death of the emperor in 1180. In the midst of the en-' suing revolts, wars, and troubles of the time, the whole matter was entirely forgotten. The hatred of the Greeks against the Armenians was again renewed, es- pecially when the latter connected themselves with the Latin crusaders. In order to justify himself as Mell as his people against the Greeks, who represented them to the Lathis as Eutychians (q.v.), the catholicos Gregory, in 1184, sent a delegation to pope Lucius III, who in return answered the letter by sending the insignia of the patriarchate, together with a lioman liturgy and epistle, which Nerses translated ; the latter also consent- ed to some changes which the Eoman clergy had pro- posed, especially that the main ecclesiastical festivals should be celebrated with the other churches at one and the same time, which caused great dissatisfaction among the Oriental- Armenian clergy. Nerses died in 1192, and was buried in the monastery of Skyrra, whose ab- bot he was, and is commemorated in his Church on July 17. He wrote, Fxplanativn of the Ecclesiastical Orders and Liturrjy of the Mass (Venice. 1847) : — A d- dress at the Opening of the Council at HromUa (ibid. 1784; in a Latin transl., ibid. 1812, 1838, and in a Ger- man by Neumann, Leips. 1834) : — Comment ai-ies on dif- ferent Books of the Bible: — Biographies of the Fathers, esp)eci(dly the Anchorites, Addresses, and Homilies (Ven- ice, 1838) : — Explanation of the Nicene Si/mbol (Con- stant. 1736) : — A Panegyric on Nerses Klajensis (St. Pe- tersburg, 1782; Madras, 1810; Constant. 1826) ; besides translations from the Latin, Syriac, and Greek. See Lequien, Oriens Christianus, i, 1345. See also Herzog, Real-Encyldopadie, xix, 85 sq. ; xx, 210 sq. ; Theo- logisches Universal- Lexikon, s. v.; Biography of the Saints, yo\.-v\ Neumann, Versuch einer Geschichte der armenischen Literatur (Leips. 1836), p. 148; Tcham- tchenang, Ilist. of Armenia (Venice, 1783-4, 3 vols.), iii, 58 sq. ; Gieseler, Church History (Smith's transl.), ii, 617 ; Kurtz, Lehrbuch d. Kirchengeschichte (Mitau, 1874), p. 190, 214; iocheT, Allgemeines Gelehrten-Lexikon, s. v. Nierses ; Cave, Historia liieruria scriptorum ecclesiasti- C07-um, p. 591, 596; Malan, Life and Times of St. Greg- ory the Illuminator, with Introd. on the Hist, of the Ar- menian Church, p. 35 sq. (J. H.AV.)
Nerva, Marcus Cocceius, the thirteenth Eoman emperor, noted for his kindness to the early Christians, was born at Narnia, in Umbria, in A.D. 27, according to Eutropius (viii, 1), or in A.D. 32, according to Dion (Ixviii, 4). His family original!}^ came from Crete; but several of his ancestors rose to the highest dignities in the Roman state. His grandfather, Cocceius Nerva, who was consul in A.D. 22, was a great favorite of the emperor Tiberius, and was one of the most celebrated jurists of bis age. We learn from Tacitus that he put an end to his own life {Ann. vi, 28). Marcus Cocceius Nerva is first mentioned as a favorite of Nero, who be- stowed upon him triumphal honors in A.D. 66, when he was praetor elect. The poetrj' of Nerva, which is no- ticed with praise by Pliny and Martial, appears to have recommended him to the favor of Nero. Nerva was employed in offices of trust and honor during the reigns of Vespasian and Titus, but he incurred the sus- picion of Domitian, and was banished by him to Taren- tum. On the assassination of Domitian, Sept. 18, A.D. 96, Nerva succeeded to the sovereign power, chiefly through the influence of Petronius Secundus, com- mander of the Pr.ietorian cohorts, and of Parthenius, the chamberlain of the palace. The mild and equable administration of Nerva is acknowledged and praised by all ancient writers, and formed a striking contrast to the sanguinary rule of his predecessor. He discouraged all informers, recalled the exiles from banishment, re- lieved the people from some oppressive taxes, and granted toleration to the Christians. Jlany instances of his clemency and liberality are recorded by his con- temporary, the younger Pliny. Nerva allowed no sen- ator to be put to death during his reign, and practiced the greatest economy in order to relieve the wants of
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the poorer citizens. But his impartial administration of justice met with little favor from the FnBtorian co- liort.s, wlio had been allowed by Domitian to indulge in excesses of every kind. Enraged at the loss of their benefactor and favorite, they compelled Nerva to de- liver into their hands Parthonius and their own com- mander Petronius, both of whom they put to death. The excesses of his guards convinced Xerva that the government of the Roman empire required greater en- ergy botli of body and mind than he possessed, and he accordingly adopted Trajan, who possessed both vigor and ability to direct public affairs, as his successor, and associated liim with himself in the government. By this action Nerva evinced clearly that he possessed good sense and a noble character. He died in the begin- ning of A.D. 98, after a reign of sixteen months and nine days (Dion, Ixviii, 4). Though he had set at lib- erty those who had been condemned under the intol- erant reign of Domitian because they had apostatized from the pagan faith and adopted the new religion, Nerva yet failed to secure to his Christian subjects any lasting benefits, since their religion was not recognised by any public act as a relir/io licita, anil hence the se- vere persecutions under Trajan may easily be explained. Christianity having been diffused peacefully under Ner- va, had spread considerabh' ; no sooner was Trajan on the tlirone than the fury of its enemies, which had been held in check, broke forth with increased violence. See the article TitAjAx. See Schalf, Ch. Hut. i, 1()3 ; Hase, Ch. Hist. p. 38 ; Neander, Ch. Hist, i, 96 ; Gibbon, De- cline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Harper's ed., In- dex in vol. vi) ; Burton, Eccles. Hust. p. 279, 284, 298, 299 ; Ilagenbach, Kirchengesch. d. ersten drei Juhrhiin- deiie, ell. vii : Tillemont, Hist, des Empereurs, vol. ii; Smith, Diet, of Greek and Roman Biogr. and Mythol. vol. ii, s.v. (J.H.W.)