﻿MACEDONIA. 



MACERATA-E-CAMERINO. 



Than wa • road bom EUbm to Ttawily orar ths Cambaniui 

 MaBBtaini (Livy, zlil it), and another to ^tolia (hirj, zliii. 21). 



Soutb-weat of Elimea was the distrirt of SymphaJia, which waa 

 annexed to Maoedon on fha oaiM|uaat of Peneui by the Romana (Liry, 

 zIt. SO), togatharwith tlia ooonti^ of thaAtinUni and ParaTMi, which 

 aztended to the waat of EUmea, in lUyria and Epirua 



North-w«et of ElinM* waa the dutriot of (/ratit (Polyb., xriii. 80 ; 

 Lit., zxxiiL 84), which probably derived ita name, aa MttUer haa 

 remarked, from the moimtaioooa naturo of the oouutry {ipot, moun- 

 tain), and not from Oraatea, the aon of Agamemnon. The Oreatn 

 appear to hare been indapeodent uf the Macedonian kinga for a oon- 

 Bidarable time ; they ware bowerer obliged at length to aubmit to 

 thair authority, but were deolarcd independent again on the oonqneet 

 of llaeadonia by the RooMna. (Livy, xzziil 34.) The principal 

 town in thia diatrict waa Caletmm, aitoated on a peninenU, which 

 ran into a lake of the aame name (the modem Kaatoria, or Keerie). 



Lynctu, or Lyntatit, the country of the Lynoestis (Thucyd., i v. 83, 1 24 ; 

 Ut., xxtL 25 ; xxxi. 33 ; xxiii. »), north of Orestia, was surrounded 

 by moantains on all aidea. It contained no towma of any importance 

 •soept Heraolea, whioh waa aitoated on the great Egnatian road. The 

 I^ynoaata were goTamed by ao independent prince of the name of 

 Ajrhibaua daring the early part of the Peloponneaian war. (Thucyd., 

 hr. 1S4.) 



To tha eaat of Lyncua, and north of Elimea and the Bermiua, was 

 the diatriot of SorcUa, or Eordaa, in the valley of the Lydias. The 

 Bordiana are aaid to hare been driren out of their country, which 

 however atill continued to bear the name of Eordia, by the Temenidse, 

 and to have aettlad afterwardi about Physca, which was probably a 

 town in Uygdonia. (Thucyd., ii. 99.) 



EnuUhia, which was afterwards limited to the country north of 

 Bottiaa, in the valley of the Lydias, was the name, as hsH been 

 already remarked, by whioh the country waa originally called, accord- 

 ing to many ancient writers. The chief town in this district, Sga, 

 afterwarda called £dtt$a ( Vodinn), was the capital of the Macedonian 

 kingdom in the earliest time* ; and even when it had ceased to be the 

 royal reaidenee, it still continued the burial-place of the kings. It was 

 alargedty in the time of Livy (xlv. 80). It stood on the Via Egnatia, 

 SO milaa west of PelU. 



The northern part of Macedonia was inhabited by various tribes of 

 Peonians : of which the principal were the Pelagonians, who dwelt 

 north of. Lyncestia. The chief town of this district waa also called 

 Pslagonia. The Agriana, north-east of the Pelagonians, were a power- 

 ful Pnonian tribe, living near the sourcee of the Strymon. (Strabo, vii 

 iL 18, vol iL, p. 133.) 



The peninsula south of Mygdonia, between the Thermaio and 

 Stzymonio gulfs, waa called Chalcidice from the Cbalcidians of 

 Babflia, who formed settlements in this country in very early times. 

 The peninsula of Chalcidice comprised in the south three smaller 

 peninaulas : Pallene, formeriy called Phlegra (Stmbo, vii. a. 12. ; vol. 

 ii p. 131), between the Thermaic and ToronMC gnlfs; Sithonin, 

 between the Toronaie and Singitio gulfs ; and Act<;, as Thucydides 

 oalia it (iv. 1 09), or Athoa, aoooi^g to Herodotus (vii. 22), between 

 the Singitio and Strymonic gulfs. [ Athos.] The peninsula of Chalci- 

 dioe, together with the three smaller peninsulas, contained several 

 important towns, which are frequently mentioned in Orecian 

 history. 



