Elaiussa Sebaste is located on the coast of Rough Cilicia, in a region dominated by Miocene and Quaternary soils. It lies sandwiched between the Ecemis Fault Zone to the north and the Kozan Fault Zone to the south (Aksu et al. 2005: Fig. 10). Sampling of clay sediments in the Cilicia Basin by the coast of Elaiussa showed a composition of: 15-25% smectite, 55-65% illite, 10% chlorite, and negligible amounts of serpentine (Shaw 1978: Figs. 2-4).
The city was an original mid-Hellenistic foundation on the coastline of Eastern Rough Cilicia. As a medium-sized and strategically located urban center, it thrived throughout the Roman imperial and early Byzantine periods until the abandonment, which must have occurred during the second half of the 7th c. The settlement was characterized by a promontory with two natural bays exploited as harbors, and communication routes with the hinterland may have been facilitated by the presence of a stream just outside the city center and quite close to the southern harbor. Many of the major city’s monumental complexes (Roman temple, agora, great baths, theater, necropolises, Byzantine palace, early Byzantine basilicas, etc.) are known thanks to the activities of the Italian Mission, operative since 1995.
Iacomi, V. "City Spaces and Natural Resources in Late Antique Cilicia (Isauria): The Case of Elaiussa Sebaste" in Centro Y Periferia En El Mundo Clásico/Centre and Periphery in the Ancient World1887–1891, ed(s). Martínez, J. M. A.; Basarrate, T. N.; and de Llanza, I. R. International Congress of Classical Archaeology, Proceedings XVIIIth. CIAC, 2. Merida: Museo Nacional de Arte Romano, 2014
