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had once held the command of the sea. (Dio Cass., | usually black bulls, rams, and boar-pigs. -- Neptune 48, 19.) Coins still exist of this Roman leader, bearing was not originally a god of the Doric race. He was the effigy of Neptune, with the inscription Magnus principally worshipped by the Ionians, who were in Pius Imperator iterum; or this, Præfectus classis et most places a maritime people. In those Dorian cities, ore maritimæ ex s. c. (Consult Rasche, Lex Rei however, which acquired a love for foreign commerce, Num., vol. 6, col. 1676, seqq.) we find that the worship of Neptune extensively prevailed. (Müller's Dorians, vol. 1, p. 417, seq., Eng. transl.)-The etymology of the names Poseidon and Neptunus is doubtful. Poseidon is written in Doric Greek Poteidan (Пoreidav), of which we have another example in the name of Potidea, written Poteidaia (Horeidaia) in the inscription, now in the British Museum, on those Athenians who fell before this city. The name, according to some writers, contains the same root in the first syllable as we find in Toróç and TоTauós; and has the same reference, in all likelihood, to water and fluidity. (Müller, Proleg., p. 289.)Neptunus, on the other hand, is derived by the Stoic Balbus, in Cicero, from nando (N. D., 2, 26), an etymology which Cotta subsequently ridicules. (N. Ď., 3, 24.) Varro deduces it from nuptu, because this god "covers" (obnubit) the earth with the sea. (L. L., 4, 10.) This latter derivation, though approved of by Vossius (Etymol., s. v. nuptæ), is no better than the former. We may compare the form of the word Nept-unus or Nept-umnus with Port-umnus, Vertumnus, and the word al-umnus; but the meaning or origin of the root Nept or Nep seems uncertain. It may, perhaps, be connected with the same root that is contained in the Greek viπT-, "to wet." (Keightley's Mythology, p. 85, seqq. —Encycl. Us. Knowl., vol. 16, p. 146.) sea, daughters

