Caius Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the daughter of Germanicus.
He was adopted by the emperor Claudius, A.D. 50, and four years
after he succeeded to him on the throne. The beginning of his reign
was marked by acts of the greatest kindness and condescension,
by affability, complaisance, and popularity. The object of his
administration seemed to be the good of his people; and when he was
desired to sign his name to a list of malefactors that were to be
executed, he exclaimed, “I wish to heaven I could not write.” He was
an enemy to flattery, and when the senate had liberally commended
the wisdom of his government, Nero desired them to keep their praises
till he deserved them. These promising virtues were soon discovered
to be artificial, and Nero displayed the propensities of his nature.
He delivered himself from the sway of his mother, and at last
ordered her to be assassinated. This unnatural act of barbarity might
astonish some of the Romans, but Nero had his devoted adherents; and
when he declared that he had taken away his mother’s life to save
himself from ruin, the senate applauded his measures, and the people
signified their approbation. Many of his courtiers shared the unhappy
fate of Agrippina, and Nero sacrificed to his fury or caprice all
such as obstructed his pleasure, or diverted his inclination. In the
night he generally sallied out from his palace, to visit the meanest
taverns and all the scenes of debauchery which Rome contained.
In this nocturnal riot he was fond of insulting the people in the
streets, and his attempts to offer violence to the wife of a Roman
senator nearly cost him his life. He also turned actor, and publicly
appeared on the Roman stage in the meanest characters. In his
attempts to excel in music, and to conquer the disadvantages of a
hoarse, rough voice, he moderated his meals, and often passed the
day without eating. The celebrity of the Olympian games attracted
his notice. He passed into Greece, and presented himself as a
candidate for the public honours. He was defeated in wrestling,
but the flattery of the spectators adjudged him the victory, and
Nero returned to Rome with all the pomp and ♦splendour of an eastern
conqueror, drawn in the chariot of Augustus, and attended by a band
of musicians, actors, and stage dancers, from every part of the
empire. These private and public amusements of the emperor were
indeed innocent; his character was injured, but not the lives of the
people. But his conduct soon became more abominable; he disguised
himself in the habit of a woman, and was publicly married to one of
his eunuchs. This violence to nature and decency was soon exchanged
for another; Nero resumed his sex, and celebrated his nuptials with
one of his meanest catamites, and it was on this occasion that one
of the Romans observed that the world would have been happy if Nero’s
father had had such a wife. But now his cruelty was displayed in a
more superlative degree, and he sacrificed to his wantonness his wife
Octavia Poppæa, and the celebrated writers, Seneca, Lucan, Petronius,
&c. The christians also did not escape his barbarity. He had heard of
the burning of Troy, and as he wished to renew that dismal scene, he
caused Rome to be set on fire in different places. The conflagration
became soon universal, and during nine successive days the fire
was unextinguished. All was desolation; nothing was heard but
the lamentations of mothers whose children had perished in the
flames, the groans of the dying, and the continual fall of palaces
and buildings. Nero was the only one who enjoyed the general
consternation. He placed himself on the top of a high tower, and he
sang on his lyre the destruction of Troy, a dreadful scene which
his barbarity had realized before his eyes. He attempted to avert
the public odium from his head, by a feigned commiseration of the
miseries of his subjects. He began to repair the streets and the
public buildings at his own expense. He built himself a celebrated
palace, which he called his golden house. It was profusely adorned
with gold and precious stones, and with whatever was rare and
exquisite. It contained spacious fields, artificial lakes, woods,
gardens, orchards, and whatever could exhibit beauty and grandeur.
The entrance of this edifice could admit a large colossus of the
emperor 120 feet high; the galleries were each a mile long, and
the whole was covered with gold. The roofs of the dining halls
represented the firmament in motion as well as in figure, and
continually turned round night and day, showering down all sorts of
perfumes and sweet waters. When this grand edifice, which, according
to Pliny, extended all round the city, was finished, Nero said, that
now he could lodge like a man. His profusion was not less remarkable
in all his other actions. When he went a-fishing, his nets were made
with gold and silk. He never appeared twice in the same garment,
and when he undertook a voyage, there were thousands of servants
to take care of his wardrobe. This continuation of debauchery and
extravagance at last roused the resentment of the people. Many
conspiracies were formed against the emperor, but they were generally
discovered, and such as were accessary suffered the greatest
punishments. The most dangerous conspiracy against Nero’s life
was that of Piso, from which he was delivered by the confession of
a slave. The conspiracy of Galba proved more successful; and the
conspirator, when he was informed that his plot was known to Nero,
declared himself emperor. The unpopularity of Nero favoured his cause;
he was acknowledged by all the Roman empire, and the senate condemned
the tyrant that sat on the throne to be dragged naked through the
streets of Rome, and whipped to death, and afterwards to be thrown
down from the Tarpeian rock like the meanest malefactor. This,
however, was not done, and Nero, by a voluntary death, prevented the
execution of the sentence. He killed himself, A.D. 68, in the 32nd
year of his age, after a reign of thirteen years and eight months.
