Troy was a Phrygian city on the Troad. Troy was often called Ilium. See Houses of Troy for more detail.

Geographically, Troy control the Hellespont (Dardanelles), the narrow strait that is the entrance from the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara, follow by another strait the Bosporus to the Black Sea. Strategically, controlling this strait, control the maritime trade route of the Aegean to the Black Sea, where they can extract tolls on ships.

Troy is located on the hill or mound called Hisarlik, which in myth was built on top of the hill, called Ate. Separating the city from Aegean shore line, where the Agamemnon's fleet had supposed beached, is the plain, and the Scamander River (now called Canakkale).

Ilus, son of Tros, founded Troy and named the city after himself, Ilium or Ilion (Ἰλιον), but it was better known as Troy. He left his brother Assaracus to rule Dardania, a much older city than Troy. When his son, Laomedon, succeeded him, Troy became more powerful and dominant of the two cities, since it can control the trade route of the Hellepont.

The gods, Poseidon and Apollo built the walls of Troy, with the aid of a mortal named Aeacus, son of Zeus and Aegina, and the king of the island Aegina. The city has two main gates: the Scaean Gates and the Dardan Gates (or Dardanian Gates). The main centre of the city was the citadel, called Pergamum.

Troy was however captured by Heracles (and Telamon), when Laomedon refused to honour his bargain with the hero. Laomedon and all his sons, except Priam (Podarces), were killed. Priam succeeded his father. Priam was the last king of Troy, after a ten years war against the Greeks. See Trojan War for full story of the war.

See the family tree of the House of Troy and Dardania.

Archaeologically, the city ruins was rediscovered in the 2nd half of the 19th century, by a German archaeologist, Heinrich Schliemann, who had excavated Hisarlik. What he had discovered was that there are successive levels, where the city was rebuilt 9 times, on top of one another as early as the Early Bronze Age. Each level of the city was designated with a Roman numeral, eg. Troy I, Troy II, Troy III, etc.

Troy VI was built during the Middle Bronze Age and Troy VII in the Late Bronze Age. Schliemann believed that Troy VI was Homer's Troy, but this city was destroyed by earthquake around 1300 BC, not by war. Troy VI was richer than its next successors, Troy VIIa and then Troy VIIb. Troy VIIa was destroyed by fire, and possibly by violence.

Dardania was a Phrygian city situated on the foot of Mount Ida. Dardania had a close relationship with Troy. During the reign of Laomedon, Troy became the more powerful city of the two cities. However, the House of Dardania was much older by few generations.

Dardanus, son of Zeus and the Pleiade Electra founded the city of Dardania. He married Bateia, daughter of Teucer. Dardanus' descendants divided the family into two separate houses between the sons of Tros: Assaracus ruled Dardania, while Ilus founded a new city, which named Ilium or Troy. (See House of Troy for more details about Dardania.)

During the Trojan War, Aeneas, son of Anchises, became the last king of Dardania. He was the one of the leader to escape the fall of Troy. According to Roman myth, Aeneas migrated to Latium, Italy. He became the ancestor of Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome.

See the family tree of the House of Troy and Dardania.

Cyzicus was a city in northern Mysia, situated on the coast of Sea of Marmara. It was named after the king of Doliones, who was accidentally killed by the Argonauts.

Teuthrania was a Mysian city, located on the river Caïcus. A man named Teuthras founded Teuthrania. Teuthras married Auge, daughter of Aleüs, who was already pregnant by Heracles' son. Heracles had raped Auge during his stay in Tegea. Auge bore Telphus, whom Teuthras had adopted. Telephus succeeded Teuthras.

During the war against Troy, the Greeks accidentally landed and attacked Teuthrania, assuming they were attacking Troy. Achilles wounded Telphus in the fighting. The Greeks agreed to heal Telphus' wound in exchange for guiding the Greek fleet to Troy. Telphus agreed. Telphhus however would not fight with the Greeks against Troy since he was a son-in-law of Priam.

In the last year of the war, Priam managed to induce Eurypylus, son of Telphus (promising to pay Eurypylus with gold vine), to help the Trojans with the war. After killing Machaon and Peneleüs, Neoptolemus, son of Achilles, killed Eurypylus.

During the reign of Areius, Pergamus, son of Neoptolemus, who migrated from Epeirus, captured Teuthrania. Pergamus renamed Teuthrania to Pergamon (Πέργαμος or Pergamum).

Sardis (Sardes) was the principal city of Lydia. It was located on the river of Patroclus, east of Smyrna.

No myths were attached to this city. However, historically Herodotus tells us that Sardis was the capital of Croesus, the Lydian king who was defeated by the Persians in 6th century BC. Legend says that, at that time Croesus was one of the richest kings in the world.

A coastal city in Caria, it was originally named Anactoria. Historically, Miletus became an important Ionian city-state but fell into Persia's dominion.

Miletus was the son of Apollo and Deione or Acacallis. The three sons of Europa were in love with a youth named Miletus. When the Cretan youth chose Sarpedon, Minos drove both of his brothers and Miletus from Crete. They fled to Asia Minor, where Sarpedon went to Lycia while Miletus stayed in Caria. Miletus captured Anactoria and renamed the town after himself.

Themiscyra was the principal city of the Amazons, where it was located on the Thermodon River that emptied into the Black Sea. Themiscyra is now called Termeh.

