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Rival Claims to Trojan Heritage in the Troad during the Second Century B.C.
Dylan Bloy, Gettysburg College

Between the peace of Apamea in 188 B.C. and Rome’s acquisition of the Pergamene kingdom in 133 B.C., cities in Asia Minor were increasingly forced to contend with the reality of Roman hegemony. I argue that cities in the Troad competed in monumentalizing claims to Trojan heritage, partly as a means to seek Roman favor. Ilion bore the legendary name, but the Hellenistic foundation of Alexandria Troas surpassed it in size and economic clout. Both cities undertook building projects in mid-century. The Temple of Apollo Smintheus, within the territory of Alexandria Troas in the southern Troad, boasted an Ionic frieze depicting scenes from the Iliad in continuous narrative; thus it claimed a direct relationship with the temple mentioned in the Iliad. Meanwhile, the Ilians completed a major rebuilding project in the West Sanctuary at Ilion. Recent excavation in this sanctuary has suggested that Cybele, Dardanos, and the Samothracian gods may have been worshipped here; these deities would have had obvious resonance for Romans who had recently introduced Cybele in Rome and believed the Samothracian gods to be Aeneas’ Penates. Echoes of competing claims likewise appear in contemporary historiographic works by Demetrios of Skepsis, Hegesianax of Alexandria Troas, and Polemon of Ilion, each of whom discussed the Trojan legend and the role of Aeneas. Demetrios, for example, sought to link his hometown with the sons of Hector and Aeneas and to disassociate contemporary Ilion from the legendary city. Scholars and monuments thus asserted the priority of these cities’ contentions of consanguinity with Rome.

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