MAS'INIS'SA (c.239-1-48 n.c.). King of the Massylians, in Numidia. Ile was educated at Carthage, and in B.C. 213 induced his father to form a league With t he Carthaginians, with whom he fought against Syphax, King of the Massw sylians, the ally of the Romans. He then passed over into Spain at the head of a troop of Nmnid ian cavalry, and displayed great zeal and valor in the war against Rome. But the victory of the Romans at Silpia in B.C. 206, and (so the story goes) the action of the Carthaginians in giving Sophonisba, the beautiful daughter of llasdrubal (son of Cisco), who had been prom ised him in marriage, as wife to his old rival Syphax, led SlasiniS,50 to enter into an alliance with the Romans. The Carthaginians incited Syphax to make war upon him. Defeated and stripped of his sovereignty, which he had just inherited from his father, he was compelled to seek refuge on the coast of Syrtis,where he brave ly defended himself until the arrival of Scipio in B.C. 204, when he identified his cause with that of the Romans. He defeated Syphax, overran his country, captured his capital, and took prisoner his Queen. Sophonisba. whom INIasinissa still loved. Scipio, who feared the influence of the Carthaginian princess, demanded her surrender as a captive of war, and Masinissa, to spare her the shame, gave her poison to drink. In the de cisive battle of Zama, which followed the arrival of Hannibal in Africa (n.c. 202), he made a brilliant charge at the head of his Numidian horse, drove the cavalry of Hannibal from the field. and was the first to turn the tide of battle against the Carthaginians. For this service he received the kingdom of Syphax in the following year. lie now profited by the leisure which peace afforded him, olevoting his attention to the or ganization of his government and to the civilizing of his semi-barbarous subjects. lint his lust of conquest was never satiated. lle made con tinuous inroads into the territory of Carthage, and his depredations filially drove the Cartha ginians to war (B.C. 150), an event which the Romans seized on as a welcome pretext for in tervening, and utterly crushing their ancient rival.
MASK (Fr. masque, from Sp. auiscara, from Ar. inashharat, buffo., mask, from salawra, to ridicule). A disguise or covering of the hive, worn either to aid in the simulation of some character or for other purposes, as in the rites of savage people for the frightening away of demons or even protecting the faces of the dead. The use of masks in the drama originated perhaps in the harvest festivities of the most ancient Greek peasantry, appearing subsequently to have been associated with the representation of Satyrs, Si lenns, and Bacchus in the orgies of Baeehus. In Creek tragedy, which was an outgrowth from these. masks were used from the first, and in comedy at least at a later day. Regular types of masks were developed for the different char acters in tragedy and comedy, expressive of fixed emotions. They were often provided with metal lic mouthpieces for the purpose of increasing the power of the voice, as was made necessary by•the great size and openness of the ancient theatres.
Their use indeed was adapted both to the vastness of the buildings and to a formal style of dramatic representation in which the ideal prevailed over any reality of individual impersonation. In the modern theatre the use of masks, coming down through the mimes and pantomimes of the Ro mans and the early Italian commerlia dell'arte ('cometly of has been chiefly confined to that class of entertainIllellts in wide!' the very names qt the characters, like Pantaloon and Itarlequin (q.v.), have been dcrit.ed from Italy. The use of masks at costume-balls also originated in Italy, when the domino, or half mask, worn by ladies. beeame especially popular.
The name death-masks is given to masks, usu ally of plaster, made after death. In the prepara tion of these masks the film of the dead body is usually covered with oil, and plaster of Paris is then applied. After the plaster has hardened it is removed, being prevented by the oil front adhering too closely to the skin. Into the mold thus formed fresh plaster is poured, and the re sulting cast is the death-mask. Such masks arc of the utmost value as wren resP111b1:111VPS of the faces from which they are taken. although the change of contour caused by death necessarily impairs to some extent their value: Similar masks are occasionally made from living men. Dere, however, the mobile expression is fre quently of necessity sacrificed. so that it is in g,eneral true that the more expressive the living face, the fainter is the likeness, while a set and determined face gives. as a rule. a clear and accurate mask. The use of death-masks is both ancient and widespread. The Romans made them of wax, while among the Egyptians and in the ruins of Ilissarlik masks of thin gold plate have been found, and among the American Indians oevasional specimens have been discov ered.
Among certain groups of savages, masks play an important rule in their ceremonials. They are sometimes constructed to imitate living forms, as of animals, but more often to portray mythological characters. Asa consequence the imagination of the maker is allowed a certain freedom, and the result is seen in the grotesque productions which are familiar from the ethno logieal volleetions of our museums. They are most commonly employed in shamanistic rites and in dances of a religious and more or less secret eharacter. Their use is perhaps most prominent in North America, particularly among the tribes on the North Pacific Coast, and in the islands of the South Seas, notably in the :Me lanesian group. Consult : Altmann, Me Masken des Sehrtusm'elers (ffil ed.. Berlin. 1897i1: Sand. Masques el boa ffons (Paris. 1800) ; Fieoroni.
Larris Neeniris et l'ionris Contiris (Rome, 1751) ; Le masehrre seeniche e le figure iehe d'antiehi Romani (1; lllll 1730 ) ; dorf, latikr Resiehtshelm, and Sepuleralmaskrn (Vienna, 18781 Dail, Masks, ts, and rer• lain Aboriginal Customs ; Fr)brn ins, Di.. I/ fiskral and lIchcimbiinde ,1 feikos 111a Ile. I hit ton, Portraits in Plastrr ( New fork. 189I)