Sopolis (son of Hermodorus)

Sopolis ( Greek  Σώπολις ), son of Hermodoros, was a Macedonian equestrian officer and companion ( hetairos ) of Alexander the great in the 4th century BC.

As early as 335 BC As ilarchos , Sopolis led the squadron of the Hetairen cavalry recruited from Amphipolis during the campaign against the tribalists . During the Asian campaign he commanded them in 331 BC. At the battle of Gaugamela . In the winter of 328 to 327 BC He was ordered from Nautaka ( Sogdia ) to Macedonia with some other officers to muster new recruits there.

Sopolis apparently did not return to the main army, as he is no longer mentioned afterwards. The reason for this is probably the participation of his son Hermolaos in the page conspiracy in the spring of 327 BC. After which he was executed. Hermolaos was a student of Callisthenes and served Alexander as a page. Because he had disregarded the royal privilege to throw the first javelin during a boar hunt, he was flogged at Alexander's instigation. In order to retaliate for this supposed injustice, Hermolaos had planned the murder of Alexander with some other pages, but they were betrayed in the end.

See also

• Army of Alexander the Great

swell

• Arrian , Anabasis 1, 2, 5; 3, 11, 8; 4, 18, 3 and 14, 2.

literature

• Waldemar Heckel : Who's who in the age of Alexander the Great. Prosopography of Alexander's empire . Blackwell, Oxford 2006, ISBN 978-1-4051-1210-9 , p. 253.