A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

1180 NTICEPHIORUS. NICEPHORiUS.
bright qualities were darkened by avery treacherous vwriters, 1. BLEMMrIDAS or BLEMMYIDAS, lived
disposition, as we best see from his transactions in the thirteenth century. IIe was descended from
with the emperor Otho I., which the latter entered a distinguished and wealthy family, but, nevertheinto with a view of obtaining the hand of the less, took holy orders, and led the life of an ascetic.
princess Theophano or Theophania, the daughter Having erected a beautiful church at his own exof the late emperor Romanus, and stepdaughter of pence at Nicaea, he was appointed presbyter of it,
Nicephorus, for his son Otho, afterwards emperor. and, by his really Christian life, gave a good exTo this effect he sent, in 968, bishop Liutprand to ample to his people. One day Marchesina, the
Constantinople, who wrote a work on his embassy, concubine of the emperor John Ducas, entered his
which is one of the most interesting and important church to hear the mass, when, to her astonishsources for the reign of Nicephorus, and the public ment and indignation, the honest Blemmidas
and private lives of the Greeks of those times. The ordered her to leave the church directly, and, as
emperor Otho I. also elideavoured to obtain the she refused to do so, he caused her to be turned
cession of the Greek possessions in Italy, as a out; in consequence of which he had to suffer
dowry of the princess Theophania, and it would much annoyance from the emperor. Theodore
perhaps have been advantageous to both parties if Lascaris, the successor of John Ducas, behaved
-such a cession had taken place, Nicephorus being differently to him, and on the death of the patriarch
unable to defend Italy. The marriage of Otho II. Germanus, in 1255, offered him the vacant seat,
with Theophania subsequently took place, but space which, however, Nicephorus declined. In the
forbids us to enter into the details of these transac- religious disputes between the Greeks and the
tions. (Liutprandus, Legatio ad Nicephorum Pho- Latins, Blemmidas showed himself well disposed
canm; Cedren. p. 637, &c.; Zonar. vol. ii. p. 194, towards the latter. The year of the death of
&c.; Manass. p. 114; Joel, p. 180; Glyc. p. Blemmidas is not known. He wrote various
301, &c.) [W. P.] works, the principal of which are: —1. Opusculzr
NICE'PHORUS III. BOTANIA'TES (d Bo- de Processione Spiritus Sancti, Wc. In this work
~rasvdgrTs), emperor of Constantinople A. D. 1078- he adopts entirely the views of the Roman catholics
1081. He belonged to an illustrious family which on the procession of the Holy Ghost and other
boasted of a descent from the Fabii of Rome. He matters; which is the more surprising, as he wrote
was looked upon as a brave general, but his military a second work on the same subject, where he deskill was the only quality that recommended him. fends the opinion of the Greek church. Leo AllaIt is related in the life of the emperor Michael VII. tius (De Consensu, ii. 14) endeavours to justify
Parapinaces, how Michael lost his throne in conse- him for his want of principle, showing that he
quence of the contemporaneous rebellion of Bryen- either wrote that work when very young, before
nius and Botaniates, the subject of this article, and he had formed a thorough conviction on the point,
that the latter succeeded Michael on the throne. or that some schismatics published their opinions
Botaniates was crowned on the 25th of March, under the name of Blemmidas. 2. De Processione
1078,and soon afterwards married Maria,the wife of Spiritus Sancti Libri II. This is the second work,
Michael, from whom she became divorced by the just mentioned, the first book of which is dedicated
deposed emperor taking holy orders. Before Nice- to the emperor Theodore Lascaris, and the second
phorus could enjoy his crown he had'to defend it to Jacob, archbishop of Bulgaria, ed. Graece et
against Bryennius, whom he routed and made a Latine, by Oderius Ragnaldus, in the appendix to
prisoner in the bloody battle of Salabrya. Bry- the first volume of his Annales Ecclesiast.; by Leo
ennius met the fate of' most of the unfortunate Allatius, in the first volume of Orthodoxae Graeciae
rebels: he had his eyes put out, and was finally Script. 3. Epistola ad pluriomos data postquam
assassinated. NiceDhorus made himself so detested Ma1rclesinam templo ejeces at, Graece et Latine, in
by his brutal manners, his ingratitude, and his de- the second book of Leo Allatius, De Consensu.
baucheries, that his short reign of three years was 4. Epitonze Logica et Physica, Graece, Augsburg,
little more than an uninterrupted struggle against 1605, 8vo. There are also many other writings
rebels, amongst whom Basilacius, who was defeated by Blemmidas extant in manuscript, in the
on the Vardar by Alexis Comnenus, Constantine libraries of Munich, Rome, Paris, and other places.
Ducas, and Nicephorus Melissenus, aspired to the (Cave, Hist. Liter. ad an. 1255; Fabric. Bibli
throne. The last was still in arms when the two Graec. vol. xi. p. 394.)
Comneni, Alexis and Isaac, were compelled to 2. BRYENNIUS. [BRYENNIUS.]
leave the court if they would maintain their dig- 3. CALLISTUS XANTHOPULUS, the celebrated
lity and independence, in consequence of which author of the Ecclesiastical History, was born in
Alexis was proclaimed emperor and took up arms the latter part of the thirteenth century, and died
against his sovereign. Unable to resist the tor- about 1450. According to his own saying (H. E.
renit, Nicephorus made propositions to Melissenus ii. p. 64), he had not yet completed his thirty-sixth
to abdicate in his favour, but Alexis Comnenus year when he began to write that work, which
soon compelled him to do so in his own, and occu- he dedicated to the emperor Andronicus Palaeopied the throne in his stead (lst of April, 1081). logus the elder, who died in 1327, whence we
Nicephorus was obliged to become a monk and may infer the time of his birth. His works are:conform to the austere rules of St. Basil: he died I. Historia Ecclesiastica, in twenty-three books, of
some time after his deposition. His complaint which there are eighteen extant, compiled from
that he regretted the loss of his throne and liberty Eusebius, Sozomenus, Socrates, Theodoretus, Evaless than the necessity he was under to refrain grius, Philostorgius, and other ecclesiastical writers.
from eating meat, shows sufficiently what sort of The eighteen extant books contain the period from
man he was. (Zonar. vol. ii. p. 289, &c.; Bryenn. Christ down to the death of the tyrant Phocas, in
iii. 15, &c; Scylit. p. 857, &c.; Joel, p. 185; 610; of the remaining five books, there are ArguGlyc. p. 332; Manass. p 135.) [W. P.] menta extant, from which we learn that the work
INICE'PHORUS (NIKqno'pos), Biyzantine was carried down to the death of the emperor Leo