MESSENIA 



3750 



METALLURGY 



the mesquite; one is used in the making of 

 candies, the other by Mexicans as a dye. 



MESSENIA, mehse'nia, a peninsula in the 

 southwestern part of Greece. It was the most 

 fertile of the Peloponnesus plains which fell 

 into the hands of the early Dorians. After the 

 second Messenian War, Sparta secured posses- 



MESSENIA 



sion of Messenia, and until the fourth century 

 B. c. the Messenians were the serfs of the Spar- 

 tans. In 370 B. c., after Epamonidas, the great 

 statesman of Thebes, marched into Messenia it 

 became an independent state, and a new city, 

 Messene, was founded, its wall going up amid 

 rejoicing in honor of the restored nationality of 

 the people. Two years later a Messenian boy 

 was crowned as victor in the Olympian races; 

 for three hundred years the Messenians had 

 been allowed neither part nor lot in these na- 

 tional games. Messenia's liberation was a blow 

 to the pride of the Spartans as well as to their 

 power and prestige. The independence of the 

 peninsula was maintained until the Romans 

 conquered all Greece in 146 B. c. It is now one 

 of the provinces of modern Greece. 



MESSIAH, mehsi'a, a Jewish term meaning 

 the anointed one and corresponding to the 

 Greek word Christ. In early Hebrew history 

 any person anointed with holy oil, such as the 

 high priests or kings, was often called messiah. 

 After God promised David that the throne and 

 scepter would remain in his family forever, the 

 title was applied only to those who represented 

 his royal line. But later, when prophecy fore- 

 told the coming of a kingly descendant of Da- 

 vid, who would always uphold the kingdom, 

 the name was applied to him alone, and since 

 the birth of Jesus, it has always been His title. 



The term Messianic prophecy denotes all 

 prophecy which treats of the person, work and 

 kingdom of Christ, while the term Messianic 

 times refers not only to the period when Jesus 

 lived on earth, but also to the whole new era 

 which He introduced. 



MESSINA, mehse'na, a seaport on the ex- 

 treme northeastern coast of Sicily, on the strait 

 of the same name. It is seventh among the 

 cities of Italy in commercial importance, ex- 

 porting oranges, lemons, citron, nuts, wines, 

 pumice stone, silk, linen, coral ornaments and 

 fine damask. In ancient times it was known 

 as Zancle, the Greek word for sickle, and was 

 so called because its harbor is somewhat sickle- 

 shaped. It is supposed to have been founded in 

 732 B. c. by pirates- from Cumae. The Greeks 

 made it a colony about 500 B. c. and changed 

 the name to Messina. 



Messina was the cause of the First Punic 

 War (see PUNIC WARS), at the end of which it 

 came into possession of Rome. After the fall 

 of Rome, it belonged to the Saracens, Nor- 

 mans, Hohenstaufens and Spaniards, and since 

 1861 has been a part of Italy. Besides being 

 much damaged in the many wars and several 

 earthquakes of ancient times, Messina suffered 

 in the French and Spanish War of 1672-1678, 

 and by plague in 1743. In the disastrous earth- 

 quake of 1908 it was totally destroyed, but was 

 at once rebuilt, so the traveler now sees a mod- 

 ern city, on an unusually beautiful bay, at the 

 foot of great rugged hills. 



Strait of Messina. This is a stretch of water 

 which separates the island of Sicily from Italy. 

 It is about twenty-four miles long, and at the 

 northern end is not more than two miles wide. 

 It is this narrowest part that the old-time sail- 

 ors dreaded ; they thought it impossible to make 

 the passage because of the rocks of Scylla on 

 one side and the whirlpool of Charybdis on the 

 other. Modern seamen, too, say it is very 

 dangerous because of the depth of the water 

 and the strong tidal current. See SCYLLA. 



METALLURGY, met'alurji, the science and 

 art of separating metals from their ores. It is 

 a most ancient art and of the first importance 

 in the history of civilization. T^he Trojans 

 knew how to obtain pure silver, and they 

 wrought it into ornaments of intricate and 

 beautiful design. The Greeks, too, were cun- 

 ning workmen, and the Romans attached such 

 importance to the shaping of metals that Vul- 

 can, the smith, was one of their gods. The 

 alchemists of the Middle Ages were fascinated 

 by their researches in the science and discov- 

 ered curious facts of the utmost importance, 

 which, however, they lacked the knowledge to 

 interpret properly (see ALCHEMY). In modern 

 times metallurgy has become merged with the 

 science of chemistry, of which it was the fore- 

 runner. 



