Macana. The war-club of the South American Indians.
Macassar, or Mankasser. The chief settlement of the Dutch in the island of Celebes, and is defended by Fort Rotterdam. In 1810 it surrendered to the British, but was restored to the Dutch in 1814.
Maccabees. A family of patriotic Jews, who commenced their career during the persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes, 167 B.C., when Mattathias, a priest, resisted the tyranny of the governor. His son, Judas Maccabæus, defeated the Syrians in three battles, 166 and 165 B.C., but fell in an ambush, 161 B.C. His brother Jonathan made a league with the Romans and Lacedæmonians, and after an able administration was treacherously killed at Ptolemais by Tryphon, 143 B.C. His brother and successor, Simon, was also murdered. The history of the Maccabees is contained in five books bearing that name.
Mace. A strong, short, wooden staff, with a spiked metal ball for a head. It was a favorite weapon with knights, with the cavalry immediately succeeding them, and at all times with fighting priests, whom a canon of the church forbade to wield the sword. No armor could resist the force of a well-delivered blow from the mace. The mace is now borne before magistrates as an ensign of authority.
Macedonia. Anciently the name of a country lying north of Thessaly, which was originally of small extent. The history of Macedonia is involved in much obscurity till about 490 B.C., when the Persians subdued it, so that the Macedonian king, Alexander I., was compelled to take part with Xerxes in his invasion of Greece. It again regained its independence upon the retreat of the Persians after the battle of Platæa in 479 B.C. After a period of civil wars Philip II. ascended the throne in 359 B.C., and his son Alexander III., surnamed Alexander the Great, brought half the then known world under his empire; but after his death the Macedonian empire was broken up, and, at the end of a period of twenty-two years of incessant wars, formed into four principal kingdoms under his greatest generals. Macedonia itself fell to the lot of Antipater, after whose death ensued another period of civil wars and contests for the throne. The Macedonians were defeated by the Romans in the great battle of Cynocephalæ, 197 B.C., and their country became subject to the Roman power. After the time of Constantine the country was ravaged by Slavic tribes, and by the 7th century the old semi-Greek Macedonians were extinct, and in the latter ages of the Byzantine empire their place was supplied by colonies from Asia, many of them of Turkish descent.
Macedonian Pike, or Sarissa. A spear or lance of great length used in warfare by the Greeks.
Macerata. A town of Central Italy, in a province (formerly a delegation) of the same name, situated on an eminence between the rivers Potenza and Chienti, 21 miles southwest of Ancona. The place was taken by assault and sacked by the French, in 1799.
Machete (Sp.). A large, heavy knife resembling a broadsword, often 2 or 3 feet in length, used by the inhabitants of Spanish America as a hatchet, to cut their way through thickets, and for various other purposes.
Machicolation. The act of hurling missiles or pouring various burning or melted substances upon assailants through machicolations.
Machicolations. The apertures between the corbels or brackets supporting a projecting parapet; the term is applied also to the parapets. The apertures are for the purpose of allowing projectiles to be hurled at an enemy when he approaches near the wall, as in scaling, undermining, etc. Such defenses are very common in castellated architecture, especially over gateways, towers, etc.