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Modern Description: Equidistant (about 5 km) from the Aegean and the Dardanelles. A gap of 400 years separates Troy VIIb, the final phase of the Bronze Age citadel, from the beginning of Troy VIII, when the site was reoccupied, apparently by Greek settlers, traditionally described as Aitolian, shortly before 700 B.C. To judge from the archaeological remains, Troy enjoyed a moderately active existence in the 7th and 6th c., and declined into comparative stagnation in the 5th and 4th c. In Hellenistic-Roman times (Troy IX) its fortunes were livelier. The town benefited substantially from the favor of Alexander and Lysimachos, and later from that of Caesar and Augustus, to say nothing of subsequent emperors, but there were also reverses, notably during the Mithridatic war, when Troy was captured and sacked by the Roman legate Fimbria in 85 B.C. Before deciding to locate his new capital on the Bosphoros, Constantine considered Troy as a possible site. The latest known Classical reference to the town is an account of a visit by the emperor Julian in A.D. 355.
The physical remains of Troy VIII are meager. The buildings of this period which originally occupied the hilltop were largely destroyed in Troy IX when the central part of the hill was leveled to provide a precinct for the cult of Athena Ilias. Though Troy VIII extended beyond the limits of the Bronze Age citadel, its people, for a time at least, relied for defense on the great wall of Troy VI, which they repaired and strengthened at vanous places. In the NE sector a wall was built to enclose a flight of steps that gave access to a well outside. At the SW, again outside the circuit of the VI wall, two sanctuaries of modest size lie adjacent to each other. They were founded in the mid 7th c., and continued into Troy IX.
Though Troy IX was larger and more prosperous, its remains are scarcely abundant. The plan of the great Sanctuary of Athena, which included a propylon and colonnades, has been determined, occupying an area almost half as large as all of Troy VI. Scattered fragments of a Doric temple have been recovered. The best preserved metope depicts Helios driving his chariot. Though its date is disputed, the temple is probably Early Hellenistic; its construction is ascribed by Strabo (13.1.26) to Lysimachos. Elsewhere about the hill are remains of theaters or theatral buildings, a palaestra, and sections of the extended city wall.
The bulk of the finds from Troy are housed in the Archaeological Museum in Istanbul. (C. BOULTER)
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy
Wikidata ID: Q22647
Trismegistos Geo: 3681
Manto: 8194710

Info: Princeton Encyclopedia

(Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, from Perseus Project)

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