  Shown within Turkey | |
| Location | Turkey |
|---|---|
| Region | Sivas Province |
| Coordinates | 40°18′N37°50′E / 40.300°N 37.833°E /40.300; 37.833 |
Nicopolis (Greek:Νικόπολις,lit. 'city of victory';Armenian:Նիկոպոլիս) was aRoman colony inLesser Armenia founded byPompey in 63 BC after conquering theKingdom of Pontus in theThird Mithridatic War.[1] It became part of theRoman province ofArmenia Prima. Today, the city ofKoyulhisar in northeasternTurkey occupies the site.
The city was founded byPompey after his decisive victory overMithridates VI of Pontus. It was situated in a well-watered plain lying at the base of a thickly-wooded mountain and was settled by veterans of his army, as well as by the local peasantry. All the Roman highways intersecting that portion of the country and leading toComana,Polemonium,Neocæsarea,Sebasteia, etc., radiated from Nicopolis which, even in the time ofStrabo,[2] boasted quite a large population.
Given toPolemon byMark Antony in 36 BC, Nicopolis was governed from 54 AD byAristobulus of Chalcis and definitively annexed to theRoman Empire byNero, in the year 64 AD. It then became the metropolis ofLesser Armenia and the seat of the provincial diet which elected theArmeniarch. Besides the altar of theAugusti, it raised temples to Zeus Nicephorus and to Victory.
Christianity reached Nicopolis at an early date and, underLicinius, about 319, forty-five of the city's inhabitants were martyred; theEastern Orthodox Church andRoman Catholic Church venerate them on 10 July,St. Basil[3] calls the priests of Nicopolis the sons of confessors and martyrs, and their church[4] the mother of that ofKoloneia. In ca. 472,St. John the Silent, who had sold his worldly goods, erected a church there to the Blessed Virgin.SS Januarius and Pelagia were said to have been martyred in the town.[5]
In 499, Nicopolis was destroyed by the499 Nicopolis earthquake, with none save the bishop and his two secretaries escaping death.[6] This disaster was irreparable, and althoughJustinian I rebuilt the walls and erected a monastery in memory of the Forty-Five Martyrs,[7] Nicopolis never regained its former splendour and was superseded by Koloneia.
UnderHeraclius it was captured by the forces ofChosroes II[8] and thenceforth was only a mediocre city, a simple see and asuffragan of Sebasteia in Lesser Armenia, remaining such at least until the 11th century, as may be seen from the variousNotitiae episcopatuum. In the 9th–11th centuries, it belonged to thetheme ofKoloneia.
Under the Ottomans, the site of ancient Nicopolis was occupied by the Armenian village of Purkh, near the city of Enderes, in thesanjak of Kara-Hissar and thevilayet of Sivas.
Notable among the eight bishops mentioned byLe Quien is Gregory of Nicopolis who, in the 11th century, resigned his bishopric and retired toPithiviers in France. The Catholic Church venerates him on 14 March. The Catholic Church lists the bishopric as thetitular see of Nicopolis in Armenia.[9]
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