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In 31 BC Octavian's General Agrippa defeated Anthony and Cleopatra in an epic clash of some 800 vessels at the mouth of the Gulf of Arta (Amvrakikos Gulf) in north western Greece. Octavian (Augustus) built a city near the site of the battle to celebrate this victory and named it Nikopolis (city of victory). The foundation of Nikopolis was not dictated solely by the desire to commemorate the victory, but it responded to military and trade needs. Nikopolis was founded at the narrowest point of the peninsula which closes the Gulf of Arta. Nikopolis had two harbours: one on the Ionian Sea and another one on a lagoon in the Gulf of Arta. The Romans had developed a standardized pattern for their military camps (castrum) and for the fortified towns (colonia) they founded to consolidate their rule in many countries (the English suffix chester included in the name of many towns is a memory of their Roman origin). This pattern was used also in the design of Nikopolis. The town was divided into four quarters by two main roads and the quarters were divided into rectangular blocks.
Nikopolis flourished under the Roman empire and had several large public buildings. In the second half of the IIIrd century A.D. the pressure of the barbarian tribes could no longer be stopped along the Danube and Greece became exposed to raids. In 267 Athens was sacked by the Erules. The situation worsened in the IVth century: in 370 A.D. the Huns, a nomadic people of Central Asia invaded eastern Europe; the Germanic peoples who lived there were forced to move southwards and settled at the northern confines of the Roman Empire. These events coupled with earthquakes and pestilences led to a general decrease of the population which affected also Nikopolis.
Probably by the end of the Vth century the inhabitants of Nikopolis realized they were too few to maintain the fortifications of the whole city and took the decision to retrench it to one sixth of its original size. New stout walls were built with the same technique used for the walls of Constantinople. The walls show horizontal white and red stripes due to their alternate layers of stones and bricks. The buildings immediately outside the new walls were pulled down and the resulting material was used for the walls: this explains why one can spot in the walls some reliefs or pieces of columns (the background of this page shows a Roman relief).
Nikopolis, although on a smaller scale, remained an important centre on the trade route between Greece and Italy and the capital of the province. At the end of the IXth century however the Bulgarians attacked the Byzantine Empire and in 914 the Bulgarian Tsar Symeon was close to conquering Constantinople. The attempt was eventually frustrated by the ingenuity of Byzantine diplomacy (and by the strength of the city's walls). Constantinople was saved, but most of Greece became part of a short lived Bulgarian Empire. Nikopolis was thoroughly destroyed by the Bulgarians. The site was abandoned and a new town, Preveza, took over the role of Nikopolis as warden of the entrance to the gulf, while Arta became the provincial capital.
The archaeological site of Nikopolis covers several square miles and excavations are still going on. The area inside the Byzantine walls shows evidence of several basilicas, early Christian churches which have the shape of a Roman building used for law courts and assemblies. The walls of these basilicas had alternate layers of stone and bricks and the interior was split into naves by rows of columns.
There are no Roman buildings inside the Byzantine walls, or in their immediate vicinity, but some remains of Roman Nikopolis are scattered in the fields between the walls and the Ionian Sea. In particular one can see a large Odeion, part of an aqueduct and the so called Baths of Prostaeion.
Octavian moved the games and ceremonies, which took place every five years, from Actium to Nikopolis. These activities were held in an area outside the walls: a visit to the sites of a Stadium, of a large theatre and of a monument to Octavian, gives an idea of the wealth reached by Nikopolis. Arta Arta was founded in the VIIth century BC by Corinthians settlers (its name was Amvrakia).
Today it is mainly known for its Turkish bridge on the river Arachthos, which is very similar to the bridge of Mostar, destroyed during the recent ethnic fights in the former Yugoslavia.
Arta has also a well preserved XIIIth century Byzantine fortress, strengthened by the Turks. 
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