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NAISSUS. Birthplace of Constantine I the Great, and strategic road junction in the Balkan Peninsula where the Naissus to Thessalonike highway intersected with the Belgrade to Constantinople highway, and with other roads. Its strategic location made it a target of invaders. It was destroyed by the Huns in 441, rebuilt by Justinian I, but ravaged by the Avars. The medieval city (called Nish) changed hands several times between Byzantium, Bulgaria, and Serbia. The Ottomans sacked it twice (1386, 1428), but they were ejected by Janos Hunyadi in 1444. The Ottomans reconquered it in 1456. See also DELJAN, PETER.

NAOS. (“Temple,” or “church,” in Greek.) The term can refer to a church in its entirety, or to the sanctuary of the church. In Christian basilicas through the sixth century it is the nave where the congregation assembled, separated from the bema by a templon. In later, centrally planned churches, the term refers to the domed, inner sanctuary of the church, reserved for the performance of the liturgy by the clergy, separated from the congregation by an iconostasis.

NAPLES. Italian city on the Bay of Naples, near Pompeii. It was captured by Belisarios from the Ostrogoths in 536, only to surrender to Ostrogoths under Totila in 543. In 552 it returned to Byzantine hands, and thereafter the city maintained its independence from the Lombards. When Constans II visited the city in 663 the city still owed its allegiance to Byzantium, an allegiance it nominally maintained until 838, when Naples joined forces with the Arabs, resulting in the conquest of Messina in 843.

Naples became an active threat to Byzantium after 1139, the year it fell to the Normans, and even more of a threat in 1194 when German emperor Henry VI acquired Naples and Sicily. That threat continued with Manfred and Charles I of Anjou, who lost Sicily (1282), but retained the Kingdom of Naples. Much later, Alfonso V reunited Sicily and Naples (1443), but his scheme to conquer the Ottomans and reestablish the Latin Empire of Constantinople never materialized. See also LONGOBARDIA.

NARSES. General of Justinian I who succeeded Belisarios in Italy in the war against the Ostrogoths. He won a decisive blow against the Ostrogothic king Totila at the Battle of Busta Gallorum in 552. In the same year he pursued Totila’s successor, King Teia, defeating him at the Battle of Mons Lactarius. In 553–554 the Franks and Alemanni, a confederation of German tribes, invaded Italy; Narses annihilated them in a battle near Capua.

He left Italy in 567, having spent over a decade reorganizing its defenses and administration. Despite this, the following year the Lombards invaded Italy, annexing much of it. See also EUNUCHS.

NARTHEX. An antechamber to the naos situated at its west end, extending the length of the church. Where there is a second narthex, the first is called the exonarthex and the second is called an esonarthex. Essentially the narthex is a vestibule that acquired various functions, for example, as a place where processions into the naos assembled, also where baptisms and commemorations of the dead took place. See also BASILICA.

NAUM OF OHRID. Missionary to the Slavs, Bulgarian priest, translator, saint. He accompanied Cyril and Methodios to Moravia in 863, as did Kliment of Ohrid. After Methodios’s death in 885, he went with Kliment to Bulgaria where he created centers at Preslav and Pliska for the translation of holy texts into Old Church Slavonic (using Glagolitic). In 893 he took up the work that Kliment had begun in Macedonia. He died in 910 at Sveti Naum, the monastery he founded on the shore of Lake Ohrid.

NAUPAKTOS. City at the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth called Lepanto by the Venetians. Naupaktos was strongly fortified with an impressive kastron. It was a powerful maritime base, and, along with Negroponte and Nauplia, it guarded the northern approaches to the Morea.

It was part of the Despotate of Epiros from 1204 to 1294, when it came under the domination of Philip of Taranto, the prince of Achaia. The Catalans conquered it in 1361 and the Venetians seized it in 1407. In 1446, when Murad II invaded the Morea, the inhabitants of Patras crossed the Gulf of Corinth to take refuge in Naupaktos. The Venetians continued to control the city until 1499, when it surrendered to the Ottomans.

NAUPLIA. See NAUPAKTOS; SGOUROS, LEO.