Rome was filled with acclamations at the intelligence, and the
citizens, more strongly to indicate their joy, wore caps such as
were generally used by slaves who had received their freedom. Their
vengeance was not only exercised against the statues of the deceased
tyrant, but his friends were the objects of the public resentment,
and many were crushed to pieces in such a violent manner, that one
of the senators, amid the universal joy, said that he was afraid they
should soon have cause to wish for Nero. The tyrant, as he expired,
begged that his head might not be cut off from his body, and exposed
to the insolence of an enraged populace, but that the whole might be
burned on the funeral pile. His request was granted by one of Galba’s
freedmen, and his obsequies were performed with the usual ceremonies.
Though his death seemed to be the source of universal gladness, yet
many of his favourites lamented his fall, and were grieved to see
that their pleasures and amusements were stopped by the death of the
patron of debauchery and extravagance. Even the king of Parthia sent
ambassadors to Rome to condole with the Romans, and to beg that they
would honour and revere the memory of Nero. His statues were also
crowned with garlands of flowers, and many believed that he was not
dead, but that he would soon make his appearance, and take a due
vengeance upon his enemies. It will be sufficient to observe, in
finishing the character of this tyrannical emperor, that the name
of _Nero_ is even now used emphatically to express a barbarous and
unfeeling oppressor. Pliny calls him the common enemy and the fury of
mankind, and in this he has been followed by all writers, who exhibit
Nero as the pattern of the most execrable barbarity and unpardonable
wantonness. _Plutarch_, _Galba_.――_Suetonius_, _Lives_.――_Pliny_, bk.
7, ch. 8, &c.――_Dio Cassius_, bk. 64.――_Aurelius Victor._――_Tacitus_,
_Annals_.――――Claudius, a Roman general sent into Spain to succeed
the two Scipios. He suffered himself to be imposed upon by Asdrubal,
and was soon after succeeded by young Scipio. He was afterwards
made consul, and intercepted Asdrubal, who was passing from Spain
into Italy with a large reinforcement for his brother Annibal. An
engagement was fought near the river Metaurus, in which 56,000 of
the Carthaginians were left on the field of battle, and great numbers
taken prisoners, 207 B.C. Asdrubal the Carthaginian general was
also killed, and his head cut off and thrown into his brother’s camp
by the conquerors. _Appian_, _Hannibalic War_.――_Orosius_, bk. 4.
――_Livy_, bk. 27, &c.――_Horace_, bk. 4, ode 4, li. 37.――_Florus_, bk.
2, ch. 6.――_Valerius Maximus_, bk. 4, ch. 1.――――Another, who opposed
Cicero when he wished to punish with death such as were accessary
to Catiline’s conspiracy.――――A son of Germanicus, who was ruined by
Sejanus, and banished from Rome by Tiberius. He died in the place of
his exile. His death was voluntary, according to some. _Suetonius_,
_Tiberius_.――――Domitian was called _Nero_, because his cruelties
surpassed those of his predecessors, and also _Calvus_, from the
baldness of his head. _Juvenal_, satire 4.――――The Neros were of the
Claudian family, which, during the republican times of Rome, was
honoured with 28 consulships, five dictatorships, six triumphs, seven
censorships, and two ovations. They assumed the surname of Nero,
which, in the language of the Sabines, signifies _strong_ and
_warlike_.
♦ ‘slendour’ replaced with ‘splendour’
=Neronia=, a name given to Artaxata by Tiridates, who had been restored
to his kingdom by Nero, whose favours he acknowledged by calling the
capital of his dominions after the name of his benefactor.
=Neroniānæ Thermæ=, baths at Rome, made by the emperor Nero.
=Nertobrigia=, a town of Spain on the Bilbilis.
=Nerva Cocceius=, a Roman emperor after the death of Domitian, A.D.
