It may also throw some light on the
narrative of Pausanias, where he states (8, 24) that
the Phigalenses dedicated a statue to Ceres, having
the figure of a woman in every other part except the
head, which was that of a horse; and that she held in
one hand a dolphin, and in the other a dove.
narrative of Pausanias, where he states (8, 24) that
the Phigalenses dedicated a statue to Ceres, having
the figure of a woman in every other part except the
head, which was that of a horse; and that she held in
one hand a dolphin, and in the other a dove.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
v.
)
Nkmossus, the same with Augustonemetum and
Claromontium, the capital of the Averni in Gaul, now
Clermont. Strabo, from whoin we obtain the name
Nemossus, is thought by some to mean a different
place from Augustonemetum. (Manual, Gcogr. , vol.
2, pt. 1, p. 117. )
Neobule, I. a daughter of Lycambes, satirized by
Archilochus, to whom she had been betrothed. (Vtd.
Lycambes. )--II. A young female to whom Horace
addressed one of his odes. The bard laments the un-
happy lot of the girl, whose affection for the youthful
Hebrus had exposed her to the angry chidings of an
offended relative. (Horat. , Od. , 3, 12. )
Neoc/Esarea, a city of Pontus, on the river Lycus,
northwest of Comana. Its previous name appears to
have been Atneria, and it would seem to have roceived
the appellation of Neoca? sarea in the reign of Tibe-
rius. In the time of Gregory Thaumaturgus, who
was a native of this place, it is stated to have been the
most considerable town of Pontus. (Greg. Neoc. ,
Vit. , p. 577. ) It appears also, from the life of the
came saint, to have been the principal scat of pagan
idolatry and superstitions, which affords another pre-
sumption for the opinion that it had risen on the found-
ation of Ameria and the worship of Mcn-Pharnaces.
Niksar, the modern representative of Neocauarea, is
a town of some size, and the capital of a district of the
same name, in the pachalic of Sirvas or Roum. (Cra-
mer's Asia Minor, vol. I, p. 315, sea. )--II. A city on
the Euphrates, in the Syrian district of Chalybonitis;
now, according to Reichard, Kalat el Nedsjur.
Neon, the same with Tithorea in Phocis. (Vid.
Tithorea. )
Neontichos, a town of . (Eolis, in Asia Minor,
founded by the . 'Eolians, as a temporary fortress, on
their first arrival in the country, and thirty stadia dis-
tant from Larissa. Pliny leads us to suppose that it
was not on the coast, but somewhat removed from it;
and wc collect from a passage in the Life of Homer
0 II, scq. ), that it was situate between Larissa and
the Hermus. The ruins of this place should be sought
for on the right bank of the Hermus, and above Giuzel-
hissar, on the road from Smyrna to Bergamah. (Cra-
mer's Asia Minor, vol. I, p. 151. )
Neoptolemus, I. so;i of Achilles and Dei'damia.
(Vid. Pyrrhus I. )--II. A king of the Molossi, father
of Olympias, the mother of Alexander. (Justin, 17,
8. )--III. An uncle of Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, raised
to the throne d iring the absence of the latter in Italy.
Pyrrhus, on his return home, associated Neoptolemus
? ? with him in the government; but afterward put him
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? NEPos.
NEPOS.
has been a >>uhjcct, ever since the work wes first print-
ed, ol much debate and controversy among critics and
commentators. The dissension originated in the fol-
lowing circumstances: A person of the name of iEmil-
ius Probus. who lived in the fourth century, during the
reign of Theodosius the Great, presented to his sover-
eign a copy of the Vita Impcratornm, and prefixed to
it some barbarous verses, which left it doubtful whether
he meant to announce himself aa the author, or merely
as the transcriber, of the work. These lines, being
pierixed to the most ancient MSS. of the Vila Excel-
Utttium Impcratorum, induced a general belief during
the middle ages that . . Emilius Probus was himself the
luthor of the biographies. The Editio Princeps, which
was printed by Janson in 1471, was entitled "Proii
JSnilii Liber de Virorum Ezcellentium Vita. " All
subsequent editions were inscribed with the name of
. ? mihus Probus, till the appearance of that of Lambi-
nus in 1568, in which the opinion that Probus was the
author was first called in question, and the honour of
the work restored to Cornelius Nepos. Since that
time the Vita Excdlcntium Impcratorum have been
usually published with his name; but various supposi-
tions and conjectures still continued to be formed with
regard to the share that J3milius Probus might have
had in the MS. which he presented to Thcodosius.