NAVARRESE COMPANY. Spanish mercenaries who, like the Catalan Grand Company before them, migrated eastward in the late 14th century. The name derives from Navarre, where many of them originated. Once in Greece, the Navarrese hired themselves out to whomever would pay them. Employed by the Hospitallers, they helped conquer Thebes from the Catalans in 1379.

This proved to be the beginning of the end of the Catalan domination in Greece. So weakened were the Catalans that the Acciajuoli wrested Athens from them in 1388. The Navarrese then fought for control of Frankish Achaia, and subsequently for the Peloponnesos against Theodore I Palaiologos and the Acciajuoli. Their meteoric expansion ended in 1402, by which time they had joined forces with an ally more powerful than themselves, the Ottomans. In effect, their military intervention served to erode resistance to Ottoman expansion in Greece.

NAVE. See NAOS.

NAVIGATION. Coastal navigation was the norm, especially since boats were typically merchant vessels the size of the Yassi Ada shipwreck, which had a keel of about 12 meters in length. By the seventh century the triangular lateen sail was in use, enabling ships to sail in variable winds and rough weather by tacking. The compass was not in use until the 13th century, and astrolabes were rarely used. Books were compiled about weather and distances from one place to another. However, most ship captains probably had little access to such books, and simply relied on experience, sailing from landmark to landmark along coastal waters, or from island to island.

Sailing south from Constantinople one made good time, because the winds blew south. Generally there was good weather from April to October. One always had to be prepared for high winds and sudden squalls that, even along the coast, make visual sight of reefs along the heavily indented Mediterranean coastline difficult. In the seventh century, the Yassi Ada ship went into a coastal reef and sank, probably, its excavator George Bass surmised, due to sudden bad weather that obscured the coastline.

Navigation was closely related to the goods most required in trade and commerce, and these were mostly the staples of a Mediterranean diet, including wine, olive oil, grain, dates, almonds, and figs. See also NAVY; TRANSPORTATION.

NAVY. Byzantium, despite the geographical centrality of the Mediterranean and an enormous coastline, was never a maritime power. Indeed, fear of the sea was apparently common, judging from Byzantine literature. This may help explain why the Byzantine navy was relatively small, even after Byzantine hegemony of the western Mediterranean was challenged by the Vandals in the fifth century.

However, the Arab naval threat of the seventh century in the eastern Mediterranean produced dramatic changes. The naval theme of Kibyrrhaiotai was created to help defend the eastern Mediterranean. Its warships were of a type called the dromon, driven by single or double banks of rowers, equipped with rams, catapults, and Greek Fire.

Naval decline began in the 11th century, something clearly illustrated by the dependence of Alexios I Komnenos on the Venetian fleet while fighting Robert Guiscard in 1081. Alexios I created the title megas doux (supreme naval commander), and his immediate successors attempted to create a Byzantine fleet. Nevertheless, the results were modest.

After the reconquest of Constantinople in 1261, Michael VIII Palaiologos tried to restore the navy by creating a small fleet. Andronikos II Palaiologos reduced its size considerably, forcing him to depend on the Genoese for naval support when necessary. Andronikos III Palaiologos’s small fleet was commanded by megas doux Alexios Apokaukos. In 1349 the citizenry of Constantinople contributed funds to build nine warships and 100 other vessels to do battle with the Genoese (who won). John VI Kantakouzenos launched another small fleet that was again defeated.

From then on Byzantium assembled ships as it could, sometimes making requests to the Venetians. For example, in 1410 Manuel II Palaiologos requested armed galleys from Venice to use against the Ottomans, but Venice refused. When Musa besieged Constantinople in 1411 Manuel II managed to find enough ships to repulse him. However, Constantine XI Palaiologos could collect only about a few dozen (mostly Genoese and Venetian) ships to defend the Golden Horn at the beginning of the Ottoman siege of 1453. Of these only nine were proper warships; only three of which belonged to Constantine XI. See also NAVIGATION.

NAXOS. See PARTITIO ROMANIAE; SANUDO TORSELLO, MARINO.

NEA ANCHIALOS. See THESSALY.