Amazons were a tribe of warrior women, said to have originated from Central Asia, and once thought to be related to the Sarmatians. The heroes Heracles had to fetch a girdle from Queen Hippolyte as one of his labours. Theseus had married Hippolyte's sister, Antiope, who became the mother of Hippolytus. Theseus defeated the Amazons when they invaded Attica.

At Hector's death, during the Trojan War, Penthesileia came to the Trojans' aid and were successful in driving the Greeks back. However in the fighting Penthesileia was killed by Achilles.

Byblus was an ancient coastal city of northern Phoenicia. Byblus or Byblos is now called Jubayl. It was once famous for its export of timber to Egypt.

Sidon was an ancient coastal city of Phoenicia, perhaps the oldest of the Phoenician cities. Sidon is now called Sayda. The Greeks often confused Sidon with Tyre, its southern neighbour. Sidon was renowned for its export of glassware and purple dye, called Sidonian Purple.

Agenor, son of Libya and Poseidon, founded and ruled the city of Sidon in Phoenicia (Canaan). Agenor migrated to Canaan leaving his twin brother Belus to ruled Egypt. When Zeus abducted his daughter, Europa, he sent sons to find her. Not of them return. Each son had migrated to other lands, founding kingdoms. Cadmus, Europa's brother migrated as far as central Greece, founding Cadmeia, which was later called Thebes. Whereas Agenor's other son Phoenix did not went very far, his name became eponym of Phoenicia.

Tyre (modern Sur) was a principal coastal city of southern Phoenicia. The Greeks often confused Tyre with Sidon, its northern neighbour. Sidon was a colony of Sidon. Its city was built on the island and the mainland. Like Byblus, it was famous for its export of timber to Egypt. Later, it became more dominant of the Phoenician cities.

Tyre was possibly the home of Cadmus and Europa. It was also the home of Dido. When her brother, Pygmalion, king of Tyre murdered her husband, Dido fled west and migrated to northern Africa, where she founded the city of Carthage. In Carthage, Dido would later meet Aeneas, a Trojan prince, who fled from Troy after it was sacked.

Memphis was an ancient city of the Lower Nile.

Epaphus, king of Egypt, founded the ancient city of Memphis, which he named after his wife, daughter of river-god Nile. Memphis bore Epaphus a daughter named Libya.

Cyrene was a coastal city in Libya. It was named after the Thessalian nymph named Cyrene. Historically, Cyrene was a Greek colony, which became the major city in Libya.

Cyrene was the daughter of Hypseus, a Lapith king in Thessaly. Cyrene was renowned for beauty and strength. Cyrene was probably an attendant of Artemis, and she was renowned for her skill in hunting. Apollo fell in love with Cyrene when he saw her wrestled with a lion.

Apollo spirited the nymph across the sea to Libya, where the god seduced her and Cyrene bore a son named Aristaeüs (Aristaeus), who became a minor agricultural god, and Idmon, who was a warrior seer and an Argonaut. Apollo gave Cyrene a long life as compensation for taking her son away.

In Libya, she was said to have founded a city called Cyrene.

Carthage was a Phoenician city in North Africa, which is located near the modern city of Tunis. The original name of the city was probably Byrsa (the "citadel").

Carthage was said to be founded by Dido, sometimes called Elissa, Phoenician queen in Tyre. There is some confusion over who her father was. Dido fled with her sister Anna from Tyre, when her brother Pygmalion murdered her husband Sychaeus (she had actually married her uncle).

When Aeneas landed in Carthage, Venus (Aphrodite) made Dido fall in love with her son (Aeneas). Aeneas would have marry Dido, but the messenger god Mercury (Hermes) had to tell Aeneas that he was not fated to marry Dido and live in Carthage, because his new home was in Italy. When Aeneas left Carthage, Dido was so devastated that she committed suicide. As Aeneas' ships sailed away from the city, the hero saw the burning of a large funeral pyre.

Later on, Aeneas met her shade in the Underworld, where she was reunited with her husband (Sychaeus) and she refused to acknowledge Aeneas' presence; apparently she had not forgiven him for leaving her.

Most of the legend about Aeneas and Dido come from the Roman epic, the Aeneid, written by Vergil, and the poem called Metamorphoses by Ovid. Though, it was believed that in an earlier Roman source, Dido killed herself in a funeral pyre in order to escape the marriage to Iarbas or Hirbal, a Libyan king who would invade Carthage if the queen did not marry him. Obviously, Vergil changed the legend to suit his epic. (See the Aeneid about Aeneas and Dido.)

Historically, Carthage was a great maritime city, known for its navy. Also, Carthage was a city-state, governed by the system of oligarchy, not ruled by a monarch. The Carthaginians founded cities in Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica and Spain.

Their traditional enemies were the Greek cities in Sicily, including Syracuse, as well as the enemy of Rome. Carthage and Rome were involved in three wars, known as the Punic Wars. Hannibal was the most distinguished general in the Second Punic War, who defeated several Roman armies in Italy, but finally lost the war in the Battle of Zama, a site south-east of Carthage, in 202 BC.

Cherronesus was the legendary city of the Amazons, located somewhere in western Libya. Most of the (scarce) details about the city come from Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian in Sicily, who flourished in the 1st century BC.

Under the rule of their queen, Myrina, she drove out a rival race of woman warriors known as the Gorgons out of their territory. She conquered several territories in the West, such as in Asia Minor, and founded the city of Mitylene in the island of Lesbos.

The surviving Amazons returned to Libya, after the death of Myrina and their defeat at the hands of the Thracians and Scythians in Asia Minor.