Barthius was of opinion, that in this MS. Probus had
abridged the original work of Nepos in the same man-
ner as Justin had epitomized the history of Trogus
Pompeius; and in this way he accounts for some sole-
cisms and barbarous forms of expression, which would
not have occurred in the genuine and uncorrupted
work of an Augustan writer. (Adversaria, 24, 18;
25, 15. ) Since the time of Barthius, however, this
hypothesis, which divides the credit of the work be-
tween Cornelius Nepos and Probus, has been generally
rejected, and most commentators have adopted the
opinion that Probus was merely the transcriber of the
work of Nepos, and that he did not mean to signify
more in the lines which he prefixed to his MS. They
irgue that it is clear, from a passage in the commence-
nent of the Life of Pelopidas, that the work had not
been reduced, as Barthius supposes, to a compendium,
but had originally been written in a brief style and
sbridged form: "Vcrcor, si ret czplicarc incipiam.
Mm ntam ejus enarrarc, ted historian vidcar scribere:
si tanlum modogummas attigcro, nc rudibus litcrarum
Gracarum minus lueidi apparcat, quant us fuerit Me
tir. Itaque utrique rci occurram, quantum potcro; ct
medebor cum satietati, turn ignorantia lectorum. " It
is worthy of remark, that in some of the old MSS. of
the " Vita Impcratorum," which furnished the text of
the earlier editions, there is written at the end, " Com-
plctum est opus JEmilii Probi, Cornclii Nepotis," as
if the copyist had been in doubt as to the real author.
--So far from admitting those solecisms of expres-
sion for which Barthius thinks it necessary to account,
Vossius chiefly founds his argument in favour of the
classical authenticity of the work on that Augustan
style, which neither . rEmilius Probus nor any other
writer of the time of Theodosius could have attain-
ed. A very recent attempt, however, has been made
again to vindicate for /Emilius Probus the honour of
ihe composition, in Kinck's "Saggio per rcstituire
a AKmilio Probo il libro di Cornclio Ncpole. "--After
allowing for the superior dignity of the office of tran-
scriber in the age of Theodosius, compared with its
? ? diminished importance at the present day, it would
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? NEPOS.
Eurymedon. (Vid Mycale. )--5. In comparing the
end of the second chapter and the commencement of
the third of the life of Pausanias, with the clear and
circumstantial'nairative of Thucydidea (I, 130-134),
we shall perceive that Ncpos has violated the order of
time, ana confounded the events. --6. There is no less
disorder in the third chapter of the life of Lysander.
Nepos confounds two expeditions of this general into
Asia, between which there elapsed an interval of Sev-
an years. (Compare Xcn. , Hist. Gr , 3,4,10. --Dtod.
Sic. , 14, 13. )--7. In the second chapter of the life of
Dion, Ncpos confounds the order of events. Plato
made three voyages to Sicily; the first in the time of
Dionysius the Elder, who had him sold as a slave;
Dion was then only fourteen years old. At the time
of his second voyage, Dionysius the Elder was no lon-
ger alive. It was during his third visit to the island
that the philosopher reconciled Dion and Dionysius the
V'ounger. Finally, it was not Dionysius the Elder,
but the son, who invited Plato "magna ambitione. "
--8. In the second chapter of the life of Chabrias,
utter confusion prevails. At the period when Nepos
makes Agesilaus to have gone on his expedition into
Egypt, this monarch was busily occupied in Boeotia;
ind Nepos himself, in his life of Agesilaus, makes
10 mention of this expedition. The king of Egypt
vlio was assisted by Chabrias was Tachus, and not
Ncctancbis. --9. Hannibal did not immediately march
to Home after the victory at Cannae, as Nepos in his
life of Hannibal (c. 5) states, but after having permi"-
ted the spirit of his army to become corrupted in Cam-
pania. --10. In the life of Conon (c. 1), he says that
this general had no share in tho battle of ,-Egospota-
mos; the contrary is proved by Xenophon. (Hist.
Or. , 2, 1, 28. )--11. In the life of Agesilaus (c. 5) he
attributes to this king the victory at Corinth, which
wis d'e to Aristodemus, as Xenophon informs us
(Hut. Gr. , 4, 2, 9). -- Nepos is also charged with
iwing too much of a panegyrist, and with having giv-
an to his Lives the air rather of a series of professed
Sulogies than of discriminating and impartial biogra-
phies. In fact, however, he selected the lives of those
whom he considered as most worthy of admiration;
and he has not failed to bestow due reprobation on
the few who, like Pausanias and Lysander, degen-
erated from the virtues of their countrymen. Nepos
appears to have been fully aware of the difference be-
tween history and biography; remembering that the
latter was more simple than the former, that it did not
require to be so full with regard to public events, and
admitted more details of private life and manners. To
this distinction he alludes in his preface; and we ac-
cordingly find that the life of Epaminondas, for exam-
ple, is occupied with the private character and mem-
orable sayings, more than wiih the patriotic exploits,
of that renowned hero. He has thus recorded a great
many curious particulars which are not elsewhere to
be found; and he excels in that art (the diffiauliy of
v. 'hich renders good abridgments so rare) of perceiving
the features which are most characterstic, and painting
vividly with a few touches. "The character of Alcib-
iades," says Uibbon, "is such that Livy need not
have been ashamed of it. " (Misc. Works, vol. 4, p.
