MARIETTE PASHA, FRANCOIS AUGUSTE FERDINAND, Egyptologist, born at Boulogne; became professor in the college there in 1841, entered the Egyptian department of the Louvre in 1849, and next year set out for Egypt; eight years later he was made keeper of the monuments to the Egyptian government, and in 1879 was made a pasha; he died at Cairo; he made many valuable discoveries and excavations, among which were the burial-place of the Apis bulls, the Sphinx monument, and many temples (1821-1881).
MARIO, GIUSEPPE, a celebrated tenor, born in Cagliari; acquired a large fortune as a professional singer, but lost it through unsuccessful speculations; in the circumstances a concert was given in London for his benefit which realised L1000; he was a handsome man and of charming manners (1808-1883).
MARIOTTE, EDME, a French physicist, born at Dijon; discoverer of the law named after him, that the volume of a gas is inversely as the pressure; called also Boyle’s; it bears the name of Mariotte’s law on the Continent, and Boyle’s in England (1620-1684).
MARIUS, CAIUS, a celebrated Roman general, born near Arpinum, uncle by marriage to Julius Caesar and head of the popular party, and the rival of Sulla; conquered the Teutons and the Cimbri in Gaul, and made a triumphal entry into Rome; having obtained command of the war against Mithridates, Sulla marched upon the city and drove his rival beyond the walls; having fled the city, he was discovered hiding in a marsh, cast into prison, and condemned to die; to the slave sent to execute the sentence he drew himself haughtily up and exclaimed, “Caitiff, dare you slay Caius Marius?” and the executioner fled in terror of his life and left his sword behind him; Marius was allowed to escape; finding his way to Africa, he took up his quarters at Carthage, but the Roman praetor ordered him off; “Go tell the praetor,” he said to the messenger sent, “you saw Caius Marius sitting a fugitive on the ruins of Carthage”; upon this he took courage and returned to Rome, and along with Cinna made the streets of the city run with the blood of the partisans of Sulla; died suddenly (156-88 B.C.).
MARIVAUX, a French dramatist and novelist, born in Paris; was a man of subtle wit, and his writings reveal it as well as an affectation of style named Marivaudage after him; his fame rests on his novels rather than his dramas (1688-1763).
MARK, GOSPEL ACCORDING TO, is mainly a narrative of the doings of Christ and of the events of His life in their historical sequence; moves on at an even pace, abounds in graphic touches, and adds minute traits as if by an eye-witness; it represents Christ as the Son of man, but manifesting Himself by such signs and wonders as to show that He was also the Son of God; it is written for Gentile Christians and not for Jewish, and hence little stress is laid on Old Testament fulfilments or reference made to those antagonisms to Christianity which had a merely Jewish root.