=Nere´ides.= Nymphs of the sea, daughters of Nereus and Doris. According to most of the mythologists, they were fifty in number. They are represented as young and handsome girls, sitting on dolphins and armed with tridents. =Ne´ro, Clau´dius Domit´ius Cæ´sar.= A celebrated Roman emperor, son of Caius Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina, the daughter of Germanicus. His name is the synonym for cruelty and vice. In the night it was his wont to sally out from his palace to visit the meanest taverns and the different scenes of depravity that were to be found. He appeared on the stage, sometimes representing the meanest characters. He resolved to imitate the burning of Troy, and caused Rome to be set on fire in different places, the flames being unextinguished for nine days, and he enjoyed the terrible scene. During the conflagration he placed himself on the top of a tower and sang, accompanying himself on a lyre, of the destruction of Troy. Many conspiracies were formed against him, the most dangerous of which he was saved from by the confession of a slave. He killed himself A.D. 68, in the thirty-second year of his age, after a reign of thirteen years and eight months. Wretch that he was, it is said that he had some few to mourn for him, and Suetonius records that some unseen hand had placed flowers on his tomb. =Ner´va, M. Cocce´ius.= A Roman emperor after the death of Domitian A.D. 96. He rendered himself popular by his mildness and generosity. In his civil character he set an example of good manners and sobriety. He made an oath that no senator should suffer death during his reign, which he carried out by pardoning two members of the Senate who had conspired against his life. He died in his seventy-second year, A.D. 98, and was succeeded by his son Trajan. =Nes´sus.= A celebrated Centaur killed by Hercules for insulting Dejanira. =Nes´tor.= A son of Neleus and Chloris, nephew to Pelias, and grandson to Neptune. He was present at the bloody battle between the Lapithæ and the Centaurs, which took place at the nuptials of Pirithous. As king of Pylos he led his soldiers to the Trojan war, where he distinguished himself among the Grecian chieftains by eloquence, wisdom, and prudence. Homer makes his character as the most perfect of all his heroes. After the Trojan war Nestor retired to Greece, where he lived during his declining years in peace and tranquillity. The manner and time of his death are unknown. =Ni´nus.= A son of Belus. He built Nineveh and founded the Assyrian monarchy, of which he was the first sovereign, B.C. 2059. He married Semiramis, whose husband had destroyed himself through fear of Ninus. He reigned fifty-two years.