source of this wealth, in the standard interpretation, was trade. In one pro-
posed scenario, Anatolian silver was shipped out of Troy and through the
Aegean to the Levant in return for Afghan tin. Weapons made from Trojan
bronze (copper being easily obtainable in Anatolia) were then channeled into
Central Europe. Controlling access to the Black Sea brought Troy a system of
contacts that reached to the far edges of the Bronze Age world.
Following Troy II the next few sites were not especially impressive until
Troy VI (referred to in Hittite records as Wilusa). According to archae-
ological evidence, it bestfits Homer’s description of the place the Achaeans
besieged for ten years although the evidence seems to show that Troy VI was
knocked down by an earthquake inc. 1275 BCE.It was reoccupied as Troy
VIIa, a much less grandiose place that was destroyed by war inc.1180, the
date Greek tradition assigns to the fall of the city. This is an awkward pro-
blem for scholars trying to line up Homer’s epic poem with historical reality.
One possibility is to assume that the collective memory of the various wars
and natural disasters Troy suffered was later telescoped into one catastrophic
event. In the history of trade, the war itself is important only if commercial
issues were involved or if it had a lasting impact on trade patterns.
Modern historians, who tend to be an unromantic lot, generally dismiss
the abducted wife explanation as the cause of the war, preferring instead
economic and political factors. Troy’s strategic position at the crossroads of
both sea and land has led to the assumption that this was a commercial war.
Were the Trojans interfering with Mycenaean trade in the Black Sea? Were
they charging excessive tolls or shutting out the Mycenaeans altogether? Had
Troy become too rich for its own good, tempting the war-prone Mycenaeans
into one big pirate raid that got out of hand?
In trying to put the archaeological evidence into some context, we turn to
Homer to see if theIliadand theOdysseycan be of any help. Do they repre-
sent long oral traditions in which real historical memories are embedded, or
are they simply literary creations? As far as economic activities are concerned,
it doesn’t seem to matter since there is almost no reference to any productive
behavior, only looting, ravaging, and plundering. Only one market is men-
tioned. This occurs in theIliadduring a lull in thefighting when ships from
the nearby island of Lemnos unexpectedly show up in the Greek camp with
cargoes of wine. First they present 1,000 gallons to the high king
Agamemnon as a“gift,”apparently for the right to trade with his men, who
“now supplied themselves with wine, some in exchange for bronze, some for
gleaming iron, others for hides or live cattle, others again for slaves.”This
was a one-time market, a special event based on barter with nofixed rates of
exchange, which did little more than provide the Greeks with the means to
stay up all night drinking and partying, hardly an important element in
anyone’s economy.
Unfortunately, neither theIliadnor theOdysseyprovides even a hint that
the Trojan War had anything to do with commerce. The Homeric attitude
60 Into the Aegean and out of the Bronze Age