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Hellespont |
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Hellespont: see Dardanelles Dardanelles (därdənĕlz`) or Çanakkale Boğazi ..... Click the link for more information. . Dardanellesancient HellespontNarrow strait between the peninsula of Gallipoli in Europe and the mainland of Turkey in Asia. Some 38 mi (61 km) long and 0.75–4 mi (1–6 km) wide, it links the Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara. Strategically important from antiquity, the Dardanelles was defended by Troy from its position on the Asian side. In 480 BC the Persian Xerxes I crossed the strait to invade Greece; Alexander the Great also crossed it in 334 BC on his expedition against Persia. Held by the Roman Republic and Empire and the Byzantine Empire and later by the Ottoman Empire, it is of great strategic and economic importance as the gateway from the Black Sea to Istanbul and the Mediterranean Sea. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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| Within the Hellespont we saw where the original first shoddy contract mentioned in history was carried out, and the "parties of the second part" gently rebuked by Xerxes. Themistocles made Xerxes, king of Persia, post apace out of Grecia, by giving out, that the Grecians had a purpose to break his bridge of ships, which he had made athwart Hellespont. Such are those to whom some state is given either for money or by the favour of him who bestows it; as happened to many in Greece, in the cities of Ionia and of the Hellespont, where princes were made by Darius, in order that they might hold the cities both for his security and his glory; as also were those emperors who, by the corruption of the soldiers, from being citizens came to empire. |
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