A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

948 MARDONIUS. MARDON iUS.
the whole work was a forgery, or that, if it was, Thracian tribe, who slaughtered a great portion of
Marcus was the author of it. The very form of a his army.: He remained in the country till he
commentary on doubtful parts implies the previous had reduced them to submission; but his force
existence and the antiquity of the work itself. was so weakened by these successive disasters,
Oudin makes Marcus to have been a monk of the that he was obliged to return to Asia. His failure
convent of St. Saba, near Jerusalem, in the begin- was visited with the displeasure of the king, and
ning of the eleventh century. A life of Gregory of he was supergeded in the command by Datis and
Agrigentum [GREGORIUS, No. 2] by Marcus, monk Artaphernes, B. c. 490. On the accession of
and hegumenus, or abbot of St. Saba, is perhaps Xerxes,. in B. C. 485, Mardonius, who was high in
by the same author as the commentary on the his favour, and was connected with him by blood
Typicum. We are not aware that it has been as well as by marriage, was one of the chief instipublished. Various works are extant in MS., by gators of the expedition against Greece, with the
Marcus Monachus; but the name is too common, government of which he hoped to be invested after
and the description too vague, to enable us to its conquest; and he was appointed' one of the
identify the writers. (Cave, Hist. Litt. vol. ii. generals of the whole land army, with the excepDissert..- p. 13; Oudin. De Scriptorib. Eccles. tion of the thousand Immortals, whom Hydarnes
vol. ii. col. 584, &c.; Fabric. Bibl. Grace. vol. x. led. After the battle of Salamis (B. c. 480), he
p. 232, vol. xi. p. 678.) became alarmed for the consequences of the advice
17. Hs'DRUNTIS or IDRUNTIS EPIscoPus, (Jer- he had given, and persuaded Xerxes to return
-ooros'I povi;vos), BISHOP of OTRANTO. Mar- home with the rest of the army, leaving 300,000
cus of Otranto is supposed to have lived in the men under his command for the subjugation of
eighth century. Allatius says he was oeconomus Greece. Having wintered in Thessaly, he reor steward of the great church of Constantinople, solved, before commencing operations, to consult
before he became'bishop, which seems to be all the several Grecian oracles, for which purpose he
that is known of him.- He wrote Tp Myea'yd oar- employed a man of the name of Mys, a native of
&a~7-ro j &ipooPeelXtr, Hymnus Acrostichus in Mag- Europus in Caria. Herodotus professes his ignbnum Sabbatum, s. In Magno Sabbato Capita e?- rance of the answers returned, but he connects
szum, which was published by Aldus Manutius, with'them the step which Mardonius immediately
with a Latin version, in his edition of Prudentius afterwards took, of sending Alexander I., king of
and other early Christian poets, 4to., without Macedonia, to the Athenians, whose irpo'evos he
mark of date or place; but judged to be Venice, was, with a proposal of very advantageous terms
*1501. The hymn is -not in metre; the initial if they would withdraw themselves from the Greek
letters of the successive paragraphs are intended to confederacy. The proposal was rejected, and Marmake up the words Kal -cuspov 54, which are the donius poured his army into Attica and occupied
opening words of the hymn; but as divided by Athens without resistance, the Athenians having
Aldus, the acrostic is spoiled by the introduction of fled for refuge to Salamis. Thither he sent Muryone or two superfluous letters. A Latin version of chides, a Hellespontine Greek, with the same prothe hymn is given in several editions of the Biblio- posal he had already made through Alexander,
th/eaa Patrum. (Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. xi. pp. 177, but with no better success than before. From
677; Cave, Hist. Lilt. ad ann. 750. vol. i. p. 630.) Attica (a country unfavourable for the operations
18. JOANNES. [JOANNES, NO. 84.] of cavalry, and full of narrow defiles, through
19. MONACHUS. [No. 10.] which retreat would be dangerous if he were de20. MONACHUS S. SABAE. [No. 16.] feated) he determined to fall back on Boeotia as
21. Of ST. SABA. [No. 16.] [J. C. M.] soon as he heard that the Spartans under PausaMARDO'NIUS (Mapofvzor), a Persian, son of nias were on their march against him.' But before
Gobryas, who was one of the seven conspirators his departure he reduced Athens to ruins, having
against Smerdis the Magian, in B. c. 521. (See previously abstained from damaging the city or'Herod. iii. 70, &c.) In the spring of B. C. 492, the country as long as there had been any hope of
the second year from the close of the Ionian war, winning over the Athenians: On his retreat from
Mardonius; who had recently married Artazostra, Attica he received intelligence that a body of 1000
the daughter of Dareius Hystaspis, was sent by Lacedaemonians had advanced before the rest into
the king, with a large armament, as successor of Megara, and thither accordingly he directed his
Artaphernes, to complete the settlement of Ionia, march with the view -of surprising them, and overand to punish Eretria and Athens for the aid they ran the Megarian plain,-the furthest point tohad given to the rebels. (Comp. Herod. v. 99, &c.) wards the west, according to Herodotus, which
But while this was the nominal object of the ex- the Persian army ever reached. Hearing, howpedition, it was intended also for the conquest of ever, that the Greek force was collected at the
as many Grecian states as possible. Throughout Isthmus of Corinth, he passed eastward through
the Ionian cities Mardonius deposed the tyrants Deceleia, crossed Mount Parnes, and, descending
whom Artaphernes had placed in power, and esta- into Boeotia, encamped in a strong position on the
blished'democracy, - a step remarkably opposed southern bank of the Asopus. The Greeks arrived
to the ordinary rules of Persian policy. He then not long after at Erythrae and. stationed themcrossed the Hellespont, and, while his fleet sailed selves along the skirts of Mount Cithaeron. Marto Thasos and subdued it, he marched with his donius waited with impatience, expecting that
land forces through Thrace and Macedonia, re- they would descend into the plain and give him
ducing on his way the tribes which had not yet battle,- and at length sent his cavalry against them
submitted to Persia. But the fleet was overtaken under MASISTIUS. After their success over the
by a storm off Mount Athos, in which it was said latter the Greeks removed further to the west near
that 300 ships and 20,000 men were lost; and Plataea, where they would have a better supply of
Mardonius himself, on his passage through Mace- water, and hither Mardonius followed them. The
donia, was attacked at night by the Brygians, a two armies were now stationed on opposite banks