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Dorieus was a Greek prince of the city of Sparta. While his brother Leonidas is illustrious as the commander of the united Greek army that resisted the Persian invader at the Battle of Thermopylae, Dorieus is known mostly as the founder of a short-lived Greek colony in Libya.
Origins
Dorieus was born around 540 BCE, in Sparta, one of the most influential Greek cities and the great rival of Athens. His father was King Anaxandridas II of Sparta, of the Agiad dynasty.
The Greek historian Herodotus recounts how, as King Anaxandridas didn’t have any children, after several years of marriage, the Ephors, a council of five magistrates who governed the city, fearing that the royal lineage would end, advised him to divorce his wife and take another one. When the King refused, they advised him to at least take a second wife, although polygamy was not part of Spartan custom. Shortly after the king’s second wedding, both his wives became pregnant. The second wife’s child, Cleomenes, was born several months after Dorieus, the first wife’s son. Later, the King’s first wife had two other children: Leonidas and Cleombrotus; his second wife would have no more children.
After their father died, the Council of Ephors chose Cleomenes, the eldest, as his successor. Dorieus challenged this decision, arguing that he, the son of the King’s first wife, was the legitimate heir; but he was overruled.
Herodotus’ account should not be considered as fully reliable, as the author is openly hostile to Cleomenes.
Dorieus in Libya
After being denied the Spartan throne, Dorieus chose to leave his city, and go to found a colony elsewhere. Still according to Herodotus, he left in a fit of anger, with out first consulting the Delphic oracle. Hérodote attributes the failure of his colonial project to this mistake. He also writes that if Dorieus had remained in Sparta, he would have eventually succeeded Cleomenes.
Around 515, Dorieus settled in Libya, in modern-day Tripolitania, where he founded a colony: Cinyps (Κίνυψ). His colony was located at the mouth of the river Cinyps (Wadi Ka’am), close to modern-day Khoms. At the time, there already were several Greek colonies further East, in Cyrenaica, but none in this region.
Several Phoenician colonies were already established in the region, and had recently become part of the Carthaginian Empire. The main Phoenician city in the region, Leptis Magna, was very close to Cinyps. Of course, its inhabitants were unhappy about the newcomers. On the other hand, the Cyrenaican Greeks were supporting the new colony, as a way to cut off the Carthaginians, who were extending ever further East. In such a context, Dorieus’ colonial adventure was short-lived: after three years, Dorieus and his companions were expelled by a local Amazigh tribe allied to the Phoenicians at Leptis Magna.
Dorieus in Sicily
Back in Sparta, Dorieus heard of a region in Sicily, which, according to mythology, had belonged to Hercules and was thus a lawful legacy of his descendants, the Heraclids – including his family. This time, he consulted the Delphic oracle, and was told that this land was his to take. He reassembled his companions and set sail for Sicily.
When he arrived, two Greek cities of Southern Italy, Crotone and Sybaris, were at war. Crotone asked Dorieus for help, he agreed, and took part in their attack against Sybaris. Later, he settled in Eryx, where he founded a colony. His city, while isolated from other Greek colonies in Sicily, was facing hostility from the neighbouring Carthaginian cities. After a few years, Dorieus and his companions were attacked and killed by the inhabitants of the neighbouring city of Segesta, a Carthaginian ally. The survivors fled to the South of Italy, where they took the Greek city of Heraclea Minoa. Dorieus probably died around 510.
After his death
Dorieus’ half-brother Cleomnes, King of Sparta, died around 20 years after him, and was succeeded by Leonidas, Dorieus’ brother from the same mother.
In 480, when the Persian Empire again tried to invade Greece – 10 years after their previous attempt and defeat at the Battle of Marathon – Leonidas was chosen as leader of the alliance of Greek cities that fought the invader. At the Battle of Thermopylae – one of the most famous battles in history – an army of 7.000 Greeks, commanded by Leonidas, made a three-day stand against an at least ten times more numerous Persian army, at the Thermopylae mountain pass. Although they were eventually defeated, their courage inspired the Greeks to continue their resistance, until their final victory in the following year. Leonidas himself was killed, but after the battle, the Greeks honored him by building a statue of a lion on the site of Thermopylae. Herodotus insists that if Dorieus had remained in Sparta, he would eventually have succeeded his brother and would himself have been the hero of the Battle of Thermopylae.
