7l) S. M E 1) A L. 
f he Jew's believe was the fori of Gerfon), and informed 
him that Eldad and Medad prophefied in the camp. 
Jofbua immediately addrefled Mofes, defiring him to re- 
ftrain them. But Mofes anfwered him, Enviejl thou for my 
fake ? Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and 
that the Lord would put hisfpirit upon them. Num. xi. ^7-19. 
The Jews pretend, that Eldad and Medad were brothers 
by the mother’s fide to Mofes, and fons of jochebed and 
Elizaphan. Others will have it, that Amron the father of 
Mofes, having divorced his wife Jochebed, married an¬ 
other wife, by whom he had Eldad'and Medad. Eldad 
fignifies t: beloved of God.” St. Jerome fays, thefe men 
had continued in the camp out of humility, thinking 
themfelves unworthy the honour intended them, although 
their names were included in the number of the feventy. 
ME'Di£WART,yi [from medica , Lat. and wort.] The 
herb medic, or moon-trefoil : 
The metall firft he mixt with medawart, 
That no enchantment from his dint might fave. Spenfer. 
MED'AL, f. [medaille, Fr. probably from metallum, Lat. 
metal.] An ancient coin.—The Roman medals were their 
current money : when an aftion deferved to be recorded 
on a coin, it was ffampt, and ilfued out of the mint. 
Addifon .—A piece ftamped in honour of fome remarkable 
performance. 
Of the STUDY of MEDALS. 
There are few ftudies of more importance to hiftory 
than that of medals ; the foie evidence we can have of the 
veracity of an hiftorian being only fuch collateral docu¬ 
ments as are evident to every body, and cannot be falfi- 
fied. In modern times, thefe are found in public memoirs, 
inftruftions to ambaffadors, and (fate-papers of various 
kinds. Such memorials, however, are fubjeft to various 
accidents, and befides commonly remain in the countries 
•where they are fir It publifhed, and cannot therefore give 
4 o the woild at large that perfect and entire fatisfaftion 
which ought to be derived from genuine hiftory ; fo that 
more durable and wideiy-diffufed monuments are (fill to 
be wifiied for. Such are public buildings, inferiptions, 
and ftatues; but thefe, excepting a few inftances of the 
two laft, are always confined to particular countries; fo 
that medals alone remain as infallible documents of truth, 
capable of being diffufed over all countries in the world, 
and of remaining through the lateft ages. 
The firff who fhowed the importance of medals in afeer- 
taining the dates, and arranging the order of events, in 
ancient hiftory, by means of medals, was Vaillant, in his 
Hiftory of the Kings of Syria, printed at Paris in 1681. 
By medals alone, he 1)3S been enabled to fix the chrono¬ 
logy and important events of hiftory in the three moft 
ancient kingdoms of the world, viz. Egypt, Syria, and 
Parthia. Many coins and medals have been difeovered 
fince his time, which confirm the accounts he has given. 
He was followed by father Hardouin, though with lei's 
fuccels. Hardouin’s bell work is his “ Herodiadcs, or Series 
of Succeft’ors to Herod king of Judaea.” The fame plan 
was purfued by Noris, in his learned Treadle on the 
Syro-Macedonian Princes; and by Bayer, in his Hiftory 
of Ofrhoene ; as well as by Froelich, in the work entitled 
Ann ales Re gum et Rerune Eyries, Vien. 1754.; and another, 
named ICevenhuller’s Regum veterum Numifmata Amcdota, 
&uB. Perrara, Vien. 175a. 4to. of which Froelich was pro¬ 
perly the author. Corfini and Cary likewife publiffied 
work6 of a fimilar nature; the former, in 1744, De Minni- 
fari , aliorumque Armenia Regum , Nummis, &c, tire latter, in 
175a, Hijloire des Rots des Thrace, et du Bofphore Cimmerien, 
eclaircie par les Medailles. 