NEA EKKLESIA. Greek for “New Church,” referring specifically to the church built by Basil I within the Great Palace in 880, which survives only in its literary descriptions. The church had five domes, presumably four at the corners and one central dome. None of the wall mosaics survived, nor did the church structure. However, the placement of wall mosaics may have been a prototype for subsequent church decoration that appeared in the early 11th century. Typically, an image of Christ Panokrator was placed in the central dome. Below, in proper hierarchy, were scenes from Christ’s life, scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary (with her image in the conch of the bema), then figures of the heavenly assembly of angels, prophets, and gospel writers. The lowest part of the church walls was reserved for standing figures of saints. See also ARCHITECTURE; ART.

NEA MONE. Of the monasteries with this name (New Monastery), the most famous is on Chios, where there is a domed octagon church built during the reign of Constantine IX Monomachos. Its basic architectural plan is like the katholikon of Hosios Loukas, but unlike the latter it has no aisles or galleries. Its mosaics and marble veneering are of exquisite Constantinopolitan workmanship, offering a glimpse of what church and palace interiors in Constantinople must have been like. See also ARCHITECTURE.

NEAPOLIS. See PALESTINE.

NEGEV. See PALESTINE.

NEGROPONTE. See EUBOEA.

NEILOS OF ROSSANO. Saint (died 1004) and monk; writer of hymns. He was an exemplar of Italo-Greek monasticism, founding the monastery of St. Adrian and subsequently living with a band of followers near Montecassino for 15 years. His life and career demonstrate how powerful was the influence of Byzantine culture and spirituality on Italy during the Middle Ages.

NEKTARIOS. Patriarch of Constantinople from 381 to 397, chosen by Theodosios I for political skills previously demonstrated in the senate. Those skills were put to good use at the Ecumenical Council of Constantinople in 381, which Nektarios convened, and were further demonstrated in his ability to avoid direct conflict with the other patriarchs, including the bishop of Rome.

NEMANJIDS. Serbian royal dynasty founded by Stefan Nemanja ca. 1167 and lasting until 1371. It included such famous Serbian rulers as Stefan Urosh I, Stefan Urosh II Milutin, Stefan Urosh III Dechanski, and Stefan Urosh Dushan. Under the Namanjids medieval Serbia extended its borders for a while into central Greece. An impressive number of churches were endowed by Nemanjid rulers, including Gračanica, Studenica, and the katholikon of Hilandar Monastery.

NEOPATRAS. See JOHN I DOUKAS; KASTORIA; THESSALY.

NEOPHYTOS. See CYPRUS.

NEOPLATONISM. The philosophy of Plotinos, who sought to transform the dialogues of Plato into a philosophy of mysticism. His commentators included Porphyry and Porphyry’s pupil Iamblichos (died ca. 325), who was accused of corrupting Plotinos’s thought into magic (theurgy) and theatrically staged tricks, such as were also popular with Maximos of Ephesus, the spiritual mentor of Julian “The Apostate.” In the fifth century, Proklos used mathematics and prayer to lead the soul to the One.

Athens remained a center of study until Justinian I closed the Academy of Athens in 529. Other early centers included Pergamon and Alexandria, where Neoplatonists like John Philoponos (ca. 490–ca. 574) taught. Plato continued to be known chiefly through Neoplatonism; this was the case even for Michael Psellos, who probably understood Neoplatonism better than anyone since the sixth century. The final Byzantine commentator on Neoplatonism was George Gemistos Plethon, who helped found the Platonic Academy in Florence. See also DAMASKIOS; PROKOPIOS OF GAZA.

NEREZI. See CROSS-IN-SQUARE CHURCH; SKOPJE.

NESTORIANISM. Heresy that takes its name from Nestorios, patriarch of Constantinople from 428 to 431. Nestorios maintained, in opposition to Cyril, patriarch of Alexandria, that the divine and human natures of Christ had less intimate contact; and he labeled as fables, as did Theodore of Mopsuestia, the belief that the Virgin Mary gave birth to God, and should be called Theotokos, “Mother of God” (literally “Bearer of God”), preferring that she be called Christotokos, bearer of the man Christ.

He was accused by theological opponents of separating the two natures of Christ. His attack on the Virgin Mary aroused many ordinary people against him. He was deposed, and his doctrines were condemned, at the Council of Ephesus in 431. See also JOHN I; LEO I THE GREAT.

