Colophon in the Early Hellenistic Age

Abstract

Summary Primary historical, epigraphic and archeological evidence and research on Early Hellenistic Colophon are re-examined in this study. More specifically, the article deals with a famous inscription found on the site at the beginning of the 20th century (SEG 19.698) regarding the unification of the hyparchousa polis and the palaia polis of Colophon within a large wall-circuit, as well as the building of a new agora, streets, and other public edifices. A new dating for this decree – traditionally dated either under Alexander the Great or Antigonus Monophthalmus – is offered, namely to 296 BCE, when Colophon was included in the anti-lysimachean alliance of Demetrius Poliorcetes and Seleucus. In light of archaeological evidence, the traditional historical view according to which Lysimachus deported en masse the Colophonians to Ephesus / Arsinoeia and razed the original settlement is radically rejected. The article also offers new insights on the unclear relationships between inland Colophon and Notion / Colophon by the Sea in the late fourth – early third century BCE.