Acte'a, a female slave faithful to Nero in his fall. It was this hetæra who wrapped the dead body in cerements, and saw it decently interred.
This Actea was beautiful. She was seated on
the ground; the head of Nero was on her lap,
his naked body was stretched on those winding-sheets
in which she was about to fold him, to lay
him in his grave upon the garden hill.—Ouida,
Ariadnê
, i. 7.
Actors and Actresses. The last male actor that took a woman's character on the stage was Edward Kynaston, noted for his beauty (1619-1687). The first female actor for hire was Mrs. Saunderson, afterwards Mrs. Betterton, who died in 1712.
Ad, Ad'ites (2 syl.). Ad is a tribe descended from Ad, son of Uz, son of Irem, son of Shem, son of Noah. The tribe, at the Confusion of Babel, went and settled on Al-Ahkâf [the Winding Sands], in the province of Hadramant. Shedâd was their first king, but in consequence of his pride, both he and all the tribe perished, either from drought or the Sarsar (an icy wind).—Sale's Koran, 1.