96. He rendered himself popular by his mildness, his generosity, and
the active part he took in the management of affairs. He suffered no
statues to be raised to his honour, and he applied to the use of the
government all the gold and silver statues which flattery had erected
to his predecessor. In his civil character he was the pattern of good
manners, of sobriety, and temperance. He forbade the mutilation of
male children, and gave no countenance to the law which permitted
the marriage of an uncle with his niece. He made a solemn declaration
that no senator should suffer death during his reign; and this he
observed with such sanctity that, when two members of the senate
had conspired against his life, he was satisfied to tell them that
he was informed of their wicked machinations. He also conducted
them to the public spectacles, and seated himself between them, and
when a sword was offered to him, according to the usual custom, he
desired the conspirators to try it upon his body. Such goodness of
heart, such confidence in the self-conviction of the human mind,
and such reliance upon the consequence of his lenity and indulgence,
conciliated the affection of all his subjects. Yet, as envy and
danger are the constant companions of greatness, the pretorian
guards at last mutinied, and Nerva nearly yielded to their fury. He
uncovered his aged neck in the presence of the incensed soldiery, and
bade them wreak their vengeance upon him, provided they spared the
life of those to whom he was indebted for the empire, and whom his
honour commanded him to defend. His seeming submission was unavailing,
and he was at last obliged to surrender to the fury of his soldiers
some of his friends and supporters. The infirmities of his age,
and his natural timidity, at last obliged him to provide himself
against any future mutiny or tumult, by choosing a worthy successor.
He had many friends and relations, but he did not consider the
aggrandizement of his family, and he chose for his son and successor
Trajan, a man of whose virtues and greatness of mind he was fully
convinced. This voluntary choice was approved by the acclamations
of the people, and the wisdom and prudence which marked the reign of
Trajan showed how discerning was the judgment, and how affectionate
were the intentions, of Nerva for the good of Rome. He died on the
27th of July, A.D. 98, in his 72nd year, and his successor showed
his respect for his merit and his character by raising him altars
and temples in Rome, and in the provinces, and by ranking him in
the number of the gods. Nerva was the first Roman emperor who was
of foreign extraction, his father being a native of Crete. _Pliny_,
_Panegyrics_.――_Dio Cassius_, bk. 69.――――Marcus Cocceius, a consul
in the reign of Tiberius. He starved himself, because he would not be
concerned in the extravagance of the emperor.――――A celebrated lawyer,
consul with the emperor Vespasian. He was father to the emperor of
that name.
=Nervii=, a warlike people of Belgic Gaul, who continually upbraided
the neighbouring nations for submitting to the power of the Romans.
They attacked Julius Cæsar, and were totally defeated. Their country
forms the modern province of _Hainault_. _Lucan_, bk. 1, li. 428.
――_Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 2, ch. 15.
=Nerulum=, an inland town of Lucania, now _Lagonegro_. _Livy_, bk. 9,
ch. 20.
=Nerium=, or =Artabrum=, a promontory of Spain, now cape _Finisterre_.
_Strabo_, bk. 3.
=Nesactum=, a town of Istria at the mouth of the Arsia, now _Castel
Nuovo_.
=Nesæa=, one of the Nereides. _Virgil_, _Georgics_, bk. 4, li. 338.
=Nesimăchus=, the father of Hippomedon, a native of Argos, who was one
of the seven chiefs who made war against Thebes. _Hyginus_, fable 70.
――_Scholiast_ on _Statius_, _Thebaid_, bk. 1, li. 44.
=Nesis= (is, or idis), now _Nisita_, an island on the coast of
Campania, famous for asparagus. Lucan and Statius speak of its air
as unwholesome and dangerous. _Pliny_, bk. 19, ch. 8.――_Lucan_,
bk. 6, li. 90.――_Cicero_, _Letters to Atticus_, bk. 16, ltrs. 1
& 2.――_Statius_, bk. 3, _Sylvæ_, poem 1, li. 148.
=Nessus=, a celebrated centaur, son of Ixion and the Cloud. He offered
violence to Dejanira, whom Hercules had entrusted to his care,
with orders to carry her across the river Evenus. _See:_ Dejanira.
Hercules saw the distress of his wife from the opposite shore of the
river, and immediately he let fly one of his poisoned arrows, which
struck the centaur to the heart. Nessus, as he expired, gave the
tunic he then wore to Dejanira, assuring her that, from the poisoned
blood which had flowed from his wounds, it had received the power
of calling a husband away from unlawful loves. Dejanira received
it with pleasure, and this mournful present caused the death of
Hercules. _See:_ Hercules. _Apollodorus_, bk. 2, ch. 7.――_Ovid_,
ltr. 9.――_Seneca_, _Hercules Furens_.――_Pausanias_, bk. 3, ch. 28.