417. J--The MS. of . Emilms Probus, the copies taken
from it, and the Editio Princeps published by Janson
in 1471, all terminated with the life of Hannibal. The
fragment of the life of Cato tho Censor, and the life
of Pomponius Atticus, now generally appended to
? ? the Vita Exctllcntium Imperatorum, were discover-
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? N r. p
NER
Dad unit /it-Id toe commind of lhe aea. (Die Cms. ,
W,19. ) Coins still exist of this Roman leader, bearing
the effigy of Neptune, with the inscription Magnus
Pius Impcrator tlcrum; or this, Prafcctus classis el
rm mantima ex s. e. (Consult Rascke, Lex Rei
Num, vol. 6, col. 1676, seqq. )
Nkptunus or Neptujinus, the god of the sea, a
Roman divinity, whose attributes are nearly the same
as those of the Greek Poseidon (Woau&uv). They
frill 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. Nep-
tune was the god of water in general, of the sea, the
rivers, and the fountains, but he was more particular-
ly regarded as the god of the sea, which he acquired in
his share of the dominions of his father Saturn. His
wife was Amphilrite, 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 Am-
philrite 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. (Era-
tost h , Calast. , 31. --Ilygin. , Poet. Astron. , 1, 17. )
Neptune, like his brother Jupiter, had a numerous
progeny by both goddesses and mortals. The fleet
steed Anon was the offspring of the sea-god and Ce-
res, both having assumed the equine form. Accord-
ing to one account, the nymph Rhodos was his daugh-
ter by Venus. (Heroph. , ap. Schol. ad Pind. , 01. , 7,
24. )--Neptune is said to have produced the horse in
his well-known contest with Minerva for the right of
naming the city of Athens. (Vid. Cecrops. ) Accord-
ing to some, we are to understand by this myth that
the horse was imported into Greece by sea. But this
exp. ansr. icc is far from satisfactory. It is difficult to
give a reason for the connexion of Neptune with the
horse; but it is evident, from several passages in the
Gre* writers, that he was regarded as a kind of
equestrian deity as well as the |>od of the sea. In the
absence of a better explanation, we will give the one
suggested by Knight. "The horse," says this writer,
"was sacred to Neptune and the rivers, and was em-
ployed as a general symbol of the waters. Hence
also it may have been assumed as one of the types of
fertility, and may furnish a clew to the fable of Nep-
tune and Ceres.
It may also throw some light on the
narrative of Pausanias, where he states (8, 24) that
the Phigalenses dedicated a statue to Ceres, having
the figure of a woman in every other part except the
head, which was that of a horse; and that she held in
one hand a dolphin, and in the other a dove. " (Knight,
Enquiry, See. , ^ 111, seqq. -- Class. Jnurn. , vol. 25,
p. 34, seqq. }--Besides his residence on Olympus, Nep-
tune had a splendid palace beneath lhe sea at JE%x.
(II. , 13, il. --Od. , 5, 381. ) Homer gives a noble de-
scription of his passage from it on his way to Troy,
his chariot-wheels but touching the watery plain, and
the monsters of the deep gambolling around their king.
His most celebrated temples were at the Corinthian
Isthmus, at Onchestus, Helice, Trcezcne, and the
promontories of Tsnarum and Gersstus. -- Neptune
u represented, like Jupiter, of a serene and majestic
? ? upect; hia form is exceedingly strong and muscular;
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? NFR
ne:io.
t f>> > Schwenck, on the other hand, derives the name
Nereus from vdu, "to flow. " (Andeui. , p. 180. )
The best etymology, however, is undoubtedly that
which traces the form Unpev; to the old Greek term
vripov, "water" which last may itself be compared
with the Hebrew nahar. The modern Greek vepov,
"water," is therefore a word of great antiquity.
(Compare Lobeck, ad Phryn. , p. 42. )
Nbkitos, the highest and most remarkable mountain
n the island of Ithaca. (Horn. , Od. , 1, 21. -- //. , 2,
632. -- Virg. , Mn. , 3, 270. ) According to Dodwell,
the modem 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 aro-
matic plants. (Cramer's Arte. Greece, vol. 2, p. 45. )
Nerituh, a town of Calabria, about five miles to
the north of Callipolis. (Plin. , 3, 11. -- Plot, 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. )
Murium, a promontory of Spain, the same with Ar-
tabrum; now Cape Finistcrre.
