ALEXANDRIA TROAS
Anatolia.
City on a
lagoon of the Aegean coast opposite Bozcaada (Tenedos).
Built by Antigonos in 310 B.C., it was called Antigonia
until Lysimachos changed its name to Alexandria. Although Strabo barely mentions the city, it must have
developed rapidly in the days of Lysimachos and was
under Roman domination under the reign of Antiochos.
It was reconstructed through the efforts of Augustus,
Hadrian, and Herodes Atticus. Later it came under Byzantine rule. In the 17th c. its ruins supplied columns for
buildings in Istanbul.
A rectangular fortification wall (2500 x 1700 m)
enclosed the harbor, which was suitable for shipbuilding
as well as for shelter. No trace remains of the aqueduct
built by Herodes Atticus at great expense. It has been
suggested that the bath be dated to the time of Herodes
Atticus because of the resemblance of its architectural
decoration to that of his odeion in Athens. Of the theater
only the cavea is visible. The small Doric temple, the
stadium, agora, and gymnasium, all known to have
existed can no longer be seen.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
R. Koldewey, “Das Bad von Alexandria
Troas,”
AthMitt 9 (1884); W. Leaf,
Strabo and the
Troad (1923).
C. BAYBURTLUOĞLU
