This poem contains, too, a great number of
popular fables, which were credited, however, at the
lime that Nicander wrote; as, for example, that wasps
are produced from horse-flesh in a putrid state, and
bees from that of an ox.
popular fables, which were credited, however, at the
lime that Nicander wrote; as, for example, that wasps
are produced from horse-flesh in a putrid state, and
bees from that of an ox.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
?
fire enjoyed, in general, a profound state of peace,
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? NES
SES
tpi/s. but incorrectly, since the place meant is probably
:he Areobriga of the Itinerary. As regards the termi-
nation of the name Nertobriga, consult remarks under
the article Mcsembria. (Ukert, I. e. )
Nirva, Marcus Cocceids, the thirteenth Roman
emperor, was born at Narnia, in Umbria, A. D. 27 ac-
cording to Eutiopius (8, 1), ur 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-
ceius Nerva, who was consul A. D. 22, and was a
g! 3at 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
fife. (Ann. , 6, 28 )--Nerva, the subject of the' pres-
ent sketch, is first mentioned in history as a favourite
flf Nero, who bestowed upon him triumphal honours,
A. D. 66, when he was pnetor elect. The poetry of
Nerva, which is mentioned with praise by Pliny and
Martial, appears to have recommended him to the fa-
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 Tarcnluin. On the assassination
of Domitian, A. D. 96, Nerva succeeded to the sover-
eign power, through the influence of Pctronius Secun-
dus, commander of the Praetorian cohorts, and of Par-
thenius, the chamberlain of the palace. The mild and
equitable administration of Nerva is acknowledged and
praised by all ancient writers, and forms a stri! ,iig
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 ad-
ministration of justice met with little favour from the
Praetorian 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
deith. The excesses of his own guards convinced
Nerva that the government of the Roman empire re-
quired 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 sov-
ereignty. 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-- Aurtl. Vict. ,
c. \1. --Encyd. Us. Knowl. , vol. 16, p. 149. )
NsrvIi, 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 Ba-
via; but afterward Camaracum (Cambray) and Tur-
nacum (Tournay) became their chief cities towards
the end of the fourth century. (Cces. , B. G. , 5, 39. --
Plin. , 4, 17. )
Nbsis (is or idis), now Nisida, an island on the
coast of Campania, between Puteoli and Ncapolis, and
within a short distance of the shore. Cicero mentions
it as a favourite residence of his friend Brutus. (Ep.
td Alt. , 16, 1. )
? ? Nkssus, I. a centaur, who attempted the honour of
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? NIC
NIC
ira, and thence to tne coast of Coromandel, where the
Portuguese found a community of them at St. Thomi,
whom they persecuted and compelled to turn Roman
Catholics. \Doucm, Histoire du Nestorianisme, 1. 198.
--Assemmi, BMioth. Orient. , vol. 4. --Encycl. Us.
Krtrnel , vol. 16, p. 155. )
Narr- a (less correctl; Ncssus), a river of Thrace,
forming lie boundary between that country and Mace-
donia in the time of Philip and Alexander. This ar-
rangement subsequently remained unchanged by the
Romans on their conquest of the latter empire. (Stra-
ta, 331. --Liv. , 45, 29. ) Thucydides Mates that the
river descended from Mount Iconius, whence the He-
Drus also derived its source (2, 96), and Herodotus
informs os that it fell into the /Egean Sea near Ab-
dera (7, 109. --Compare Thcophrasl. , Hist. PI. , 3, 8).
The same writer elsewhere remarks, that lions were
to be found in Europe only between the Nestns and
the Acheloiis of Acarnahia (7, 126. --Pliny, 4, 11. --
Mela, 2, 3). In the middle agea, the name of this
river was corrupted into Meatus; and it is still called
Mcsto, or Cara-xou (Black River), by the Turks.
[Cramer's Anc. Greece, vol. 1, p. 308. )
N. -. r i;i, a Scythian race, who appear to have been
originally established towards the head waters of
the rivers Tyras and Hypanis (Dneisler and Bog).
They appear also to have touched on the Dastarman
Alps, which would separate them from the Agathyrsi.
(Herod, 4, 105. --Mtla,1, 1. --Pttn. ,4, Ut. --Rennell,
(itogr. of Herodotus, vol. 1, p. 118. )
Xic. t. 1, I. a city of India, founded by Alexander in
commemoration of his victory over Porus. It was
situate on the left bank of the Hydaspes, on the road
from the modern Attack to Lahore, and just below the
southern point of the island of Jamad. (Arrian, 5,
I, 6. --Justin, 12, 8. --Curtius, 9, 4-- Vincent's Peri-
anu, p. 110. )--II. The capital of Bithynia, situate at
the extremity of the lake Ascanius. Stcphanus of
Byzantium informs us, that it was first colonized by
the Bottisci, and was called Anchore ('kyx^pn).
