; Arundell,Sere« Churches, pp. 58, foil. ; Cramer, Asia Minor, vol. i. pp. 459, foil.) COIM OF MAGNESIA AD MAEANDRUM. 2. A town of Lydia, usually with the addition irphs or vTrh "SnrvXift (ad Sipylum), to distinguish it from Magnesia on the JLaeander in Ionia, situated on the north-western slope of Mount Sipylus, on the southern bank of the river Hermus. We are not informed when or by whom the town was founded, but it may have been a settlement of the Magnesians in the east of Thessaly. Magnesia is most celebrated in history for the victory gained under its walls by the two Scipios in b. c. 190, over Antiochus the Great, whereby the king was for ever driven from Western Asia. (Strab. xiii. p. 622; Plin. ii. 93; Ptol. V. 2. § 16, viii. 17. § 16; Scylax, p. 37; Liv. xxxvii. 37, foil.; Tac. Ann. ii. 47.) The town, after the victory of the Scipios, surrendered to the Romans. (Appian, Sf/r. 35.) During the war against Mithridates the Magnesians defended themselves bravely against the king. (Pans. i. 20. § 3.) In the reign of Tiberius, the town vvas nearly destroyed by an earthquake, in which several other Asiatic cities perished; and the emperor on that occasion granted liberal sums from the treasury to repair the loss sustained by the inhabitants (Strab. xii. p. 579; xiii. p. 622 ; Tac. /. c.) From coins and other sources, we learn that Magnesia continued to flourish down to the fifth century (Hierocl. p. 660); and it is often mentioned by the Byzantine writers. During the Turkish rule, it once was the residence of the Sultan ; but at present it is much reduced, though it preserves its ancient name in the corrupt form oi Manissa. The ruins of ancient buildings are fiot very consi- derable. (Chandler, Travels in Asia, ii. p. 332; Keppel, Travels, ii. p. 295.) The accompanying coin is remarkable by having on its obverse the liead of Cicero, though the reason why it appears here, is unknown. The legend, which is incorrectly figured, should be, MAPKOS TTAAI02 KIKEPHN. [L.S.] COIN OF MAGNESIA AD SIPYLUM. MAGNO'POLIS {UayvSiToXis), a town in Pontns, at the confluence of the rivers Lycus and Iris, was founded by Mithridates Eupator, who called it Eupatoria ; but it was completed by Pompey the Great, who changed its name into Slagnopolis (Strab. xii. p. 556). The town seems to have fallen into