tion of affairs was mainly directed by Seneca, his former teacher, and Burrhus the prætorian prefect, a distinguished soldier and an honourable man. In a.d. 59 Nero contrived the murder of his mother, Agrippina. Both this crime and the murder of Britannicus were probably prompted by the fear of a rival claimant for the imperial power. In a.d. 62 he divorced and put to death his wife, Octavia, an amiable and virtuous lady, whose misfortunes have furnished a subject for one of Seneca's tragedies. Eighteen days after the divorce Nero married Poppæa Sabina, who had been the wife of his dissolute companion, Otho, the future emperor. About this time Burrhus was poisoned by order of Nero, who found him unsuitable to be the instrument of his crimes; and Seneca, whose influence had gradually been declining, retired from all share in the government. Henceforward Nero's cruelty and debauchery were altogether unrestrained. In a.d. 64 the terrible conflagration at Rome occurred. The fire lasted for six days, and more than half the city was burnt down. Yet the calamity though so severe at the time, like the great fire of London, led to extensive improvements. In place of the narrow and crooked streets of ancient Rome, Nero caused the city to be rebuilt on a regular plan, with broad streets, open spaces, and less lofty houses. He supplied the proprietors with money for building, and specified a certain time by which the houses were to be completed. Thus Rome sprang a second time from her ashes in a style of far greater splendour than before. The origin of the fire, however, was commonly ascribed at the time, whether truly or otherwise, to the malice of the emperor. To clear himself from the odium of this charge he threw the blame on the christians, who were then universally disliked at Rome, and great numbers of them were tortured and put to death in consequence of this false accusation. St. Peter and St. Paul are generally believed to have suffered martyrdom in this persecution. In a.d. 65 a formidable conspiracy against Nero was discovered, and many eminent persons were condemned to die on the charge of being accessory to it. Among these were Seneca and Lucan. To narrate the various crimes and enormities of Nero would be tedious and repulsive; they may be found in Tacitus and Suetonius. Among the remarkable men who perished by his orders we may mention Thrasea Pætus and Barca Soranus, eminent for their virtues, Corbulo the general, and Petronius Arbiter, the author of the Satyricon. In a.d. 68 Galba, the governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, raised the standard of revolt; a famine which prevailed at Rome, and the extortions of Nero to raise money for his lavish expenses, rendered the populace disaffected; the prætorian soldiers proclaimed Galba emperor, and Nero died by his own hand, to avoid the indignities which awaited him from the senate whom he had so deeply injured. As regarded its foreign affairs, the Roman state was prosperous during his reign. Armenia was conquered by Corbulo, and the rising in Britain under Boadicea was put down by Suetonius Paulinus. Many public edifices, such as baths, circuses, and theatres, were erected by Nero; but by far the most celebrated of his works was the golden house, as it was termed, which extended from the Palatine to the gardens of Mæcenas and the agger of Servius on the Esquiline. Its bounds comprehended large parks and gardens; the palace itself was of vast proportions, and furnished with insane magnificence; in the vestibule rose the colossal statue of Nero, one hundred and twenty feet in height, the base of which is still visible at the Coliseum. The golden house was burnt down in the reign of Trajan. Hateful as his character is in history, Nero seems to have been generally popular both with the soldiery and with the lower class of citizens at Rome: for his cruelty and extortion were chiefly felt by the noble and wealthy; with the rest his lavish profusion and excessive love of public spectacles and entertainments made him a favourite. His obsequies were performed by some women who had loved him, and his sepulchre was strewn with flowers by unknown hands. He died on 9th June, a.d. 68, at the age of thirty years.—G.
NERO, Andalone del (known also by the names of Niger and Negro), an Italian astronomer and astrologer, chiefly known through the praises of Boccaccio, who was one of his pupils. He was born at Genoa about 1270. The time of his death is uncertain; but he is known to have been alive in 1342.—W. J. M. R.
