Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/294

 278 MARilARIUM. wbich the rains still remain. Throu,f;hout the whole of JIarmarica no vestiges of Aegyptian architecture before the Greek period have been found. The sea- onion, "scillamaritima," and madier, "rubia," which cover the plains, remind the traveller of what Hero- dotus (iv. 189, 190) says about the practice of the Libyan women dying their goat-skins with red, and of the portable houses constructed of stallcs of asphodel, intertwined with rushes. Kow, as then, tlie "jerboa" (Siirovs, Herod, iv. 192) is common. The few coins of llarmaric towns, such as those of Apis and Batrachus, are of the same workmanship as the Aegyptian mints. (Eckhel, vol. iv. p. 116.) Ptolemy (iv. 5. § 22) enumerates the following tribes in jlarmarica : — la the Lybian nome, along the coast, the Zyguitak (Zvyplrai), Chattani (Xot- ravo'C), and Zygenses (Zi/76rs) ; further to the S,, in the interior, the Buzenses (Bou^eTs) and Og- DAEMI. In the district of Ammonium (§ 23), the Anagomuri (^Ava.yoiu.§poi), Iobacchi {'lo§aK- Xoi), and Riiaditae ('PouaSn-ai). In the Mar- maric nome, to the N., on the coast, the Liby- akchae (^AiSvdpxaO, the Axeritae {'Avr]p7Tai), and Bass.vchitae (Bacrax^Tai) ; to the S. of these, the Augilae (^Avyiai), Nasajiones (Naaa/xw- ves), and Bacatae (BaKarai) ; then the AusCHl- SAE (AiKrx'cai), who belong more properly to Cy- renaica ; Tap.>'itae (ToTrawTai); and further to the S. the Sentites (SeWiTcs), Obilae ('OgiAoi), and Aezari (A!f(,a/)oi). (Pacho, Voyarje dans la Marmariqii^. pp. 1 — 81 ; Earth, Wanden'mc/en, pp. 499—546.) [E. B. J.] 1MAR5IA'R1U:I. [Carystus.] SIARJIOLITIS. [Papiieagonia.] MAROBU'DUJI {Map6§ouSuu), a town of the Marcomanni in Bohemia (Ptol. ii. 11. § 29), and undoubtedly identical with the royal residence of Maroboduus, with a fortress attached to it, mentioned by Tacitus. {Ann. ii. 62.) The same place, or rather the fortress, is called by Strabo (vii. p. 290) Buiaemon, and is identified with the moievn Budweis, in Bohemia. [L. S.] MARONEIA (Mapiii/eia : Eth. MapwusiTris), a rich and powerful city of the Cicones, in Thrace, situated on the Aegean sea, not far from the lake Ismaris. (Herod. Tii. 109.) It was said to have been founded by ]Iaron, a son of Dionysus (Enrip. Cycl. V. 100, 141), or, according to some, a com- panion of Osiris (Died. Sic. i. 20) ; but Scymnus (675) relates that it was built by a colony from Chios in the fourth year of the iifty-ninth Olympiad (B.C. 540). Pliny (iv. 11. s. 18) tells us that the ancient name was Ortagurea. The people of Maronea venerated Dionysus in an especial manner, as we learn from their coins, probably on account of the superior character of their wine, which was cele- brated as early as the days of Homer {Od. ix. 196, seqq.). This wine was universally esteemed all over thr ancient world; it was said to possess the odour of Nectar (Nonnus, i. 12, xvii. 6, xis. 11), and to be cap.able of mixture with twenty times its quantity of water (Hom. Od. is. 209); and, according to Pliny, on an experiment being made by JIucianus, who doubted the truth of Homer's statement, it was found to bear even a larger proportion of water. (Plin. xiv. 4. s. 6 ; comp. " Victa Maroneo foedatus lumina Baccho," Tibull. iv. 1. 57). I^Iaroneia was taken by Pbilip V. of Macedon in B. c. 200 ; and when he was ordered by the Romans to evacuate the towns of Thrace, he vented his rage by slaughtering a great number of the inhabitants of JIARRUCINI. the city. (Liv. xsxi. 16, xxxix. 24 ; Polyb. sxii. 6, 13, xxiii. 11, 13.) The Romans subsequently granted JIaroneia to Attains; but they almost imme- diately afterwards revoked their gift, and declared it a free city. (Polyb. xsx. 3.) By Constantine Porphyrogenitus (Them. ii. 2), Maroneia is reckoned among the towns of Macedon. The modern name is Marogna, and it has been the seat of an arch- bishopric. (Comp. Ptol. iii. 1 1. § 2 ; Scylax, p. 27; Strab. vii. 331 ; Amm. Marc. xxii. 8, xxvii. 4 ; Hierocl. p. 643 ; Tzetz. ad Lycophr. p. 818 ; Theophil. ad Autol. si. p. 86.) [A. L.] COIN OF maroneia. BIARONSA (Mapoij/ffa, Zosim. iii. 28), a small village in Mesopotamia, at which the army of Julian arrived, just before the combat in which he fell. It is probably the same which Ammianus calls Ma- ranga (xxv. 1), but its exact locality cannot now be determined. [V.] MARPESSA (MapTrrjtro-a), a mountain in the island of Pares, from which the celebrated Parian marble was obtained. (Steph. B. s. v. MapTTTjcrcra.) [Paros.] Hence Virgil (vi. 471) speaks of " Marpesia cautes." MARPESSUS. [Mermessus.] MARRU'BIUJI. [Makruvium.] MARRUCI'NI (MappowTroi, Poh, Strab.; Ma;5- povKivoi, Ptol.), a nation of Central Italy, inhabiting a narrow strip of territory on the S. bank of the river Aternus, extending from the Adriatic to the ridge of the Apennines. (Strab. v. p. 241.) They were bounded on the N. by the Vestini, from whom they were separated by the Aternus, and on the S. by the Frentani, while to the W. and SW. they ap- parently extended inland as far as the lofty moim- tain barriers of the Majella and the Morrone, which separated them from the Peligni, and effectually cut them off from all intercourse with their neighbours on that side, except by the valley of the Aternus. The southern limit of their territory is not stated by any ancient author, but was probably formed by the river Foro, which falls into the Adriatic about 7 miles from the mouth of the Aternus {Pescara). Pliny, indeed, extends the district of the Frentani as far as the Aternus (Plin. iii. 12. s. 17), thus cutting off the JMarrucini altogether from the sea; but there seems little doubt that this is erroneous. [Frentani.] The Marrucini were, undoubtedly, like the other tribes in their immediate neighbourhood, of Sabine origin, and appear to have been closely con- nected with the Marsi ; indeed, the two names are little more than diiferent forms of the same, a fact which appears to have been already recognised by Cato (fyj. Prhcian. ix. p. 871). But, whether the Mar- rucuii were an offset of the Slarsi, or both tribes were separately derived from the common Sabine stock, we have no information. The Marrucini appear in history as an independent people, but in almost constant alliance with the Jlarsi, Peligni, and Vestini. There is, indeed, little doubt that the four nations formed a kind of league for mutual defence