436 NICOMEDES NICOSIA the " Rape of Proserpine " and " Female Bac- chantes surprised by Satyrs." II. A Pythago- rean philosopher of the 1st century A. D., born at Gerasa, Palestine, and hence surnamed Ge- rasenus. His name became proverbial in con- nection with skilful computation; hence the adage, " You reckon like Nicomachus of Ge- rasa." His extant works are an introduction to the study of arithmetic, first printed in the original Greek at Paris (1538), and a manual on music, edited by Meursius (Leyden, 1616), and with a Latin translation by Meibom (Am- sterdam, 1652). NICOMEDES, the name of three kings of Bithynia. Nicomedes I. succeeded his father Zipoetes in 278 B. 0., and one of his first acts was to assassinate two of his younger brothers. Another brother, Zipoetes, who rebelled and took possession of the maritime districts of Bithynia, he defeated with the assistance of the Gauls, and also put to death. He was the first ruler of the Thracian dynasty who took the title of king. He fixed his residence near the ruined city of Astacus, where he built a new capital and called it Nicomedia. He died about 250 B. C. Nicomedes II., surnamed EPI- PHANES, fourth in descent from the prece- ding, reigned from 149 to 91 B. 0. He was educated at Rome, where he found such favor with the senate that his father Prusias II., dreading his ambition, sent orders to have him assassinated. Nicomedes, discovering the plot, entered Bithynia in arms, and, being supported by the inhabitants, dethroned his father and put him to death. He made an alliance first with the Romans, whom he assisted in their war with Aristonicus (131), and afterward with Mithridates, and having seized Paphlago- nia, placed it under the government of one of his sons. Foiled by Mithridates in an attempt upon the Cappadocian throne, to secure which he had married Laodice, the widow of Ariara- thes VI., he was soon afterward deprived of Paphlagonia also by the Romans, and is said to have died of disappointment. Nicomedes III., surnamed PHILOPATOE, son and successor of the preceding, and the last king of Bithynia, died about the beginning of 74 B. 0. On the death of his father, Mithridates incited another son, Socrates, to claim the crown, and Nicome- des was driven from the kingdom. Restored by the Romans the next year, he was persuaded by his allies to make war upon Mithridates, who deposed him a second time (88). At the conclusion of the first Mithridatic war (84), which broke out in consequence of this action, he was restored again. Having no children, he bequeathed his kingdom to the Romans. NICOJIEDIA, the capital of ancient Bithynia, on the Astacenian gulf, at the E. extremity of the Propontis. It was built in 264 B. 0. by Nicomedes I., and for six centuries prospered, being often, under the Roman empire, the resi- dence of the emperors while engaged in their eastern wars. It was adorned with many mag- nificent buildings, the ruins of which still exist, but is especially celebrated as having been the place where the historian Arrian was born, where Hannibal and Constantine the Great died, and Diocletian abdicated. The modern name is Ismid, and the place is still of some importance. (See ISMID.) NICOPOLI, or Nicopolis, a city of European Turkey, in Bulgaria, on the right bank of the Danube, 75 m. S. W. of Bucharest, and 280 m. N. W. of Constantinople; pop. about 10,000. It consists of the fortified or Turkish town, perched on limestone cliffs, overhanging the Danube, and an open quarter on the declivity of an adjoining height, inhabited by Bulgari- ans, Wallachs, and Jews. It was founded by Trajan in the beginning of the 2d century, and gives title to a Greek archbishop and a Catholic bishop. The sultan Bajazet I. defeated King Sigismund of Hungary (the future emperor of Germany) under the walls of this city, Sept. 28, 1396. The Christian army, numbering 60,000 men, among them several thousand French warriors, was totally routed, but Sigis- mund escaped in a boat. NICOPOLIS, a city of ancient Greece, in Epi- rus, on the Ambracian gulf, built by Augustus to commemorate his victory over Mark Antony, achieved off the neighboring promontory of Actium (31 B. C.). It was peopled from the Epirotic towns, invested with the privileges of a Roman colony, and raised to the dignity of an amphictyonic city. The conqueror erected a temple to Neptune and Mars, and instituted a quinquennial festival styled Actia. Under his successors this city became the capital of Epirus, but it decayed in the middle ages. Nu- merous ruins remain, and the great theatre is one of the best preserved of Roman theatres. NICOSIA, Leneosia, or Lef kosha, a town of Asi- atic Turkey, capital of Cyprus, situated in the N. part of the island, 9 m. from the sea ; pop. about 12,000, two thirds of whom are Turks. It is about three miles in circuit, and surround- ed by strong walls with three gates. With the exception of the Greek quarter, the town is generally ill built with narrow unpaved streets and hut-like houses. There are some imposing buildings, among which are the mosque of St. Sophia, formerly a Christian church, the church of St. Catharine, the Armenian church, the church of St. Nicholas, now used as a grain depot, the seraglio or governor's palace, erect- ed as a royal residence while the island was held by the Christians, and the palace of the Greek archbishop. There are manufactures of Turkey leather, carpets, and silk, and British calicoes are printed for exportation. The Cy- prus wines are produced on the neighboring hills. Nicosia in the time of Constantine the Great was 9 m. in circuit, and before Cyprus came into the possession of Venice had 300 churches. It was taken from the Venetians by the Turks in 1570, when 20,000 of its in- habitants perished. NICOSIA, a town of Sicily, in the province and 40 m. N. W. of the city of Catania ; pop.
