Nŭmīcus, a small river of Latium, near Lavinium, where the dead body of Æneas was found, and where Anna, Dido’s sister, drowned herself. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 150, &c.—Silius Italicus, bk. 1, li. 359.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 358, &c.; Fasti, bk. 3, li. 643.——A friend of Horace, to whom he addressed bk. 1, ltr. 6.

Numĭda, a surname given by Horace, bk. 1, ode 36, to one of the generals of Augustus, from his conquests in Numidia. Some suppose that it is Pomponius; others, Plotius.

Nŭmĭdia, an inland country of Africa, which now forms the kingdom of Algiers and Bildulgerid. It was bounded on the north by the Mediterranean sea, south by Gætulia, west by Mauritania, and east by a part of Libya, which was called Africa Propria. The inhabitants were called Nomades, and afterwards Numidæ. It was the kingdom of Masinissa, which was the occasion of the third Punic war, on account of the offence which he had received from the Carthaginians. Jugurtha reigned there, as also Juba the father and son. It was conquered, and became a Roman province, of which Sallust was the first governor. The Numidians were excellent warriors, and in their expeditions they always endeavoured to engage with the enemy in the night-time. They rode without saddles or bridles, whence they have been called infræni. They had their wives in common, as the rest of the barbarian nations of antiquity. Sallust, Jugurthine War.—Florus, bk. 2, ch. 15.—Strabo, bks. 2 & 17.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 4, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 754.

Numidius Quadratus, a governor of Syria under Claudius. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 12.

Numistro, a town of the Brutii in Italy. Livy, bk. 45, ch. 17.

Nŭmĭtor, a son of Procas king of Alba, who inherited his father’s kingdom with his brother Amulius, and began to reign conjointly with him. Amulius was too avaricious to bear a colleague on the throne; he expelled his brother, and that he might more safely secure himself, he put to death his son Lausus, and consecrated his daughter Ilia to the service of the goddess Vesta, which demanded perpetual celibacy. These great precautions were rendered abortive. Ilia became pregnant, and though the two children whom she brought forth were exposed in the river by order of the tyrant, their life was preserved, and Numitor was restored to his throne by his grandsons, and the tyrannical usurper was put to death. Dionysius of Halicarnassus.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 3.—Plutarch, Romulus.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 4, li. 55, &c.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 768.——A son of Phorcus, who fought with Turnus against Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 342.——A rich and dissolute Roman in the age of Juvenal, satire 7, li. 74.

Numitōrius, a Roman who defended Virginia, to whom Appius wished to offer violence. He was made military tribune.——Quintus Pullus, a general of Fregellæ, &c. Cicero, de Inventione, bk. 2, ch. 34.

Numonius. See: Vala.

Nuncoreus, a son of Sesostris king of Egypt, who made an obelisk, some ages after brought to Rome, and placed in the Vatican. Pliny, bk. 26, ch. 11.——He is called Pheron by Herodotus.

Nundīna, a goddess whom the Romans invoked when they named their children. This happened the ninth day after their birth, whence the name of the goddess, Nona dies. Macrobius, Saturnalia, bk. 1, ch. 16.

Nundīnæ. See: Feriæ.

Nursæ, a town of Italy. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 744.

Nurscia, a goddess who patronized the Etrurians. Juvenal, satire 10, li. 74.

Nursia, now Norza, a town of Picenum, whose inhabitants are called Nursini. Its situation was exposed, and the air considered as unwholesome. Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 416.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 716.—Martial, bk. 13, ltr. 20.—Livy, bk. 28, ch. 45.

Nutria, a town of Illyricum. Polybius, bk. 2.

Nycteis, a daughter of Nycteus, who was mother of Labdacus.——A patronymic of Antiope the daughter of Nycteus, mother of Amphion and Zethus by Jupiter, who had assumed the shape of a satyr to enjoy her company. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 110.

Nyctelia, festivals in honour of Bacchus [See: Nyctelius], observed on mount Cithæron. Plutarch, Convivium Septem Sapientium.

Nyctelius, a surname of Bacchus, because his orgies were celebrated in the night (νυξ nox, τελεω perficio). The words latex Nyctelius thence signify wine. Seneca, Œdipus.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 40.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 15.

Nycteus, a son of Hyrieus and Clonia.——A son of Chthonius.——A son of Neptune by Celene, daughter of Atlas king of Lesbos, or of Thebes, according to the more received opinion. He married a nymph of Crete, called Polyxo or Amalthæa, by whom he had two daughters, Nyctimene and Antiope. The first of these disgraced herself by her criminal amours with her father, into whose bed she introduced herself by means of her nurse. When the father knew the incest which he had committed, he attempted to stab his daughter, who was immediately changed by Minerva into an owl. Nycteus made war against Epopeus, who had carried away Antiope, and died of a wound which he had received in an engagement, leaving his kingdom to his brother Lycus, whom he entreated to continue the war, and punish Antiope for her immodest conduct. See: Antiope. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Hyginus, fables 157 & 204.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 590, &c.; bk. 6, li. 110, &c.

Nyctimĕne, a daughter of Nycteus. See: Nycteus.

Nyctĭmus, a son of Lycaon king of Arcadia. He died without issue, and left his kingdom to his nephew Arcas the son of Callisto. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 4.

Nymbæum, a lake of Peloponnesus in Laconia. Pausanias, bk. 3, li. 23.

