This was one of the most densely populated parts of the ancient world, with many famous cities to its name Troy, city of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and Smyrna, the birthplace of Homer; Sardis, home of the wealthy King Croesus; Ephesus, where St. Paul preached the gospels; and Halicarnassus, birthplace of the historian Herodotus.
Troy, Smyrna, and Sardis were just a few of the famous ancient cities in this part of the world.