Nkro, Claudius Caesar, the sixth of the Roman
emperors, was born at Antium, in Latium, A. D. 37,
nine months after the death of Tiberius. (Sueton. ,
Vit. Ner. , c. 6. ) He was the son of Domitius Ahe-
nobarbus and Agrippina the daughter of Germanicus,
and was originally named Lucius Domitius. After
the death of Ahenobarbus, and a second husband,
Oriopus Fassienus, Agrippina married her uncle, the
Emperor Claudius, who gave his daughter Octavia in
marriage to her son Lucius, and subsequently adopted
him with the formal sanction of a Lex Curiata. (Tacit. ,
Arm. , 12, 26. ) The education of Mero was carefully
attended to in his youth. He was placed under the
care of the philosopher Seneca, and he appears to
jave applied himself with considerable perseverance
to study. He is said to have made great progress
ill the Greek language, of which he exhibited a
? pecimen in his sixteeenth year, by pleading in that
tongue the rights or privileges of the Rhodians, and
ef tLe inhabitants of Ilium. (Svcton. , Vit. Ner. , c.
7-- Tacit. , Ann. , 12, 58. ) At the death of Clau-
dius (A. D. 54), while Agrippina, by soothings, flat-
teries, and affected lamentations, detained Brittauicus,
the son of Claudius and Messalina, within the cham-
bers of the palace, Nero, presenting himself before
the gates, was lifted by the guard in waiting into the
covered coach used for the purpose of carrying in
procession an elected emperor, and was followed by a
multitude of the people, under the illusion that it was
Britannicus. He entered the camp, promised a dona-
live to the cohorts, was saluted emperor, and pro-
nounced before the senate, in honour of Claudiua, an
oration of fulsome panegyric composed by his precep-
tor Seneca. Agrippina soon endeavoured to obtain
the chief management of public affairs; and her vin-
dictive and cruel temper would have hurried Nero, at
the commencement of his reign, into acta of violence
? nd bloodshed, if her influence had not been counter-
acted by Seneca and Burma, to whom Nero had in-
trusted the government of the state. Through their
counsels the first five years of Nero's reign were dis-
tinguished by justice and clemency; and an anecdote
is related of him, that, having on one occasion to sign
an order for the execution of a malefactor, he ex-
? ? claimed, " Would that I could not write /"' (Sueton. ,
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? NERC.
ft ER
ic aooj, but to gratify the cruelty of a single mm. "
\Tacit. , Ann. , 15, 44. )--In the following year, A. D.
55, a powerful conspiracy was formed for the purpose
of placing Piso upon the throne, but it was discovered
by Nero, and the principal conspirators were put to
death. Among others who suffered on this occasion
were I. ucan and Seneca; but the guilt of the latter
is doubtful. In the same year Poppaea died, in con-
ttquence of a Kick which she received from her hus-
band while she was in an advanced state of pregnan-
cy. --During the latter part of his reign, Nero was
principally engaged in theatrical performances, and in
contending for the prizes at the public games. He
bad previously appeared as an actor on the Roman
stage; and he now visited in succession the chief cit-
ies of Greece, and received no less than 1800 crowns
for his victories in the public Grecian games. On
his return to Italy he entered Naples and Rome as
a conqueror, and was received with triumphal hon-
ours. But while he was engaged in these extrava-
gances, Vindex, who commanded the legions in Gaul,
declared against his authority; and his example was
speedily followed by Galba, who commanded in Spain.
The praetorian cohorts espoused the cause of Galba,
and the senate pronounced sentence of death against
Nero, who had fled from Rome as soon as he heard
of tho revolt of the praetorian guards. Nero, how-
ever, anticipated the execution of the sentence which
had been passed against him, by requesting one of
his attendants to put him to death, after making an
ineffectual attempt to do so with his own bands. He
died A. D. 68, in (he 32d year of his age, snd the 14th
of his reign. --It is difficult to form a correct estimate
of the character of this emperor. That he was a li-
centious voluptuary, and that he scrupled at commit-
ting no crimes in order to gratify his lust or strength-
en his power, is sufficiently proved; nut that he was
such a monster as Suetonius and Dio have described
him, may reasonably admit of a doubt. The posses-
sion. of absolute power at so early an age tended to
jail forth all the worst passions of human nature,
whilo tho example and counsels of his mother Agrip-
pina must have still farther tended to deprave his
mind. Though he put to death his adoptive brother,
his wife, and his mother, his character appears to have
been fat from sanguinary; his general administration
was wise and equitable, and he never equalled, in his
worst actions, either the capricious cruelty of Caligula,
or the sullen ferocity of Domitian. Nero was a lover
of the arts, and appears to have possessed more taste
than many of the emperors, who only resembled him
in their profuse expenditure. The Apollo Bclvidere
b supposed by Thiersch (Epochen, &c, p. 312) and
some other writers to have been made for this em-
peror. His government seems to have been far from
jnpopular. He was anxious to relieve the people
from oppressive taxes, and to protect the proviitcea
from the rapacity of the governors; and it may be
mentioned a* an instance of his popularity, that there
were persons who for many years decked his lomb
with spring and summer flowers, and that, in conse-
quence of a prevalent rumour that he had escaped
from death, several impostors at various times as-
sumed the name of Nero, and gave no small trouble
to the reigning emperors. {Tacit. , Hist. , 1, 2. --Id. ,
it. , 2, 8. --Sueton. , Vit. Ner. , 57. --Canaubon, ad Sue-
tan. , I. e. ) During tho reign of Nero the Roman cm-
? ? 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.
