Nicopolis

Nicopolis (nĭkŏp`əlĭs, nī–) [Gr.,=city of victory], ancient city, NW Greece, in Epirus. It was founded by Octavian (later Augustus) to celebrate the victory (31 B.C.) at Actium, which is nearby. The city largely eclipsed Ambracia. It is mentioned by St. Paul (Titus 3.12). Its ruins are near the modern Préveza.

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Nicopolis 

(in Greek, “city of victory”), the name of a number of cities founded by the Romans. The largest were Nicopolis in Cappadocia, founded by Pompey in commemoration of the victory over Mithridates VI Eupator in 66 B.C.; Nicopolis in Epirus, founded by Augustus in memory of the victory at Actium in 31 B.C.; and Nicopolis in Lower Moesia (Nicopolis ad Istrum, 20 km east of the modern city of Veliko Turnovo in Bulgaria), founded by Trajan after the victory over the Dacians in A.D. 102.

Nicopolis ad Istrum reached its zenith in the second and third centuries; it was destroyed by the Avars in the early seventh century. Periodic excavations, the first of which was in 1899, have uncovered the remains of defensive walls, a forum, a bouleuterion, an odeum, baths, and shops, as well as sculptures, inscriptions, coins, and household items.

REFERENCES

“Nikopolis.” In Paulys Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft, vol. 33. Stuttgart, 1936. Columns 511–39.
Ivanov, T. “Razskopki v Nikopolis ad Istrum, prez 1945 g.” Izvestiia na Arkheologicheskiia institut, book 18. Sofia, 1952.