NESTORIOS. See NESTORIANISM.

NICAEA. Important city in Bithynia that hosted two Ecumenical Councils, the first in 325 and the seventh in 787. Its stout walls resisted Arab attacks in the eighth century only to fall to the Seljuks in 1081. It was reconquered from Sultan Kilic Arslan I by the First Crusade in 1097 and restored to Byzantine administration. Its greatest historical role was as capital of the Empire of Nicaea, which was Byzantium-in-exile from 1208 to 1261. The Ottomans captured Nicaea in 1331. See also EUSTRATIOS OF NICAEA.

NICAEA, COUNCILS OF. See ECUMENICAL COUNCILS.

NICAEA, EMPIRE OF. The center of Byzantium-in-exile from 1208 to 1261. Theodore I Laskaris, its first emperor, was crowned in 1208. The victory of Kalojan over Baldwin of Flanders in 1205 weakened subsequent Latin military initiatives in Asia Minor by Henry of Hainault. Theodore I’s victory over the Seljuks in 1211 further ensured the immediate survival of the Empire of Nicaea.

John III Vatatzes, who reigned from 1221 to 1254, expanded the empire into Thrace, conquering Thessalonike in 1246. Theodore II Laskaris (reigned 1254–1258) turned back a Bulgarian invasion in 1254–1255. The ineffectual John IV Laskaris, a child of seven when he came to the throne, gradually fell sway to his general Michael VIII Palaiologos, who was crowned co-emperor in 1259. The Latin Empire ended in 1261 when the forces of Michael VIII captured the city, restoring, in effect, Byzantium to its proper capital. See also CHOMATENOS, DEMETRIOS; MESARITES, NICHOLAS.

NICHOLAS I. Pope from 858 to 867 whose interference in the affairs of the eastern church triggered a crisis between the churches. It began with Nicholas’s refusal to agree to Michael III’s deposition of Patriarch Ignatios in favor of Photios. In 863 Nicholas declared that Ignatios was restored. The pope also competed for the ecclesiastical allegiance of the Bulgars through correspondence with Boris I of Bulgaria, and entertained Cyril and Methodios in Rome. In 867 a council in Constantinople declared Nicholas I excommunicated and deposed. The council also rejected the Roman church’s doctrine of filioque. See also LITURGY; MISSIONS; PAPACY.

NICHOLAS I MYSTIKOS. Patriarch of Constantinople from 901 to 907 and from 912 to 925. He became immersed in controversy because of his refusal to accept Leo VI’s fourth marriage, the so-called tetragamy. Leo VI deposed and exiled him in 907, appointing Euthymios in his place. This created a schism in the church between the followers of Nicholas I and those of Euthymios. Nicholas I was recalled in 912, whereupon he energetically deposed the supporters of Euthymios. Only later, after the death of Euthymios in 917, was the Tome of Union able to achieve church reconciliation. See also BULGARIAN TREATY; DOUKAS, CONSTANTINE.

NICHOLAS III. Pope from 1277 to 1280. He negotiated with Michael VIII Palaiologos about how to implement the union of the churches achieved on paper at the Council of Lyons in 1274. At the same time, Nicholas refused to approve of Charles I of Anjou’s plans to attack Byzantium, secretly supporting Michael VIII’s alliance with Peter III of Aragon against Charles I. Nicholas III’s death was a blow to Michael VIII, for the new pope, Martin IV, proved more cooperative in promoting Charles I’s plans to destroy Byzantium. See also CHURCH SCHISM OF 1054.

NICHOLAS III GRAMMATIKOS. Patriarch of Constantinople from 1084 to 1111, during the reign of Alexios I Komnenos. The patriarch supported the emperor’s persecution of the Bogomils. However, he opposed the attempt by the patriarchal clergy to promote the power of their spokesman, the chartophylax of Hagia Sophia, in the patriarchal synod at Constantinople. Alexios I sided with the patriarchal clergy and affirmed the chartophylax as the patriarchal deputy with the right to preside over the permanent synod in the patriarch’s absence. See also CHARISTIKON.