Btrabo, however, mentions neither of these circum-
stances, but states that it was founded by Antigonus,
? on of Philip, who called it Antigonea. It subse-
quently received the name of Nir&a from Lysimachus,
in honour of his wife, >>he daughter of Antipatcr.
[Strait. , 665. ) Nicsa was built in the form of a
square, and the streets were drawn at right angles to
esch other, so that from a monument which stood near
the gymnasium, it was possible to see the four gates
of the city. (Slrab. , I. c. ) At a subsequent period,
it became the royal residence of the kings of Bithynia,
having superseded Nicom^dea as the capital of the
country. Pliny the younger makes frequent mention,
in hia Letters, of the city of Nicea and its public
buildings, which bo hsd undertaken to restore, being
at that time governor of Bithynia. (/? />, 10, 40. --
lb. , 10, 48, seqq) In the time of the Emperor Va-
lens, however, the latter city was declared the metrop-
olis. (Dio Ckrysost. , Oral. , 38. ) Still Nicsea re-
mained, as a place of trade, of the greatest impor-
tance; and from this city, too, all the great roads di-
verged into the eastern and southern parts of Asia Mi-
nor. {Manner! , Geogr. , vol. C, pt. 3, p. 669, seqq. )
Nicea was the birthplace of Hipparchua the astrono-
mer (Suidas, s. v. 'ln-apxoc). and also of Dio Cas-
? ius. -- 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, lowers,
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? VICANDER.
NICANDEK.
uiv" bctr. preserved; but of all these we possess at
pretest only two in a perfect state, with a few frag-
ments of some of the others, iiutli are poems. One
is entitled Qnptaiui (Theriaca), the other 'A~U? c^upua-
<<a (Alextpharmaca). --The Theriaca consists of near-
ly 1000 lines in hexameter verse, and treats of the
wounds caused by different venomous animals, and
/lis preper treatment of each. It is characterized by
Ha! lux (BMioth. Botan. ) as "longe, tnconctita, et
nullius fide: farrago" but still we occasionally find
some curious passages relating to natural history.
We have in it, for example, an exact, but rather long
description of the combat between the ichneumon and
serpents, whose flesh this quadruped eats with impu-
nity. Ho speaks of scorpions, which he divides into
nine species, an arrangement adopted by some modern
naturalists. Then come some curious observations on
the effect of the venom of various kinds of serpents,
each differing in the appearances and symptoms to
which it gives rise. Nicander thought he had discov-
ered that the poison of serpents is concealed in a
membrane surrounding the teeth; which is, after all,
not very far removed from the true state of the case.
He describes a species of serpents, named OTpp, which
always assumes the colour of the ground over which
it moves. (Compare Pliny, 8, 35; Aristotle, Mirab.
Auscult. , c. 178; and Milan, N. A, 16, 40. ) Ni-
cander is the first who distinguishes between the moth
or night-butterfly, and that which flies by day, and he
gives to the former the name of tyd'/. aiva. He is one
)f the earliest writers also who mentions the sala-
mander.
This poem contains, too, a great number of
popular fables, which were credited, however, at the
lime that Nicander wrote; as, for example, that wasps
are produced from horse-flesh in a putrid state, and
bees from that of an ox. He likewise states that the
bite of the field-mouse is poisonous, and also t! at the
animal dies if it should fall into a wheel rut, both
which circumstances are repeated by Pliny (8, 83)
and jElian (H. A, 2, 37). --The Alexipharmaca is
rt'. ber a shorter poem, written in the same metre, and
nay be considered as a sort of continuation of the
Theriaca. Haller's judgment on this work is as se-
vere as that on the preceding. He says of it, "De-
icriptio viz ulla, symplomata fuse recensentur, ct
magna farrago et tncondita plantarum potissimum
ilexipharmacarum subjicitur. " Among the poisons
. ' the animal kingdom he mentions the cantharis of
t\,i Greeks, which is not the Lyita Vesieatoria, but
ytelo'e Chichorii. He speaks also of the buprestis
'Carabus Bucidon); of the blood of a bull; of coag-
ulated milk in the stomach of mammiferous animals;
uf the leech (hirudo venenata); and of a species of
gecko (aaXauuvdpa). Among the vegetable poisons
we find the aconite, coriander (which has sometimes
been fatal in Egypt), the hemlock, colchicum, henbane,
and the different species of fungi, the growth of which
Nicander attributes to fermentation. Of mineral poi-
sons he mentions only white lead, a carbonate of lead
and litharge, or protoxide of lead. --To counterbal-
ance, in some degree, Haller's unfavourable opinion of
Nicander's extant works, it ought in justice to be sta-
ted, that his krxjwledge of natural history appcara to
be at least equal to . "ait of other writers of his own or
even a later age, while on the subject of poisons he
was long considered a great authority. Galen several
times quote* him; and Dioscorides, Aelius, and Jo-
? ? hannes Actuarius have borrowed from him largely.
