Doriscus (Ancient Greek: ฮฮฟฯฮฏฯฮบฮฟฯ and ฮฯฯฮฏฯฮบฮฟฯ, Dorรญskos) was a settlement in ancient Thrace (modern-day Greece), on the northern shores of Aegean Sea, in a plain west of the river Hebrus. It was notable for remaining in Persian hands for many years after the Second Persian invasion of Greece, and remained thus known as the last Persian stronghold in Europe.[1]
Doriscus was founded by Darius the Great in 512 BC.[2] He built a Royal Fortress and stationed a large number of Persian troops there at the time of his Scythian campaign.[3]
Herodotus (7.59) reports that Doriscus was the first place Xerxes the Great stopped to review his troops after crossing the Hellespont in 480ย BC, during the Second Persian invasion of Greece.[4] Herodotus also writes that Xerxes I of Persia made Mascames, son of Megadostes, governor of Doriscus in order to replace the man Darius I had appointed.[5]
Doriscus is notable as it was one of the few Persian towns in the Balkans that remained under the Persian sway, even after the Second Persian invasion of Greece.[6] The Athenian general Cimon that led the conquests after the Persian retreat was unable to capture it. Herodotus states that Doriscus "was never taken" from the Persians.[6] Its governor Mascames was honored by the Persian king for his defence.[6]
According to Raphael Sealey, the Achaemenid ruler probably recalled Mascames with his garrison around 465 BC, and finally abandoned Doriscus.[7] However, Muhammad Dandamayev notes that when Herodotus wrote his Histories in the second half of the fifth century BC, Doriscus was still held by the Persians.[8]
Doriscus' site is located at the modern village of Doriskos, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Greece.[9][10]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Raymond A. Bowman. Aramaic Ritual Texts from Persepolis Vol.91 University of Chicago Press, 1970, p. 61.
- ^ Dandamaev 1989, p.ย 231, "Gradually the Greeks also succeeded in expelling the Persian garrisons from Thrace and the Hellespont, except for the town and fortress of Doriscus along the Thracian littoral. This settlement had been founded by Darius I in 512 B.C".
- ^ Kuhrt 2007, p.ย 209.
- ^ Christopher J. Tuplin, Xerxes' March from Doriscus to Therme, Historia: Zeitschrift fรผr Alte Geschichte, Bd 52, H. 4 (2003), pp. 385โ409.
- ^ Herodotus (2008). The Histories. Great Clarendon Street, Oxford: Oxford University Press. p.ย 441. ISBNย 978-0-19-953566-8.
- ^ a b c Kuhrt, Amรฉlie (2013). The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period. Routledge. pp.ย 290โ291. ISBNย 9781136016943.
- ^ Sealey, Raphael (1976). A History of the Greek City States, 700-338 B. C. University of California Press. p.ย 251. ISBNย 9780520031777.
- ^ Dandamaev 1989, p.ย 231, "When Herodotus wrote his Historiae during the second half of the fifth century B.C., Doriscus was still subject to the Persians".
- ^ Talbert, Richard, ed. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. p.ย 51. ISBNย 978-0-691-03169-9, with accompanying Map-by-Map Directory.
- ^ Lund University. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.
Sources
edit- Dandamaev, M. A. (1989). A Political History of the Achaemenid Empire. BRILL. ISBNย 978-9004091726.
- Kuhrt, Amรฉlie (2007). The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period. Routledge. ISBNย 978-0415552790.
ย This articleย incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:ย Smith, William, ed. (1854โ1857). "Doriscus". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
40ยฐ52โฒ25โณN 26ยฐ09โฒ50โณE๏ปฟ / ๏ปฟ40.873623ยฐN 26.164008ยฐE