――_Diodorus_, bk. 4.――――A river. _See:_ Nestus.
=Nestŏcles=, a famous statuary of Greece, rival to Phidias. _Pliny_,
bk. 34, ch. 8.
=Nestor=, a son of Neleus and Chloris, nephew to Pelias and grandson
to Neptune. He had 11 brothers, who were all killed, with his father,
by Hercules. His tender age detained him at home, and was the cause
of his preservation. The conqueror spared his life, and placed him
on the throne of Pylos. He married Eurydice the daughter of Clymenes,
or, according to others, Anaxibia the daughter of Atreus. He early
distinguished himself in the field of battle, and was present at
the nuptials of Pirithous, when a bloody battle was fought between
the Lapithæ and Centaurs. As king of Pylos and Messenia he led his
subjects to the Trojan war, where he distinguished himself among the
rest of the Grecian chiefs by eloquence, address, wisdom, justice,
and an uncommon prudence of mind. Homer displays his character as
the most perfect of all his heroes; and Agamemnon exclaims, that
if he had 10 generals like Nestor, he should soon see the walls
of Troy reduced to ashes. After the Trojan war, Nestor retired to
Greece, where he enjoyed, in the bosom of his family, the peace and
tranquillity which were due to his wisdom and to his old age. The
manner and the time of his death are unknown; the ancients are all
agreed that he lived three generations of men, which length of time
some suppose to be 300 years, though more probably only 90, allowing
30 years for each generation. From that circumstance, therefore, it
was usual among the Greeks and the Latins, when they wished a long
and happy life to their friends, to wish them to see the years of
Nestor. He had two daughters, Pisidice and Polycaste; and seven sons,
Perseus, Straticus, Aretus, Echephron, Pisistratus, Antilochus, and
Trasimedes. Nestor was one of the Argonauts, according to _Valerius
Flaccus_, bk. 1, li. 380, &c.――_Dictys Cretensis_, bk. 1, ch. 13, &c.
――_Homer_, _Iliad_, bk. 1, &c.; _Odyssey_, bks. 3 & 11.――_Hyginus_,
fables 10 & 273.――_Pausanias_, bk. 3, ch. 26; bk. 4, chs. 3 & 31.
――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1, ch. 9; bk. 2, ch. 7.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_,
bk. 12, li. 162, &c.――_Horace_, bk. 1, ode 15.――――A poet of Lycaonia
in the age of the emperor Severus. He was father to Pisander, who,
under the emperor Alexander, wrote some fabulous stories.――――One of
the body-guards of Alexander. _Polyænus._
=Nestorius=, a bishop of Constantinople, who flourished A.D. 431.
He was condemned and degraded from his episcopal dignity for his
heretical opinions, &c.
=Nestus=, or =Nessus=, now _Nesto_, a small river of Thrace, rising
in mount Rhodope, and falling into the Ægean sea above the island of
Thasos. It was for some time the boundary of Macedonia on the east,
in the more extensive power of that kingdom.
=Netum=, a town of Sicily, now called _Noto_, on the eastern coast.
_Silius Italicus_, bk. 14, li. 269.――_Cicero_, _Against Verres_,
bk. 4, ch. 26; bk. 5, ch. 51.
=Neuri=, a people of Sarmatia. _Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 1.
=Nicæa=, a widow of Alexander, who married Demetrius.――――A daughter
of Antipater, who married Perdiccas.――――A city of India, built by
Alexander on the very spot where he had obtained a victory over king
Porus.――――A town of Achaia near Thermopylæ, on the bay of Malia.――――A
town of Illyricum.――――Another in Corsica.――――Another in Thrace,――――in
Bœotia.――――A town of Bithynia (now _Nice_, or _Is-nik_), built by
Antigonus, the son of Philip king of Macedonia. It was originally
called _Antigonia_, and afterwards _Nicæa_ by Lysimachus, who gave
it the name of his wife, who was daughter of Antipater.――――A town
of Liguria, built by the people of Massilia, in commemoration of a
victory.
=Nicagŏras=, a sophist of Athens in the reign of the emperor Philip.
He wrote the lives of illustrious men, and was reckoned one of the
greatest and most learned men of his age.