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? N IC
NICEPHORUS
Mus. -. rr, Critieurt, viiih Dcntley's emendations (vol.
1, p. 370, scqq ). There is extant a Greek paraphrase,
in prose, of both poems (printed in Schneider's edi-
tions), by Eutecnius the sophist, of whom nothing is
known except that he has done the same to Oppian's
Cynegctica and Halicutica. (Encyclnp. Us. Knmci,
vol. 16, p. 203, seq. )
Nic. '. tor (Xuiurup, i. e , " Victor") a surname as-
? omed by Seleucus I. {Vid. Seleucus. )
Nicephokidm (NiKijQoptov). a strongly-fortified city
? ' Mesopotamia, south of CharnB, and at the confluence
of the Billichia and Euphrates. Alexander is said to
have selected the site, which was an extremely advan-
tageous one. (Pirn. , 6, 26. --Isidor. , Charac, p. 3. )
The name remained until the fourth century, when
it disappeared from history, and, in the account of Ju-
lian's expedition, a city named Callinicum (Ka/. ? . ni-
kov) is mentioned, which occupies the same place
where Nicephorium had previously stood. This con-
formity of position, and sudden change of name, lead
directly to the supposition that Nicephorium and Cal-
linicum wero one and the same place, and that the
earlier appellation (" Victory-bringing" vUn and $ipu)
had merely been exchanged for one of the same gen-
eral import (" Fair-conquering" KaUc and vi'kij).
Hence we may reject the statement sometimes made,
that the city received its later name from Seleucus
Callinicus as its founder (Ckron Alcxandr. , Olymp.
134, 1), as well as what Valcsius {ad Amm. Marcell. ,
23, 6) cites from Libanius (Ep. ad Aristanei. ), that
Nicephorium changed its name in honour of the soph-
ist Callinicus, who died there. --Marccllinus describes
Callinicum as a strong place, and carrying on a great
trade (" munimtntum robust am, et commercandi of imi-
tate gratissimum"). Justinian repaired and strength-
ened the fortifications. (Compare Thtodorct, Hist.
Relig. , c. 26. ) At a subsequent period, the name of
the city again underwent a change. The Emperor
Leo, who about 466 AD. had contributed to adorn
the place, ordered it to bo called Lcontopolis, and
ender this title Hierocles enumerates it among the
cities of Oaroene. (Synecdem. , ed. Wattling, p.
715. ) Stephanus of Byzantium asserts that Nicepho-
rium, at a later period, changed its name to Constan-
lina; but this is impossible, as the city of Constantina
belongs to quite a different part of the country. D'An-
viile fixes the site of Nicephorium near the modern
Racca, in which he is followed by aubsequentewriters.
(Mannerl, vol. 5, pt. 2, p. 286, scqq. )
NicephobIds, a river of Armenia Major, the same
wilh the Centritis. (Vid. Centritis. )
Nicephorus, I. an emperor of the East, was origi-
nally Logotheta, or intendant of the finances, during
the reign of the Empress Irene and her son Constan-
tino VI. , in the latter part of the eighth century. I rene,
having deprived her son of sight, usurped the throne,
and reigned alone for six years, when a conspiracy broke
out against her, headed by Nicephorus, who was pro-
claimed emperor, and crowned in the church of St.
Sophia, A. D. 802. He banished Irene to the island
of Lesbos, where she lived and died in a state of great
destitution. The troops in Asia revolted against Ni-
cephorus, who showed himself avaricious and cruel,
and they proclaimed the patrician Bardanes emperor;
but Nicephorus defeated and seized Bardanes, confined
him in a. monastery, and deprived him of sight. The
Empress Irene had consented to pay an annual tribute
? ? to the Saracens, in order to stop their incursions into
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? NICEPHORUS.