NEPTŪNUS OF NEPTUMNUS, the god of the sea, a Roman divinity, whose attributes are nearly the same as those of the Greek Poseidon (IIooɛidov). They will both, therefore, be considered in one and the same article. Neptune or Poseidon, the son of Saturn and Rhea, and the brother of Jupiter and Juno, appears to have been one of the most ancient divinities of Greece; although, according to Herodotus (2, 50), he was not originally a Greek deity, but his worship was imported from Libya. This statement, however, on the part of the historian, cannot be correct. Neptune was the god of water in general, of the sea, the rivers, and the fountains, but he was more particularly regarded as the god of the sea, which he acquired in his share of the dominions of his father Saturn. His wife was Amphitrite, and their children were Triton and Rhode, or Rhodos, which last became the bride of Helius, or the Sun-god. A late legend said that Amphitrite fled the love of the god, but that he came riding on a dolphin, and thus won her affection; and for this service he placed the dolphin among the stars. (Eratosth., Catast., 31.-Hygin., Poet. Astron., 1, 17.) Neptune, like his brother Jupiter, had a numerous progeny by both goddesses and mortals. The fleet stced Arion was the offspring of the sea-god and Ceres, both having assumed the equine form. According to one account, the nymph Rhodos was his daugh- NEREIDES (Nnpnides), nymphs of the ter by Venus. (Heroph., ap. Schol. ad Pind., Ol., 7, of Nereus and Doris. They are said by most ancient 24.)-Neptune is said to have produced the horse in writers to have been fifty in number, but Propertius his well-known contest with Minerva for the right of makes them a hundred (3, 5, 33). The most celebranaming the city of Athens. (Vid. Cecrops.) Accord-ted of them were Amphitrite, the wife of Neptune; ing to some, we are to understand by this myth that Thetis, the mother of Achilles; Galatea, Doto, &c. the horse was imported into Greece by sea. But this The worship of the Nereids was generally connected, explanation is far from satisfactory. It is difficult to as might be supposed, with that of Neptune. Thus, give a reason for the connexion of Neptune with the they were worshipped in Corinth, where Neptune was horse; but it is evident, from several passages in the held in especial honour, as well as in other parts of Greek writers, that he was regarded as a kind of Greece. (Pausan., 2, 1, 7, seq.—Id., 3, 26, 5.—Id., equestrian deity as well as the god of the sea. In the 5, 19, 2.) The Nereids were originally represented absence of a better explanation, we will give the one as beautiful nymphs; but they were afterward desuggested by Knight. "The horse," says this writer, scribed as beings with green hair, and with the lower "was sacred to Neptune and the rivers, and was em- part of their body like that of a fish. (Plin., 9, 4.) ployed as a general symbol of the waters. Hence NEREUS (two syllables), a sea-deity, the eldest son of also it may have been assumed as one of the types of Pontus and Earth. (Hesiod, Theog., 233.) Though fertility, and may furnish a clew to the fable of Nep- not mentioned by name in Homer, he is frequently tune and Ceres. It may also throw some light on the alluded to under the title of the Sea-elder (ahios yenarrative of Pausanias, where he states (8, 24) that pwv), and his daughters are called Nereids. Accordthe Phigalenses dedicated a statue to Ceres, having ing to Hesiod, he was distinguished for his knowlthe figure of a woman in every other part except the edge and his love of truth and justice, whence he was head, which was that of a horse; and that she held in termed an elder: the gift of prophecy was also assignone hand a dolphin, and in the other a dove." (Knight, ed to him. When Hercules was in quest of the apEnquiry, &c., § 111, seqq. — Class. Journ., vol. 25, ples of the Hesperides, he was directed by the nymphs p. 34, seqq.)-Besides his residence on Olympus, Nep- to Nereus. He found the god asleep and seized him. tune had a splendid palace beneath the sea at Ega. Nereus, on awaking, changed himself into a variety (Il., 13, 21.—Od., 5, 381.) Homer gives a noble de- of forms, but in vain he was obliged to instruct scription of his passage from it on his way to Troy, him how to proceed before the hero would release his chariot-wheels but touching the watery plain, and him. (Apollodorus, 2, 5.) He also foretold to Parthe monsters of the deep gambolling around their king. is, when carrying away Helen, the evils he would His most celebrated temples were at the Corinthian bring on his country and family. (Horat., Od., 1, Isthmus, at Onchestus, Helice, Trazene, and the 15.) Nereus was married to Doris, one of the oceanpromontories of Tænarum and Geræstus. - Neptune nymphs, by whom he became the father of the Neis represented, like Jupiter, of a serene and majestic reïds, already mentioned. (Keightley's Mythology, aspect; his form is exceedingly strong and muscular; p. 244.)-Hermann makes Nnpeús equivalent to Neand hence "the chest of Neptune" (σréрvov IIoσeiðá- fluus (vì þɛīv), and understands by the term the botwvoc, Il., 5, 479) is the poetic expression for this char-tom of the sea. Hence, according to the same auacteristic of the deity, which is illustrated by the noble fragment from the pediment of the Parthenon in the British Museum. He usually bears in his hand the trident, the three-pronged symbol of his power; the dolphin and other marine objects accompany his images. The animals offered to him in sacrifice were

thority, Nereus is called "the aged one," because he is ever unchangeable; he is called true, because the bottom of the ocean never gapes in fissures, so as to allow the waters to escape: and he is termed mild and peaceful, because the depths of ocean are eve tranquil and at rest. (Hermanni Opuscula, vol. 2, p.

NERITOS, the highest and most remarkable mountain in the island of Ithaca. (Hom., Od., 1, 21.—Il., 2, 632.- Virg., En., 3, 270.) According to Dodwell, the modern name is Anoi, which means "lofty :" he observes, also, that the forests spoken of by Homer have disappeared: it is at present bare and barren, producing nothing but stunted evergreens and aroinatic plants. (Cramer's Anc. Greece, vol. 2, p. 45.) NERITUM, a town of Calabria, about five miles to the north of Callipolis. (Plin., 3, 11.-Ptol., p. 62.) It is now Nardo. From an ancient inscription, cited by Muratori, it appears to have been a municipium. (Cramer's Anc. Italy, vol. 2, p. 317.)

NERIUM, a promontory of Spain, the same with Artabrum; now Cape Finisterre.