Potidaa, afterwards called Ctumndrta from Cassander, Ung of 

 MaoadoD, founded by the Corinthians (Thucyd., i. 56), stood on the 

 narrow iathmua which connects the peninsula of Pallene with the 

 mainland. It sent 800 men to Platssa (Herodot, ix., 28), and after the 

 Persian war waa subject to the Athenians. Potidiea revolted from 

 Athena, B.O. 482; and was not taken till after a siege of two years, 

 when ths Potidaeaoa surrendered and were allowed to quit the place. 

 A mutilated ioacription in elegiac verse, now in the British Museum, 

 comBemorataa tha oonrage ol those Athenians who (A\ in a battle 

 befora this town, ma 482. An Athenian colony was afterwards sent 

 to occupy the town. (Thucyd., ii. 70.) It subsequently fell under 

 the power of Philip of Maoedon, and continued from that time sub- 

 Jaet to the Macedonian kings. The other towns of Pallene were 

 Apkytia, with a celebrated temple of Bacchus ; Mcnde, a colony of 

 ■ »in Eubcaa (Thooyd., iv. 128), which revolted from the Athe- 

 B.a 428, and waa reUken by Niciaa and Nicostratus; and 

 , aaid to have bean founded by the Pellenians from Achaia in 

 _ naaaoa, which also revolted from the Athenians, B.C. 428, but 

 w^ Mtakao, aad ths inhabitanta treated with groat cruelty ; the town 

 Hid laada wars aftwwarda givmi to the Plateana. (Thucyd. v. 82.) 



At tha hMd of ths Toronaio Oulf waa the Important town of 

 OlyntbaaJoaBdwl by the Oialaidiana and Erethitona of Eubosa. [Oltw- 

 nm.] Tka ahiaf town in SHlionia waa Torone, oo the south-western 

 «aait, whieii waa alao probabhr founded by the Euboeana. Torone 

 waa for a UwfM — sabjeot totlia Athenians, but afterwards belonged 

 to tha OiyiMklHi eoafederaoy, and waa eventually united to the 

 Maoadoaiaa awaaiohy by PbiUp. 

 Tha Mnisanla of Act*, or Athoa, waa inhabited in the time of 



3??""'™* J7 .' '*T I**P!f "^ '^^!''^h' o'^«'". *«* principally bv 



' ' '"' frho dwelt in smaU 



I extremity of this penin- 



I Xerxes out aoroia the iathmmi 



TMofOiam tj % Um peopU of Cbaloidio ori^ 

 ff i l ia riw i, BUti^OHloiiUiM, md Bdonea/ 

 Cortiflad TiUigaa. (Thooyd., i v. 109.) At the ex 

 Mia waa Mount Anoik Tha oaaal whioh Xerzea 



can still be distinctly traced. Aflanthua, situated on the isthmus which 

 connects the peninsula with the mainland, was once an important 

 town. [Athos.] The chief towns in the interior of the prninmita of 

 Chalcidice were Choloia and ApoUonia, mentioned in the Acts of the 

 Apostles (xvii. 1). 



The Via Egnatia, which formed one great line of communication 

 between the Ionian .Sea and Byzantium, commenced at ApoUonia 

 in lUyria, and was joined at Clodiana on ths Qenusns by the Via 

 Candaria, from Dyrrachium, which however is also called the Via 

 Egnatia. (Strabo, vii sec. 3.) The Via Egnatia entered Macedonia 

 in the district of Lyncus, and passed by the towns of Edeasa, Fella, 

 Thessalonica, Ajwllonia, and Amphipolis, where it entered Thrace, 



MACERA'TA-E-CAMERI'NO, a province of the Papal States, 

 forming part of the old division called the Marches, is bounded N. by 

 the provinces of Anoona and Urbino-e-Pesaro, K by the Adriatic, 

 W. by the province of Perugia, and S. by those of Spoleto and Fermo- 

 ed-Aico1i. Its area is 1173 square miles, and its population in 1848 

 was 264,080. The country slopes towards the north-east from the 

 foot of the central Apennine chain to the coast of the Adriatic. The 

 principal rivers are the Potenxa, Cljienti, and Musone, which rise in 

 the Apennines and flow into the Adriatia 



The province of Macerata is in part very mountainous and barren ; 

 but the valleys and plains towards the sea-coast produce abundance 

 of com, wine, most kinds of fruit, and very good silk. The coast 

 along the Adriatic has no harbour which deserves the name. Kecanali 

 has an anchoring-place for small veasels at the month of the river 

 Potenza, where some trade is carried on. 