Nkmossus, the same with Augustonemetum and
Claromontium, the capital of the Averni in Gaul, now
Clermont. Strabo, from whoin we obtain the name
Nemossus, is thought by some to mean a different
place from Augustonemetum. (Manual, Gcogr. , vol.
2, pt. 1, p. 117. )
Neobule, I. a daughter of Lycambes, satirized by
Archilochus, to whom she had been betrothed. (Vtd.
Lycambes. )--II. A young female to whom Horace
addressed one of his odes. The bard laments the un-
happy lot of the girl, whose affection for the youthful
Hebrus had exposed her to the angry chidings of an
offended relative. (Horat. , Od. , 3, 12. )
Neoc/Esarea, a city of Pontus, on the river Lycus,
northwest of Comana. Its previous name appears to
have been Atneria, and it would seem to have roceived
the appellation of Neoca? sarea in the reign of Tibe-
rius. In the time of Gregory Thaumaturgus, who
was a native of this place, it is stated to have been the
most considerable town of Pontus. (Greg. Neoc. ,
Vit. , p. 577. ) It appears also, from the life of the
came saint, to have been the principal scat of pagan
idolatry and superstitions, which affords another pre-
sumption for the opinion that it had risen on the found-
ation of Ameria and the worship of Mcn-Pharnaces.
Niksar, the modern representative of Neocauarea, is
a town of some size, and the capital of a district of the
same name, in the pachalic of Sirvas or Roum. (Cra-
mer's Asia Minor, vol. I, p. 315, sea. )--II. A city on
the Euphrates, in the Syrian district of Chalybonitis;
now, according to Reichard, Kalat el Nedsjur.
Neon, the same with Tithorea in Phocis. (Vid.
Tithorea. )
Neontichos, a town of . (Eolis, in Asia Minor,
founded by the . 'Eolians, as a temporary fortress, on
their first arrival in the country, and thirty stadia dis-
tant from Larissa. Pliny leads us to suppose that it
was not on the coast, but somewhat removed from it;
and wc collect from a passage in the Life of Homer
0 II, scq. ), that it was situate between Larissa and
the Hermus. The ruins of this place should be sought
for on the right bank of the Hermus, and above Giuzel-
hissar, on the road from Smyrna to Bergamah. (Cra-
mer's Asia Minor, vol. I, p. 151. )
Neoptolemus, I. so;i of Achilles and Dei'damia.
(Vid. Pyrrhus I. )--II. A king of the Molossi, father
of Olympias, the mother of Alexander. (Justin, 17,
8. )--III. An uncle of Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, raised
to the throne d iring the absence of the latter in Italy.
Pyrrhus, on his return home, associated Neoptolemus
? ? with him in the government; but afterward put him
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? NEPos.
NEPOS.
has been a >>uhjcct, ever since the work wes first print-
ed, ol much debate and controversy among critics and
commentators. The dissension originated in the fol-
lowing circumstances: A person of the name of iEmil-
ius Probus. who lived in the fourth century, during the
reign of Theodosius the Great, presented to his sover-
eign a copy of the Vita Impcratornm, and prefixed to
it some barbarous verses, which left it doubtful whether
he meant to announce himself aa the author, or merely
as the transcriber, of the work. These lines, being
pierixed to the most ancient MSS. of the Vila Excel-
Utttium Impcratorum, induced a general belief during
the middle ages that . . Emilius Probus was himself the
luthor of the biographies. The Editio Princeps, which
was printed by Janson in 1471, was entitled "Proii
JSnilii Liber de Virorum Ezcellentium Vita. " All
subsequent editions were inscribed with the name of
. ? mihus Probus, till the appearance of that of Lambi-
nus in 1568, in which the opinion that Probus was the
author was first called in question, and the honour of
the work restored to Cornelius Nepos. Since that
time the Vita Excdlcntium Impcratorum have been
usually published with his name; but various supposi-
tions and conjectures still continued to be formed with
regard to the share that J3milius Probus might have
had in the MS. which he presented to Thcodosius.
Barthius was of opinion, that in this MS. Probus had
abridged the original work of Nepos in the same man-
ner as Justin had epitomized the history of Trogus
Pompeius; and in this way he accounts for some sole-
cisms and barbarous forms of expression, which would
not have occurred in the genuine and uncorrupted
work of an Augustan writer. (Adversaria, 24, 18;
25, 15. ) Since the time of Barthius, however, this
hypothesis, which divides the credit of the work be-
tween Cornelius Nepos and Probus, has been generally
rejected, and most commentators have adopted the
opinion that Probus was merely the transcriber of the
work of Nepos, and that he did not mean to signify
more in the lines which he prefixed to his MS. They
irgue that it is clear, from a passage in the commence-
nent of the Life of Pelopidas, that the work had not
been reduced, as Barthius supposes, to a compendium,
but had originally been written in a brief style and
sbridged form: "Vcrcor, si ret czplicarc incipiam.
