The Troas (Troad) is an ancient region in the northwestern part of Anatolia, bounded by the Hellespont to the northwest, the Aegean Sea to the west, and separated from the rest of Anatolia by the massif that forms Mount Ida. It is drained by two rivers, the Scamander (modern Karamenderes) and the Simois, which join at the area containing the ruins of Troy.
The region later known as the Troad was called Wilusa by the Hittites. 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 Wilusa was correctly placed in northwestern Anatolia. According to Trevor Bryce, Hittite texts indicate a number of Ahhiyawan raids on Wilusa during the 13th century BC, which may have resulted with the overthrow of king Walmu.
Bryce also reports that archeological surveys conducted by John Bintliff in the 1970s show that a powerful kingdom that held sway over northwestern Anatolia was based at Troy.
Troy—also called Ilium, Ilion, or Ilios—is a Phrygian city in northwestern Asia Minor in the region called the Troad.
At the time of the Trojan War, Troy was a well-walled city, with broad streets and beautiful palaces.
Dardanus 1 founded a city in the region that later was called the Troad, and lived there with his family until the death of his father-in-law, upon which he became king of the whole land and called it Dardania after himself.
The Troad is bounded on the N. by the Hellespont and the westernmost part of the Propontis, on the W. by the Aegean Sea and on the S. by the Gulf of Adramyttium.
In the widest acceptation, the Troad was identified with the whole of western and south-western Mysia, from the Aesepus, which flows into the Propontis, a little west of Cyzicus, to the Caicus, which flows into the Aegean south of Atarneus.
The chief Greek towns in the Troad were Ilium in the north, Assus in the south and Alexandria Troas in the west.
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