NERO NERVA 231 lyre verses on the destruction of Troy. The truth of the story is doubtful, but it was be- lieved at the time, and Nero sought to transfer the odium of the conflagration to the Chris- tians, many of whom he caused to be put to death. Some were covered with the skins of wild beasts and torn to pieces by dogs, and others were crucified and set on fire by night in the imperial gardens, while the emperor drove his chariot by the light of the flames. The tyrant was liberal to the sufferers by the conflagration, and upon the ruins of the old city built a much finer one on a different plan, one of its most striking features being a vast pal- ace for himself, which was called " the golden house," and the cost of which he defrayed by robbery and extortion. The discovery of a con- spiracy against him served to develop his fero- city. C. Calpurnius Piso, Plautius Lateranus, the poet Lucan, and Seneca were put to death for alleged complicity in it. The senate was induced to receive the intelligence of their fate as the news of a great victory, and triumphal honors were decreed to the infamous Tigellinus, the emperor's principal instrument. Having killed Poppsea by a kick when she was with child, Nero now proposed to marry Antonia, his sister by adoption, and on her refusal or- dered her to be put to death. He then bestowed his hand upon Statilia Messalina, whose hus- band Vestinus he had assassinated for marry- ing Messalina after the emperor had cohabited with her. The jurist Longinus was exiled, and the most virtuous citizens were put to death. In the midst of these executions Nero's high- est ambition seemed to be to excel in the games of the circus. He visited Greece to display his skill as a musician and charioteer, and the Olympic games were delayed two years (from 65 to 67) that he might be present at them. At the Isthmian games he ordered the death of a singer whose voice overpowered his own. He returned to Rome as a conqueror, entering the city through a breach in the wall, riding in the chariot of Augustus, with a musician by his side, and the 1,800 crowns which he had won at the games displayed as the trophies of his expedition. He had already appeared upon the stage in Rome and other cities of Italy, and chariot racing, music, and every frivolous amusement now engrossed his time. But in the mean while a formidable insurrection was preparing. It broke out in Gaul, under Julius Vindex, governor of the Celtic province, who raised an army and offered the purple to Galba, then governor of Hispania Tarraconensis. Gal- ba accepted the proposal, but the troops of Vin- dex were defeated before Vesontio (Besancon), and their general was killed. There is little doubt that Galba would have yielded had not Nero, who had reluctantly left his extravagances in Naples to assume the consulship alone at the capital, been deserted by the pratorian guard, condemned to death by the senate, and forced to flee to the house of one of his crea- tures in the suburbs. Here, after spending in an agony of fear and irresolution the night and part of the next day, he committed suicide, and died in the presence of the soldiers who had come to seize him. His corpse received an honorable burial from his concubine Acte and two of his nurses. The military events of Nero's reign were upon the whole glorious to the Roman arms. In Armenia, which had been occupied by the Parthians, a war com- menced in 55, and was terminated in 58 by Domitius Corbulo, who destroyed Artaxata, the capital, and captured the city of Tigrano- certa, thus rendering the Romans masters of the whole country. Tiridates, the king, who had been set up there by the Parthians, sub- sequently renewed the struggle, and after tem- porary successes was compelled to submit and go in person to Rome to do homage for his kingdom. Nero, however, soon afterward condemned Corbulo to death, a sentence which the old soldier anticipated by suicide. In 61 a great rising in Britain under Boadicea was put down by Suetonius Paulinus. A revolt also broke out in Judea, and Vespasian was sent to suppress it; but the history of this war, terminating with the conquest of Jerusa- lem, belongs to subsequent reigns. NERO, Clandins. See CLAUDIUS NERO. NERO, Clandins Drnsus. See DEUSUS. NERO, Claudius Tiberias. See CLAUDIUS NERO, TIBERIUS. NERO GERMANIC! S, Tiberias Clandins Drusus. See CLAUDIUS I. NEROLI. See ORANGE. NERTCHINSK, a town of eastern Siberia, in the province of Transbaikalia, about 530 m. E. of Irkutsk; pop. in 1869, 3,938. The military post of Nertchinsk commands the frontier of China. It is situated on low ground, subject to inundation. Most of the houses are built of wood. It contains churches and schools, and has an extensive fur trade. The first boundary treaty between Russia and China was conclu- ded here in 1689. The celebrated Nertchinsk government mines are situated 100 m. E. of the town, in the Nertchinskoi mountains. More than 4,000 persons were in former years employed in the silver mines alone. Lead, tin, cinnabar, and zinc mines also exist, and gold was largely produced in the years 1846-'56. NERVA, Marcos Cocceios, a Roman emperor, born probably in Narnia, Umbria, A. D. 32, died in Rome, Jan. 23, 98. He was twice consul before his accession to the purple, in 71 with Vespasian, and in 90 with Domitian. On the assassination of Domitian, in September, 96, Nerva was proclaimed emperor by the peo- ple and soldiers. He discontinued Domitian's prosecutions for treason, discountenanced in- formers, permitted exiles to return, distributed land among the poor, and made occasional do- nations of money and corn. By suppressing many public shows and festivals, and diminish- ing the expense of such as were tolerated, he economized the revenue, and increased the re- sources of his empire. In the second year of