178.) Schwenck, on the other hand, derives the name a woman of low birth, still farther widened the breach Nereus from váw, "to flow." (Andeut., p. 180.) between him and his parent. She frequently addressThe best etymology, however, is undoubtedly that ed him in the most contemptuous language; remindwhich traces the form Nnpeús to the old Greek termed him that he owed his elevation solely to her, and vnpóv, "water," which last may itself be compared threatened that she would inform the soldiers of the with the Hebrew nahar. The modern Greek vɛpóv, manner in which Claudius had met his end, and "water," is therefore a word of great antiquity. would call upon them to support the claims of Bri(Compare Lobeck, ad Phryn., p. 42 ) tannicus, the son of the late emperor. The threats of his mother only served to hasten the death of Britannicus, whose murder forms the commencement of that long catalogue of crimes which afterward disgraced the reign of Nero. But while the management of public affairs appears, from the testimony of most historians, to have been wisely conducted by Burrus and Seneca, Nero indulged in private in the most shameless dissipation and profligacy. He was accustomed, in company with other young men of his own age, to sally into the streets of Rome at night, in order to rob and maltreat passengers, and even to break into private houses and take away the property of their owners. But these extravagances were comparatively harmless; his love for Poppaa, whom he had seduced from Otho, led him into more serious NERO, CLAUDIUS CAESAR, the sixth of the Roman crimes. Poppaa, who was ambitious of sharing the emperors, was born at Antium, in Latium, A.D. 37, imperial throne, perceived that she could not hope to nine months after the death of Tiberius. (Sueton., attain her object while Agrippina was alive, and, acVit. Ner., c. 6.) He was the son of Domitius Ahe-cordingly, induced Nero to consent to the murder of nobarbus and Agrippina the daughter of Germanicus, his mother. The entreaties of Poppea appear to and was originally named Lucius Domitius. After have been supported by the advice of Burrus and Senthe death of Ahenobarbus, and a second husband, eca; and the philosopher did not hesitate to palliate Crispus Passienus, Agrippina married her uncle, the or justify the murder of a mother by her son. (Tacit., Emperor Claudius, who gave his daughter Octavia in Ann., 14, 11. — Quintil., 8, 5.)-In the eighth year marriage to her son Lucius, and subsequently adopted of his reign, Nero lost his best counsellor, Burrus; him with the formal sanction of a Lex Curiata. (Tacit., and Seneca had the wisdom to withdraw from the Ann., 12, 26.) The education of Nero was carefully court, where his presence had become disliked, and attended to in his youth. He was placed under the where his enormous wealth was calculated to excite care of the philosopher Seneca, and he appears to the envy even of the emperor. About the same time have applied himself with considerable perseverance Nero divorced Octavia and married Poppaa, and soon to study. He is said to have made great progress after put to death the former on a false accusation of in the Greek language, of which he exhibited a adultery and treason. In the tenth year of his reign, specimen in his sixteeenth year, by pleading in that A.D. 64, Rome was almost destroyed by fire. Of tongue the rights or privileges of the Rhodians, and the fourteen districts into which the city was divided, of the inhabitants of Ilium. (Sueton., Vit. Ner., c. four only remained entire. The fire originated at that 7.Tacit., Ann., 12, 58.) At the death of Clau- part of the Circus which was contiguous to the Paladius (A.D. 54), while Agrippina, by soothings, flat- tine and Cœlian Hills, and raged with the greatest futeries, and affected lamentations, detained Brittanicus, ry for six days and seven nights; and, after it was the son of Claudius and Messalina, within the cham- thought to have been extinguished, it burst forth again, bers of the palace, Nero, presenting himself before and continued for two days longer. Nero appears to the gates, was lifted by the guard in waiting into the have acted on this occasion with the greatest liberalcovered coach used for the purpose of carrying in ity and kindness; the city was supplied with provisprocession an elected emperor, and was followed by a ions at a very moderate price; and the imperial garmultitude of the people, under the illusion that it was dens were thrown open to the sufferers, and buildings Britannicus. He entered the camp, promised a dona- erected for their accommodation. But these acts of tive to the cohorts, was saluted emperor, and pro- humanity and benevolence were insufficient to screen nounced before the senate, in honour of Claudius, an him from the popular suspicion. It was generally beoration of fulsome panegyric composed by his precep- lieved that he had set fire to the city himself, and tor Seneca. Agrippina soon endeavoured to obtain some even reported that he had ascended the top of the chief management of public affairs; and her vin- a high tower in order to witness the conflagration, dictive and cruel temper would have hurried Nero, at where he amused himself with singing the Destruction the commencement of his reign, into acts of violence of Troy. From many circumstances, however, it apand bloodshed, if her influence had not been counter- pears improbable that Nero was guilty of this crime. acted by Seneca and Burrus, to whom Nero had in- His guilt, indeed, is expressly asserted by Suetonius trusted the government of the state. Through their and Dio Cassius, but Tacitus admits that he was not counsels the first five years of Nero's reign were dis- able to determine the truth of the accusation. In ortinguished by justice and clemency; and an anecdote der, however, to remove the suspicions of the people, is related of him, that, having on one occasion to sign Nero spread a report that the Christians were the auan order for the execution of a malefactor, he ex- thors of the fire, and numbers of them, accordingly, claimed, "Would that I could not write!" (Sueton., were seized and put to death. Their execution servVit. Ner., 10.) He discouraged public informers, ed as an amusement to the people. Some were covrefused the statues of gold and silver which were ered with skins of wild beasts, and were torn to pieoffered him by the senate and people, and used every ces by dogs; others were crucified; and several art to ingratiate himself with the latter. But his moth- were smeared with pitch and other combustible maer was enraged to find that her power over him be- terials, and burned in the imperial gardens in the came weaker every day, and that he constantly disre night: "Whence," says the historian, "pity arose for garded her advice and refused her requests. His neg- the guilty (though they deserved the severest punishlect of his wife Octavia, and his criminal love of Acte, ments), since they were put to death, not for the pub

