Page "Abydos (Hellespont)" Paragraph 4

Abydos was first mentioned in the catalogue of Trojan allies ( Iliad ii. 836 ).

It probably was a Thracian town, as Strabo has it, but was afterwards colonized by Milesians, with the consent of Gyges, king of Lydia, around 700 BC.

It was occupied by the Persians in 514 BC, and Darius burnt it in 512.

Here Xerxes built two pontoon bridges later known as Xerxes ' Pontoon Bridges and crossed the strait in 480 BC when he invaded Greece.