Dorians

The Dorians entered Greece from the north in the twelfth century BCE and became one of the four main divisions of the prehistoric Greeks, i.e. Dorian, Akhaian (Achaean), Aeolian and Ionian.

The Dorian arrival into Greece has been called the Dorian Conquest, the Dorian Invasion and the Dorian Migration, all of these terms are in some way accurate; the Dorians entered the Balkan Peninsula from the north and either displaced or dominated the ethnic populations they encountered; the process was relatively slow and, for that reason, called a Migration but their effect was not subtle; the terms Conquest and Invasion may be a bit too dramatic but, in all regions where the Dorians settled, they usurped the political power and became the masters of the countryside.

On the Peloponnesian Peninsula the Dorians virtually destroyed the Mykenaean (Mycenaean) Culture that preceded them and reduced the indigenous peoples to serfdom; on the Peloponnesian Peninsula, the strongest and most famous Dorian enclave was the city of Sparta; the Athenians were primarily Ionian and were spared Dorian domination because of the simple fact that the area around the city of Athens, i.e. Arkadia (Arcadia), was not as fertile as other parts of Greece.