lic good, but to gratify the cruelty of a single man.' ture is that of Suetonius: "In nothing," says this (Tacit., Ann., 15, 44.)-In the following year, A.D. | writer, "was Nero so ruinous as in building. He 65, a powerful conspiracy was formed for the purpose erected a mansion extending from the Palatine as far of placing Piso upon the throne, but it was discovered as the Esquiliæ. At first he called it his 'House of by Nero, and the principal conspirators were put to Passage,' but afterward, when it had been destroyed death. Among others who suffered on this occasion by fire and restored again, he gave it the name of his were Lucan and Seneca; but the guilt of the latter Golden House.' To form an idea of its extent and is doubtful. In the same year Poppaa died, in con- magnificence, it may suffice to state the following parsequence of a kick which she received from her hus- ticulars. The vestibule admitted his colossal statue, band while she was in an advanced state of pregnan- which was 120 feet high; the building was on so cy. During the latter part of his reign, Nero was large a scale, that it had a triple portico a mile long; principally engaged in theatrical performances, and in also, an immense pool like a sea, enclosed by buildcontending for the prizes at the public games. He ings presenting the appearance of towns. There were, had previously appeared as an actor on the Roman moreover, grounds laid out for tillage and for vinestage; and he now visited in succession the chief cit- yards, and for pasturage and woods, stocked with a ies of Greece, and received no less than 1800 crowns vast number of every description of cattle and wild for his victories in the public Grecian games. On animals. In other respects, everything was overlaid his return to Italy he entered Naples and Rome as with gold, embellished with gems and with mother-ofa conqueror, and was received with triumphal hon- pearl. The ceilings of the banqueting-rooms were ours. But while he was engaged in these extrava- fretted into ivory coffers made to turn, that flowers gances, Vindex, who commanded the legions in Gaul, might be showered down upon the guests, and also declared against his authority; and his example was furnished with pipes for discharging perfumes. The speedily followed by Galba, who commanded in Spain. principal banqueting-room was round, and by a perThe prætorian cohorts espoused the cause of Galba, petual motion, day and night, was made to revolve and the senate pronounced sentence of death against after the manner of the universe." (Sueton., Vil. Nero, who had fled from Rome as soon as he heard Ner., c. 31.) When the structure was completed, of the revolt of the prætorian guards. Nero, how- Nero is said to have declared "that he at length had ever, anticipated the execution of the sentence which a house fit for a human being to live in" (se quasi had been passed against him, by requesting one of hominem tandem habitare cœpisse.. Sueton., l. c.). his attendants to put him to death, after making an Various explanations have been given of the way in ineffectual attempt to do so with his own hands. He which the contrivance was effected in the case of the died A.D. 68, in the 32d year of his age, and the 14th principal banqueting-room. Donatus makes it a holof his reign. It is difficult to form a correct estimate low globe, fixed inside a square room, and turning on of the character of this emperor. That he was a li- its own axis; and he introduces the guests by a door centious voluptuary, and that he scrupled at commit- near the axis, "where there is the least motion!" ting no crimes in order to gratify his lust or strength- (Donat., de Urb. Vet., lib. 3.--ap. Græv. Thes., vol. en his power, is sufficiently proved; out that he was 3, p. 680.) Dr. Adam (Rom. Ant., p 491) thinks such a monster as Suetonius and Dio have described that the ceiling was made "to shift and exhibit new him, may reasonably admit of a doubt. The posses- appearances as the different courses or dishes were sion of absolute power at so early an age tended to removed;" but this does not explain "the perpetual call forth all the worst passions of human nature, motion, day and night, after the manner of the uniwhile the example and counsels of his mother Agrip- verse." Nero's architects, Severus and Celer, cerpina must have still farther tended to deprave his tainly deserve the mention of their names. (Tacit., mind. Though he put to death his adoptive brother, Ann., 15, 42.) Tacitus remarks, that "the gems and his wife, and his mother, his character appears to have the gold which this house contained were not so been far from sanguinary; his general administration much a matter of wonder (being quite common at that was wise and equitable, and he never equalled, in his period) as the fields and pools; the woods, too, in one worst actions, either the capricious cruelty of Caligula, direction, forming a kind of solitude; while here, or the sullen ferocity of Domitian. Nero was a lover again, were open spaces with commanding views." of the arts, and appears to have possessed more taste (Tacit., l. c.)-The house of Nero and the palace of than many of the emperors, who only resembled him the Cæsars must not, however, be confounded. They in their profuse expenditure. The Apollo Belvidere were evidently two distinct things. (Tacit., Ann., 15, is supposed by Thiersch (Epochen, &c., p. 312) and 39.-Burgess, Antiquities of Rome, vol. 2, p. 172, some other writers to have been made for this em- seq.)-II. A Roman consul. (Vid. Claudius III.)— peror. His government seems to have been far from III. Cæsar, son of Germanicus and Agrippina. He unpopular. He was anxious to relieve the people married Julia, daughter of Drusus, the son of Tibefrom oppressive taxes, and to protect the provinces rius. By the wicked arts of Sejanus he was banished from the rapacity of the governors; and it may be to the isle of Pontia, and there put to death. (Tacit., mentioned as an instance of his popularity, that there| Ann., 4, 59, seq.-Sueton, Vit. Tib., 54.) were persons who for many years decked his tomb with spring and summer flowers, and that, in consequence of a prevalent rumour that he had escaped from death, several impostors at various times as- NERTOBRIGA, I. a city of Hispania Bætica, some sumed the name of Nero, and gave no small trouble distance to the west of Corduba. It was also called to the reigning emperors. (Tacit., Hist., 1, 2.-Id., Concordia Julia, and is now Valera la Vieja. (Polyb., ib., 2, 8.-Sueton., Vit. Ner., 57.-Casaubon, ad Sue-35, 2.-Ukert, Geogr., vol. 2, p. 381.) In Polybius ton., l. c.) During the reign of Nero the Roman em- it is written 'Epkóбpika by a mistake of the copyists, pire enjoyed, in general, a profound state of peace. the N being omitted probably on account of the preceIn the East the Parthians were defeated by Corbulo; and in the West, the Britons, who had risen in arms under Boadicea, were again reduced to subjection under Suetonius Paulinus. (Encycl. Us. Knowl., vol. 16, p. 147, seq.)-It may not be amiss, before concluding this article, to make some mention of Nero's celebrated "Golden House" (Aurea Domus). The only description on record of this costly struc