The Itudy of the Greek coins, however, does not (how 
the dates of events, though it illultrates the chronology 
of reigns. But this defeft is abundantly fupplied by thole 
of Rome, which commonly mark the date of the prince’s 
ednfulfhip, the year of his tribunician power; giving alio, 
upon the reverie, the reprefentation or poetical fymbol of 
fome grand event. The year of the tribunician power Is 
fometimes imagined by antiquaries to be fynonymous with 
that of the emperor’s reign : but this is not the cafe; and 
Mr. Pinkerton is at fome pains to fet them right in this 
refpeft. The tribunelhip was an office of annual elefticn ; 
and, if put into the hands of any others than plebeians, 
muft have been the fupreme power of the ftate, as it be¬ 
longed to that office to put a negative upon every public 
meafure whatever. Auguftus inverted himfelf with the 
tribunician power, which had the advantage of appearing 
to be a temporary fupremacy, though in truth it was-con¬ 
tinued during his whole life-time. Towards the end of 
his reign, he frequently alTumed his dertined fucceffor, 
Tiberius, for his colleague, though in the beginning he 
had enjoyed it alone. This, with his artifice of refigning 
his power every ten years,and re-afluming it at the deftre, 
as was pretended, of the ferrate, fecured his fovereignty 
as long as he lived. His example was followed by his 
fuccefl'ors; To that moft of them have the infeription Tre- 
bunicia Potejlate upon their medals, with the date affixed 
to it thus, TV. Pol. VII. Yet, though this date ge¬ 
nerally implies the year of the emperor’s reign, it fome¬ 
times happens that the emperor, by fpecial favour from 
a former prince, had been endowed with this title before 
he came to the throne, as being the fucceffor to that 
prince, of which we have an inftance in Tiberius; and 
another in Commodus, of whom we have medals on the 
reverfe of which both dates are given ; thus TR.P. xvi. 
IMP. vnr. See Plate II. fig. 21. Befides the tribunician 
power, the emperors very frequently enjoyed that of the 
confuls 5 and the date of their confullhip is frequently 
expreffed on their coins, or medals, as in fig. 20, az. 
The office of Pontifex Maximus, or chief prieft, was 
likewife a (Turned by the Roman emperors, in order to fe- 
cure themfelves in their authority; which, Mr. Pinkerton 
obferves, was one of the moft efficacious artifices they 
could have fallen upon. “ In the Greek heroic times, 
(fays he,) king and prieft were carefully united in one 
perfon ; and, when fovereigns arofe in Denmark and Swe¬ 
den, the fame plan was followed, as appears from Snorro, 
and other writers. Nothing could lend more fecurity to 
the perfon of the monarch than an office of fupreme fanc- 
tity, which alfo confirmed his power by all the terrors of 
fuperflition. Even the Chriftian fyftem was afterwards 
debafed by a mock alliance with government; though it 
is clear from the whole New Teftament, that fuch an al¬ 
liance is fubverfive of its genuine inftitution, and the 
greateft of all its corruptions. But the Roman-catholic 
clergy, in the dark ages, were the authors of “ No church 
no king,” for their own intereft ; while the Roman em¬ 
perors only fought to ftrengthen their power by the awe 
of fuperflition. The title of Pontifex Maximus was fo 
important, that it was retained even by the Chriftian em¬ 
peror's till the time of Gratian. Its influence in the (fate 
was, indeed, prodigious. Cicero obferves, that to this 
office were fubjeft temples, altars, penates, gods, the ho tiles, 
wealth, and fortune, of the people. That of augur is alfo 
borne by many emperors; and its authority was fuch, 
that, by the law of the Twelve Tables, no public bulinefs 
could be tranfafted without a declaration from the augur 
concerning its event. The proconfular power was alfo 
given to Auguftus and the other emperors. It conferred 
a direft authority over all the provinces, and implied the 
emperor to be chief proconful, or governor of each and 
of all. Hence Mr. Pinkerton infers, that medals afford 
the moft authentic documents of the Roman hiftory, in 
particular that could have been invented by man. The 
hiitories of Nerva and Trajan, for inftance, are much bet¬ 
ter elucidated by medals than by authors; for the hiftory 
of Suetonius ends with Domitian, and the Hijloria Augujla 
Scriptores begin with Adrian : fo that the reigns ot the 
two emperors juft mentioned are almoft unknown ; and 
Mr. Pinkerton is furprifed that none of the learned have 
attempted to fupply the defeft. “ Capitoiinus (fays he), 
in his life of Maximus Junior, is quite puzzled to know 
if 