NIC
the throne; but his own indifference on this point, and
llie pleasures taken by John, the son of Alexius, de-
feated their plans. It was on this occasion that Anna
Comnena passionately exclaimed, that nature had mis-
taken the two sexes, and bad endowed Bryennius with
the soul of a woman. He died in 1137. At the
order of the Empress Irene, Bryennius undertook, du-
ring the life of Alexius, a history of the house of Com-
nenus, which he entitled "TAij 'Iorooiac, "Materials
for History," and which he distributed into four books.
He commenced with Isaac Comnenus, the first prince
of this line, who reigned from 1057 to 1059 . 11),
without being able to transmit the sceptre to his fam-
ily, into whose hands it did not pass until 1031, when
Alexius I. ascended the throne. Nicephorus stops at
the period of his father-in-law's accession to the throne,
after having given his history while a private individ-
ual. He had at ni>> uisposal excellent materials; but
his impartiality as an historian is not very highly es-
teemed. In point of diction, his work holds a very
favourable rank among the productions of the Lower
Empire. It was continued by Anna Comnena. (Scholl,
Hist. Lit. Gr. , vol. 6, p. 388. )--VI. Blemmida, a
monk of the 13th century. He has left three works:
"a Geographical Abridgment" {Teuypafla owoirrtitq),
which is nothing but a prose metaphrase of the Periege-
ais of Dionysius the Geographer: a work entitled "A
Second History (or Description) of the Earth" ('T. ripa
laropia Trrpl rfjc yfjc), in which he gives an account
of the form and size of the earth, and of the different
lengths of the day: and a third, " On the Heavens and
Earth, the Sun, Moon, Stars, Time, and Days" (Uept
Oipavoi Kdl yijc, 'Wdov, StXiJvr/f, 'Aorepuv, Xpdvov,
cat 'Hfiepuv). In this last the author develops a sys-
tem, according to which the earth is a plane. The
first two were published by Spohn, at Leipzig, 1818, in
4lo, and by Manzi, from a MS. in the Barberini Library,
Rom. , 1819, 4to. Bernhardy has given the Metaphrase
in his edition of Dionysius, Lips. , 1828; the third is
unedited. It is mentioned by Bredow in his Epislola
Paristenscs. --VII. Surnamed Xanthopulus, lived
about the middle of the 14th century. He wrote an
Ecclesiastical History in 18 books, which, along with
many useful extracts from writers whose productions
are now lost, contains a great number of fables. This
history extends from the birth of our Saviour to A. D.
610. The arguments of five other books, which would
carry it down to A. D. 911, are by a different writer.
In preparing his work, Nicephorus availed himself of
the library attached to the church of St. Sophia, and
here he passed the greater part of his life. He has
left also Catalogues, in Iambic verse, of the Greek
emperors, the patriarchs of Constantinople, and the
fathers of the church, besides other minor works. To
this same writer is likewise ascribed a work contain-
ing an account of the church of the Virgin, situate at
certain mineral waters in Constantinople, and of the
miraculous cures wrought by these. --The Ecclesias-
tical History was edited by Ducaeus (Fronton du Due),
Pari*, 1630, 3 vols. fol. The metrical Catalogues
are to be found in the edition of the Epigrams of Thc-
odorus Prodromus, published at Bale, 1536,8vo. The
sccount of the mineral waters, Ac, appeared for the
first time at Vienna in 1802, 8vo, edited by Pampe-
rcus. --VIII. Surnamed Chumnus, was Prafeclus Can-
iclei ('0 M rov KaviKleiov) under Andronicus II. ,
surnamed Palsologus. The canickus (Kavin? . eioc)
? ? was a small vessel filled with the red liquid with which
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? K tV
NIC
? captions a/e several times mentioned by Galen (Op ,
td. Ku/in, vol. 12, p. 634; vol. 13, p. 96, 98, 110,
? 80, &c. ; vol. 14, p. 197), and once by Pliny (32,
t\). We learn from Caslius Aurelianus (Mori. Chron. ,
I. 2, c. 5) lhat he wrote also on catalepsy. He flour-
ished about 40 B. C. (lineycl. Vs. Knowl. , vol. 16,
p. 207. )
Nicetas, I. Eugcnianus, author of one of the poor-
ii i of tlie Greek romances that have come down to us.
II? appears to have lived not long after Theodore Pro-
dromus, whom, according to the title of his work as
given in a Paris manuscript, he selected for his model.
He wrote of the Loves of Drosilla and Chariclea.
BoissonaUe gave to the world an edition of this ro-
mance in 1819, Paris, 2 vols lUmo, respecting the
nema of which, consult Hoffmann, Lex. Bibllogr. , vol.
