MAGNESIA AD SIPYLUM

city in ancient Lydia, just south of the Hermus (Gediz) River. Though lying in a rich district near prehistoric regions associated with Niobe and Tantalus, and itself going back to the 5th century BC, it is of little importance except for the battle of winter 190/189 BC, described in Livy, xxxvii, when the Romans under Lucius Scipio decisively defeated Antiochus III and threw him back permanently to the other side of the Taurus range. It suffered severely from earthquakes, notably in AD 17, and has left rather scanty remains. The modern city is Manisa (q.v.).