NICHOLAS V. Pope from 1397 to 1455. He was pope when Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453. His sluggish response to the Ottoman threat to the city can be explained first by an unwillingness to send any help unless the Byzantines were serious about the union of the churches.

That obstacle was solved on 12 December 1452 when the pope’s emissary Isidore of Kiev proclaimed church union in Justinian I’s Hagia Sophia. Nicholas was preparing a fleet to aid the beleaguered city when the city fell to the Ottomans some five months later. In any case, the pope was providing funds for Alphonso V, King of Naples, who had plans to restore the Latin Empire in Constantinople. More profitable results came from the Nicholas foundation of the Vatican library, his collection of Greek manuscripts, and his support of Greek scholars like Bessarion. See also GEORGE OF TREBIZOND; LEONARD OF CHIOS; THEODORE OF GAZA.

NICHOLAS OF METHONE. See PANTEUGENOS, SOTERICHOS; THEOLOGY.

NICHOLAS OF OTRANTO. See OTRANTO.

NIKA REVOLT. Revolt of 11–19 January 532 that nearly overthrew Justinian I. Before it was suppressed, the rioters (whose watchword was Nika, meaning “Conquer!”) had burned down Hagia Sophia, the Church of St. Irene, the Baths of Zeuxippus, the Chalke, and part of the Augustaion.

Hatred of Justinian I’s autocracy, most visible in John of Cappadocia’s fiscal oppression of aristocrats and commoners alike, was the underlying cause. The immediate spark was a riot in the Hippodrome over the emperor’s refusal to pardon members of the Blues and Greens for a previous disturbance in the Hippodrome. Once these factions joined forces, the violence began. Only the strong will of Theodora and the personal troops of Belisarios and Mundus saved Justinian’s throne. Some 30,000 rioters in the Hippodrome were slaughtered, after they had crowned Hypatios. The suppression of the revolt necessitated a grand rebuilding program that included Justinian’s renowned Hagia Sophia. See also JEWS; SENATE.

NIKEPHORITZES. Logothetes tou droumou under Michael VII Doukas. He was a eunuch whose administrative capabilities had been recognized by Constantine X Doukas and Romanos IV Diogenes.

Under Michael VII he became the real ruler of the empire. His attempt to create a monopoly over the corn trade in Thrace failed miserably, and it produced a revolt in Thrace in 1077. His other attempts at centralization produced opposition from the guilds, provincial landowners, and bishops that resulted in a revolution in 1078 that brought Nikephoros III Botaneiates to power. Nikephoritzes fled to Roussel of Bailleul, but to no avail. He was seized and killed. See also DOUKAS, JOHN.

NIKEPHOROS I. Emperor from 802 to 811. A former chief finance minister (logothetes tou genikou) of Irene, he took prudent steps to remedy deficiencies in tax collection and low state revenues. The tax rolls were reassessed and land taxes raised. The hearth tax (kapnikon) was applied to peasant tenants (paroikoi) working on church and monastic lands (apparently exempted from payment by Irene). He made villages collectively liable for financing the military equipment of their poorer inhabitants by requiring them to pay the latter’s allelengyon. He taxed slaves purchased beyond the customs border at Abydos and enforced inheritance taxation.

Theophanes the Confessor condemned these and other taxes as horrid misdeeds. No doubt other ecclesiastics and monks felt the same hatred for the emperor, enforced partly by the emperor’s support of Patriarch Nikephoros I and by the revival of the Moechian Controversy.

However, with increased revenues Nikephoros replenished the army and navy, and he inaugurated a program of refortification. He repopulated and re-Hellenized Greece with villagers from Asia Minor, and he reorganized Greece’s defenses with the establishment of new themes, including the theme of Thessalonike. However, the success of his internal administration was not matched by military success. A revolt by Bardanes Tourkos in 803 weakened the defenses of Asia Minor allowing Harun al-Rashid to capture Tyana in 806. Nikephoros sued for peace, which was achieved in 807 only at the expense of a humiliating tribute.

Nikephoros himself was killed in battle against the Bulgar khan Krum in July 811, the first emperor to be killed in battle by barbarians since the Battle of Adrianople in 378. See also EUTHYMIOS OF SARDIS; NIKEPHOROS I (PATRIARCH); SCRIPTOR INCERTUS; SUBSIDIES AND GIFTS; TARSOS.

