Rhaskuporis I.

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rhaskuporis I. (Forms of name: Greek: Ῥασκούπορις, Ῥασκύπορις etc.; Latin: Rhascypolis , Rhascipolis etc.) was a in the 1st century BC. Living king of the Sapaean dynasty in Thrace .

Life

Rhaskuporis I was perhaps the first member of the Sapaean dynasty to hold the title of king. He was a son of Kotys , whom he followed in government with his brother Rhaskos . In the Roman civil war between Caesar and Pompey (49-48 BC) Rhaskuporis I was on the side of Pompey, to whom he led a reinforcement of 200 horsemen at Dyrrhachium .

As a result, Rhaskuporis I is not again until 43 BC. Mentioned when he joined the party of the Caesar murderers in the Roman civil war following Caesar's death. At that time he supported Brutus in subjugating the Thracian tribe of the Besser and in the following year 42 BC he met him. BC with an auxiliary force of 3000 horsemen to the army of the murderers of Caesar, which advanced against the army led by the triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian . Rhaskuporis' brother Rhaskos, however, reinforced the forces of the Triumvirs with an equally large contingent of troops. According to Appian , this was a clever move by the two brothers, which they had already agreed with their respective large armies before the arrival of the warring Roman civil war parties: the brother who had joined the victorious party should then convert for his brother who was on the losing side Ask mercy.

The local knowledge of Rhaskuporis I was of valuable help to Brutus and Cassius in bypassing the passes east of Philippi . Their troops were initially able to maneuver Antony's vanguard out of a pass position related to it, whereupon the vanguard retreated to a more backward, difficult to conquer new height position. But Rhaskuporis led a contingent of troops under Brutus' stepson Lucius Calpurnius Bibulus on impassable mountain trails in a four-day march to Philippi, initially north and then west. On the other hand, Rhascos made it possible for the enemy advance party to flee to Amphipolis . After the double battle at Philippi (October / November 42 BC) had ended with a victory for the triumvirs, Rhascos, fighting on their side, campaigned as agreed and successfully for the protection of his brother Rhaskuporis. This then disappears from the historical sources.

Otherwise, all that is known of Rhaskuporis I is that he had a son named Kotys who succeeded him in the rule and that he issued bronze coins on which he bears the title of king ( basileus ).

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Caesar, De bello civili 3, 4, 4; Lucan , Pharsalia 5, 55.
  2. ^ Cassius Dio 47, 25, 2.
  3. ^ Appian , Civil Wars 4, 87.
  4. ^ Appian, Civil Wars 4, 136.
  5. ↑ Appian, Civil Wars 4, 103ff .; see. Cassius Dio 47, 35, 3ff. and Plutarch , Brutus 38.
  6. ^ Inscriptiones Graecae (IG) II / III 2 3443.
personal data
SURNAME Rhaskuporis I.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Thracian king
DATE OF BIRTH 1st century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH after 42 BC Chr.