MA.SINISSA, or MASSINISSA, King of the Massylians; B.C. 239-148; a famous African prince, son of Gala. He was educated at Carthage, and in 213 B.o. induced his father to fortn a league with the Carthaginians. In the same year he sailed for Spain at the head of a troop of Numidian cavalry, and displayed great zeal and valor in the war against the Romans. But the defeat of the Carthaginians at Silpia in 206 B.c., and the generosity with which his nephew, Massiva, was treated by Scipio Africanus, led him to become a faith ful ally of the Romans. The crown of his country, which, after the death of his father Gala, had passed in rapid succession to his uncle CEsacles, and his cousin Capusa, was seized at this time in the name of an infant brother of the latter by Mezetulus. On hear ing of this usurpation, Masinissa crossed to Africa, defeated3lezetulus in a pitched battle, and forced him to flee into the kingdom of Sypliax. The Carthaginians, however, irri tated at his open avowal for the Romans, incited Syphax to make war upon him. Defeated and stripped of his sovereignty, he was compelled to seek refuge near the Syrtis minor, where he bravely defended himself until the arrival of Scipio in 204 B.o. He identified bis cause with that of the Romans, and his knowledge of the habits of the enemy contributed greatly to the two victories gained over Hasdrubal and Syphax. He then, after a march of 15 days, captured Cirta, the capital of Syphax. In the decisive battle of Zama which followed the arrival of Hannibal in Africa (202 B.c.), he made a brilliant charge at the head of his Numidian horse, drove the cavalry of Hannibal from the field, and was, therefore, the first to turn the tide of battle against the Carthaginians. For this service he received the greater part of the kingdom of SypItax in the following year. He now profited by the leisure which peace afforded him, devoting his attention to the organization of his government and to the civilization of his semi-barbarous sub jects. But his lust of conquest was never satiated, and in his ninetieth year he marched into the territories of Carthage. Although several of his chiefs had deserted him, he adroitly circumvented the enemy, and forced them to capitulate.
MASK (Med. Latin, masa t; Fr. masque), a disguise or covering. of the face, the use of which. perhaps, originated in the harvest festivities of the Grecian peasantry of the most ancient times, and appears subsequently to have been associated with the repre sentation of Satyrs, Silenus, and I3acchus in the orgies of Bacchus. Greek tragedy having originated in close connection with the worship of Bacchus, masks were employed in it from the first; but it is uncertain when they were introduced in comedy. The masks used by actors were of very various form and character. They were often pro vided with metallic mouthpieces, for the purpose of increasing the power of the voice, this being rendered requisite by the immense size of the ancient theaters; their whole use being indeed adapted to such vast buildings, and to a style of dramatic representa tion in which the ideal prevailed, and the reality of individual impersonation was far less thought of than in modern times. Much information on the subject of ancient masks may be found in the work of Pacichelli, De llaseheris, Capillamentis et Chirotheeis (Naples, 1693); in the magnificent work of Pietro Contucci Ficoroni, De Lands Seenicis et Figuris Comieis (Rome, 1754), and in Berger's De Personis vulgr) Lards seu Mascherts (Frankf. 1723).
The use of masks in the modem theater originated in the Italian commedia dell' arte, -which may itself be traced back to the ancient Roman mimes and pantomimes, and has always been confined to that class of entertainments in which the very names of the characters, Pantaloon, Harlequin, etc., have been borrowed from Italy.
MASK, M.AsK.En, a military expression used in several senses. A masked batteiv is one so constructed, with a grassy glacis, etc., as to be hidden from the view of the enemy, until, to his surprise, it suddenly opens fire upon him—on his flank, perhaps. The fire of a battery is masked when some other work, or a body of friendly troops, intervenes in the line of fire, and precludes the use of the guns. A fortress or an arrny is masked when a superior force of the enemy holds it in check, while some hostile evolution is. being carried out.