=Nicander=, a king of Sparta, son of Charillus, of the family of
the Proclidæ. He reigned 39 years, and died B.C. 770.――――A writer
of Chalcedon.――――A Greek grammarian, poet, and physician, of
Colophon, 137 B.C. His writings were held in estimation, but his
judgment cannot be highly commended, since, without any knowledge
of agriculture, he ventured to compose a book on that intricate
subject. Two of his poems, entitled _Theriaca_, on hunting, and
_Alexipharmaca_, on antidotes against poison, are still extant; the
best editions of which are those of Gorræus, with a translation in
Latin verse by Grevinus, a physician at Paris, 4to, Paris, 1557, and
Salvinus, 8vo, Florence, 1764. _Cicero_, bk. 1, _On Oratory_, ch. 16.
=Nicānor=, a man who conspired against the life of Alexander. _Curtius_,
bk. 6.――――A son of Parmenio, who died in Hyrcania, &c.――――A surname
of Demetrius. _See:_ Demetrius II.――――An unskilful pilot of Antigonus.
_Polyænus._――――A servant of Atticus. _Cicero_, bk. 5, ltr. 3.――――A
Samian, who wrote a treatise on rivers.――――A governor of Media,
conquered by Seleucus. He had been governor over the Athenians under
Cassander, by whose orders he was put to death.――――A general of the
emperor Titus, wounded at the siege of Jerusalem.――――A man of Stagira,
by whom Alexander the Great sent a letter to recall the Grecian
exiles. _Diodorus_, bk. 18.――――A governor of Munychia, who seized
the Piræus, and was at last put to death by Cassander, because he
wished to make himself absolute over Attica. _Diodorus_, bk. 18.――――A
brother of Cassander, destroyed by Olympias. _Diodorus_, bk. 19.――――A
general of Antiochus king of Syria. He made war against the Jews, and
showed himself uncommonly cruel.
=Nicarchus=, a Corinthian philosopher in the age of Periander.
_Plutarch._――――An Arcadian chief, who deserted to the Persians,
at the return of the 10,000 Greeks.
=Nicarthīdes=, a man set over Persepolis by Alexander.
=Nicātor=, a surname of Seleucus king of Syria, from his having been
unconquered.
=Nice=, a daughter of Thestius. _Apollodorus._
=Nicephorium=, a town of Mesopotamia, on the Euphrates, where Venus had
a temple. _Livy_, bk. 32, ch. 33.――_Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 6, ch. 41.
=Nicephŏrius=, now _Khabour_, a river which flowed by the walls of
Tigranocerta. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 15, ch. 4.
=Nicephŏrus Cæsar=, a Byzantine historian, whose works were edited
folio, Paris, 1661.――――Gregoras, another, edited folio, Paris, 1702.
――――A Greek ecclesiastical historian, whose works were edited by
Ducæus, 2 vols., Paris, 1630.
=Nicer=, now the _Necker_, a river of Germany, falling into the Rhine
at the modern town of Manheim. _Ausonius_, _Mosella_, li. 423.
=Nicerātus=, a poet who wrote a poem in praise of Lysander.――――The
father of Nicias.
=Nicetas=, one of the Byzantine historians, whose works were edited
folio, Paris, 1647.
=Niceteria=, a festival at Athens, in memory of the victory which
Minerva obtained over Neptune, in their dispute about giving a name
to the capital of the country.
=Nicia=, a city. _See:_ Nicæa.――――A river falling into the Po at
Brixellum. It is now called _Lenza_, and separates the duchy of
Modena from Parma.
=Nicias=, an Athenian general, celebrated for his valour and for his
misfortunes. He early conciliated the good will of the people by his
liberality, and he established his military character by taking the
island of Cythera from the power of Lacedæmon. When Athens determined
to make war against Sicily, Nicias was appointed, with Alcibiades and
Lamachus, to conduct the expedition, which he reprobated as impolitic,
and as the future cause of calamities to the Athenian power. In
Sicily he behaved with great firmness, but he often blamed the quick
and inconsiderate measures of his colleagues. The success of the
Athenians remained long doubtful. Alcibiades was recalled by his
enemies to take his trial, and Nicias was left at the head of affairs.
Syracuse was surrounded by a wall, and though the operations were
carried on slowly, yet the city would have surrendered, had not the
sudden appearance of Gylippus, the Corinthian ally of the Sicilians,
cheered up the courage of the besieged at the most critical moment.
