Nikopol (Nikopolis, Greek: Νικόπολις , lat. Nicopolis - “City of Victory”) is an ancient Roman city in Lesser Armenia on the border of Pontus , on the banks of the river Lik [1] (now Kelkit ), a tributary of Iris ( Yeshilirmak ). It was founded in 63 BC. e. the commander of the Roman forces in Asia, Pompey, in memory of his first victory over Mithridates VI in 66 BC. e. [1] during the Third Mithridates War (74-63 years BC). The ruins are located near the Turkish city of Sushehri (Endiryas) in the silt of Sivas [2] . It belonged to the Roman province of Armenia , and then First Armenia . On the site of Nikopol is the small town of 27 kilometers southwest of Sushehri.
| Ancient city | |
| Nikopol | |
|---|---|
| Greek Νικόπολις | |
| Region | Lesser Armenia |
| Founded | 63 year BC e. |
| Founder | Gnei Pompey the Great |
| Modern location | , Sivas , Turkey |
History
In 66 BC e. Pompey was in Cilicia and received news from Rome that he was entrusted with command of the Roman forces in Asia and extraordinary powers. He crossed the Taurus with the army and strengthened it with the troops of Glabrion and Lucullus . After the invasion of Pompey, Mithridates fled to the outskirts of the Kingdom of Pontus , in Lesser Armenia. Along Strabo, near the city of Dastira in Akilisen ( ), he captured a mountain abundant in water and remained there until he was forced to flee with a small detachment of horsemen and his wife Gipsikratiya due to a siege. Mithridates lost 10,000 people on the spot, even more through a complete breakdown [3] . Mithridates fled to Colchis , and from there after the victory of Pompey over Tigran II to the Kingdom of Bosporus , on the Tauris Peninsula ( Crimea ) [1] . In 63 BC e. near the place of victory over Mithridates Pompey founded the city of Nikopol [1] [4] .
Veterans of the army of Pompey and local peasants lived in Nikopol. The city was located on a beautiful, well-irrigated plain, lying at the foot of a mountain covered with dense forest. Roman roads left the city to , Polemonius ( Fatsa ), Neocaesarea ( Nixar ), Sevastia ( Sivas ) and other cities [5] . Strabo mentions Nikopol as well populated [4] .
In 48 BC e. the battle of Nicopolis took place between the Roman troops of Gnei Domitius Calvin and the army of Tsar Farnak II during the Pontic War (48–47 BC). In 47 BC e. under Nikopol, king Farnak II defeated the troops of the king of Galatia Deiotara .
In 36 BC e. the city was given over by the ruler of the Roman Republic, Mark Anthony, to Tsar Pontus Polemon I (38-8 BC). Since 54, the city was ruled by , husband of Salome . In 64, under Emperor Nero (54–68), Nikopol was finally annexed to the Roman Empire. Then it became the capital of Lesser Armenia. The provincial parliament was in Nikopol ( , deliberative assembly), and the Armenarch ἀρμενιάρχης was chosen . There was the altar of Augustus , the temples of Zeus Nicephorus and Victoria [6] [5] .
According to the historian Michel van Esbrooke, under Albanopolis, the place of death and burial of the Apostle Bartholomew is Nikopol. Around 410, the relics of Bartholomew were transferred by Bishop Marufa to Martiropol ( Hilvan ) [7] .
Under the emperor Diocletian (284–305), the process of Lysius over the holy martyrs Auxentius, Eugene and Mardarius took place in Nikopol. In Nikopol they were executed. and Eustratius were tried and executed in Sevastia [8] .
suffered around 319 in the city of Nikopol during the reign of Emperor Licinius (307–324). The church celebrates their memory on July 10 (23) [5] .
During a trip to Lesser Armenia in the summer of 373, on the instructions of Emperor Valent II (364–378), Vasily the Great held two-day negotiations in Nikopol with Eustathius of Sevastia , the purpose of which was to clarify theological views. The Rules of the Orthodox Church with the Interpretations of Nicodemus, Bishop of Dalmatia-Istria, under the heading “Various Canonical Prescriptions”, includes the first rule [9] , which is part of Basil the Great’s letter to the presbyters of Nikopol on constancy in goodness [10] . Basil the Great writes in a letter to the Nikopol elders: “You are the children of the confessors, you are the children of martyrs who resisted sin until the blood.” [11] . To the complaint of the town governors of the Colony (now Shebinkarahisar ) about the transfer of the episcopal department from them to Nikopol, Vasily the Great replies that the Nikopol church, as their mother [5] , was entitled to take their bishop to them as their property [12] .
Around 472, John the Silent sold his parents' inheritance and built a church in Nikopol in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos [13] [5] .
