The Troad is first mentioned by that name in
Hittite records as
Taruiša. This identification was first put forth by
Emil Forrer, but largely disputed by most Hittite experts until 1983 when Houwink ten Cate showed that two fragments were from the same original
cuneiform tablet and in his discussion of the restored letter showed that
Taruiša and
Wiluša (Troy) were correctly placed in northwestern Anatolia. Greek settlements flourished in Troas during the
Archaic and
Classical ages, as evidenced by the number of Greek
poleis that coined money in their own names. The region was part of the
satrapy (province) of
Hellespontine Phrygia of the
Achaemenid Empire until its conquest by
Alexander the Great. After this it fell to the Diadoch
Seleucid Empire, and then passed to Rome's ally, the kingdom of Pergamon. The
Attalid kings of
Pergamon (now
Bergama) later ceded
Mysia, including the territory of the Troad, to the
Roman Republic, on the death of King
Attalus III in 133 BC. Under the
Roman Empire, the territory of the Troad became part of the
province of Asia, and later of the smaller Mysian province Hellespontus; it was important enough to have
suffragan bishoprics, including
Pionia (now Avcılar). Under the later
Byzantine Empire, it was included in the
thema of the Aegean Islands. Following its conquest by the
Ottoman Empire, the Troad formed part of the
sanjak of Biga. ==New Testament==