NERONIA, a name given to Artaxata by Tiridates, who had been restored to his kingdom by Nero. (Vid. Artaxata.)

ding rv. (Compare Schweigh. ad Appian., 6, 48, p. 260.) On D'Anville's map this place is set down within the limits of Lusitania.-II. A city of Hispania Tarraconensis, in the territory of the Celtiberi, between Bilbilis and Cæsaraugusta. It is now Almunia. (Florez, 2, 17.-Appian, 6, 50.-Itin. Ant., p. 437, 439.-Ukert, Geogr., vol. 2, p. 400.) Casaubon (ad Polyb., fragm., 35, 2) alters 'Opróbpiya into Nepτó

6piya, but incorrectly, since the place meant is probably the Areobriga of the Itinerary. As regards the termination of the name Nertobriga, consult remarks under the article Mesembria. (Ukert, l. c.)

NERVA, MARCUS COCCEIUS, the thirteenth Roman emperor, was born at Narnia, in Umbria, A.D. 27 according to Eutropius (8, 1), or A.D. 32 according to Dio Cassius (68, 4). His family originally came from Crete; but several of his ancestors rose to the highest honours in the Roman state. His grandfather Coc-acter the greatest perfection of which human nature is ceius Nerva, who was consul A.D. 22, and was a great favourite of the Emperor Tiberius, was one of the most celebrated jurists of his age. We learn from Tacitus that this individual put an end to his own life. (Ann., 6, 28.)-Nerva, the subject of the present sketch, is first mentioned in history as a favourite of Nero, who bestowed upon him triumphal honours, A.D. 66, when he was prætor elect. The poetry of Nerva, which is mentioned with praise by Pliny and Martial, appears to have recommended him to the fa-land.-Nestor is sometimes called the "Pylian sage," vour of Nero. Nerva was employed in offices of trust and honour during the reigns of Vespasian and Titus, but he incurred the suspicion of Domitian, and was banished by him to Tarentum. On the assassination of Domitian, A.D. 96, Nerva succeeded to the sovereign power, through the influence of Petronius Secundus, commander of the Prætorian cohorts, and of Parthenius, the chamberlain of the palace. The mild and equitable administration of Nerva is acknowledged and praised by all ancient writers, and forms a striking contrast to the sanguinary rule of his predecessor. He discouraged all informers, recalled the exiles from banishment, relieved the people from some oppressive taxes, and granted toleration to the Christians. Many instances of his liberality and clemency are recorded by his contemporary, the younger Pliny; he allowed no senator to be put to death during his reign; and he practised the greatest economy, in order to relieve the wants of the poorer citizens. But his impartial administration of justice met with little favour from the Prætorian cohorts, who had been allowed by Domitian to indulge in excesses of every kind. Enraged at the loss of their benefactor and favourite, they compelled Nerva to deliver into their hands Parthenius and their own commander Petronius, both of whom they put to death. The excesses of his own guards convinced Nerva that the government of the Roman empire required greater energy both of body and mind than he possessed, and he accordingly adopted Trajan as his successor, and associated him with himself in the sovereignty. Nerva died A.D. 98, after a reign of sixteen months and nine days. (Dio Cass., 68, 1, seqq.Pliny, Paneg., c. 11.-Id. ib., c. 89.-Aurel. Vict., c. 12.-Encycl. Us. Knowl., vol. 16, p. 149.)

NERVII, a warlike people of Belgic Gaul, whose country lay on both sides of the Scaldis or Scheldt, near the sources of that river; afterward Hainault and Nord. Their original capital was Bagacum, now Bavia; but afterward Camaracum (Cambray) and Turnacum (Tournay) became their chief cities towards the end of the fourth century. (Cæs., B. G., 5, 39.Plin., 4, 17.)

NESIS (is or idis), now Nisida, an island on the coast of Campania, between Puteoli and Neapolis, and within a short distance of the shore. Cicero mentions it as a favourite residence of his friend Brutus. (Ep. ad Att., 16, 1.)

NESSUS, I. a centaur, who attempted the honour of Deianira. (Vid. Deianira.)-II. A river of Thrace, more correctly the Nestus. (Vid. Nestus.)

