SIMONE called NERO (Niger). - A Christian named among the “prophets and teachers” of the Church of Antioch, together with Barnabas and Saul (Act. 13, 1). The nickname “Nero” must have been given to him because of the colour of his skin; his name seems to indicate his Jewish origin.
Recently the hypothesis has been advanced (S. Giet) that the Symeon who spoke at the Council of Jerusalem (Act. 15, 14) was not Peter (mentioned in V. 7), but this S. “Nero.” The hypothesis, which rests upon an isolated fourth-century tradition in Antioch (recalled by Chrysostom, who seems to accept it; PG 60, 239), is scarcely probable.
BIBL.: S. Giet, L'assemblée apostolique et le décret de Jérusalem, in Rech. de science relig., 38 (1951), pp. 203-20 (cf. Verb. Dom., 30 (1952), p. 170 ff.). Gaetano Stano