Nicopolis

Biblical Text

Nicopolis appears only once in the Bible, in Titus 3:12. Paul writes to his coworker Titus, whom he had left in Crete: "When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis: for I have determined there to winter."

Paul wanted Titus, once Artemas or Tychicus arrived in Crete, to hand over his work to them and join him at Nicopolis. In the very next verse (Titus 3:13), Paul asks Titus to provide well for Zenas the lawyer and Apollos as he sends them on their way.

Name and Location

"Nicopolis" is the Greek Nikopolis, a compound of nikē ("victory") and polis ("city"), meaning "city of victory." In the Roman period, several cities bore this name to commemorate military victories, and the Bible itself does not specify which of them is meant in this passage.

Many scholars identify it with Nicopolis in Epirus, in western Greece. This city was founded by Octavian (later the emperor Augustus) to commemorate his victory at the Battle of Actium (31 BC). Its ruins remain near modern Preveza, Greece. In Paul's day it is said to have been the chief city of the region and conveniently situated for sea travel to southern Greece and Italy. It is also known as the place where the Stoic philosopher Epictetus taught in the late first century. Other views identify it with cities of the same name in Thrace or Cilicia.

Significance in the Wider Bible

Nicopolis does not appear in the Acts of the Apostles, which recounts Paul's missionary journeys. It therefore serves as an important clue in reconstructing Paul's later activity as reflected in Titus and 1 and 2 Timothy (commonly called the "Pastoral Epistles"). 2 Timothy 4:10 records that Titus went to Dalmatia. Because Dalmatia lies not far north of Nicopolis in Epirus, some interpreters read the two accounts together.

Interpretation and Issues

• Place of writing: Some manuscripts and the King James Version include a subscription at the end of Titus stating that the letter was written "from Nicopolis of Macedonia." This is a later addition, not part of the original text. Because the text itself refers to Nicopolis as "there," many interpreters conclude that Paul was not yet there when he wrote the letter.
• Paul's life and the question of authorship: Traditionally, this episode has been placed in the period after Paul's release from his first Roman imprisonment, when he undertook further missionary travels. Scholars who question whether Paul himself wrote the Pastoral Epistles are cautious about using this itinerary as a basis for historical reconstruction.
• Whether the winter was actually spent there: The Bible does not record whether Paul actually spent the winter in Nicopolis or whether Titus went there.