NIKEPHOROS I. Patriarch of Constantinople from 806 to 815, appointed after the death of Tarasios. He was a respected scholar and theologian, also a historian, but still a layman when he was made patriarch. This infuriated the supporters of Theodore of Stoudios, as did Emperor Nikephoros I’s reopening of the Moechian Controversy.

Ironically, in 815, Nikephoros was aligned with his old opponent Theodore of Stoudios against the Iconoclasm of Leo V, who deposed the patriarch. His legacy to modern historians is his Historia Syntomos (Brief History), covering the years 602–769, an important historical source for a period nearly destitute of historical sources except for the chronicle of Theophanes the Confessor. See also ARETHAS OF CAESAREA; IGNATIOS THE DEACON.

NIKEPHOROS II PHOKAS. Emperor from 963 to 969. His greatest triumph as general (domestikos ton scholon) for Romanos II was the conquest of Crete in 961. As emperor, his victories against the Arabs continued with the capture of Cyprus, Tarsos, and Mopsuestia in 965. His generals Peter Phokas and Michael Bourtzes captured Antioch in 969. He called upon Svjatoslav to defeat the Bulgars in 968, the same year of the unsuccessful embassy of Liutprand of Cremona on behalf of Otto I the Great.

He increased the minimum size of land held by soldiers (the stratiotika ktemata) to support his new armored troops, the kataphraktoi. He forbade new bequests of land to the church (something Patriarch Polyeuktos opposed), but he supported the work of Athanasios of Athos on Mount Athos, where the Great Lavra was founded in 963. He was murdered in 969 in a plot that included his wife Theophano and his general John I Tzimiskes. See also BRINGAS, JOSEPH; DE VELITATIONE; LAODIKEIA; LEO THE DEACON; TARSOS; YAHYA OF ANTIOCH.

NIKEPHOROS III BOTANEIATES. Emperor from 1078 to 1081. He was a general and member of the landed aristocracy of Asia Minor who rebelled against Michael VII Doukas, forcing him to abdicate. He proved to be ineffectual against the Seljuk onslaught in Asia Minor. By 1080 most of Asia Minor was in their hands, the Sultanate of Rum was founded, and Seljuks were raiding the Asiatic suburbs of Constantinople.

The failure to provide any effective resistance to the Seljuks, in addition to the debasement of the nomisma, prompted several revolts, including the successful one of Alexios I Komnenos. His good fortune was to have Michael Attaleiates as one of his chief historians (among whom was also Michael Psellos). Attaleiates dedicated his work to Nikephoros III, whom he showers with praise. See also NIKEPHORITZES.

NIKETAS. See PHOKAS.

NIKOMEDEIA. City in Bithynia where Diocletian resided, and where Libanios taught. It declined in importance after an earthquake in 358, but it never lost its importance as a military camp on the main highway to Constantinople. Alexios I Komnenos used it as a base of operations against the Seljuks, and John II Komnenos settled Serbs in the vicinity. After the Battle of Bapheus in 1302 the Ottomans threatened the city on several occasions. It finally fell to Orhan in 1337. See also ASIA MINOR; HIGHWAYS AND ROADS; NICAEA.

NIKOPOLIS, CRUSADE OF. Crusade in 1396 led by King Sigismund of Hungary (1387–1437) to halt the Ottoman advance in the Balkan Peninsula. Many French knights took a break from the Hundred Years War to aid the Hungarians, as did knights from all over Europe.

This Western European coalition confronted an Ottoman army outside the walls of Nikopolis, a fortress on the Danube (not to be confused with the city of Nikopolis in Epiros). The result was a stunning victory (25 September 1396) for Sultan Bayezid I. Not only did this attempt to defend Hungary against Ottoman encroachment fail, but Manuel II Palaiologos, who was allied with Sigismund, could expect no help against the Ottoman siege of Constantinople, begun by Bayezid I in 1394. See also WALLACHIA.

NINEVAH, BATTLE OF. See CHOSROES II.

NISH. See NAISSUS.

