HELLENISTIC HALAI: AN ANALYSIS OF THE HISTORICAL SOURCES,

Halai, a small coastal city in ancient East Lokris, was first settled in the Neolithic period, and then successively inhabited in the Archaic, Hellenistic, Early Roman, Late Roman, and Byzantine Periods. First excavated by Hetty Goldman in the early years of the 20th century, it has been investigated in recent years by Professor John E. Coleman and the Cornell Halai and East Lokris Project (CHELP). Halai reached its greatest extent during the Hellenistic, when its acropolis was rebuilt and refortified. The Hellenistic refoundation of Halai probably took place in the third quarter of the 4th century BC, perhaps as part of the systematic refortification of Central Greece by Philip II of Macedon. The coastal location of Halai allowed it to prosper on trade moving through the Euboean Gulf, the principal north-south sea lane in ancient Greece. During the Hellenistic Period, the weakness of East Lokris made it an inviting target for the territorial ambitions of larger leagues such as Phokis, Boeotia, and Aetolia. Beginning in the early third century, the region of Halai changed hands several times, before being incorporated finally into the Boeotian League in the third quarter of the third century BC. Finally, at the end of the Hellenistic period, Halai was destroyed in the aftermath of the Roman consul Sulla’s victory over Mithridates of Pontus in 86BC. Although we know from Plutarch that Halai was resettled shortly afterwards, and we have continued mention of Halai for the next two centuries, it seems likely that Halai never again matched its Hellenistic peak of prosperity. Areas excavated by CHELP show no habitation levels between the last Late Hellenistic/Early Roman layer and late Roman levels. The Early Roman pottery on the site demonstrates that the acropolis was used, but probably less extensively than in the Hellenistic. Halai appears to have been gradually abandoned in the second century AD, before being resettled some two centuries later. ii