MÆOTIS PALUS or LACUS, Mæotica Palus, or Mæoticus Lacus, in Ancient Geography, a large lake, or part of the sea, between Europe and Asia, at the northern extremity of the Euxine, with which it communicates by the Cimmerian Bosphorus. It was worshipped as a deity by the Massageteæ. It extends about 390 miles from south-west to north-east, and is about 600 miles in circumference. The Palus Mæotis, or Sea of Azof, reaches from the Crimea to the mouth of the Don.