NESTOR, Son of Neleus and Chloris, nephew of Pelias and grandson of Neptune. He was the youngest of twelve brothers, all of whom, with the single exception of himself, were slain by Hercules, for having taken part against him with Augeas, king of Elis. The tender years of Nestor saved him from sharing

their fate. (Vid. Neleus.) Nestor succeeded his father on the throne of Pylos, and subsequently, though at a very advanced age, led his forces to the Trojan war, in which he particularly distinguished himself among the Grecian chiefs by his eloquence and wisdom. Indeed, by the picture drawn of him in the Iliad, as well as by the description contained in the Odyssey, of his tranquil, virtuous, and useful life, it would appear that Homer meant to display in his charsusceptible. The most conspicuous enterprises in which Nestor bore a part prior to the Trojan war, were, the war of the Pylians against the Elians, and the affair of the Lapithe and Centaurs. Some have also placed him among the Argonauts. Nestor married Eurydice, the daughter of Clymenus (according to others, Anaxibia, the sister of Agamemnon), and had seven sons and two daughters. He returned in safety from the Trojan war, and ended his days in his native from his native city Pylos. He is also styled by Homer "the Gerenian," an epithet commonly supposed to have been derived from the Messenian town of Gerenia, in which he is said to have been educated (Heyne, ad Il., 2, 336), although others refer it to his advanced age (ypas.-Compare Schwenck, Andeut., p. 181). Homer makes Nestor, at the time of the Trojan war, to have survived two generations of men, and to be then living among a third. This would give his age at about seventy years and upward. (Heyne, ad Il., 1, 250.) NESTORIUS, a Syrian by birth, who became patriarch of Constantinople A.D. 428, under the reign of Theodosius II. He showed himself very zealous against the Arians and other sects; but, after some time, a priest of Antioch named Anastasius, who had followed Nestorius to Constantinople, began to preach that there were two persons in Jesus Christ, and that the Word or divinity had not become man, but had descended on the man Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary; and that the two natures became morally united, as it were, but not hypostatically joined in one person; and that, when Jesus died, it was the human person, and not the divinity, that suffered. This doctrine being not only not discountenanced, but actually supported by Nestorius, was the origin of what is termed the Nestorian schism. Nestorius refused to allow to the Virgin Mary the title of Theotokos (EOTÓKoç), or Mother of God, but allowed her that of Christotokos (XptσTOTÓKOC), or Mother of Christ. He met, of course, with numerous opponents, and the controversy occasioned great disturbances in Constantinople. Cyrill, bishop of Alexandrea in Egypt, with his characteristic violence, anathematized Nestorius, who, in his turn, anathematized Cyrill, whom he accused of degrading the divine nature, and making it subject to the infirmities of the human nature. The Emperor Theodosius convoked a general council at Ephesus to decide upon the question, A.D. 431. This council, which was attended by 210 bishops, condemned the doctrine of Nestorius, who refused to appear before it, as many Eastern bishops, and John of Antioch among the rest, had not yet arrived. Upon this the council deposed Nestorius. Soon after, John of Antioch and his friends came, and condemned Cyrill as being guilty of the Apollinarian heresy. The emperor, being ap pealed to by both parties, after some hesitation sent for Nestorius and Cyrill; but it appears that he was displeased with what he considered pride and obstinacy in Nestorius, and he confined him in a monastery. But, as his name was still a rallying word for faction, Theodosius banished him to the deserts of Thebaïs ir Egypt, where he died. His partisans, however, spread over the East, and have continued to this day to form a separate church, which is rather numerous, especially in Mesopotamia, where their patriarch resides at Diar bekr. The Nestorians, at one time, spread into Per