The chief towns are the following :— Macerata, on a hill in a fine 

 country watered by the Chienti, is a well-built town, with 16,000 

 inhabitants. It has several churches and convents with good paintinga, 

 a college, and a university with a library containing 20,000 volumee, a 

 court of appeal, a handsome town-house, and several 6ne private 

 palaces, amongst which the Palace Compagnoni is the most remark- 

 able. Macerata is a bishop's see and the residence of the delegate. 

 It carries on a considerable trade in com, silk, and cattle. 



Loreto is famous for its sanctuary of the Madonna, called the Santa 

 Caaa, or Holy House, which is said to bo the house in which the 

 Virgin Mary lived at Nazareth, and to have been miraculously carried, 

 first to the hill of Tersatto, above the town of Fiume in Dalmatia, 

 and finally in 1294 to its present site, on a hill about 15 miles S.E. 

 from Anoona, and 3 miles from the Adriatic coast. The ground on 

 which the house was deposited belonged to a woman named Lauretta, 

 whence the name of Loreto. The city which haa grown up around 

 the sanctuary is well built, and contains 8000 inhabitants. The square 

 in which the church called Chieaa delta Santa Casa is sittiated is occa< 

 pied on one side by a house belonging to the Jesuits ; on the other 

 side by the palace of the governor, a noble building, erected after 

 designs by Bramante ; in the centre is a fine bronze statue of Pope 

 Sixtus v., seated, and giving the benediction. Over the central door 

 of the fajade of the church, which forms the third side of the square, la 

 a full-length bronze statue of the Virgin and Child, by Qirolamo 

 Lombardo. The great ornaments of toe interior ore three superb 

 bronze doora, which are divided into compartments, filled with bas- 

 reliefs representing various events recorded in the Old and New Testa- 

 ments snd the triumphs of the Church. The Campanile, which is of 

 great height, was designed by Vsuvitelli ; it exhibits a combination of 

 the four orders, and is surmounted by an octagonal pyramid containing 

 a bell 22,000 lbs. weight The vault of the nave is painted in chiaro- 

 oscuro, the subjects being taken f^om the prophetic books of the Holy 

 Scriptures. But the great wonder of this celebrated church is the 

 Santa Caaa itself, which Is said to be the birthplace of the Blessed 

 Virgin, the scene of the Annunciation and Incarnation, and the 

 residence of the Holy Family after the return from Egypt. It is a 

 small brick house, with one door facing the north and one window 

 fnciog the west, and it is built in the rudeot manner. Above the fire- 

 place is a celebrated statue of the Blessed Virgin and the Infant Jesus, 

 reputed to have been sculptured by St. Luke : it is of the cedar of 

 Lebanon, and quite black with age. The Santa Casa is cased with 

 white marble, and this casing is one of the most remarkable works of 

 modem art. It was designed by Bramante, and executed by Sanso- 

 vino, Gorolamo Lombardo, Bandinelli, John of Bologna, and other 

 illuatrioua artists. Tha casing forms four fronts, each of which is 

 covered with sculptures in relief. The western front presents the 

 Annunciation by Sonsovino, characterised by Vasari as a ' divine work,' 

 with smaller tableta on which are aculpturod representations of the 

 Visitation and of St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin in Bethlehem by 

 Sangallo ; and in the angles are the prophets Jeremiah and Ezokiel 

 by Sansovinn and Oirolamo Lombardo respectively. On the southern 

 front is the Nativity, another grand work dv Sanaovino. The eastern 

 front presents the fine bas-reliefs of the Arrival of the Holy Bouse at 

 Loreto, the Death and Burial of the Blessed Virgin, &a, by Nicol& 

 Tribolo. On the northern front are baa-reliefs of the Nativity of the 

 Blesaed Virgin, the Sposalizio, and several prophets, by Sansovino, 

 Bandinelli, and Raffaele da Montelupo. The baptistry, or font, is a 

 noble work in bronze, covered with bat-reliefs of great merit, repre- 

 senting the Baptism of Our Saviour, and several other scriptural sub- 

 jects. The side chapels are ornamented with fins mosaics, from 

 piotorea by great mMtete, with bM-reli«ft, free^oes, and paintinga. 



