Dorian Pentapolis

The Doric Pentapolis or Dorian Pentapolis was a federation of five cities of Dorian foundation, and included:

*Kos, on the island of the same name in the Aegean Sea;
*Cnidus, in Caria on the mainland of Asia Minor;
*Lindus, on the island of Rhodes;
*Ialysus, also on Rhodes; and
*Camirus, also on Rhodes.

The members of this pentapolis – originally a hexapolis (six cities) – were accustomed to celebrate a festival, with games, on the Triopian promontory near Cnidus, in honor of the Triopian Apollo; the prizes in those games were brazen tripods, which the victors had to dedicate in the temple of Apollo. The city of Halicarnassus, a member of the hexapolis, was struck out of the league, because one of her citizens carried the tripod to his own house instead of leaving it in the temple, leaving the pentapolis. (Herod. i. 144.)