If one were to take Homer at his word, sending 100,000+ troops to a Troy of a few goatherders and migrant olive pickers wouldn’t make sense. Wouldn’t have been any need for an epic like the Iliad. A quick sound bite on the late news about a smash and grab on the corner of Grape and Vine would’ve covered it.
Sailing into the Dardanelles in those days had to be like running a gauntlet from one pirate’s nest to the next. Troy was the first...or the last if you were heading out. Stands to reason a bunch of enterprising “tollkeepers” would set up shop there and be so gloriously successful, they’d eventually have themselves a city state.
You want to do business with the exotic trader cities on the Black Sea, you best pay da man. Both ways!
Sometimes enforcing this rule takes a navy.
Next thing you know, some Achaean ruffian who doesn’t understand how business operates, is getting bent out of shape and calling for war.
Troy had better press than the Barbary pirates, but pirates they were.
It’s ok. Many dynasties start with bandits, bootleggers, smugglers, vandals...or pirates.