NISIBIS. Frontier fortress in Mesopotamia that became a focal point in the struggle between Byzantium and Persia during the fourth century. After the death of the emperor Julian “The Apostate” in 363 it was surrendered to Persia, and it remained in Persian hands until the Arabs conquered it in 639. Under Persian rule (after 489), it offered protection to a thriving Nestorian community. Only much later did Byzantine general John Kourkouas reoccupy it briefly (942–944), along with Amida, Dara, and Martyropolis.

NITRIAN DESERT. Located in upper Egypt south of Alexandria, where the celebrated hermit Ammon (died ca. 350) established a loose association of eremites who practiced individual asceticism. It was left to Ammon’s contemporary, Pachomios, to establish the first koinobion for monks. See also EVAGRIOS; PONTIKOS.

NOMISMA. Gold coin (solidus in Latin) introduced by Constantine I the Great at 72 nomismata per pound of gold. It was used primarily by the state to pay its soldiers and bureaucrats and was received back by the state through taxation. It was unadulterated until the late 11th century, which is why it became an international currency. See also COINAGE.

NOMOKANONES. See CANON LAW.

NOMOPHYLAX. See EDUCATION.

NOMOS STRATIOTIKOS. A collection of about 55 penal and disciplinary laws for soldiers. Although of uncertain date, they must have been compiled between the sixth and mid-eighth centuries for some laws derive from the Corpus Juris Civilis, some apparently from the Strategikon of Maurice, still others from later texts. The Nomos Stratiotikos (Soldier’s Law) is found appended to the Ecloga, the Farmer’s Law, and Rhodian Sea Law.

NORICUM. Roman province located between the provinces of Raetia and Pannonia, in what is now Austria (south of the Danube). Noricum was overrun by German barbarians in the fifth century and by Avars and Slavs in the early seventh century.

NORMANS. Byzantium’s chief western foes in the 11th and 12th centuries. The Normans (“Northmen”) were Vikings who immigrated to southern Italy in the late 10th century; by 1071 the last Byzantine stronghold there, Bari, had fallen into their hands. They essentially conquered Sicily from the Arabs between 1060 and 1072, with the final conquest in 1091. Robert Guiscard and his son Bohemund attacked Dyrrachion and other cities along the Via Egnatia from 1081 until Robert’s death in 1085.

At the same time, Normans entered Byzantine service as mercenaries, some of them, for example, Hervé Frankopoulos and Roussel de Bailleul, rising to high military commands. The Treaty of Devol in 1108 with Bohemund temporarily halted Norman aggression, but it revived later in the 12th century with Roger II’s attack on Greece in 1147–1148, and with the brief Norman occupation of Thessalonike in 1185. See also ARGYROS; BRANAS, ALEXIOS; DUBROVNIK; LEO IX; MANTZIKERT, BATTLE OF; ROSSANO.

NOTARAS, LOUKAS. Diplomat, high officeholder under Manuel II Palaiologos, John VIII Palaiologos, and Constantine XI Palaiologos. He was grand duke (megas doux), and mesazon under Constantine XI. He opposed the union of the churches, and he is reported (by Michael Doukas) to have said that he preferred the Turkish turban reigning over Constantinople than the Latin (which is to say, papal) tiara. Nevertheless, in 1453 he took responsibility for defending the walls along the Golden Horn during the siege of Constantinople by the Ottomans. After the conquest of the city, Mehmed II executed Notaras and his sons.

NOTITIA DIGNATUM. A list of imperial officials, both civil and military, as they existed in the eastern and western parts of the empire in the late fourth and early fifth centuries (ca. 395–429). After each office, for example, praetorian prefect, there is a brief description of function and mention of subordinate officials and military units. See also BUREAUCRACY.

NOTITIA EPISCOPATUUM. List of church dioceses. Various lists survive, the earliest dating from the seventh century. Often lists do not coincide with those dioceses represented at contemporary church councils, making one wonder how rigorously they were updated. As a result, for example, they may not reflect the decline of cities in the East as a result of invasions by Arabs and later by Seljuks and Ottomans.

NOVATIANISM. A separatist sect founded by Novatian (died 257/258), a Roman priest who refused to readmit Christians who had compromised the faith during the persecution of Emperor Decius in 250–251. Though Orthodox in doctrine, the Novatians continued in their belief that they were a purer church, for which they were excommunicated. Nevertheless, the church persisted into the fifth century, after which it declined. See also CLERGY; HERESY; ORTHODOXY; PHRYGIA.

