Minius

MI´NIUS(Μίνιος: Minho), a river of Spain, rising in the north of Gallaecia, in the Cantabrian mountains, and falling into the Ocean. (Strab. 3. p. 153.) Strabo erroneously says that it is the largest river of Lusitania, and is navigable for 800 stadia. According to Aethicus Ister (p. 17), it has a course of 310 miles; but its real course is about 120 miles. The river was said to have derived its name from the minium, or vermilion, carried down by its waters. (Justin (Justin. 44.3.) According to Strabo (l. c.) it was originally called BAENIS(Βαῖνις); but as this name does not occur elsewhere, it has been conjectured that Βαῖνιςis a false reading for Ναῖβις, or Νῆβις, mentioned by Ptolemy (Ptol. 2.6.1) and Mela (3.1). The NAEBIS is a river falling into the Ocean between the Minius and the Durius; and it is supposed that Poseidonius, whom Strabo followed, confounded this river with the Minius. (Groskurd's Strabo, vol. 1. p. 260.) Νίμιος, in Appian (App. Hisp. 72), is clearly only a false reading for Μίνιος.The Minius is also mentioned by Ptol. 2.6.1; Mela, 3.1; Plin. Nat. 4.21. s. 35.