Nymphæ, certain female deities among the ancients. They were generally divided into two classes, nymphs of the land and nymphs of the sea. Of the nymphs of the earth, some presided over woods, and were called Dryades and Hamadryades; others presided over mountains, and were called Oreades; some presided over hills and dales, and were called Napææ, &c. Of the sea nymphs, some were called Oceanides, Nereides, Naiades, Potamides, Limnades, &c. These presided not only over the sea, but also over rivers, fountains, streams, and lakes. The nymphs fixed their residence not only in the sea, but also on mountains, rocks, in woods or caverns, and their grottos were beautified by evergreens and delightful and romantic scenes. The nymphs were immortal, according to the opinion of some mythologists; others supposed that, like men, they were subject to mortality, though their life was of long duration. They lived for several thousand years, according to Hesiod, or, as Plutarch seems obscurely to intimate, they lived above 9720 years. The number of the nymphs is not precisely known. They were, according to Hesiod, above 3000, whose power was extended over the different places of the earth, and the various functions and occupations of mankind. They were worshipped by the ancients, though not with so much solemnity as the superior deities. They had no temples raised to their honour, and the only offerings they received were milk, honey, oil, and sometimes the sacrifice of a goat. They were generally represented as young and beautiful virgins, veiled up to the middle, and sometimes they held a vase, from which they seemed to pour water. Sometimes they had grass, leaves, and shells, instead of vases. It was deemed unfortunate to see them naked, and such sight was generally attended by a delirium, to which Propertius seems to allude in this verse, wherein he speaks of the innocence and simplicity of the primitive ages of the world,

Nec fuerat nudas pœna videre Deas.

The nymphs were generally distinguished by an epithet which denoted the place of their residence; thus the nymphs of Sicily were called Sicelides; those of Corycus, Corycides, &c. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 320; bk. 5, li. 412; bk. 9, li. 651, &c.; Fasti, bk. 3, li. 769.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 4.—Plutarch, de Defectu Oraculorum.—Orpheus, Argonautica.—Hesiod, Theogony.—Propertius, bk. 3, poem 12.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 14.

Nymphæum, a port of Macedonia. Cæsar, Civil War.——A promontory of Epirus on the Ionian sea.——A place near the walls of Apollonia, sacred to the nymphs, where Apollo had also an oracle. The place was also celebrated for the continual flames of fire which seemed to rise at a distance from the plains. It was there that a sleeping satyr was once caught and brought to Sylla as he returned from the Mithridatic war. This monster had the same features as the poets ascribed to the satyr. He was interrogated by Sylla and by his interpreters, but his articulations were unintelligible, and the Roman spurned from him a creature which seemed to partake of the nature of a beast more than that of a man. Plutarch, Sulla.—Dio Cassius, bk. 41.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 29.—Strabo, bk. 7.—Livy, bk. 42, chs. 36 & 49.——A city of Taurica Chersonesus.——The building at Rome where the nymphs were worshipped bore also this name, being adorned with their statues and with fountains and waterfalls, which afforded an agreeable and refreshing coolness.

Nymphæus, a man who went into Caria at the head of a colony of Melians, &c. Polyænus, bk. 8.

Nymphidius, a favourite of Nero, who said that he was descended from Caligula. He was raised to the consular dignity, and soon after disputed the empire with Galba. He was slain by the soldiers, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15.

Nymphis, a native of Heraclea, who wrote a history of Alexander’s life and actions, divided into 24 books. Ælian, bk. 7, de Natura Animalium.

Nymphodōrus, a writer of Amphipolis.——A Syracusan who wrote a history of Sicily.

Nympholleptes, or Nymphomănes, possessed by the nymphs. This name was given to the inhabitants of mount Cithæron, who believed that they were inspired by the nymphs. Plutarch, Aristeides.

Nymphon, a native of Colophon, &c. Cicero, Letters to his brother Quintus, bk. 1.

Nypsius, a general of Dionysius the tyrant, who took Syracuse, and put all the inhabitants to the sword. Diodorus, bk. 16.

Nysa, or Nyssa, a town of Æthiopia, at the south of Egypt, or, according to others, of Arabia. This city, with another of the same name in India, was sacred to the god Bacchus, who was educated there by the nymphs of the place, and who received the name of Dionysius, which seems to be compounded of Διος and ♦Νυσα, the name of his father, and that of the place of his education. The god made this place the seat of his empire, and the capital of the conquered nations of the east. Diodorus, in his third and fourth books, has given a prolix account of the birth of the god at Nysa, and of his education and heroic actions. Mela, bk. 3, ch. 7.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 13, &c.—Silius Italicus, bk. 7, li. 198.—Curtius, bk. 8, ch. 10.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 805.——According to some geographers there were no less than 10 places of the name of Nysa. One of these was on the coast of Eubœa, famous for its vines, which grew in such an uncommon manner, that if a twig was planted in the ground in the morning, it was said immediately to produce grapes, which were full ripe in the evening.——A city of Thrace.——Another seated on the top of mount Parnassus, and sacred to Bacchus. Juvenal, satire 7, li. 63.

♦ ‘Νμσα’ replaced with ‘Νυσα’

Nysæus, a surname of Bacchus, because he was worshipped at Nysa. Propertius, bk. 3, poem 17, li. 22.—A son of Dionysius of Syracuse. Cornelius Nepos, Dion.

Nysas, a river of Africa, rising in Æthiopia.

Nysisæ portæ, a small island in Africa.

Nysiădes, a name given to the nymphs of Nysa, to whose care Jupiter entrusted the education of his son Bacchus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3, li. 314, &c.

Nysīros, an island. See: Nisyros.

Nysius, a surname of Bacchus as the protecting god of Nysa. Cicero, Flaccus, ch. 25.

Nyssa, a sister of Mithridates the Great. Plutarch.