sia, and thence to the coast of Coromandel, where the | in ecclesiastical history as the seat of the first and Portuguese found a community of them at St. Thomé, whom they persecuted and compelled to turn Roman Catholics. (Doucin, Histoire du Nestorianisme, 1698. -Assemani, Biblioth. Orient., vol. 4.—Encycl. Us. Knowl., vol. 16, p. 155.)

most important oecumenical council held in the Christian church. It was convened by the Emperor Constantine for the purpose of settling the Arian controversy, after he had in vain attempted to reconcile Arius and Alexander, the leaders of the two opposing NESTUS (less correctly Nessus), a river of Thrace, parties in that dispute. The council met in the year forming the boundary between that country and Mace- 325 A.D., and sat probably about two months. It donia in the time of Philip and Alexander. This ar- was attended by bishops from nearly every part of the rangement subsequently remained unchanged by the East; few, however, came from Europe, and scarcely Romans on their conquest of the latter empire. (Stra- any from Africa, exclusive of Egypt. According to bo, 331.-Liv., 45, 29.) Thucydides states that the Eusebius, there were more than 250 bishops present, river descended from Mount Iconius, whence the He- besides presbyters, deacons, and others. Some writers brus also derived its source (2, 96), and Herodotus give a larger number. The account generally followinforms us that it fell into the Egean Sea near Ab-ed is that of Socrates, Theodoret, and Epiphanius, dera (7, 109.-Compare Theophrast., Hist. Pl., 3, 2). who state that 318 bishops attended the council. It The same writer elsewhere remarks, that lions were is uncertain who presided, but it is generally supposed to be found in Europe only between the Nestus and that the president was Hosius, bishop of Corduba the Achelous of Acarnania (7, 126.—Pliny, 4, 11.—(Cordova) in Spain. Constantine himself was present Mela, 2, 3). In the middle ages, the name of this river was corrupted into Mestus; and it is still called Mesto, or Cara-sou (Black River), by the Turks. (Cramer's Anc. Greece, vol. 1, p. 308.)

NZURI, a Scythian race, who appear to have been originally established towards the head waters of the rivers Tyras and Hypanis (Dneister and Bog). They appear also to have touched on the Bastarnian Alps, which would separate them from the Agathyrsi. (Herod., 4, 105.-Mela, 2, 1.—Plin., 4, 12.—Rennell, Geogr. of Herodotus, vol. 1, p. 112.)

