Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/443

 NICOPOLIS. the outer port ; and there can be little doubt that the second harbour, intended by Strabo, was the port of Vathy within the gulf, the distance of which from Nicopolis corresponds to the 12 stadia of Strabo, and where there are some Roman ruins a little within and on the eastern shore of the creek. The port of Comarus was doubtless at Mfitika, but the name of Gnmaro is now given to the wide bay north of Mytika The ruins of Nicopolis are now called Paleopre- vesa. On approaching them from Prevesa, the traveller first comes to some small arched buildings of brick, which were probably sepulchres, beyond which are the remains of a strong wall, probably the southern enclosure of the city. Near the south- western extremity of the lagoon Mdzonia, is the Paleohastron or castle. It is an irregular pentagonal enclosure, surrounded with walls and with square towers at intervals, about 25 feet in height. On the western side, the walls are most perfect, and here too is the principal gate. The extent of the enclosure is about a quarter of a mile. The variety of marble fragments and even the remains of inscriptions of the time of the Roman Empire, inserted in the masonry, prove the whole to have been a repair, though perhaps upon the site of the original acro- polis, and restored so as to have been sufficiently large to receive the diminished population of the place. It may have been, as Leake conjectures, the work of Justinian, who restored Nicopolis. Three hundred yards westward of the Paleohastron are the remains of a small theatre but little dilapi- dated. Col. Leake says that it appears to be about 200 feet in diameter ; but Lieut, Wolfe describes it as only 60 feet in diameter. Being built upon level ground, the back or highest part is entirely sup- p)rted upon an arched corridor. Between this MAP OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF NICOPOLIS. A. Site of Nicopolis. B. Port Comarus. Mytika. C. Port Vathij. D. l>aj;oon ildzoma. E. Prevesa. F. Actium. La Punta. 1. Faleokastron. 2. Small Theatre. 3. Palace. 4. Large Theatre. h. Stadium. 6. Aqueduct. 7. Hill MikhalHzi. KIDUM. 427 theatre and the shore, are the ruins of a quadran- gular building of brick, which was perhaps a palace, as it has numerous apartments, with many niches in the walls for statues, and some remains of a stone pavement. It stands just within an aqueduct, sup- ported upon arches, which entered Nicopolis on the north, and was 30 miles in length. Considerable remains cf it are met with in different parts of Epeirus. Farther north, at the foot of a range of hills, are the remains of the great theatre, which is the most conspicuous object among the ruins. It is one of the best preseiTed Roman theatres in existence. The total diameter is about 300 feet. The scene is 120 feet long, and 30 in depth. There are 27 rows of seats in three divisions. From the back of the theatre rises the hill of Mihhalitzi, which was un- doubtedly the site of the tent of Augustus before the battle of Actium. Close to the theatre are tiie ruins of the stadium, which was circular at both ends, unlike all the other stadia of Greece, but similar to several in Asia Minor, which have been constructed or repaired by the Romans. Below the stadium are some ruins, which are perhaps those of the gymnasium, since we know from Strabo (vii. p. 325) that the gymnasium was near the stadium. The accompanying map is taken from Lieut. Wolfe's survey. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. i. p. 185, seq. ; Wolfe, in Journal of Geogr. Soc. vol. iii. p. 92, seq.) COIX OF NICOPOLIS IN EPEIRUS. 2. A town of Thrace, not far from the month of the Nessus, and therefore called by Ptolemy,(iii. 11. § 13) Niko'ttoXis 7) TTfpl 'Neaaou. It appears to have been founded by Trajan, as it is surnamed Ulpia upon coins. The Sclioliast upon Ptolemy says that it was subsequently named Christopolis ; but it is still called Nicopolis by Socrates {H. E. vii. 36) and Hierocles (p. 635). 3. A town of Thrace at the foot of Mt. Haemus. (PtoLiii. 11. § 11.) 4. A town of Thrace, situated at the place where the latrus flows into the Danube, and erected by Trajan in memory of his victory over the Daeians. (Amm. JIarc. xxxi. 5 ; Jornand. de Reb. Get. c. 18; Hierocl. p. 636.) NICO'TERA {Nicotera), a town of Bruttium, known only from the Antonine Itinerary (pp. 106, 111), which places it 18 M. P. south of Vibo Valentia, on the road to Rhegium. It is )-epeatedly mentioned in the middle ages, and .•-till exists under its ancient name as a considerable town and an episcopal see. [IC. H. B.] NIDUM or NIDUS, a town of Britain, situated according to the Itinerary (p. 484), on the road from Isca Dumnuniorum to Isca Silurum.and consequently in the territory of the Belgae. This site, however, is in all probability false ; and it appears rather to have been a town of the Silures, the modern Neath, on the river of that name in Glamorgnnshire. (Camden, p. 735.) [T. H. D.]