Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/383

 MOESIA. not exceed 12 feet, and even where it is deepest is only 28. We may indeed admit, that, so long as the fisheries were a royal monopoly, a larger body of water was admitted from the Nile, and the ordinary depth of the lake may thus have been greater than at present. It is also possible that much of the surrounding country, now covered with sand, may formerly, during the inundation, have been entirely submerged, and therefore that the pyramids which Herodotus saw, the sides of which even now bear traces of submersion (Vyse, On the Pyramids, vol. iii. p. 84), may have been the truncated py- ramids of Biahmu, now beyond the reach of the Birket-el-Keri'm, but within the range of the ancient Moeris. Herodotus, if, as is probable, he visited the Arsinoite nome in the wet season, may have been struck with the elevation of these monuments above the lake, and exaggerated their proportions as well above as below its surface. Pococke (^Travels, vol. i. p. 65) tells us that he saw on its western extremity, " a head of land setting out into the lake, in a semicircular figure, with white cliffs and a height above," which he thought might be the lower part of the two pyramids described by Herodotus. And Pe're Lucas ( Voyages en Egypte, vol. ii. p. 48) observed an island in the middle of the lake, a good league in circumference. He was assured by his guides that it contained the ruins of several temples and tombs, two of which were loftier and broader than the rest. The region of Moeris awaits more accurate sur- vey. The best accounts of it, as examined by modern travellers, will be found in Belzoni, Travels; Champollion, VEgypte, vol. i. p. 329; Jomard, Descript. de VEgypte, vol. i. p. 79; Eitter, Erd- kunde, vol. i. p. 803. [W. B. D.] MOE'SIA, a Roman province in Europe, was bounded on the S. by M. Haemus, which separated it from Thrace, and by M. Orbelus and Scordus, which separated it from Macedonia, on the W. by M. Scordus and the rivers Drinus and Savus, which separated it from Hlyricum and Pannonia, on the N. by the Danube, which separated it from Dacia, and on the E. by the Pontus Eusinus, thus cor- responding to the present Servia and Bulgaria. The Greeks called it Mysia (Mucrta), and the in- habitants Mysians (Minroi), and sometimes Euro- pean Mysia (Mi/iria t] iv Kvpunrri, Dion Cass. xlis. 36 ; Appian, III. 6), to distinguish it from Iilysia in Asia. The original inhabitants of Moesia were, according to Strabo, a tribe of Thracians, and were the ances- tors of the Mysians of Asia (vii. p. 295). Of the early history of the country, little or nothing is known. In b. c. 277, a large body of Gaulish in- vaders entered Moesia, after the defeat and death of their leader Brennus, and settled there under the name of the Scordisci. The Romans first entered Moesia in b. c. 75, when C. Scribonius Curio, pro- consul of Macedonia, penetrated as far as the Danube, and gained a victory over the Moesians. (S. Euf. Brev. 7 ; Jomand. de Regn. Succ. 50 ; Eutrop. vi. 2.) But the permanent subjugation of Moesia was probably effected by M.Licinius Crassus, the grandson of the triumvir, who was pr(x;onsul of Macedonia in b. c. 29. (Liv. Ep. 134, 135; Dion Cass. li. 25—27; Flor. iv. 12, 15.) This may be inferred from the statement of Dion Cassius (liii' 7), who represents Augustus two years afterwards (b. c. 27) speaking of the subjugation of Gallia, Mysia, and Aegypt. Further, in A. d. 6, Dion Cas- MOESIA. 367 sius mentions the governor of Mysia (Iv. 29), and in A. D. 14 Tacitus speaks of the legatus Moesiae (^Ann. i. 79); so that there can be no doubt that it was reduced into the form of a province in the reign of Augustus, and that the statement of Appian is incorrect, that it did not become a Roman province till the reign of Tiberius. (//?. 30.) In the reign of Tiberius, Moesia was laid waste by the Dacians and Sarmatians, being then without a garrison, con- trary to the usual Roman practice, for a legion was generally stationed there. (Suet. Tib. 41, Vesp. 6; Tacit. Ann. xvi. 6.) As a frontier province of the empire, it was strengthened by a line of stations and fortresses along the south bank of the Danube. A Roman wall was built from Axiopolis to Tomi, as a defence against the Sarmatians and Scythians, who inhabited the delta of the Danube. Moesia was originally only one province, but was divided into two provinces, called Moesia Superior and Inferior, probably at the commencement of Trajan's reign. (Jfarquardt, in Becker's Romtsch. Alterth. vol. iii. pt. i. p. 106.) Each province was governed by a consular legatus, and was divided into smaller dis- tricts (j-egiones et vici). Moesia Superior was the western, and Moesia Inferior the eastern half of the country; they were separated from each other by the river Cebrus or Ciabrus, a tributary of the Danube. (Ptol. iii. 9, 10.) They contained several Roman colonies, of which two, Ratiaria and Oescus, were made colonies by Trajan, and Viminacium by Gordian III. (JIarquardt, I. c.) The conquest of Dacia, by Trajan, removed the frontiers of the empire farther north, beyond the Danube. The emperor Hadrian visited Moesia, as we are informed by his medals, in his general progress through the empire, and games in his honour were celebrated at Pincum. In a. d. 250 the Goths invaded Moesia. Decius, who was then emperor, marched against them, but was defeated and killed in a battle with them in 251. What the valour of Decius could not effect, his successor, Trebonianns Gallus, ob- tained by bribery; and the Goths withdrew to the Dniester. When Aurelian gave up Dacia to the Goths, and withdrew his troops and part of the in- habitants to the south side of the river, he foimed a settlement in the heart of Moesia, which was named from him Dacia Aureliani. [Dacia, Vol. I. p. 745.] In 395 the Ostrogoths, being hard pressed by the Huns, requested permission of the Romans to pass the Danube, and settle in Moesia. The request was acceded to by Valens, who was then emperor, and a large number took advantage of the privilege. They soon, however, quarrelled with the Roman authorities, and killed Valens, who marched to op- pose them. The Goths, who settled in Moesia, are sometimes called Moeso-Goths, and it was for their use that Ulphilas translated the Scriptures into Gothic about the middle of the fourth century. In the seventh century the Sclavonians entered Moesia, and the Bulgarians about the same time, and founded the kingdoms of Bulgaria and Servia. Moesia was occupied by various populations ; the following are enumerated by Ptolemy and Pliny (Ptol. iii. 9; Plin. iii. 26): the Dardani, Celegeri, Triballi, Timachi, Mocsi, Thraces, Scythae, Tricor- nesii, Pincensii, Troglodytes, and Peucini, to which may be added the Scordisci. (Liv. xl. 57.) The relative situations of these people were somewhat as follows : the Dardani, said to be a colony from Dar- dania in Asia, dwelt on the borders of Macedonia. The Triballi dwelt near the river Ciabrns ; the