NOVELS. The term (Novellae in Latin), from the fourth century onward, refers to imperial edicts. The most famous are those issued during Justinian I’s reign after publication of the Codex Justinianus in 534. The Novellae Constituiones (New Laws) include laws that ameliorate the condition of slaves, freeborn women, and children. Justinian had intended to make the collection, but never did, perhaps because Tribonian died unexpectedly. It was left to private jurists to do so. Another famous collection of Novels is that of Leo VI. See also CORPUS JURIS CIVILIS; LAW; SLAVERY.

NOVGOROD. Rus city along the Volkhov River. The Russian Primary Chronicle describes Novgorod as an important trading center on the water route that the Varangians used to get to Constantinople. An important Scandinavian colony existed in Novgorod, established by Rurik ca. 862, which traded with Byzantium for furs, wax, and honey.

Novgorod was one of the chief artistic centers of Kievan Rus in the 11th and 12th centuries, with churches whose architecture and decoration are essentially Byzantine, including Novgorod’s famous church of Hagia Sophia whose name was inspired by Justinian I’s great church. Novgorod travelers (e.g., Antony of Novgorod) describe Justinian I’s Hagia Sophia as well as other churches in Constantinople.

Novgorod’s independence came to an end in 1475 when Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow, revoked its charter. Ivan IV “the Terrible” captured it in 1570.

NUBIA. Region of northeast Africa that extended from the first cataract of the Nile, near Aswan, to Khartoum in the Sudan. Byzantine interest in Nubia in the sixth century lay in the desire to secure an overland route to Axum. Merchants and missionaries visited Nubia’s three tribal kingdoms of Nobatia, Makuria, and Alodia. During the reign of Justinian I, both Orthodox and Monophysite missionaries competed in Nubia for converts. Byzantine influence on the region was dramatically curtailed when the Arabs conquered Egypt in the seventh century. See also MISSIONS; MONOPHYSITISM; ORTHODOXY.

NUMIDIA. Province in northwest Africa, roughly the equivalent of modern Algeria, that included the city of Thamugadi (modern Timgad). In the fourth century, the province became a bastion of Donatism; in the fifth century the Vandals occupied a portion of it. Conquest of the entire province by Justinian I took from 534 to 541. Justinian I built a number of forts to protect it against attacks by the indigenous Moors. The province was conquered by the Arabs in the late seventh century.

NUR AL-DIN. Successor to Zangi as atabeg (independent governor) of Aleppo and Edessa from 1146 to 1174. He succeeded to Zangi’s determination to unite Muslim Syria, which he did by taking advantage of the failure of the Second Crusade to conquer Damascus in 1154. This united Muslim Syria against the Crusaders.

The intervention of Manuel I Komnenos in Syria from 1158 to 1176 neutralized this threat, but it reappeared in 1168, when Nur al-Din’s Kurdish general Shirkuh conquered Egypt, drawing the noose around the Crusader states even tighter. Shirkuh’s nephew Saladin tightened that noose in 1187 at the Battle of Hattin. See also FIRST CRUSADE.

NYMPHAION, TREATY OF. City in western Asia Minor, where Michael VIII Palaiologos signed a commercial treaty with Genoa on 13 March 1261, directed against Venice. Genoa was to make 50 ships available to Michael to help wrest Constantinople, defended by a Venetian fleet, from the Latin Empire. Once Constantinople had been reconquered, Byzantium was obliged to give to Genoa all the commercial privileges formerly enjoyed by Venice.

As it turned out, no Genoese help was needed to recapture Constantinople. What the treaty did produce was nearly two centuries of conflict in the eastern Mediterranean between Genoa and Venice. It also laid the foundation of a Genoese trading empire that stretched into the Black Sea. See also CHIOS.

NYSSA. There were two cities in Asia Minor with this name. The Nyssa in Cappadocia, located northwest of Caesarea, was the bishopric of Gregory of Nyssa. The other Nyssa was located in Lycia, on the north bank of the Meander River.