Troad
Historical name of the Turkish Biga Peninsula
The Troad (/ˈtroʊˌæd/ or /ˈtroʊəd/; Greek: Τρωάδα, Troáda) or Troas (/ˈtroʊəs/; Ancient Greek: Τρῳάς, Trōiás or Τρωϊάς, Trōïás) is a historical region in northwestern Anatolia. It corresponds with the Biga Peninsula (Turkish: Biga Yarımadası) in the Çanakkale Province of modern Turkey. Bounded by the Dardanelles to the northwest and by the Aegean Sea to the west, and separated from the rest of Anatolia by the massif that forms Mount Ida, the Troad is drained by two main rivers, the Scamander (Karamenderes) and the Simoeis, which join in the area containing the ruins of Troy.
01History
The Troad is first mentioned by that name in Hittite records as 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 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 until its conquest by Alexander the Great. After this it fell to the Diadoch Seleucid Empire, 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, on the death of King Attalus III in 133 BC.
Under the Roman Empire, 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 bishoprics, including Pionia (now Avcılar).
Under the later Byzantine Empire, it was included in the thema of the Aegean Islands.
Following its conquest by the Ottoman Empire, the Troad formed part of the sanjak of Biga.
02New Testament
The apostles Paul and Silas first visited Troas during their journey from Galatia to Macedonia. Paul also referred to Troas when he asked his fellow evangelist Timothy out of Ephesus, to bring the cloak he had left there, a journey of about 500 kilometres (300 mi). The changes from the story, being recounted as "they" to "we" in Acts 16 and Acts 20, imply that Paul was joined by Luke when he went through Troas.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Troad”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Walls of Troy (1).jpg by CherryX, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Troas.png by Dbachmann at English Wikipedia Later versions were uploaded by Joy at en.wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0
- Asia Minor in the Greco-Roman period - general map - regions and main settlements.jpg by Caliniuc since Putzger & Westermann atlases (Atlas zur Weltgeschichte, Stier, H.E., dir., 1985), CC BY-SA 4.0
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