Doriscus
Doriscus was a settlement in ancient Thrace, 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.
Doriscus was founded by Greeks in the 6th century BC. It was conquered by Darius I and he built a Royal Fortress and stationed a large number of Persian troops there at the time of his Scythian campaign.
Herodotus reports that Doriscus was the first place Xerxes the Great stopped to review his troops after crossing the Hellespont in 480 BC, during the Second Persian invasion of Greece. 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.
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. Its governor Mascames was honored by the Persian king for his defence.
The Achaemenid ruler probably recalled Mascames with his garrison around 465 BC, and finally abandoned Doriscus.
Doriscus' site is located at the modern village of Doriskos, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Greece.
