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Dorieus' Expedition to Sicily in c.510 was an
unsuccessful attempt by a band of Greek adventurers to capture the town of Eryx
in western Sicily and use it as the basis of a new Greek city. Dorieus was a
member of the Spartan royal family, a younger son of Cleomenes, king from c.520
and the brother of King
Leonidas of Thermopylae fame. A few years after his father came to the
throne Dorieus decided to seek his fortune overseas. His first venture, in
c.514, was to North Africa, where he attempted to found a colony between the
Persian and Carthaginian Empires. He was expelled by the Carthaginians and
Libyans, and returned to Greece where he consulted the oracles. They told him
to 'found Heraclea in Sicily', which he interpreted as an instruction to found
a city in western Sicily. Dorieus's new target was the town of Eryx, an Elymian
settlement on the north-west coast of Sicily, between the Phoenician cities of
Motya and Panormus. According to legend this town had been conquered by
Hercules during one of his labours, but then returned to its inhabitants until
one of his descendants came to claim it. As a member of the Spartan royal house
Dorieus could claim descent from Hercules. Dorieus gathered a band of
adventurers, including four other Spartans, who would join him as co-founders
of the new settlement. They departed for Sicily in about 510, and after taking
part in some fighting in southern Italy soon reached their target. After that
the expedition was a total disaster. Dorieus and his band may have held Eryx
for long enough to rename it Heraclea, but they were quickly defeated by an
alliance of Phoenicians and Elymians. Dorieus was killed and most of his army
destroyed. Only one of the fire Spartan 'co-founders', Euryleon, survived the
disaster. He took his surviving men and captured a nearby Greek settlement at
Minoa. His army then moved south and helped the inhabitants of Selinus
overthrow Peithagoras, their tyrant. Euryleon then threatened to become a
tyrant himself and was killed. Dorieus' death was later used by Gelon, tyrant
of Syracuse in the 480s in an attempt to gain support from mainland Greece for
his attempted conquests, but without much success.
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