In the time of Ali Pasha of Ioannina, the antiquities of the area were being encroached rapidly. Simple villagers sold ancient items to the foreign "milords" (travelers, antiquaries and scholars), who took them back to their homeland. Sometimes they simply turned marble artworks into lime for their needs. Ali Pasha himself gave the "luminous" example by ordering to dig in the ruins of Nickopolis in order to reap the treasures and remove marbles for his Serai in Preveza.