[♦] ‘sacrified’ replaced with ‘sacrificed’
Macro, a favourite of the emperor Tiberius, celebrated for his intrigues, perfidy, and cruelty. He destroyed Sejanus, and raised himself upon the ruins of that unfortunate favourite. He was accessary to the murder of Tiberius, and conciliated the good opinion of Caligula, by prostituting to him his own wife called Ennia. He soon after became unpopular, and was obliged by Caligula to kill himself together with his wife, A.D. 38.
Macrŏbii, a people of Æthiopia, celebrated for their justice and the innocence of their manners. They generally lived to their 120th year, some say 1000 years; and indeed from that longevity they have obtained their name (μακρος βιος, long life), to distinguish them more particularly from the other inhabitants of Æthiopia. After so long a period spent in virtuous actions, and freed from the [♦]indulgences of vice, and from maladies, they dropped into the grave as to sleep, without pain and without terror. Orpheus, Argonautica, li. 1105.—Herodotus, bk. 3, ch. 17.—Mela, bk. 3, ch. 9.—Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 48.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 8, ch. 3.
[♦] ‘induligencies’ replaced with ‘indulgences’
Macrobius, a Latin writer, who died A.D. 415. Some suppose that he was chamberlain to the emperor Theodosius II.; but this appears groundless, when we observe that Macrobius was a follower of paganism, and that none were admitted to the confidence of the emperor, or to the enjoyment of high stations, except such as were of the christian religion. Macrobius has rendered himself famous for a composition called Saturnalia, a miscellaneous collection of antiquities and criticism, supposed to have been the result of a conversation of some of the learned Romans during the celebration of the Saturnalia. This was written for the use of his son, and the bad latinity which the author has often introduced, proves that he was not born in a part of the Roman empire where the Latin tongue was spoken, as he himself candidly confesses. The Saturnalia are useful for the learned reflections which they contain, and particularly for some curious observations on the two greatest epic poets of antiquity. Besides this, Macrobius wrote a commentary on Cicero’s Somnium Scipionis, which was likewise composed for the improvement of the author’s son, and dedicated to him. The best editions are that of Gronovius, 8vo, Leiden, 1670, and that of Lipscomb, 8vo, 1777.
Macrŏchir, a Greek name of Artaxerxes, the same as Longimanus. This surname arises from his having one hand longer than the other. Cornelius Nepos, Kings.
Macrōnes, a nation of Pontus, on the confines of Colchis and Armenia. Flaccus, bk. 5, li. 153.—Herodotus.
Mactorium, a town of Sicily at the south, near Gela.
Măcŭlōnus, a rich and penurious Roman, &c. Juvenal, satire 7, li. 40.
Madaura, a town on the borders of Numidia and Gætulia, of which the inhabitants were called Madaurenses. It was the native place of Apuleius. Apuleius, Metamorphoses, bk. 11.