J, p. 137. --II. Acominatus, surnamed Choniatcs, from
lit having been born at Chonte, or Colossse, in Phry-
jia. He filled many posts of distinction at Constanti-
nople, under the Emperor Isaac II. (Angelus). About
A.
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? NES
SES
tpi/s. but incorrectly, since the place meant is probably
:he Areobriga of the Itinerary. As regards the termi-
nation of the name Nertobriga, consult remarks under
the article Mcsembria. (Ukert, I. e. )
Nirva, Marcus Cocceids, the thirteenth Roman
emperor, was born at Narnia, in Umbria, A. D. 27 ac-
cording to Eutiopius (8, 1), ur 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-
ceius Nerva, who was consul A. D. 22, and was a
g! 3at 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
fife. (Ann. , 6, 28 )--Nerva, the subject of the' pres-
ent sketch, is first mentioned in history as a favourite
flf Nero, who bestowed upon him triumphal honours,
A. D. 66, when he was pnetor elect. The poetry of
Nerva, which is mentioned with praise by Pliny and
Martial, appears to have recommended him to the fa-
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 Tarcnluin. On the assassination
of Domitian, A. D. 96, Nerva succeeded to the sover-
eign power, through the influence of Pctronius Secun-
dus, commander of the Praetorian cohorts, and of Par-
thenius, the chamberlain of the palace. The mild and
equitable administration of Nerva is acknowledged and
praised by all ancient writers, and forms a stri! ,iig
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 ad-
ministration of justice met with little favour from the
Praetorian 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
deith. The excesses of his own guards convinced
Nerva that the government of the Roman empire re-
quired 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 sov-
ereignty. 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-- Aurtl. Vict. ,
c. \1. --Encyd. Us. Knowl. , vol. 16, p. 149. )
NsrvIi, 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 Ba-
via; but afterward Camaracum (Cambray) and Tur-
nacum (Tournay) became their chief cities towards
the end of the fourth century. (Cces. , B. G. , 5, 39. --
Plin. , 4, 17. )
Nbsis (is or idis), now Nisida, an island on the
coast of Campania, between Puteoli and Ncapolis, and
within a short distance of the shore. Cicero mentions
it as a favourite residence of his friend Brutus. (Ep.
td Alt. , 16, 1. )
? ? Nkssus, I. a centaur, who attempted the honour of
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? NIC
NIC
ira, and thence to tne coast of Coromandel, where the
Portuguese found a community of them at St. Thomi,
whom they persecuted and compelled to turn Roman
Catholics. \Doucm, Histoire du Nestorianisme, 1. 198.
--Assemmi, BMioth. Orient. , vol. 4. --Encycl. Us.
Krtrnel , vol. 16, p. 155. )
Narr- a (less correctl; Ncssus), a river of Thrace,
forming lie boundary between that country and Mace-
donia in the time of Philip and Alexander. This ar-
rangement subsequently remained unchanged by the
Romans on their conquest of the latter empire. (Stra-
ta, 331. --Liv. , 45, 29. ) Thucydides Mates that the
river descended from Mount Iconius, whence the He-
Drus also derived its source (2, 96), and Herodotus
informs os that it fell into the /Egean Sea near Ab-
dera (7, 109. --Compare Thcophrasl. , Hist. PI. , 3, 8).
The same writer elsewhere remarks, that lions were
to be found in Europe only between the Nestns and
the Acheloiis of Acarnahia (7, 126. --Pliny, 4, 11. --
Mela, 2, 3). In the middle agea, the name of this
river was corrupted into Meatus; and it is still called
Mcsto, or Cara-xou (Black River), by the Turks.
[Cramer's Anc. Greece, vol. 1, p. 308. )
N. -. r i;i, a Scythian race, who appear to have been
originally established towards the head waters of
the rivers Tyras and Hypanis (Dneisler and Bog).
They appear also to have touched on the Dastarman
Alps, which would separate them from the Agathyrsi.
(Herod, 4, 105. --Mtla,1, 1. --Pttn. ,4, Ut. --Rennell,
(itogr. of Herodotus, vol. 1, p. 118. )
Xic. t. 1, I. a city of India, founded by Alexander in
commemoration of his victory over Porus. It was
situate on the left bank of the Hydaspes, on the road
from the modern Attack to Lahore, and just below the
southern point of the island of Jamad. (Arrian, 5,
I, 6. --Justin, 12, 8. --Curtius, 9, 4-- Vincent's Peri-
anu, p. 110. )--II. The capital of Bithynia, situate at
the extremity of the lake Ascanius. Stcphanus of
Byzantium informs us, that it was first colonized by
the Bottisci, and was called Anchore ('kyx^pn).
