The Siege of Doris occurred in 1195 BC when the Phthian general Automedon besieged and captured the Dorian capital of Doris following one of the bloodiest battles fought by Achilles' armies.
The Dorian tribes of northern Greece, said to be the descendants of Heracles, shared their purported ancestors' martial inclinations. These warlike barbarians poured out of the mountains into northern Thessaly as the city-states of northern Greece feuded on the eve of the Trojan War, overrunning much of the region. After conquering the Perrhaebi and Pelasgians, King Achilles of Phthia recognized the Dorians as a major threat to his northern border, and one which had to be dealt with before he and his army could leave for Anatolia to fight the Trojans. Achilles dispatched his general Automedon to march into the valleys of Doris and attack the Dorian capital.
Automedon's army of 1,351 troops was outnumbered by the 1,650 Dorians defending the city, who were also superior in armament. While the Phthian army consisted mostly of light and medium infantry, two dozen Giants, and significant numbers of slingers, the Dorians fielded heavily-armored spearmen, armored skirmishers, axemen, and even Giant bowmen. The Dorian attack was ferocious, nearly overwhelming the Phthian left flank. The Phthians dispatched their left, right, and center to counter-charge the Dorians, thus creating gaps in their formation that allowed the Dorian infantry to inflict heavy losses on the unarmored and under-protected Phthian skirmishers. Armored Giants charged the Phthian infantry and wrought havoc, but the Phthian right's victory over their Dorian opponents turned the tide of battle. The Phthian right rushed to both relieve the flagging center and massacre the Dorian skirmishers, and the relieved center joined with the right to salvage the beleaguered left and fight back the Dorian attacks. The Phthians gradually pushed the Dorians from the field, with both sides suffering heavy losses. The Dorian attack resulted in a Cadmean victory for the Phthians, who were forced to lick their wounds while encircling the city rather than suffering heavier losses in a frontal assault. The siege was maintained until Achilles - who had captured Oechalia from King Evagoras - force-marched his army northwest to support Automedon. The combined Phthian army, now numbering 1,778 troops, far outnumbered the newly-crowned King Licymnios' 358 defenders, and the Phthians took the city with 120 losses.
Achilles decided against further expanding his northern borders, as his capture of Oechalia had already made him Anax of Thessalia, and occupying Doris would only bog him down in continued warfare with the Dorians and possibly with their tribal neighbors. Instead, Achilles had his army raze the city, looting 2,638 pieces of wood, 1,583 blocks of stone, and 66 pieces of gold and desolating the Dorian homeland. The new Dorian king Polyxenos agreed to peace and a non-aggression pact with Phthia in exchange for 527 gold pieces, thus pacifying Phthia's northern border and enabling Achilles to join the Trojan War.
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