MESSAXA CORVINUS. 358 MESSIAH. MESSAXA COKVI'NUS, Mabcvs VALERros (e. 70 n.c.-c. 1 B.C.). A Koman soldier, orator, and patron of letters. He was educated in part at Athens, and. liaing returned to Rome after Caesar's assa.ssination and previous to the forma- tion of the second triumvirate, became a member of the Senatorial Parly. He was third in com- mand of the Republican army at Philippi. and stormed the eamp of Octavius, whom he almost captured. Having escajjed. with a fairly well organized force, to the island of Thasos. he later accepted terms from Antony, against whom, how- ever, at Actium. he brilliantly commanded the centre of Octavius's fleet, and whoso abrogated consulship he filled (li.c. 31). Appointed pro- consul of Aquitania, he completed the reduction of that province and received a triumph. He was also at one time a prefect in Asia !Minor, and be- came a special member of the College of Augurs. He was reckoned, with Gaius Asinius Pollio, the last orator of the old school. Consult Wiese, De Corvini Vita ct Htudiis Doclriitw (Berlin, 1829). MES'SALI'NA, Valeria. The most infamous woman in the annals of the Roman Empire. She was the daughter of il. Valerius Messala Bar- batus, and third wife of the Emperor Claudius, whom she married before his accession in a.d. 41. (See CLAunirs.) Taking advantage of the weak- ness and stupidity of the Emperor, she indulged in the most wanton and flagrant atrocities, both moral and political, li we are to judge by the Roman historians, her character was unspeak- ably vile, and her boundless ambition could be satisfied only with the destruction of all who seemed to thwart her plans. The best blood of Rome flowed at her pleasure. She retained her influence over the Emperor, who remained un- aware of her infidelities: but when, during a short absence of Claudius from Rome, she actu- ally conunitted the folly of going through the forms of a public marriage with C. Silius, a young man of whom she had become enamored, the affair was brought to the Emperor's atten- tion by the frecdman Xarcissns, and Claudius. not without reluctance, gave orders for her deatli. She was killed by a tribune of the guards, a.d. 48. MESSA'PIA (Lat.. from Ok. SU<r(rawla). The name ai>|ili.d by the Creeks to Calabria (in the classical sense), a peninsula in the southeastern part of Italy, extending from Tarentnm to the lapygian Promontory. The Messapii, inhabitants of this part of the country, were known also as the Tapyges, or lapygii, MESSENE, mes-se.'n* (Lat., from Ok. Mt<r- ffTjnj). Caiiital of Messenia. in the Peloponnesus, founded by Epaminondas (n.r. .SOn). It was siti- ated at the foot of Moimt fthome. and surrounded by a .stone wall. .tVj miles long, and of great strength. It is still well preserved in places, espe- cially nt the .Xrcadian (!ate. which is an exception- ally fine example of Creek fortification. The sta- dium, theatre, and other ruins can lie easily traced, and excavations in 1S!I."> by the Greek .Nrcha-o- logical Society brought to light a fine colonnade and other reiiiains of the ancient agora. The town was settled by the descendants of the ancient Messcnians, and was therefore the hered- itary enemy of Sparta, contributing not a little to the continual internecine strife which marks the history of the Pcloponnestis from the middle of the fourth centurj- B.C. to the Roman conquest. The modern Messene, or Xisi, is some distance from the ancient site, which is partly occupied by the little village of JIavromati. MESSETflA (Lat., from Gk. Mecrarivla) . A district in the southwest of the Peloponnesus, l)oundcd on the east by Laconia, on the north tiy Arcadia and Elis, and on the south and west by the sea. It was composed chietly of extensive plains, watered by the Pamisus and other streams. These plains were famous for their fertility, and particularly for their wheat har- vests. At an early ]ieriud. after the Doric con- quest, it rose to jiower and opulence. Its chief cities were Methone and Pylos. In late times Messene was the capital. Jlessenia is chiefly noted for its two wars with Sparta, known as the Jlessenian wars, the first of which seems to have occurred in the eighth, the second (of which Aristomenes is rejiresented as the hero) in the second half of the seventh century B.C., though our accounts of both rest on no satisfactor)' au- thorities. In both instances the ilessenians were • defeated, and after the second war a part of the ' population emigrated to Sicily. The peopling of ilessana was much later. The remainder of the inhabitants were reduced to the position of helots. A revolt of the latter, who fortified themselvcg on Mount Ithome and held out for ten years, is ' known as the Third Messenian War (B.C. 464- 455). The invasitm of the Peloponnesus by Epaminondas in 370-.3()!l led to the return of the Messenians to their land and the revival of their old State, which continued independent, though in alliance at times with the Macedonians, until thej^oman conquest (B.C. 140). Messenia is the name of one of the nomarchies of the modem Kingdrini of Greece. MESSIAH (Gk. Meo-irios, Messias, or M«r(at, Mrsias, from Aramaic Mcshikha. equivalent of llcb. haiii-Mushlakh. the anointed). A title given to the King or Pontiff in ancient Israel be- cause of his anointment as vicegerent of the deity and ruler of the pcojde: and in later times a designation of the expected deliverer from for- eign oppression and founder of a worldwide .lewish empire. Saul (I. Sam. xii. 3, 5; xxiv. 7, 11), David (II. Sam. xix. 21; xxiii. 1), and Zedckiah (Lam. iv. 20) are spoken of as Yaliweh's Anointed. In Isa. xlv. 1, Cyrus is regarded as Yaliweh's vicegerent on earth. During the Per- sian period some hold that the lligli Priest 08 head of the State was referred to as the Messiah, the . ointed One (Lev. iv. 3, 5, 1(1). The same custom, according to the same view, continued in the (Jreck period, as .Toshua ben .lozadakis alluded to as the Anointed Prince in Dan. ix. 25, and Onias III, as an Anointed One in Dan. ix. 26. It is natural that the priest-kings of the Asmona-an family (see Maccabee.s) should re- ceive this title. Ps. xviii. 50: xx. fi: xxviii. 8; Ixxxiv. 10; Ixxxix. 39, 52 clearly refer to some of these rulers, though it is douiitful in some in- stances whether one of the actual kings, Aristo- liiihis I. and .Xlcxandcr .Tannanis, or a princely pontiff like .Tonathan, Simon, or .Tohn HyrcanUS is meant. From the critical point of view there is no reference in the Old Testament to n future deliverer of Israel described as the Messiah, and the conception of a coming Messiah meets us for the fir«t time in the P-iatlcr of Solomon, written soon after the conquest of Palestine by Pompey in B.C. C3.
