Foundation and Destruction

Octavian founded Nikopolis in 31 BC to commemorate his naval defeat of Antony and Cleopatra at Actium. He then compelled the inhabitants of neighbouring cities to relocate and populate his `City of Victory'. These papers focus on recent excavations, in Nikopolis and in the surrounding regions, to examine the impact of this forced relocation. The Greek city of Nikopolis was founded by Octavian (later known as the Emperor Augustus) after his victory in the naval battle of nearby Actium in 31 BC. The city was a result of a so-called synoecism, i.e., the inhabitants of numerous Greek cities in the region (Epirus, Acharnania and Aetolia) were forced to leave their former dwellings and establish themselves in the newly built city, which became the capital of the coastal region. Since 1987 a joint Greek-American archaeological and geological Nikopolis project has registered, conserved and restored monuments inside and outside the city and conducted a survey of Southern Epirus aiming at understanding the changing relationship between humans and landscape. The main issue has been the impact of the new metropolis in the region and to what extent the towns included in the synoecism were actually left uninhabited.