Btrabo, however, mentions neither of these circum-
stances, but states that it was founded by Antigonus,
? on of Philip, who called it Antigonea. It subse-
quently received the name of Nir&a from Lysimachus,
in honour of his wife, >>he daughter of Antipatcr.
[Strait. , 665. ) Nicsa was built in the form of a
square, and the streets were drawn at right angles to
esch other, so that from a monument which stood near
the gymnasium, it was possible to see the four gates
of the city. (Slrab. , I. c. ) At a subsequent period,
it became the royal residence of the kings of Bithynia,
having superseded Nicom^dea as the capital of the
country. Pliny the younger makes frequent mention,
in hia Letters, of the city of Nicea and its public
buildings, which bo hsd undertaken to restore, being
at that time governor of Bithynia. (/? />, 10, 40. --
lb. , 10, 48, seqq) In the time of the Emperor Va-
lens, however, the latter city was declared the metrop-
olis. (Dio Ckrysost. , Oral. , 38. ) Still Nicsea re-
mained, as a place of trade, of the greatest impor-
tance; and from this city, too, all the great roads di-
verged into the eastern and southern parts of Asia Mi-
nor. {Manner! , Geogr. , vol. C, pt. 3, p. 669, seqq. )
Nicea was the birthplace of Hipparchua the astrono-
mer (Suidas, s. v. 'ln-apxoc). and also of Dio Cas-
? ius. -- 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, lowers,
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? VICANDER.
NICANDEK.
uiv" bctr. preserved; but of all these we possess at
pretest only two in a perfect state, with a few frag-
ments of some of the others, iiutli are poems. One
is entitled Qnptaiui (Theriaca), the other 'A~U? c^upua-
<<a (Alextpharmaca). --The Theriaca consists of near-
ly 1000 lines in hexameter verse, and treats of the
wounds caused by different venomous animals, and
/lis preper treatment of each. It is characterized by
Ha! lux (BMioth. Botan. ) as "longe, tnconctita, et
nullius fide: farrago" but still we occasionally find
some curious passages relating to natural history.
We have in it, for example, an exact, but rather long
description of the combat between the ichneumon and
serpents, whose flesh this quadruped eats with impu-
nity. Ho speaks of scorpions, which he divides into
nine species, an arrangement adopted by some modern
naturalists. Then come some curious observations on
the effect of the venom of various kinds of serpents,
each differing in the appearances and symptoms to
which it gives rise. Nicander thought he had discov-
ered that the poison of serpents is concealed in a
membrane surrounding the teeth; which is, after all,
not very far removed from the true state of the case.
He describes a species of serpents, named OTpp, which
always assumes the colour of the ground over which
it moves. (Compare Pliny, 8, 35; Aristotle, Mirab.
Auscult. , c. 178; and Milan, N. A, 16, 40. ) Ni-
cander is the first who distinguishes between the moth
or night-butterfly, and that which flies by day, and he
gives to the former the name of tyd'/. aiva. He is one
)f the earliest writers also who mentions the sala-
mander.
This poem contains, too, a great number of
popular fables, which were credited, however, at the
lime that Nicander wrote; as, for example, that wasps
are produced from horse-flesh in a putrid state, and
bees from that of an ox. He likewise states that the
bite of the field-mouse is poisonous, and also t! at the
animal dies if it should fall into a wheel rut, both
which circumstances are repeated by Pliny (8, 83)
and jElian (H. A, 2, 37). --The Alexipharmaca is
rt'. ber a shorter poem, written in the same metre, and
nay be considered as a sort of continuation of the
Theriaca. Haller's judgment on this work is as se-
vere as that on the preceding. He says of it, "De-
icriptio viz ulla, symplomata fuse recensentur, ct
magna farrago et tncondita plantarum potissimum
ilexipharmacarum subjicitur. " Among the poisons
. ' the animal kingdom he mentions the cantharis of
t\,i Greeks, which is not the Lyita Vesieatoria, but
ytelo'e Chichorii. He speaks also of the buprestis
'Carabus Bucidon); of the blood of a bull; of coag-
ulated milk in the stomach of mammiferous animals;
uf the leech (hirudo venenata); and of a species of
gecko (aaXauuvdpa). Among the vegetable poisons
we find the aconite, coriander (which has sometimes
been fatal in Egypt), the hemlock, colchicum, henbane,
and the different species of fungi, the growth of which
Nicander attributes to fermentation. Of mineral poi-
sons he mentions only white lead, a carbonate of lead
and litharge, or protoxide of lead. --To counterbal-
ance, in some degree, Haller's unfavourable opinion of
Nicander's extant works, it ought in justice to be sta-
ted, that his krxjwledge of natural history appcara to
be at least equal to . "ait of other writers of his own or
even a later age, while on the subject of poisons he
was long considered a great authority. Galen several
times quote* him; and Dioscorides, Aelius, and Jo-
? ? hannes Actuarius have borrowed from him largely.