In 499, Nikopol was destroyed by an earthquake. Only the bishop and his two assistants survived. The city did not recover from this catastrophe, although Justinian I (527-565) rebuilt the city walls and built a monastery in memory of 45 martyrs in the injured Nikopol of Armenia. Under Heraclius I (610–641), Nikopol was captured by the Iranian ruler Khosrov II Parviz ; since then, Nikopol was a secondary city, an ordinary diocese that was part of the church province of Sebastia in First Armenia at least until the 11th century, according to written sources [5] .
The bishop of Nikopol was St. (d. March 16, 999), who left the pulpit and retired to Pitivier [5] , where he lived as a hermit [14] . In memory of his church celebrates March 16 (29) .
Before the conquest in 1071, the Seljuks belonged to the Byzantine theme of Coloney . During the Ottoman rule, the Armenian settlement Purkh with a population of 200 families arose on the site of Nikopol. The village belonged to the sanjak of Karahisari-Sharki ( Turkish : Karahisar-ı Şarki ) in vilayet [5] .
It is the titular diocese of the Catholic Church [5] .
- Martyrs of Sebaste
Martyrs of Sebaste. Icon. The border of the XIV and XV centuries. ( Hilandar Monastery, Athos )
The execution of the martyrs of Sebaste. Thumbnail from Basil II Minology . 976-1025
Martyrs Eugene, Eustratius, Auxentius of Sebaste. Painting of the catholicon of the Osios Lucas Monastery. The 30s XI century
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Mithridates // The Real Dictionary of Classical Antiquities / ed. F. Lubker ; Edited by members of the Society of Classical Philology and Pedagogy F. Gelbke , L. Georgievsky , F. Zelinsky , V. Kansky , M. Kutorgi and P. Nikitin . - SPb. , 1885. - S. 876-877.
- ↑ Nicopolis // The Real Dictionary of Classical Antiquities / ed. F. Lubker ; Edited by members of the Society of Classical Philology and Pedagogy F. Gelbke , L. Georgievsky , F. Zelinsky , V. Kansky , M. Kutorgi and P. Nikitin . - SPb. , 1885. - S. 919.
- ↑ Pompeii (ii) // The Real Dictionary of Classical Antiquities / ed. F. Lubker ; Edited by members of the Society of Classical Philology and Pedagogy F. Gelbke , L. Georgievsky , F. Zelinsky , V. Kansky , M. Kutorgi and P. Nikitin . - SPb. , 1885. - S. 1079-1085.
- ↑ 1 2 Strabo . Geography. XII, 3, 28
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Siméon Vailhé. Nicopolis (1) // Catholic Encyclopedia. - 1913. - Vol. eleven.
- ↑ Armeniarches // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft. - 1903. - Bd. S I. - S. 138–139.
- ↑ Bartholomew // Orthodox Encyclopedia . - M .: Church Scientific Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia" , 2003. - V. VI. - S. 706-711. - 752 s. - 39,000 copies. - ISBN 5-89572-010-2 .
- ↑ Artyukhova T.A., Lukhovitsky L.V. Eustratius, Auxentius, Eugene, Mardarius and Orest // Orthodox Encyclopedia . - M .: Church and Scientific Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia" , 2008. - T. XVII. - S. 333-336. - 752 s. - 39,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-89572-030-1 .
- ↑ Rules of the Orthodox Church with the interpretations of Nicodemus Bishop of Dalmatia-Istria: 2 volumes / Per. with the Serb. [Foreword: prof. I. Palmov]. - SPb. : printing house of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, 1911-1912.
- ↑ Basil the Great // Orthodox Encyclopedia . - M .: Church Scientific Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia" , 2004. - T. VII. - S. 131-191. - 752 s. - 39,000 copies. - ISBN 5-89572-010-2 .
- ↑ Basil the Great . Letter 232 (240). To the Nikopol presbyters // Creations: in 2 volumes .. - M .: Siberian invertebrate, 2012. - T. 2: Ascetic creations; Letters. - 1230 s. - (Complete collection of creations of the Holy Fathers of the Church and church writers in Russian translation). - ISBN 978-5-91362-587-8 .
- ↑ Basil the Great . Letter 220 (228). To city rulers in the Colony // Creations: in 2 volumes .. - M .: Siberian invertebrate, 2012. - T. 2: Ascetic creations; Letters. - 1230 s. - (Complete collection of creations of the Holy Fathers of the Church and church writers in Russian translation). - ISBN 978-5-91362-587-8 .
- ↑ John the Silent // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1894. - T. XIIIa. - S. 672.
- ↑ Gregory Makar // Byzantine Dictionary: [in 2 vols.] / [S. Yu. Akishin and others; comp. and commonly. ed. K. A. Filatova]. - SPb. : Amphora, 2011 .-- T. 1: A - L. - S. 263-264. - 572 p. - ISBN 978-5-367-01739-7 .