Middle East Kingdoms

Troad / Troas

The Troad was the peninsula region at the far north-western corner of Anatolia, formed by the territory to the north of the island of Lesbos, eastwards to Mount Ida, and then roughly in a direct line north to the Dardanelles where it meets the Sea of Marmara, opposite the shores of Thrace. Mysia, also part of the region, lay to the immediate east.

Wilusa (Troy) in the thirteenth century was a member of the Assuwa (or Assua), a confederacy of local minor states which probably included the states of the Troad and which had traditionally been allied to the Hittites. The states or tribes which inhabited the region around this time were mostly remembered in Greek stories which include The Iliad, covering the events of the Trojan War. While the details may be fictional, or at least clouded by several centuries of oral tradition, they probably remember key figures in the war. Following the war the Phrygians, who had recently settled to the south-west between about 1400-1200 BC, took control of the region, but by the sixth century the entire Aegean Coast of Anatolia had been Æolised, or occupied by Æolic Greeks.

Halizones / Alazones

Listed in the Trojan order of battle, the origin of the Halizones is unknown. Homer says they came from 'Alybe far away, where is the birthplace of silver'. Suggestions include reading Alybe as Chalybe, which would make them Chalybes, a group who settled in northern Anatolia on the shores of the Black Sea between the Halys and Trabzon. Related to the eastern Khaldi (of later Urartu), they are thought to be early Georgians. Chalybe could also derive from Hittite 'Khaly-wa', or 'land of Hatys', which would serve to confirm the theory. In addition, while Palaephatus places the Halizones in Mysia, Homer elsewhere called Odius the chief of the Paphlagonians, again placing them in north-eastern Anatolia. It seems likely that the Halizones moved into the region at the same time that Paphlagonia emerged, displacing or subsuming the Kaskans (although they are placed here for convenience).

Mecisteus

Ruler?

c.1180s BC

Odius

Son.

c.1193 - 1183 BC

Odius and Epistrophus, sons of Mecisteus, lead the contingent of Halizones to the Trojan War on the side of Troy.

Hyrtacidae

The Hyrtacidae were related by royal marriage to the rulers of Percote, and probably lived somewhere relatively close to that city. This is the most obscure element in the list of Trojan allies because the state or settlement to which Hyrtacus and his people belonged was not listed in the order of battle, or it has since been lost. Probably due to the close relationship between it and Percote, the king's son was given the honour of leading the Percote contingent to Troy, which was made up of troops from Abydus, Arisbe, Practius, & Sestus.

Hyrtacus

Comrade of Priam of Troy. Name perhaps of Cretan origin.

Hyrtacus marries Arisbe, daughter of Merops of Percote.

fl c.1180s BC

Asius

Son.

c.1193 - 1183 BC

Asius, together with his sons, Adamas and Phaenops, leads the contingent from Percote to the Trojan War on the side of Troy.

Kolonae / Colonae

Kolonae was a city in the Troad which stood 140 stadia south of Ilium (Troy), and which was an ally during the Trojan War. The name Colonae probably stems from 'col' or 'calach' for an eminence, and the term was generally used in Anatolia to denote a fortress.

c.1230s BC

Stheneleus

c.1230s - 1183 BC

Cygnus / Kyknos

m Prokleia, a daughter of Laomedon of Troy.

c.1193 - 1183 BC

Cygnus (whom some sources acquaint with the historical Kikunni of Troy) leads the Kolonaean contingent to the Trojan War on the side of Troy. While invulnerable to weapons thanks to Poseidon, Cygnus is still killed by Achilles of Phthia (and transformed into a swan by Poseidon).

Larissa

A 'deep-soiled' Pelasgian settlement which provided spearmen to Troy in the Trojan War, Larissa was a common name for Pelasgian towns or cities. This example was probably founded by wandering tribesmen who settled in different parts of the Anatolian coast before the war. Strabo expresses the opinion that the Larissa that some sources quote for the city is not the one mentioned by Homer in The Iliad. That was said to have been far from Troy and not inside the Troad, so although Larissa is not a Troad city, it is located here for convenience.

c.1180s BC

Hippothous?

c.1193 - 1183 BC

Hippothous and Pylaeus lead the Larisan contingent to the Trojan War on the side of Troy.

Lyrnessos

This was a city in the Troad which was situated to the south-east of Mount Ida. According to legend, Achilles of Phthia made a 'great foray' to the south of Mount Ida where he attacked twenty-four cities, including Lyrnessos, which he sacked, killing the king, Mynes. Homer relates that Achilles took the late king's wife, Briseis, as his concubine, only for Agamemnon of Mycenae to take her for himself when he had to hand back his own concubine to her father. This began a feud between the two which only the death of Patroclus ended.

Selepos

Eunor / Eunos

Son.

? - c.1183 BC

Mynes

Killed by Achilles of Phthia.

? - c.1183 BC

Epistrophos

Son or joint ruler?

c.1183 BC

The death of Mynes and the sacking of the city knocks Lyrnessos out of the Trojan War so that it is not able to send a force to support its ally, Troy.

Percote

This was a small city on the Anatolian coast of the Hellespont, situated to the north-east of Troy. It receives more than one mention in Greek mythology, but never plays a major role, and it was not even in existence by the time of Strabo (63 BC - around AD 24). Apparently its people and those of the closely related Hyrtacidae were neither Trojan nor Dardanian. The city also commanded peoples from Abydus, Arisbe, Practius, & Sestus, and the forces they supplied to the Trojan War were led by Asius of the Hyrtacidae, while the two sons of Merops led contingents from Adresteia, Apaesus, Mount Tereia, and Pityeia, perhaps without the permission of their father, as he did his best to dissuade them.

Merops

Seer and ruler.

According to Greek legend, Merops is father to Arisbe (the first wife of Priam of Troy, who latter marries Hyrtacus of the Hyrtacidae), Cleite, and two sons, Amphius and Adrastus.

fl c.1180s BC

Adrastus / Adrastes

Son. Killed at Troy.

fl c.1180s BC

Amphius?

Brother. Killed at Troy.

c.1193 - 1183 BC

Amphius and Adrastus lead units from Adresteia, Apaesus, Mount Tereia, and Pityeia, to the Trojan War on the side of Troy, and fight alongside the Percote contingent which is commanded by the Hyrtacidae.

Zeleia

Zeleia was a Trojan city in the Troad, located at the foot of Mount Ida. It was considered to be holy to Artemis, a tradition which continued into the Classical period. Its people are later linked to Lycia in the south, and may be the result of an earlier division of that people, although there is no proof of that.

Lykaon / Lycaon

? - c.1183 BC

Pandarosmid / Pandarus

Son.

c.1193 - 1183 BC

Pandarus, skilled with the bow, leads the contingent from Zeleia to the Trojan War on the side of Troy. After sabotaging a truce by wounding Menelaus of Sparta, he is killed by Diomedes of Argos when a spear hits him in the face, severing his tongue.