Mm ntam ejus enarrarc, ted historian vidcar scribere:
si tanlum modogummas attigcro, nc rudibus litcrarum
Gracarum minus lueidi apparcat, quant us fuerit Me
tir. Itaque utrique rci occurram, quantum potcro; ct
medebor cum satietati, turn ignorantia lectorum. " It
is worthy of remark, that in some of the old MSS. of
the " Vita Impcratorum," which furnished the text of
the earlier editions, there is written at the end, " Com-
plctum est opus JEmilii Probi, Cornclii Nepotis," as
if the copyist had been in doubt as to the real author.
--So far from admitting those solecisms of expres-
sion for which Barthius thinks it necessary to account,
Vossius chiefly founds his argument in favour of the
classical authenticity of the work on that Augustan
style, which neither . rEmilius Probus nor any other
writer of the time of Theodosius could have attain-
ed. A very recent attempt, however, has been made
again to vindicate for /Emilius Probus the honour of
ihe composition, in Kinck's "Saggio per rcstituire
a AKmilio Probo il libro di Cornclio Ncpole. "--After
allowing for the superior dignity of the office of tran-
scriber in the age of Theodosius, compared with its
? ? diminished importance at the present day, it would
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? NEPOS.
Eurymedon. (Vid Mycale. )--5. In comparing the
end of the second chapter and the commencement of
the third of the life of Pausanias, with the clear and
circumstantial'nairative of Thucydidea (I, 130-134),
we shall perceive that Ncpos has violated the order of
time, ana confounded the events. --6. There is no less
disorder in the third chapter of the life of Lysander.
Nepos confounds two expeditions of this general into
Asia, between which there elapsed an interval of Sev-
an years. (Compare Xcn. , Hist. Gr , 3,4,10. --Dtod.
Sic. , 14, 13. )--7. In the second chapter of the life of
Dion, Ncpos confounds the order of events. Plato
made three voyages to Sicily; the first in the time of
Dionysius the Elder, who had him sold as a slave;
Dion was then only fourteen years old. At the time
of his second voyage, Dionysius the Elder was no lon-
ger alive. It was during his third visit to the island
that the philosopher reconciled Dion and Dionysius the
V'ounger. Finally, it was not Dionysius the Elder,
but the son, who invited Plato "magna ambitione. "
--8. In the second chapter of the life of Chabrias,
utter confusion prevails. At the period when Nepos
makes Agesilaus to have gone on his expedition into
Egypt, this monarch was busily occupied in Boeotia;
ind Nepos himself, in his life of Agesilaus, makes
10 mention of this expedition. The king of Egypt
vlio was assisted by Chabrias was Tachus, and not
Ncctancbis. --9. Hannibal did not immediately march
to Home after the victory at Cannae, as Nepos in his
life of Hannibal (c. 5) states, but after having permi"-
ted the spirit of his army to become corrupted in Cam-
pania. --10. In the life of Conon (c. 1), he says that
this general had no share in tho battle of ,-Egospota-
mos; the contrary is proved by Xenophon. (Hist.
Or. , 2, 1, 28. )--11. In the life of Agesilaus (c. 5) he
attributes to this king the victory at Corinth, which
wis d'e to Aristodemus, as Xenophon informs us
(Hut. Gr. , 4, 2, 9). -- Nepos is also charged with
iwing too much of a panegyrist, and with having giv-
an to his Lives the air rather of a series of professed
Sulogies than of discriminating and impartial biogra-
phies. In fact, however, he selected the lives of those
whom he considered as most worthy of admiration;
and he has not failed to bestow due reprobation on
the few who, like Pausanias and Lysander, degen-
erated from the virtues of their countrymen. Nepos
appears to have been fully aware of the difference be-
tween history and biography; remembering that the
latter was more simple than the former, that it did not
require to be so full with regard to public events, and
admitted more details of private life and manners. To
this distinction he alludes in his preface; and we ac-
cordingly find that the life of Epaminondas, for exam-
ple, is occupied with the private character and mem-
orable sayings, more than wiih the patriotic exploits,
of that renowned hero. He has thus recorded a great
many curious particulars which are not elsewhere to
be found; and he excels in that art (the diffiauliy of
v. 'hich renders good abridgments so rare) of perceiving
the features which are most characterstic, and painting
vividly with a few touches. "The character of Alcib-
iades," says Uibbon, "is such that Livy need not
have been ashamed of it. " (Misc. Works, vol. 4, p.
