the alleged mother country of the Dorian conquerors of the Peloponnese. It was a small district in central Greece, lying between Mounts Oeta (modern Oiti) and Parnassus and consisting of a narrow valley nowhere exceeding 4 miles (6 km) in breadth, with only four small townships. Doris had some importance because it commanded the road from Heraclea in Trachis to Amphissa, but its history is mainly made up of minor wars with its equally petty neighbours. In 457 BC the Spartans (Sparta), admitting the claim of Doris to be the Dorian metropolis, sent an army to help it against the Phocians, and they sent another one to help it against the Oetaeans in 426. Except for mention of its cantonal league in 196 BC, Doris passed early out of recorded history.