THE STRAITS FROM TROY TO CONSTANTINOPLE: The Ancient History of the Dardanelles, Sea of Marmara and Bosporos

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In ancient times, the series of waterways now known as the Turkish Straits, comprising the Dardanelles (or Hellespont), Sea of Marmara, and the Bosporus, formed both a divide and a bridge between Europe and Asia. Its western and eastern entrances were guarded, at different times, by two of the most fabled cities of all time: respectively Troy (in Asia) and Byzantion (or Byzantium, on the European coast). The narrow crossing points at the Hellespont and Bosporus were strategically important invasion routes while the waters themselves were vital routes of travel and commerce, particularly the supply of grain from the hinterland of the Black Sea to the Greek cities. This made them valuable prizes and sources of friction between successive empires -- Persians, Macedonians, and Romans among them. It also ensured the locales were associated with some of the great names of history, from Odysseus to Xerxes, and Alexander the Great to Constantine the Great.