Troy (place)

Troy (called Ilium in ancient times) was the site of the fabled Trojan War; tales of this mytho-historical conflict have been recounted throughout the ages in great works like the Iliad of Homer, and Publius Vergilius Maro's Aeneid. Most of the tales - the cherished myths of a hundred generations - are probably apocryphal, but the city is not, and a we have a good deal of archaeological evidence that tells of its history.

Troy is located on a hill called Hissarlik in northwestern Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), about 5km from both the Aegean and the Hellespont. A number of settlements were built on the site throughout the Bronze Age; they're referred to by the layer they occupy in the archaeological record, from Troy I to Troy IX.

Troy I - This was the first settlement, a small, fortified citadel on the hilltop that was built around 3000 BCE, and eventually destroyed by a great fire. The inhabitants of Troy I used tools made of copper, stone, and bone. All of their pottery was shaped by hand; evidence suggests that spinning and weaving were known to them. Their buildings were primarily built of mud-brick over stone foundations.

Troy II - The second settlement on the site, built somewhere between 2500 and 2300 BCE, appears to have been a reconstruction by the same people that built the first. The new city was slightly bigger - 110m across - and generally circular. Troy II had a strong sloped wall topped with a vertical brick superstructure, reinforced by small rectangular towers and pierced by two gates. The material culture of Troy II seems to have been quite advanced over that of Troy I - for example, the potter's wheel seems to have come into widespread use. Large quantities of gold, silver, and electrum treasure were unearthed by Heinrich Schliemann when he discovered and excavated the site in 1870, which led him to believe that Troy II was the city of Priam that was levelled by the Atreides in the Trojan War. Troy II does appear to have been destroyed by an invading force - buildings were toppled and there was widespread fire - but it is now believed that this conflict was not the one remembered as the Trojan War.

Troy III-V - Three distinct settlement periods occurred at Hissarlik from approximately 2300 to 1700 BCE. These evidence a cultural continuity with the earlier towns, which suggests that the culture that destroyed Troy II either moved on or was assimilated into the local culture. Each successive settlement was larger and more populous, but they don't appear to have flourished to the same degree as their predecessors. The area suffered a number of invasions during this period - notably, by the burgeoning Hittite civilization - which may explain this to some degree. Unfortunately, Schliemann destroyed most of Troy III, IV, and V in his zeal to reach what he believed was Homer's Troy, so we know less about them than we'd like. It is not clear what brought each of these distinct settlement periods to a close.

Troy VI - Troy VI, which existed during the period lasting from 1700 to 1250 BCE, is a great deal different from the preceding incarnations of the city. Its massive fortifications, built from squared blocks of hard limestone, dwarf those of the earlier periods, and the larger, free-standing houses suggest that the builders of Troy VI had superior knowledge of engineering, masonry, and urban planning. Unfortunately, most of Troy VI is gone - during Hellenistic and Roman times, the top of the mound was removed to provide spacious grounds for a great temple to Athena. However, enough evidence remains to suggest that the citadel was built in a series of concentric, radiating terraces. Troy VI was destroyed by a massive earthquake, perhaps concurrently with the eruption of Thera (now Santorini) that was once believed to have wiped out the Minoan civiliazation.

Troy VIIa - Troy VIIa represents the rebuilding of Troy VI after the earthquake that levelled most of it, during the period from 1250 to 1180 BCE. The cyclopean walls were repaired and reinforced, and the dwellings rebuilt on the ruins of the old. Certain evidence from Troy VIIa suggests (at least to people seeking historical evidence of the Trojan War) a city under siege. For example, the houses in the outer ring of the acropolis were smaller and more densely-packed, indicating that a larger population sought protection within the city's fortifications. Also, most houses were built with large pithoi (a kind of jar) sunk into the floor, providing a large storage area for foods and liquids - presumably in response to a siege. Troy VIIa was destroyed by a conflagration that levelled the entire city, and human remains have been found in the wreckage. This is significant, as none were found in the remains of earlier catastrophes, notably Troy II and Troy VI - this indicates that the disaster which befell Troy VIIa was widespread enough that the survivors were unable to recover and bury all of the slain.

Troy VIIb - The houses of Troy VIIb were built on the foundations of Troy VIIa, indicating a reconstruction of the stricken city (probably around 1180 BCE.) The fortifications were repaired, and there do not appear to have been any major cultural changes. However, Troy VIIb was again destroyed by a general conflagration after less than a century of occupation, and was not rebuilt. The causes of this final disaster and the abandonment of the site are not known.

Troy VIII - Hissarlik was resettled around 700 BCE by Greek colonists, possibly from the islands of Lesbos or Tenedos, as the city of Ilion. This incarnation once again reused the great walls of Troy VI, and appears to have prospered, under the rule of the Persian empire, until the liberation of Asia Minor by Alexander the Great in 334 BCE. Alexander, who is said to have slept with a copy of the Iliad beneath his pillow, made Ilion his first stop in Anatolia, as he wished to make an offering. Clearly, then, the site was remembered as that of Priam's city by its contemporaries. After Alexander's death, his successor commissioned the great temple of Athena (which occupied a space almost half as large as all of Troy VI) - this is presumably when the top was sheared off the mound.

Troy IX - Troy IX was the final incarnation of ancient Troy; the Troy IX period lasted from 85 BCE to the 5^th or 6^th centuries CE. This final settlement was known as Novum Ilium or "New Ilion," and was the recipient of numerous honors - Julius Caesar gave it immunity from taxation, and Augustus enlarged and beautified the sanctuary of Athena. In later years, Constantine considered the site for his new capital, before settling on Byzantium. The city, which remains largely unexcavated, was a large and prosperous Hellenic Roman city. However, it waned as trade in the area declined; the emperor Julian visited the area in 355 CE, but by the 4^th century little remained but a small farming community, and the hill was completely abandoned by the 12^th century. Troy slept beneath its mound for more than seven hundred years before being rediscovered; archaeological work continues at the site to this day.

So was this truly the site of the events recounted by Homer and Vergil so long ago? Opinions vary. Some hold that the destruction of Troy VIIa corresponds with the period in which the historical war probably would have taken place, and consider the architectural aspects of the city proof that it was under siege. However, there are other equally plausible explanations for the evidence found, and textual clues from the remaining accounts suggest that the Trojan War may have actually taken place elsewhere - in Greece near Mount Ida, or indeed anywhere in the Mediterranean that the Achaean raiders may have undertaken raids. It has been suggested that the story comes from Egypt, and the raiders may have actually been the "sea peoples" mentioned in Egyptian chronicles. Furthermore, some think that there never was a Troy at Hissarlik, or even at all - that the conjunction of a people called the Troes (the Homeric Troie is an adjective derived from the name) and Ilion in Greece produced the name, which was later transferred to Hissarlik in the 8^th century BCE. In the end, there is simply not enough information to say who or what formed the basis of the Trojan War tales - it's possible they're Bronze Age stories of an even earlier event that were handed down intact. What we do know is that a fascinating city - a fascinating series of cities - stood on the Hissarlik hill in Asia Minor, and that there is much to be learned from their remains.