In ancient times, the series of waterways now known as the Turkish
Straits, comprising the Dardanelles (or Hellespont), Sea of Marmara
and the Bosporus, formed both a divide and a bridge between Europe
and Asia. Its western and eastern entrances were guarded, at
different times, by two of the most fabled cities of all time:
respectively Troy (in Asia) and Byzantion (or Byzantium, on the
European coast). The narrow crossing points at the Hellespont and
Bosporus were strategically important invasion routes while the
waters themselves were vital routes of travel and commerce,
particularly the supply of grain from the hinterland of the Black
Sea to the Greek cities. This made them sought after prizes and
sources of friction between successive empires, Persians,
Macedonians and Romans among them, and ensured they were associated
with some of the great names of history, from Odysseus to Xerxes,
Alexander to Constantine the Great. John D Grainger relates the
fascinating history of this pivotal region from the Trojan War to
Byzantion's refounding as the new capital of the Roman Empire.
Renamed Constantinople it dominated the straits for a thousand
years.
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