Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/469

 NiMES NIMRUD 455 goths and the Saracens, when attacked by the Franks ; during the following centuries it was also occupied as a stronghold. About 2,000 persons had established their abode within this The Amphitheatre of Nimes building, when in 1809 it was cleared by order of the prefect ; and in 1858 its restoration was begun. The tour magne (turris magnd) is the remnant of a tower which flanked the ancient walls. The boulevards now occupy the site of the ramparts, but portions of them are still extant in the porte d 1 Augusts and porte de France, two Roman gates, the former of which is ornamented with sculptures. To these monu- ments must be added a ruined nympJioBum, a fane dedicated to the nymphs, which communi- cated with a neighboring bath for women, the remains of which have been taken for those of a temple of Diana. The magnificent aqueduct, known as the pont du Gard, is in the vicinity of Nimes. (See AQUEDUCT, vol. i., p. 613.) Among the edifices of a later period are the cathedral, begun in the llth century, but con- structed chiefly in the 16th and 17th, occupy- ing the site of a temple of Apollo ; the church of St. Paul ; the palace of justice ; the general hospital; the H6tel-Dieu, rebuilt in 1830; the public library ; the central house of detention, which is the citadel built by Vauban over the remains of the old Fort Rohan erected in 1629 by the Huguenots; and the fine monumental fountain by Pradier, erected in 1851, on the esplanade. In the public garden is still to be seen the fountain that furnished the Roman baths with water. Nimes is the seat of a bishop, and has a high court, tribunals of primary jurisdiction and commerce, a depart- mental academy, several learned institutions, a lyceum or college, a normal school, a theologi- cal seminary, schools of drawing, chemistry and physics, geometry and mechanics as applied to the arts, a society of medicine, a public li- brary of 50,000 volumes, and a cabinet of natu- ral history. Nimes employs 10,000 operatives in different departments of industry; and its trade in wine and spirits amounts to $1,400,000 a year, and in other articles to more than $3,000,000. It is the great southern mart for raw and manufactured silk. A conseil de prud*- Jiommes and a chamber of commerce watch over the interests of work- men and manufacturers. Nimes was occupied by the Romans in 121 B. 0. It was already one of the most important cities of Gaul and the capital of the Volcaa Arecomici. Au- gustus, Tiberius, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus, and Diocletian contributed to its embellishment. But, pillaged by the Vandals, occupied by the Visigoths from 465 to 507, and then by the Franks, taken by the Saracens, from whom it was wrested by Charles Martel in 737, visited by the Norman pirates, ill treated by its feudal lords, it dwin- dled away, until in the 14th century its popu- lation scarcely amounted to 400. Francis I. assisted in its restoration. Most of its new inhabitants being Huguenots, it suffered du- ring the religious wars, and was severely treated by Louis XIII. and Louis XIV. It was also involved in bloody conflicts in 1791 and 1815. NIMROD, a son of Cush and grandson of Ham, the events of whose life are briefly re- corded in the book of Genesis (x. 8-12). It is there said of him, " he began to be a mighty one in the earth;" and it is added, "he was a mighty hunter before the Lord." He founded an empire in Shinar or Babylonia, the 'chief towns being Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh. " Out of that land he went forth to Assyria," as the words are properly rendered, "and builded Nineveh," &c. (verse 2); and this is confirmed by Micah v. 6, where "the land of Nimrod" is a synonyme for "the land of As- syria." The Nimrod of the Scriptures cannot yet be identified with any personage known to us from inscriptions or from classical wri- ters. The traditional notion of his character connects with it the ideas of violence and in- solence. He is supposed to have been the Chesil of Semitic mythology, answering to the Orion of the Greeks, and in Hebrew astron- omy to the constellation of that name (Job ix. 9, xxxviii. 31; Amos v. 8; and Isa. xiii. 10, "constellations," properly Orions); or less probably to the star Oanopus in the constella- tion Argo Navis. He is a representative hero in Arab tradition, which ascribes many great works to him, especially the Birs Nimrud near Babylon, and the mound Nimrud near Nineveh. NIMRVD* See NINEVEH. NIMRUD, Birs. See BABEL, and BABYLON.