417. J--The MS. of . Emilms Probus, the copies taken
from it, and the Editio Princeps published by Janson
in 1471, all terminated with the life of Hannibal. The
fragment of the life of Cato tho Censor, and the life
of Pomponius Atticus, now generally appended to
? ? the Vita Exctllcntium Imperatorum, were discover-
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? N r. p
NER
Dad unit /it-Id toe commind of lhe aea. (Die Cms. ,
W,19. ) Coins still exist of this Roman leader, bearing
the effigy of Neptune, with the inscription Magnus
Pius Impcrator tlcrum; or this, Prafcctus classis el
rm mantima ex s. e. (Consult Rascke, Lex Rei
Num, vol. 6, col. 1676, seqq. )
Nkptunus or Neptujinus, the god of the sea, a
Roman divinity, whose attributes are nearly the same
as those of the Greek Poseidon (Woau&uv). They
frill 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. Nep-
tune was the god of water in general, of the sea, the
rivers, and the fountains, but he was more particular-
ly regarded as the god of the sea, which he acquired in
his share of the dominions of his father Saturn. His
wife was Amphilrite, 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 Am-
philrite 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. (Era-
tost h , Calast. , 31. --Ilygin. , Poet. Astron. , 1, 17. )
Neptune, like his brother Jupiter, had a numerous
progeny by both goddesses and mortals. The fleet
steed Anon was the offspring of the sea-god and Ce-
res, both having assumed the equine form. Accord-
ing to one account, the nymph Rhodos was his daugh-
ter by Venus. (Heroph. , ap. Schol. ad Pind. , 01. , 7,
24. )--Neptune is said to have produced the horse in
his well-known contest with Minerva for the right of
naming the city of Athens. (Vid. Cecrops. ) Accord-
ing to some, we are to understand by this myth that
the horse was imported into Greece by sea. But this
exp. ansr. icc is far from satisfactory. It is difficult to
give a reason for the connexion of Neptune with the
horse; but it is evident, from several passages in the
Gre* writers, that he was regarded as a kind of
equestrian deity as well as the |>od of the sea. In the
absence of a better explanation, we will give the one
suggested by Knight. "The horse," says this writer,
"was sacred to Neptune and the rivers, and was em-
ployed as a general symbol of the waters. Hence
also it may have been assumed as one of the types of
fertility, and may furnish a clew to the fable of Nep-
tune and Ceres.
It may also throw some light on the
narrative of Pausanias, where he states (8, 24) that
the Phigalenses dedicated a statue to Ceres, having
the figure of a woman in every other part except the
head, which was that of a horse; and that she held in
one hand a dolphin, and in the other a dove. " (Knight,
Enquiry, See. , ^ 111, seqq. -- Class. Jnurn. , vol. 25,
p. 34, seqq. }--Besides his residence on Olympus, Nep-
tune had a splendid palace beneath lhe sea at JE%x.
(II. , 13, il. --Od. , 5, 381. ) Homer gives a noble de-
scription of his passage from it on his way to Troy,
his chariot-wheels but touching the watery plain, and
the monsters of the deep gambolling around their king.
His most celebrated temples were at the Corinthian
Isthmus, at Onchestus, Helice, Trcezcne, and the
promontories of Tsnarum and Gersstus. -- Neptune
u represented, like Jupiter, of a serene and majestic
? ? upect; hia form is exceedingly strong and muscular;
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? NFR
ne:io.
t f>> > Schwenck, on the other hand, derives the name
Nereus from vdu, "to flow. " (Andeui. , p. 180. )
The best etymology, however, is undoubtedly that
which traces the form Unpev; to the old Greek term
vripov, "water" which last may itself be compared
with the Hebrew nahar. The modern Greek vepov,
"water," is therefore a word of great antiquity.
(Compare Lobeck, ad Phryn. , p. 42. )
Nbkitos, the highest and most remarkable mountain
n the island of Ithaca. (Horn. , Od. , 1, 21. -- //. , 2,
632. -- Virg. , Mn. , 3, 270. ) According to Dodwell,
the modem 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 aro-
matic plants. (Cramer's Arte. Greece, vol. 2, p. 45. )
Nerituh, a town of Calabria, about five miles to
the north of Callipolis. (Plin. , 3, 11. -- Plot, 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. )
Murium, a promontory of Spain, the same with Ar-
tabrum; now Cape Finistcrre.
Nkro, Claudius Caesar, the sixth of the Roman
emperors, was born at Antium, in Latium, A. D. 37,
nine months after the death of Tiberius. (Sueton. ,
Vit. Ner. , c. 6. ) He was the son of Domitius Ahe-
nobarbus and Agrippina the daughter of Germanicus,
and was originally named Lucius Domitius. After
the death of Ahenobarbus, and a second husband,
Oriopus Fassienus, Agrippina married her uncle, the
Emperor Claudius, who gave his daughter Octavia in
marriage to her son Lucius, and subsequently adopted
him with the formal sanction of a Lex Curiata. (Tacit. ,
Arm. , 12, 26. ) The education of Mero was carefully
attended to in his youth. He was placed under the
care of the philosopher Seneca, and he appears to
jave applied himself with considerable perseverance
to study. He is said to have made great progress
ill the Greek language, of which he exhibited a
? pecimen in his sixteeenth year, by pleading in that
tongue the rights or privileges of the Rhodians, and
ef tLe inhabitants of Ilium. (Svcton. , Vit. Ner. , c.
