Page "Alexandria Troas" Paragraph 1

According to Strabo, this site was first called Sigeia ; around 306 BC Antigonus refounded the city as the much-expanded Antigonia Troas by settling the people of five other towns in Sigeia, including the once influential city of Neandria.

Its name was changed by Lysimachus to Alexandria Troas, in memory of Alexander III of Macedon ( Pliny merely states that the name changed from Antigonia to Alexandria ).

As the chief port of north-west Asia Minor, the place prospered greatly in Roman times, becoming a " free and autonomous city " as early as 188 BC, and the existing remains sufficiently attest its former importance.

In its heyday, the city may have had a population of about 100, 000.

Strabo mentions that a Roman colony was created at the location in the reign of Augustus, named Colonia Alexandria Augusta Troas ( called simply Troas during this period ).

Augustus, Hadrian and the rich grammarian Herodes Atticus contributed greatly to its embellishment ; the aqueduct still preserved is due to the latter.

Constantine considered making Troas the capital of the Roman Empire.