Hellenistic and Roman settlement patterns in the plain of Issus and the Amanus range

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the Hellenistic and Roman settlement patterns in the plain of Issus and in the range of Amanus, in Hatay, Turkey. The results of Dr. Katherine Wright and Dr. Timothy P. Beach and Ezgi Akpınar’s archaeological and geo-morphological work in the area were combined to illuminate the aforementioned periods’ habitation models. The Issus plain and the sectors of the Amanus Mountains facing it, initially a region of the Seleucid kingdom and then a province of the Roman Empire, were geographically similar to the other parts of Cilicia. As a result, the area was likely to have developed comparable trajectories in terms of settlement between the two periods. In conclusion, the settlement patterns of the Hellenistic and Roman times, obviously communicated something of the nature of the civilian peace in Cilicia during these two periods.