7-- Tacit. , Ann. , 12, 58. ) At the death of Clau-
dius (A. D. 54), while Agrippina, by soothings, flat-
teries, and affected lamentations, detained Brittauicus,
the son of Claudius and Messalina, within the cham-
bers of the palace, Nero, presenting himself before
the gates, was lifted by the guard in waiting into the
covered coach used for the purpose of carrying in
procession an elected emperor, and was followed by a
multitude of the people, under the illusion that it was
Britannicus. He entered the camp, promised a dona-
live to the cohorts, was saluted emperor, and pro-
nounced before the senate, in honour of Claudiua, an
oration of fulsome panegyric composed by his precep-
tor Seneca. Agrippina soon endeavoured to obtain
the chief management of public affairs; and her vin-
dictive and cruel temper would have hurried Nero, at
the commencement of his reign, into acta of violence
? nd bloodshed, if her influence had not been counter-
acted by Seneca and Burma, to whom Nero had in-
trusted the government of the state. Through their
counsels the first five years of Nero's reign were dis-
tinguished by justice and clemency; and an anecdote
is related of him, that, having on one occasion to sign
an order for the execution of a malefactor, he ex-
? ? claimed, " Would that I could not write /"' (Sueton. ,
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? NERC.
ft ER
ic aooj, but to gratify the cruelty of a single mm. "
\Tacit. , Ann. , 15, 44. )--In the following year, A. D.
55, a powerful conspiracy was formed for the purpose
of placing Piso upon the throne, but it was discovered
by Nero, and the principal conspirators were put to
death. Among others who suffered on this occasion
were I. ucan and Seneca; but the guilt of the latter
is doubtful. In the same year Poppaea died, in con-
ttquence of a Kick which she received from her hus-
band while she was in an advanced state of pregnan-
cy. --During the latter part of his reign, Nero was
principally engaged in theatrical performances, and in
contending for the prizes at the public games. He
bad previously appeared as an actor on the Roman
stage; and he now visited in succession the chief cit-
ies of Greece, and received no less than 1800 crowns
for his victories in the public Grecian games. On
his return to Italy he entered Naples and Rome as
a conqueror, and was received with triumphal hon-
ours. But while he was engaged in these extrava-
gances, Vindex, who commanded the legions in Gaul,
declared against his authority; and his example was
speedily followed by Galba, who commanded in Spain.
The praetorian cohorts espoused the cause of Galba,
and the senate pronounced sentence of death against
Nero, who had fled from Rome as soon as he heard
of tho revolt of the praetorian guards. Nero, how-
ever, anticipated the execution of the sentence which
had been passed against him, by requesting one of
his attendants to put him to death, after making an
ineffectual attempt to do so with his own bands. He
died A. D. 68, in (he 32d year of his age, snd the 14th
of his reign. --It is difficult to form a correct estimate
of the character of this emperor. That he was a li-
centious voluptuary, and that he scrupled at commit-
ting no crimes in order to gratify his lust or strength-
en his power, is sufficiently proved; nut that he was
such a monster as Suetonius and Dio have described
him, may reasonably admit of a doubt. The posses-
sion. of absolute power at so early an age tended to
jail forth all the worst passions of human nature,
whilo tho example and counsels of his mother Agrip-
pina must have still farther tended to deprave his
mind. Though he put to death his adoptive brother,
his wife, and his mother, his character appears to have
been fat from sanguinary; his general administration
was wise and equitable, and he never equalled, in his
worst actions, either the capricious cruelty of Caligula,
or the sullen ferocity of Domitian. Nero was a lover
of the arts, and appears to have possessed more taste
than many of the emperors, who only resembled him
in their profuse expenditure. The Apollo Bclvidere
b supposed by Thiersch (Epochen, &c, p. 312) and
some other writers to have been made for this em-
peror. His government seems to have been far from
jnpopular. He was anxious to relieve the people
from oppressive taxes, and to protect the proviitcea
from the rapacity of the governors; and it may be
mentioned a* an instance of his popularity, that there
were persons who for many years decked his lomb
with spring and summer flowers, and that, in conse-
quence of a prevalent rumour that he had escaped
from death, several impostors at various times as-
sumed the name of Nero, and gave no small trouble
to the reigning emperors. {Tacit. , Hist. , 1, 2. --Id. ,
it. , 2, 8. --Sueton. , Vit. Ner. , 57. --Canaubon, ad Sue-
tan. , I. e. ) During tho reign of Nero the Roman cm-
? ? 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.
