The Troad ( or ; el, Τρωάδα, ''Troáda'') or Troas (; grc, Τρῳάς, ''Trōiás'' or , ''Trōïás'') is a historical region in northwestern
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
. It corresponds with the
Biga Peninsula
Biga Peninsula ( tr, Biga Yarımadası) is a peninsula in Turkey, in the northwest part of Anatolia. It is also known by its ancient name Troad (Troas).
The peninsula is bounded by the Dardanelles Strait and the southwest coast of the Marmara S ...
(
Turkish: ''Biga Yarımadası'') in the
Çanakkale province of modern
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
. Bounded by the
Dardanelles to the northwest, by the
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi ( Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...
to the west and separated from the rest of Anatolia by the
massif that forms
Mount Ida
In Greek mythology, two sacred mountains are called Mount Ida, the "Mountain of the Goddess": Mount Ida (Crete), Mount Ida in Crete, and Mount Ida (Turkey), Mount Ida in the ancient Troad region of western Anatolia (in modern-day Turkey), which wa ...
, the Troad is drained by two main
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...
s, the
Scamander
Scamander (; also Skamandros ( grc, Σκάμανδρος) or Xanthos () was a river god in Greek mythology.
Etymology
The meaning of this name is uncertain. The second element looks like it is derived from Greek () meaning 'of a man', but t ...
(
Karamenderes) and the
Simois, which join at the area containing the
ruins
Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...
of
Troy
Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...
.
Mount Ida
In Greek mythology, two sacred mountains are called Mount Ida, the "Mountain of the Goddess": Mount Ida (Crete), Mount Ida in Crete, and Mount Ida (Turkey), Mount Ida in the ancient Troad region of western Anatolia (in modern-day Turkey), which wa ...
, called by Homer "many-fountain" (πολυπίδαξ), sourced several rivers, including Rhesos, Heptaporos,
Caresus
Caresus or Karesos ( grc, Κάρησος) was a town of the ancient Troad, on a river of the same name, in a mountainous tract called the Caresene Caresene or Karesene ( grc, Καρησήνη) was a mountainous tract in the ancient Troad, which c ...
,
Rhodios,
Granicus (Granikos),
Aesepus, Skamandros and
Simoeis liad 12.18 ff these rivers were deified as a source of life by the Greeks, who depicted them on their coins as
river-god
A water deity is a deity in mythology associated with water or various bodies of water. Water deities are common in mythology and were usually more important among civilizations in which the sea or ocean, or a great river was more important. Ano ...
s reclining by a stream and holding a reed.
History
The Troad gets its name from the
Hittites
The Hittites () were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (c. 1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-cent ...
' name for the region, ''Taruiša''. This identification was first put forth by
Emil Forrer, but largely disputed by most Hittite experts until 1983 when Houwink ten Cate showed that two fragments were from the same original
cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo- syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge- ...
tablet and in his discussion of the restored letter showed that ''Taruiša'' and ''
Wiluša'' (Troy) were correctly placed in northwestern Anatolia.
Greek settlements flourished in Troas during the
Archaic and
Classical ages, as evidenced by the number of Greek ''
poleis'' that coined money in their own names.
The region was part of the
satrapy (province) of
Hellespontine Phrygia of the
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...
until its conquest by
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
. After this it fell to the Diadoch
Seleucid Empire
The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...
, and then passed to Rome's ally, the kingdom of Pergamon. The
Attalid kings of
Pergamon (now
Bergama) later ceded Mysia, including the territory of the Troad, to the
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...
, on the death of King
Attalus III in 133 B.C.
Under the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
, the territory of the Troad became part of the
province of Asia, and later of the smaller
Mysian province Hellespontus; it was important enough to have
suffragan
A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations.
In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...
bishoprics, including
Pionia (now Avcılar).
Under the later
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
, it was included in the ''
thema'' of the Aegean Islands.
Following its conquest by the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
, the Troad formed part of the
sanjak of Biga.
New Testament
The apostles
Paul and
Silas
Silas or Silvanus (; Greek: Σίλας/Σιλουανός; fl. 1st century AD) was a leading member of the Early Christian community, who according to the New Testament accompanied Paul the Apostle on his second missionary journey.
Name and et ...
first visited Troas during their journey from
Galatia
Galatia (; grc, Γαλατία, ''Galatía'', "Gaul") was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir, in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace ...
to
Macedonia. Paul also referred to Troas when he asked his fellow evangelist
Timothy out of
Ephesus
Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built i ...
, to bring the cloak he had left there, a journey of about . The changes from the story, being recounted as "they" to "we" in
Acts 16
Acts 16 is the sixteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records the second missionary journey of Paul, together with Silas and Timothy. The book containing this chapter is anonymous but earl ...
and
Acts 20, imply that Paul was joined by
Luke when he went through Troas.
See also
*
Ancient regions of Anatolia
*
Acts of Apostles
*
Alexandria Troas
Alexandria Troas ("Alexandria of the Troad"; el, Αλεξάνδρεια Τρωάς; tr, Eski Stambul) is the site of an ancient Greek city situated on the Aegean Sea near the northern tip of Turkey's western coast, the area known historically ...
*
List of traditional Greek place names
This is a list of Greek place names as they exist in the Greek language.
*Places involved in the history of Greek culture, including:
**Historic Greek regions, including:
***Ancient Greece, including colonies and contacted peoples
*** Hellenisti ...
References
Sources
*
*
*
Trevor R. Bryce
Trevor Robert Bryce (; born 1940) is an Australian Hittitologist specializing in ancient and classical Near-eastern history. He is semi-retired and lives in Brisbane.
His book, ''The Kingdom of the Hittites'', is popular among English-speaking ...
. Chapter 14, "The Trojan War: Myth or Reality" in ''The Kingdom of the Hittites''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998.
External links
*
{{coord, 39.8, 26.5, dim:150km, display=title
Ancient Greek geography
Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey
Historical regions of Anatolia
Trojans
Peninsulas of Turkey