at its meetings. The chief question debated in the council of Nice was the Arian heresy. Eusebius of Cæsarea proposed a creed which the Arian party would have been willing to sign, but it was rejected by the council, and another creed was adopted as imbodying the orthodox faith. The most important feature in this creed is the application of the word consubstantial (ópoovaioç) to the Son, to indicate the nature of his union with the Father; this word had been purposely omitted in the creed proposed by Eusebius The creed agreed upon by the council was signed by NICEA, I. a city of India, founded by Alexander in all the bishops present except two, Secundus, bishop commemoration of his victory over Porus. It was of Ptolemais, and Theonas, bishop of Marmarica. situate on the left bank of the Hydaspes, on the road Three others hesitated for some time, but signed at from the modern Attock to Lahore, and just below the last, namely, Eusebius of Nicomedea, Theognis of Nisouthern point of the island of Jamad. (Arrian, 5, cæa, and Maris of Chalcedon. The council excom9, 6.-Justin, 12, 8.-Curtius, 9, 4.-Vincent's Peri- municated Arius, who was immediately afterward banplus, p. 110.)-II. The capital of Bithynia, situate at ished by the emperor. The decision of this council the extremity of the lake Ascanius. Stephanus of had not the effect of restoring tranquillity to the EastByzantium informs us, that it was first colonized by ern church, for the Arian controversy was still warmly the Bottiæi, and was called Anchore ('Ayxwpn). carried on; but it has supplied that mode of stating Strabo, however, mentions neither of these circum- the doctrine of the Trinity (as far as relates to the stances, but states that it was founded by Antigonus, Father and the Son) in which it has ever since been son of Philip, who called it Antigonea. It subse- received by the orthodox. The time for the celebraquently received the name of Nicea from Lysimachus, tion of Easter was also fixed by this council in fain honour of his wife, the daughter of Antipater. vour of the practice of the Western church. It also (Strab., 565.) Nicea was built in the form of a decided against the schism of Meletius. The only square, and the streets were drawn at right angles to documents which have been handed down to us from each other, so that from a monument which stood near this council are, its creed, its synodical epistle, and its the gymnasium, it was possible to see the four gates twenty canons.-The second council of Nice, held in of the city. (Strab., l. c.) At a subsequent period, the year 786, declared the worship of images to be it became the royal residence of the kings of Bithynia, lawful. (Lardner's Credibility, pt. 2, c. 71.-Enhaving superseded Nicomedea as the capital of the cycl. Us. Knowl., vol. 16, p. 207.)-III. A city of country. Pliny the younger makes frequent mention, Liguria, on the coast, one geographical mile to the east in his Letters, of the city of Nicæa and its public of the mouth of the Varus. It was situate on the buildings, which he had undertaken to restore, being river Paulon, now Paglione. Nicea was of Milesian at that time governor of Bithynia. (Ep., 10, 40.— origin, and was established in this quarter as a tradingIb., 10, 48, seqq.) In the time of the Emperor Va-place with the Ligurians. The Romans had no such lens, however, the latter city was declared the metrop-inducement to establish themselves in these parts, and olis. (Dio Chrysost., Orat., 38.) Still Nicea re- therefore, under the Roman sway, the city of Nicæa is mained, as a place of trade, of the greatest impor- seldom spoken of. The modern name is Nizza, or, tance; and from this city, too, all the great roads di- as we term it, Nice. (Plin., 3, 5.—Mela, 2, 5.) verged into the eastern and southern parts of Asia Minor. (Mannert, Geogr., vol. 6, pt. 3, p. 569, seqq.) Nicea was the birthplace of Hipparchus the astronomer (Suidas, s. v. "Iππаруоç), and also of Dio Cassius. The present town of Isnik, as it is called by the Turks, has taken the place of the Bithynian city; but, according to Leake, the ancient walls, towers, and gates are in tolerably good preservation. In most places they are formed of alternate courses of Roman tiles and large square stones, joined by a cement of great thickness. The Turkish town, however, was never so large as the Grecian Nicæa, and it seems to have been almost entirely constructed of the remains of that city. (Leake's Journal, p. 10, seq.-Cramer's Asia Minor, vol. 1, p. 181.)-Nicea is famous

NICANDER, a physician, poet, and grammarian, of whose life very few particulars are found in ancient authors, and even those few are doubtful and contradictory. Upon the whole, it seems most probable that he lived about 135 B.C. in the reign of Attalus III., the last king of Pergamus, to whom he dedicated one of his poems which is no longer extant. (Suidas.Eudoc., ap. Villois., vol. 1, p. 308. — Anon. Script.,\\ Vit. Nicand.) His native place, as he himself informs us, was Claros, a town of Ionia, near Colophon, whence he is commonly called Colophonius (Cic., de Orat, 1, 16), and he succeeded his father as hereditary priest of Apollo Clarius. (Eudoc., l. c.-Anon. Vit.)-He appears to have been rather a voluminous writer, as the titles of more than twenty of his works

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