In great footsteps, I have stood

Today I visited the ruins of Troy.

It was amazing.

The City of Troy goes way back into the BCs, and is actually a series of cities built on top of one another. There are 9 in all, including Troy VI and VII, which are the two historians believe are The Troy We All Talk About.

And I don't just mean USC fans talking about it. I mean Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom, too.

The city itself has undergone a lot of changes since the 3rd millennium BC, including the fact that the sea has receeded and the land between Troy and the Dardenelles has been filled in by the government to make some of the most fertile land in all of Turkey.


(Look at them fertile lands! And that Aegean Sea behind 'em)

Deep inside the remains of Troy, there are still some original parts. These bricks date back to to Troy II, and boy, do they ever look like it. The original part of the wall is totally run down, but it's amazing that there's anything left. 5 millenia of being buried under dirt sure preserves things!


(Oooooooooohhhhhhh...old bricks...lovely)

On to more exciting parts of the ruins...Homeric Troy (D'oh!) was really just an upgrade from Troys I-V. That is, the city plan didn't change too much, it just grew and got more awesome.

For example, the Southern Gate was pushed back to allow for more room inside the citadel's walls, but it was in the same location on the wall for all the Troys, even when the Romans rebuilt it (more on the roamin' Romans later). However, there were definitely some additions that went onto the wall between Troy VI and VII, which is part of what makes everyone think that these were the Troys that duked it out with the Greeks.

I mean, if you saw 1,000 ships appear in your front yard, wouldn't you build an extra guard tower or 2?

You can see the junction of the guard tower (left) and the original wall (right) look like they're different colors and even different stones.


(Wall of Homeric Troy joining the guard tower at the Southern Gate)

There were also some slick architectural changes in the wall. The Southern Gate in the early Troys was really just an archway. By the time Troy became rich and famous, they knew some bad people would come a-knockin', so their front entrance was a narrow corridor that had a 90 degree turn in it.

This way you couldn't bring up a battering ram and knock the door down.


(Troy VI Southern Gate with a 90 degree left turn in it)

Now, there really was just one thing that I came to see in Troy, and it wasn't the back door or the fertile lands.

I wanted to see where history was made.

I wanted to see where Paris stood while Achilles slew his brother Hector, chained him to this chariot and dragged him around the city. I wanted to see what Priam saw when he looked out at the Aegean and saw what Shock and Awe were in the 13th century BC.

Sure enough, there, at the western gate of Troy VI and VII, is a place. A vista. A section of the wall looking down on the land below, which is now a field. But with a little imagination, you can see Greek and Trojans legends fighting to the death and making history.

Err, mythology. Whatever.



Note the difference in the quality of the wall between the hastily constucted part in the middle and the very few pieces at the edge where it turns.


(Where it all happened)

Really, after that, seeing the rest of Troy was kind of weak. I mean, I walked on the stones that Helen of Troy walked on! I stood where Prıam stood! I was lookıng at a patch of earth where one of the most famous duels took place!

But I guess there were some other cool things worth mentioning, too.

Like the Western Gate from Troy II was still pretty much original and looked swell.



(Troy II Western Gate)

And when Alexander the Great was whipping everyone's armies all across the world, he had some folks build a big temple here in Troy. And it had a mable ceiling. And there's still some original pieces left.


(Ceiling from Alexander the Great's era)

Right in front of the Western Gate of Troy VI where Achilles did his thing, the Romans built something new. They added a sacrificial altar made of Roman marble. It seems that Romans held a special reverence for Troy since they considered themselves decendents of Aeneas, and it was a big deal for Romans to come to Troy during the AD period and make a sacrifice to their 'ancestors.'

The two little containters in front of the altar are for water and blood.


(Oh those Romans! Always with the blood!)

So it seems that Troy is not just a great place in our time. It was great to Homer and the Greeks, and great for the Romans.

I'm just hoping it doesn't take me 10 years to get home now.