=Ni´obe.= A daughter of Tantalus, king of Lydia, and Euryanassa, or Dione. She married Amphion, and, according to Hesiod, they had ten sons and ten daughters. All the sons of Niobe expired by the darts of Apollo, and all the daughters, except Chloris, were destroyed by Diana. Niobe, overwhelmed with grief, was changed into a stone. =Nito´cris.= A celebrated queen of Babylon, who built a bridge across the Euphrates in the middle of that city, and dug a number of reservoirs for the superfluous water of the river. =Nom´ades.= A name given to people who had no fixed habitation, and who continually changed their place of residence in quest of fresh pastures for the cattle they tended. There were Nomades in Scythia, India, Arabia, etc. The word is in constant use as Anglicized--Nomad--meaning any one who leads a wandering and unsettled life. =Nox.= One of the most ancient deities among the heathens, daughter of Chaos. She gave birth to the Day and the Light, and was mother of the Parcæ, Hesperides, Dreams, Death, etc. =Nu´ma Pompil´ius.= A celebrated philosopher of Cures. He married Tatia, daughter of Tatius, king of the Sabines, and at her death he retired into the country to devote himself to literary pursuits. At the death of Romulus the Romans fixed on him to be their new king. Numa at first refused the offer of the crown, but at length was prevailed on to accept it. He endeavored to inculcate into the minds of his subjects a reverence for the deity, and he did all he could to heal their dissensions. He encouraged the report of his visits to the nymph Egeria, and made use of her name to give sanction to the laws which he had made. He dedicated a temple to Janus, which, during his whole reign, remained closed as a mark of peace and tranquillity at Rome. Numa died after a reign of forty-three years (B.C. 672), during which he had given encouragement to the useful arts, and had cultivated peace. =Nym´phæ.= Certain female deities among the ancients. They were generally divided into two classes--nymphs of the land and nymphs of the sea. Of the former some presided over woods, and were called Dryades and Hamadryades. Of the sea nymphs some were called Oceanides, Nereides, Naiades, etc. =Ocean´ides and Oceanit´ides.= Sea nymphs, daughters of Oceanus, from whom they received their name. According to Apollodorus they were 3000 in number, whilst Hesiod speaks of them as consisting of forty-one. =Oce´anus.= A powerful deity of the sea, son of Coelus and Terra. He married Tethys, the Oceanides being their children. =Octa´via.= A Roman lady, sister to the emperor Augustus, celebrated for her beauty and virtues. She married Claudius Marcellus, and, after his death, Antony, who for some time was attentive to her, but eventually deserted her for Cleopatra. =Octavia´nus, or Octa´vius Cæ´sar.= A famous Roman who, after the battle of Actium, had bestowed on him by the senate the surname _Augustus_, as expressing his dignity and greatness.