Acte
- Lit., coastland or maritime country; hence, the earlier name for Attica, the province of Middle Greece, in which Athens was situated, Plin. 4, 7, 11, 23; Gell. 14, 6.—
- II One of the Horae, Hyg. Fab. 183.—
- III A concubine of Nero, Suet. Ner. 28; Tac. A. 13, 12; Inscr. Orell. 735; 2885.
the concubine of Nero, was a freedwoman, and originally a slave purchased from Asia Minor. Nero loved her far more than his wife Octavia, and at one time thought of marrying her; whence he pretended that she was descended from king Attalus. She survived Nero. (Tac. Ann. 13.12, 46, 14.2; Suet. Nero 28, 50; D. C. 61.7.)
ACTE´ (Ἀκτή), signified a piece of land running into the sea, and attached to another larger piece of land, but not necessarily by a narrow neck. Thus Herodotus gives the name of Acte to Asia Minor as compared with the rest of Asia (4.38), and also to Africa itself as jutting out from Asia (4.41). Attica also was originally called Acte. (Steph. B. s. v.) [ATTICA] The name of Acte, however, was more specifically applied to the easternmost of the three promontories jutting out from Chalcidice in Macedonia, on which Mt. Athos stands. It is spoken of under ATHOS
(1) An ancient name of Attica, found chiefly in the poets.
(2) The peninsula between the Strymonic and Singitic gulfs, on which Mt. Athos is situated. The name (ἀκτή) signifies properly any strip of land projecting into the sea.
The favourite concubine of the Roman emperor Nero. She was originally a slave from Asia Minor, but after Nero became infatuated with her he pretended that she was the descendant of King Attalus, and at one time even thought of marrying her (Suet. Nero, 28, 50).
- Apollod. 3.13.8