NERVA, Marcus Cocceius, one of the Roman emperors, was born in Umbria, a.d. 32. It has been thought probable that he was privy to the conspiracy which effected Domitian's assassination, a.d. 96. Be that as it may, he was declared emperor by the people and soldiers, when that event took place. His public measures were good and salutary. Many exiles were allowed to return; spies and informers were discountenanced and punished; slaves and freedmen were forbidden to bear witness against their masters; and the infamous proceedings of his predecessors ceased to disgrace the city. He eased the burdens of many poor citizens by buying land and dividing it among them, as well as by giving them money and grain; lessened the public expenses; and discouraged prodigality in shows and festivals. Before his elevation he had been twice consul, with Vespasian and with Domitian; and in the second year of his reign he became consul a third time, along with Rufus. He was magnanimous enough to spare Crassus who had conspired against him, being averse to the shedding of blood. But he wanted nerve and vigour of purpose; so that his administration, though benign and peaceful, was not a terror to evil doers. This was shown in the case of the mutiny of the prætorian soldiers under their prefect Casperius, who clamoured for the punishment of Domitian's assassins; for the emperor's refusal was not maintained so firmly as to prevent the shedding of blood. Having adopted Trajan as his son and successor, he conferred on him the titles Cæsar and Germanicus, besides the tribunitian power. He himself had assumed the latter title, after the news of a great victory by the Roman army in Pannonia had been brought to Rome. Nerva and Trajan were consuls a.d. 98. He died on the 27th January, a.d. 98. An honourable burial was bestowed upon his body, which was deposited in the sepulchre of Augustus. Nerva was a wise, moderate, and good emperor, whose reign, unhappily for Rome too brief, forms a striking contrast to that of his predecessor.—S. D.
NERVAL, Gerard de. See Gerard.
NESBIT, Charlton, a celebrated wood engraver, was born in 1775 at Swalwell, near Gateshead. At the age of fourteen he was articled to Bewick, and whilst with him engraved most of the cuts in the editions of Parnell and Goldsmith published in 1795, and some of the tail-pieces in the first volume of Bewick's British Birds. On the termination of his apprenticeship he engraved a view of St. Nicholas' church, Newcastle-on-Tyne: it was the largest woodcut which had up to that time been produced in England, and for it young Nesbit was awarded the medal of the Society of Arts. In 1799 Mr. Nesbit came to London, where he remained till 1815, when he returned to his native place. He there continued to practise his profession till 1830, when he again settled in London, where he died, November 11, 1838. Chariton Nesbit was the best of the many pupils of Bewick, and one of the ablest wood engravers of his day. His cuts are always carefully engraved, and are remarkable for their skilful rendering of surface and texture.—J. T—e.
NESSE, Christopher, a nonconformist writer, whose "History and Mystery of the Old Testament" is supposed to have been extensively used by Matthew Henry in his Commentary. He was born at North Cowes in Yorkshire in 1621, and was educated at St. John's college, Cambridge. In 1650 he was appointed to a living at Cottingham, near Hull, and seems to have been a lecturer at Leeds for some years. In 1662 he was ejected by the act of Uniformity, but preached afterwards in Yorkshire, for which he suffered. He removed to London in 1675, and preached for thirty years to a congregation in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street. He died in 1705, and was buried in Bunhill Fields. His other works were, "The Christian's Walk and Work on Earth;" "The Christian's Crown and Glory;" "Church History from Adam;" "Antidote against Popery;" and "Divine Legacy."—B. H. C.
NESSELRODE, Charles Robert, Count, the Metternich of Russia, late chancellor of the empire, was born on the 14th December, 1780, at Lisbon, where his father, a scion of a noble German family, was Russian minister. Nesselrode entered when young the diplomatic service of Russia, and filled some minor posts at Berlin, Stuttgardt, and the Hague. He seems to have early gained the confidence of the Emperor Alexander, and is said to have accompanied him to that interview with Napoleon, 25th June, 1807, on a raft in the Niemen, which preceded the treaty of Tilsit. At any rate, in 1807 he joined the Russian embassy at Paris, and rose in the estimation of his master. Throughout the war which followed the invasion of Russia by Napoleon, Nesselrode was the most important diplomatic representative of Russia. He negotiated with Metternich the treaty of Töplitz between Russia and Austria, September, 1813; in 1814 he accompanied Alexander to Paris, and signed on the part of
