Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 23.djvu/601

Rh and most important of these were Æolic. Lesbos and Cyme in Æolis seem to have been the chief points from which the first Æolic colonists worked their way into the Troad. Commanding positions on the coast, such as Assus and Sigeum, would naturally be those first occupied; and some of them may have been in the hands of Æolians as early as the 10th century It appears from Hero dotus (v. 95) that about 620  Athenians occupied Sigeum, and were resisted by ^Eolic colonists from Mytilene in Lesbos, who had already established themselves in that neighbourhood. Struggles of this kind may help to account for the fact noticed by Strabo, that the earlier colonies had often migrated from one site in the Troad to another. Such changes of seat have been, he observes, frequent causes of confusion in the topography; and the fact has an important bearing on attempted identifications of the more obscure ancient sites.

Among the Greek towns in the Troad, three stand out Greek with especial prominence—Ilium in the north, Assus in Ilium. the south, and Alexandria Troas in the west. The site of the Greek Ilium is marked by the low mound of Hissarlik ("place of fortresses ") in the Trojan plain, about three miles from the Hellespont. The early Greek settlers in. the Troad naturally loved to take Homeric names for their towns. The fact that Homer places the town of Dardania far inland, on the slopes of Ida, did not hinder the founders of the ^Eolic Dardanus from giving that name to their town on the shores of the Hellespont. The site of the historical Thymbra, again, cannot be reconciled with that of the Homeric Thymbra. Similarly, the choice of the name Ilion in no way justifies the assumption that the Greek settlers found that spot identified by tradition with the site of the town which Homer calls Ilios. It does not even warrant the hypothesis that they found a shrine of Athene Ilias existing there. For them, it would be enough that the sounding name could be safely appro priated, the true site of Homeric Ilias being forgotten or disputed, and that their town was at least in the neigh bourhood of the Homeric battlefields. The Greek Ilium may have been founded about 700 It is noticeable that no ancient writer suggests a later date than the time of Croesus (c. 550 ); and Strabo says that the establishment of the colony at Hissarlik after previous occupation of a different site took place "in the time of the Lydians " (firl AvSwv). It would be reasonable to infer that the Greek Ilium preserved some well-marked traces of Lydian influence, perhaps in architecture or art, perhaps in manners or traditions. The traces of Lydian workmanship found in the excavations at Hissarlik are thus easily explained, without recourse to the shadowy hypothesis of a distinct Lydian settlement on the spot. When Xerxes visited the Trojan plain, he "went up to the Pergamon of Priam," and afterwards sacrificed to the Ilian Athene (Herod., vii. 42). It is doubtful whether the " Pergamon " meant was at the Greek Ilium, or at another site (to be mentioned presently), Bunarbashi; strong reasons in favour of the latter have lately been adduced by Mr George Nikolaides, in his IXtaSos Si-pcn^yi/cr) Ataa-Keu^. In the 4th century Ilion is mentioned among the towns of the Troad which yielded to Dercyllidas (399 ), and as captured by Charidemus (359 ). It pos sessed walls, but was a petty place, of little strength. In 344 Alexander, on landing in the Troad, visited Ilium. In their temple of Athene the Ilians showed him arms which had served in the Trojan war, including the shield of Achilles. Either then, or after the battle of Granicus, Alexander directed that the town should be enlarged, and should have the rank of " city," with politi cal independence, and exemption from tribute. The battle of Ipsus (301 ) added north-western Asia Minor to the dominions of Lysimachus, who executed the intentions of Alexander. He gave Ilium a wall 5 miles in circum ference, incorporating with it some decayed towns of the neighbourhood, and built a handsome temple of Athene. In the 3d century  Ilium was the head of a federal league (KOIVOV) of free Greek towns, which probably in cluded the district from Lampsacus on the Hellespont to Gargara on the Adramyttian Gulf. Twice in that century Ilium was visited by Gauls. On the first occasion (278 ) the Gauls, under Lutarius, sought to establish a stronghold at Ilium, but speedily abandoned it as being too weak for their purpose. Forty years later (218 ) Gauls were brought over by Attalus I. to help him in his war against Achseus. After deserting his standard they proceeded to pillage the towns on the Hellespont, and finally besieged Ilium, from which, however, they were driven off by the troops of Alexandria Troas. At the beginning of the 2d century Ilium was in a state of decay. As Demetrius of Scepsis tells us, the houses "had not even roofs of tiles," but merely of thatch. Such a loss of prosperity is sufficiently explained by the incursions of the Gauls and the insecure state of the Troad during the latter part of the 3d century. The temple of the Ilian Athene, however, retained its prestige. In 192 Antiochus the Great visited it before sailing to the aid of the ^Etolians. In 190, shortly before the battle of Magnesia, the Romans came into the Troad. At the moment when a Roman army was entering Asia, it was politic to recall the legend of Roman descent from ^Eneas. Lucius Scipio and the Ilians were alike eager to do so. He offered sacrifice to the Ilian Athene; and after the peace with Antiochus (189 ) the Romans annexed Rhoeteum and Gergis to Ilium, " not so much in reward of recent services, as in memory of the source from which their nation sprang." The later history of Ilium is little more than that of Roman benefits. A disaster befell the place in 85, when Fimbria took it, and left it in ruins; but Sulla presently caused it to be rebuilt. Augustus, while confirming its ancient privileges, gave it new terri tory. Caracalla (211-217 ) visited Ilium, and like Alexander paid honours to the tomb of Achilles. The latest coins found on the site are those of Constantius II. (337-361). In the 4th century, as some rhetorical " Letters " of that age show, the Ilians still did a profit able trade in attracting tourists by their pseudo-Trojan memorials. After the 4th century the place is lost to view. But we find from Constantino Porphyrogenitus (911-959) that in his day it was one of the places in the Troad which gave names to bishoprics.

While the Greek Ilium at Hissarlik owed its importance Assus. to a sham pretension, which amused sight-seers and occa sionally served politicians, Assus, on the south coast, has an interest of a more genuine kind, and is, indeed, a better type of ancient town-life in the Troad. Its situation is one of the most magnificent in all the Greek lands. The seaward faces of the isolated and sea -washed rock on which Assus stood are carved to south and south-west into terraces. The natural cleavage of the trachyte into joint planes had already scarped out shelves which it was comparatively easy for human labour to shape; and so, high up on this cone of trachyte, the Greek town of Assus was built, with its colonnades, baths, theatre, its public walks and its monuments of the dead, mounting tier above tier, till the summit of the crag was crowned with a Doric temple of Athene. The view from the summit is not only very beautiful but also of great historical interest. In front is Lesbos, one of whose towns, Methymna, is said to have sent forth the founders of Assus, as early, perhaps, as 1000 or 900 The whole south coast-line of the Troad is seen, and in the south-east the ancient territory