(Ni·copʹo·lis) [City of Conquest].

A city where the apostle Paul decided to spend the winter during one of his trips and to which he urged Titus to come. (Tit 3:12) The note at the end of Paul’s letter to Titus in the King James Version, indicating it to have been written “from Nicopolis of Macedonia,” is not found in the oldest manuscripts. Evidently Paul did not write his letter from Nicopolis, since Titus 3:12 implies that he was not yet there but had merely decided to winter there.

Of the various ancient cities named Nicopolis, the Nicopolis of Epirus located on a peninsula in NW Greece and about 10 km (6 mi) N of Preveza, seems to fit the Biblical reference best. Being a prominent city, it would have been a good place for Paul to declare the good news, and it was conveniently situated for both Paul (apparently then in Macedonia) and Titus (in Crete). It may be that Paul was arrested in Nicopolis and then taken to Rome for his final imprisonment and execution.

Octavian (Augustus) founded Nicopolis to memorialize his naval victory (of 31 B.C.E.) over Antony and Cleopatra at nearby Actium. The Actian Games instituted by him in honor of the god Apollo also served to commemorate this event. The city itself occupied the site of the Roman encampment, and where his tent had been, Octavian built a temple to the god Neptune. Most of the city’s public edifices, according to the historian Josephus, were erected through the interest and financial aid of Herod the Great.​—Jewish Antiquities, XVI, 147 (v, 3).