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? N IC
NICEPHORUS
Mus. -. rr, Critieurt, viiih Dcntley's emendations (vol.
1, p. 370, scqq ). There is extant a Greek paraphrase,
in prose, of both poems (printed in Schneider's edi-
tions), by Eutecnius the sophist, of whom nothing is
known except that he has done the same to Oppian's
Cynegctica and Halicutica. (Encyclnp. Us. Knmci,
vol. 16, p. 203, seq. )
Nic. '. tor (Xuiurup, i. e , " Victor") a surname as-
? omed by Seleucus I. {Vid. Seleucus. )
Nicephokidm (NiKijQoptov). a strongly-fortified city
? ' Mesopotamia, south of CharnB, and at the confluence
of the Billichia and Euphrates. Alexander is said to
have selected the site, which was an extremely advan-
tageous one. (Pirn. , 6, 26. --Isidor. , Charac, p. 3. )
The name remained until the fourth century, when
it disappeared from history, and, in the account of Ju-
lian's expedition, a city named Callinicum (Ka/. ? . ni-
kov) is mentioned, which occupies the same place
where Nicephorium had previously stood. This con-
formity of position, and sudden change of name, lead
directly to the supposition that Nicephorium and Cal-
linicum wero one and the same place, and that the
earlier appellation (" Victory-bringing" vUn and $ipu)
had merely been exchanged for one of the same gen-
eral import (" Fair-conquering" KaUc and vi'kij).
Hence we may reject the statement sometimes made,
that the city received its later name from Seleucus
Callinicus as its founder (Ckron Alcxandr. , Olymp.
134, 1), as well as what Valcsius {ad Amm. Marcell. ,
23, 6) cites from Libanius (Ep. ad Aristanei. ), that
Nicephorium changed its name in honour of the soph-
ist Callinicus, who died there. --Marccllinus describes
Callinicum as a strong place, and carrying on a great
trade (" munimtntum robust am, et commercandi of imi-
tate gratissimum"). Justinian repaired and strength-
ened the fortifications. (Compare Thtodorct, Hist.
Relig. , c. 26. ) At a subsequent period, the name of
the city again underwent a change. The Emperor
Leo, who about 466 AD. had contributed to adorn
the place, ordered it to bo called Lcontopolis, and
ender this title Hierocles enumerates it among the
cities of Oaroene. (Synecdem. , ed. Wattling, p.
715. ) Stephanus of Byzantium asserts that Nicepho-
rium, at a later period, changed its name to Constan-
lina; but this is impossible, as the city of Constantina
belongs to quite a different part of the country. D'An-
viile fixes the site of Nicephorium near the modern
Racca, in which he is followed by aubsequentewriters.
(Mannerl, vol. 5, pt. 2, p. 286, scqq. )
NicephobIds, a river of Armenia Major, the same
wilh the Centritis. (Vid. Centritis. )
Nicephorus, I. an emperor of the East, was origi-
nally Logotheta, or intendant of the finances, during
the reign of the Empress Irene and her son Constan-
tino VI. , in the latter part of the eighth century. I rene,
having deprived her son of sight, usurped the throne,
and reigned alone for six years, when a conspiracy broke
out against her, headed by Nicephorus, who was pro-
claimed emperor, and crowned in the church of St.
Sophia, A. D. 802. He banished Irene to the island
of Lesbos, where she lived and died in a state of great
destitution. The troops in Asia revolted against Ni-
cephorus, who showed himself avaricious and cruel,
and they proclaimed the patrician Bardanes emperor;
but Nicephorus defeated and seized Bardanes, confined
him in a. monastery, and deprived him of sight. The
Empress Irene had consented to pay an annual tribute
? ? to the Saracens, in order to stop their incursions into
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? NICEPHORUS.
NIC
the throne; but his own indifference on this point, and
llie pleasures taken by John, the son of Alexius, de-
feated their plans. It was on this occasion that Anna
Comnena passionately exclaimed, that nature had mis-
taken the two sexes, and bad endowed Bryennius with
the soul of a woman. He died in 1137. At the
order of the Empress Irene, Bryennius undertook, du-
ring the life of Alexius, a history of the house of Com-
nenus, which he entitled "TAij 'Iorooiac, "Materials
for History," and which he distributed into four books.
