The halo may have come from several different sources, including
classical culture. For example, the Greek god Helios is depicted with rays
<http://www.theoi.com/image/T17.1Helios.jpg>emanating from his head. There
also are a few depictions of Apollo with halos. A Roman floor mosaic in
Tunisia <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Apollo1.JPG> which
has one such depiction. I’ve also heard discussions about how laurel
wreaths (used to crown victors in classical societies) could be related to
the halo.
In addition to classical sources, the sun disk found in Egyptian
crowns may have been an early manifestation of a halo-like form. There
also are similar forms related to the halo (like the nimbus or aureola)
found in non-Western art, too. Some think that the halo form traveled from
West to East, ending up in Ghandara and influencing depictions of the
Buddha (see one example from the Tokyo National Museum
<http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Gandhara_Buddha_%28tnm%29.jpeg>
from
the 1st-2nd centuries CE).1
Christians adopted the round halo from their contemporaries, using
the circular shape to connote perfection, divinity, and holiness. I know of
one early image, a ceiling mosaic from the necropolis underneath St.
Peter’s (see above), which may depict Christ or Sol Invictus (the later sun
god of the Roman empire). This image pre-dates the 4th century, and could
be a very early example of the halo in a Christian context. After this
point, halos were used for Christ and the Lamb of God, angels, the Virgin,
and eventually saints.
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