Description

That part of Asia Minor which borders the narrow channel now known as the Dar-da-nelles', was in ancient times called Tro'as. Its capital was the city of Troy, which stood about three miles from the shore of the Æ-ge'an Sea, at the foot of Mount Ida, near the junction of two rivers, the Sim'o-is, and the Sca-man'der or Xan'thus. The people of Troy and Troas were called Trojans. Some of the first settlers in northwestern Asia Minor, before it was called Troas, came from Thrace, a country lying to the north of Greece. The king of these Thra'cian colonists was Teu'cer. During his reign a prince named Dar'danus arrived in the new settlement. He was a son of Jupiter, and he came from Sam'o-thrace, one of the many islands of the Ægean Sea. It is said that he escaped from a great flood which swept over his native island, and that he was carried on a raft of wood to the coast of the kingdom of Teucer. Soon afterwards he married Teucer's daughter. He then built a city for himself amongst the hills of Mount Ida, and called it Dar-da'ni-a; and on the death of Teucer he became king of the whole country, to which he gave the same name, Dardania.