He commenced with Isaac Comnenus, the first prince
of this line, who reigned from 1057 to 1059 . 11),
without being able to transmit the sceptre to his fam-
ily, into whose hands it did not pass until 1031, when
Alexius I. ascended the throne. Nicephorus stops at
the period of his father-in-law's accession to the throne,
after having given his history while a private individ-
ual. He had at ni>> uisposal excellent materials; but
his impartiality as an historian is not very highly es-
teemed. In point of diction, his work holds a very
favourable rank among the productions of the Lower
Empire. It was continued by Anna Comnena. (Scholl,
Hist. Lit. Gr. , vol. 6, p. 388. )--VI. Blemmida, a
monk of the 13th century. He has left three works:
"a Geographical Abridgment" {Teuypafla owoirrtitq),
which is nothing but a prose metaphrase of the Periege-
ais of Dionysius the Geographer: a work entitled "A
Second History (or Description) of the Earth" ('T. ripa
laropia Trrpl rfjc yfjc), in which he gives an account
of the form and size of the earth, and of the different
lengths of the day: and a third, " On the Heavens and
Earth, the Sun, Moon, Stars, Time, and Days" (Uept
Oipavoi Kdl yijc, 'Wdov, StXiJvr/f, 'Aorepuv, Xpdvov,
cat 'Hfiepuv). In this last the author develops a sys-
tem, according to which the earth is a plane. The
first two were published by Spohn, at Leipzig, 1818, in
4lo, and by Manzi, from a MS. in the Barberini Library,
Rom. , 1819, 4to. Bernhardy has given the Metaphrase
in his edition of Dionysius, Lips. , 1828; the third is
unedited. It is mentioned by Bredow in his Epislola
Paristenscs. --VII. Surnamed Xanthopulus, lived
about the middle of the 14th century. He wrote an
Ecclesiastical History in 18 books, which, along with
many useful extracts from writers whose productions
are now lost, contains a great number of fables. This
history extends from the birth of our Saviour to A. D.
610. The arguments of five other books, which would
carry it down to A. D. 911, are by a different writer.
In preparing his work, Nicephorus availed himself of
the library attached to the church of St. Sophia, and
here he passed the greater part of his life. He has
left also Catalogues, in Iambic verse, of the Greek
emperors, the patriarchs of Constantinople, and the
fathers of the church, besides other minor works. To
this same writer is likewise ascribed a work contain-
ing an account of the church of the Virgin, situate at
certain mineral waters in Constantinople, and of the
miraculous cures wrought by these. --The Ecclesias-
tical History was edited by Ducaeus (Fronton du Due),
Pari*, 1630, 3 vols. fol. The metrical Catalogues
are to be found in the edition of the Epigrams of Thc-
odorus Prodromus, published at Bale, 1536,8vo. The
sccount of the mineral waters, Ac, appeared for the
first time at Vienna in 1802, 8vo, edited by Pampe-
rcus. --VIII. Surnamed Chumnus, was Prafeclus Can-
iclei ('0 M rov KaviKleiov) under Andronicus II. ,
surnamed Palsologus. The canickus (Kavin? . eioc)
? ? was a small vessel filled with the red liquid with which
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? K tV
NIC
? captions a/e several times mentioned by Galen (Op ,
td. Ku/in, vol. 12, p. 634; vol. 13, p. 96, 98, 110,
? 80, &c. ; vol. 14, p. 197), and once by Pliny (32,
t\). We learn from Caslius Aurelianus (Mori. Chron. ,
I. 2, c. 5) lhat he wrote also on catalepsy. He flour-
ished about 40 B. C. (lineycl. Vs. Knowl. , vol. 16,
p. 207. )
Nicetas, I. Eugcnianus, author of one of the poor-
ii i of tlie Greek romances that have come down to us.
II? appears to have lived not long after Theodore Pro-
dromus, whom, according to the title of his work as
given in a Paris manuscript, he selected for his model.
He wrote of the Loves of Drosilla and Chariclea.
BoissonaUe gave to the world an edition of this ro-
mance in 1819, Paris, 2 vols lUmo, respecting the
nema of which, consult Hoffmann, Lex. Bibllogr. , vol.
J, p. 137. --II. Acominatus, surnamed Choniatcs, from
lit having been born at Chonte, or Colossse, in Phry-
jia. He filled many posts of distinction at Constanti-
nople, under the Emperor Isaac II. (Angelus). About
A.
