Editing Dardanelles (section)

===Ancient Dardanian, Persian, Roman, and Byzantine eras (pre-1454)===
====Dardanian and Persian history====
[[File:Xerxes lash sea.JPG|thumb|upright|An artist's illustration depicting [[Xerxes I of Persia|Xerxes]]' alleged "punishment" of the Hellespont]]
The ancient city of [[Troy]] was located near the western entrance of the strait, and the strait's Asiatic shore was the focus of the [[Trojan War]]. Troy was able to control the marine traffic entering this vital waterway. The [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian]] army of [[Xerxes I of Persia]] and later the Macedonian army of [[Alexander the Great]] crossed the Dardanelles in opposite directions to invade each other's lands, in 480 BC and 334 BC respectively.

[[Herodotus]] says that, circa 482 BC, Xerxes I (the son of [[Darius the Great|Darius]]) had two [[pontoon bridge]]s built across the width of the Hellespont at [[Abydos, Hellespont|Abydos]], in order that his huge army could cross from Persia into [[Ancient Greece|Greece]]. This crossing was named by [[Aeschylus]] in his tragedy ''[[The Persians]]'' as the cause of divine intervention against Xerxes.<ref>{{cite web |author=[[Aeschylus]] |url=http://classics.mit.edu/Aeschylus/persians.html |title=The Persians |translator-first=Robert |translator-link=Robert Potter (translator) |translator-last=Potter |access-date=2003-09-26 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031119043049/http://classics.mit.edu/Aeschylus/persians.html |archive-date=19 November 2003 |via=The Internet Classics Archive}}</ref>

According to Herodotus (vv.34), both bridges were destroyed by a storm and [[Xerxes I of Persia|Xerxes]] had those responsible for building the bridges beheaded and the strait itself whipped. [[The Histories of Herodotus]] vii.33–37 and vii.54–58 give details of building and crossing of [[Xerxes' Pontoon Bridges]]. Xerxes is then said to have thrown [[fetters]] into the strait, given it three hundred lashes with multiple whips and branded it with red-hot irons as the soldiers shouted at the water.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Peter Green (historian) |last=Green |first=Peter |title=The Greco-Persian Wars |publisher=The University of California Press |location=Berkeley; London |date=1996 |page=75 |isbn=0-520-20573-1}}</ref>

Herodotus commented that this was a "highly presumptuous way to address the Hellespont" but in no way atypical of Xerxes. (vii.35)

[[Harpalus (engineer)|Harpalus the engineer]] is said to have eventually helped the invading armies to cross by lashing the ships together with their bows facing the current and adding two additional anchors to each ship. 

From the perspective of [[ancient Greek mythology]] [[Helle (mythology)|Helle]], the daughter of Athamas, supposedly was drowned at the Dardanelles in the legend of the [[Golden Fleece]]. Likewise, the strait was the scene of the legend of [[Hero and Leander]], wherein the lovesick Leander swam the strait nightly in order to tryst with his beloved, the priestess Hero, but was ultimately drowned in a storm.

====Byzantine history====
The Dardanelles were vital to the defence of [[Constantinople]] during the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] period.

Also, the Dardanelles was an important source of income for the ruler of the region. At the [[Istanbul]] Archaeological Museum a marble plate contains a law by the [[Anastasius I (emperor)|Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I]] (491–518 AD), that regulated fees for passage through the customs office of the Dardanelles. Translation:

<blockquote>... Whoever dares to violate these regulations shall no longer be regarded as a friend, and he shall be punished. Besides, the administrator of the Dardanelles must have the right to receive 50 golden Litrons, so that these rules, which we make out of piety, shall never ever be violated... ... The distinguished governor and major of the capital, who already has both hands full of things to do, has turned to our lofty piety in order to reorganize the entry and exit of all ships through the Dardanelles... ... Starting from our day and also in the future, anybody who wants to pass through the Dardanelles must pay the following: <br />
– All wine merchants who bring wine to the capital (Constantinopolis), except [[Cilicia]]ns, have to pay the Dardanelles officials 6 [[follis]] and 2 [[sextarius]] of wine. <br />
– In the same manner, all merchants of olive-oil, vegetables and lard must pay the Dardanelles officials 6 follis. Cilician sea-merchants have to pay 3 follis and in addition to that, 1 keration (12 follis) to enter, and 2 keration to exit.<br />
– All wheat merchants have to pay the officials 3 follis per modius, and a further sum of 3 follis when leaving.</blockquote>

Since the 14th century the Dardanelles have almost continuously been controlled by the Turks.