Gylippus proposed terms of accommodation to the Athenians, which were
refused; some battles were fought, in which the Sicilians obtained
the advantage, and Nicias at last, tired of his ill success, and
grown desponding, demanded of the Athenians a reinforcement or a
successor. Demosthenes, upon this, was sent with a powerful fleet,
but the advice of Nicias was despised, and the admiral, by his
eagerness to come to a decisive engagement, ruined his fleet and the
interest of Athens. The fear of his enemies at home prevented Nicias
from leaving Sicily; and when, at last, a continued series of ill
success obliged him to comply, he found himself surrounded on every
side by the enemy, without hope of escaping. He gave himself up to
the conquerors with all his army, but the assurances of safety which
he had received soon proved vain and false, and he was no sooner
in the hands of the enemy than he was shamefully put to death with
Demosthenes. His troops were sent to quarries, where the plague and
hard labour diminished their numbers and aggravated their misfortunes.
Some suppose that the death of Nicias was not violent. He perished
about 413 years before Christ, and the Athenians lamented in him
a great and valiant but unfortunate general. _Plutarch_, _Lives_.
――_Cicero._――_Cornelius Nepos_, _Alcibiades_.――_Thucydides_, bk. 4,
&c.――_Diodorus_, bk. 15.――――A grammarian of Rome, intimate with
Cicero. _Cicero_, _Letters_.――――A man of Nicæa, who wrote a history
of philosophers.――――A physician of Pyrrhus king of Epirus, who made
an offer to the Romans of poisoning his master for a sum of money.
The Roman general disdained his offers, and acquainted Pyrrhus with
his treachery. He is oftener called Cineas.――――A painter of Athens in
the age of Alexander. He was chiefly happy in his pictures of women.
_Ælian_, _Varia Historia_, bk. 2, ch. 31.
=Nicippe=, a daughter of Pelops, who married Sthenelus.――――A daughter
of Thespius. _Apollodorus._
=Nicippus=, a tyrant of Cos, one of whose sheep brought forth a lion,
which was considered as portending his future greatness, and his
elevation to the sovereignty. _Ælian_, _Varia Historia_, bk. 1,
ch. 29.
=Nico=, one of the Tarentine chiefs who conspired against the life of
Annibal. _Livy_, bk. 30.――――A celebrated architect and geometrician.
He was father to the celebrated Galen the prince of physicians.
――――One of the slaves of Craterus.――――The name of an ass which
Augustus met before the battle of Actium, a circumstance which
he considered as a favourable omen.――――The name of an elephant
remarkable for his fidelity to king Pyrrhus.
=Nicochăres=, a Greek comic poet in the age of Aristophanes.
=Nicŏcles=, a familiar friend of Phocion, condemned to death.
_Plutarch._――――A king of Salamis, celebrated for his contest with a
king of Phœnicia, to prove which of the two was most effeminate.――――A
king of Paphos, who reigned under the protection of Ptolemy king of
Egypt. He revolted from his friend to the king of Persia, upon which
Ptolemy ordered one of his servants to put him to death, to strike
terror into the other dependent princes. The servant, unwilling to
murder the monarch, advised him to kill himself. Nicocles obeyed, and
all his family followed his example, 310 years before the christian
era.――――An ancient Greek poet, who called physicians a happy race of
men, because light published their good deeds to the world, and the
earth hid all their faults and imperfections.――――A king of Cyprus,
who succeeded his father Evagoras on the throne, 374 years before
Christ. It was with him that the philosopher Isocrates corresponded.
――――A tyrant of Sicyon, deposed by means of Aratus the Achæan.
_Plutarch_, _Aratus_.
=Nicocrătes=, a tyrant of Cyrene.――――An author at Athens.――――A king of
Salamis in Cyprus, who made himself known by the valuable collection
of books which he had. _Athenæus_, bk. 1.
=Nicocreon=, a tyrant of Salamis in the age of Alexander the Great.
He ordered the philosopher Anaxarchus to be pounded to pieces in a
mortar.
=Nicodēmus=, an Athenian appointed by Conon over the fleet which was
going to the assistance of Artaxerxes. _Diodorus_, bk. 14.――――A
tyrant of Italy, &c.――――An ambassador sent to Pompey by Aristobulus.
=Nicodōrus=, a wrestler of Mantinea, who studied philosophy in his
old age. _Ælian_, _Varia Historia_, bk. 2, ch. 22.――_Suidas._――――An
Athenian archon.
=Nicodrŏmus=, a son of Hercules and Nice. _Apollodorus._――――An Athenian
who invaded Ægina, &c.