Rhosaces ( Old Persian: ;

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

: ) was the brother of

Spithridates Spithridates ( Old Persian: ; Ancient Greek: ; fl. 365–334 BC) was a Persian satrap of Lydia and Ionia under the high king Darius III Codomannus. He was one of the Persian commanders at the Battle of the Granicus, in 334 BC. In this engagem ...

, a satrap of Ionia and Lydia, with whom he might have held the possession of satrap. Rhosaces served in the earlier campaigns of

Artaxerxes III Ochus ( grc-gre, Ὦχος ), known by his dynastic name Artaxerxes III ( peo, 𐎠𐎼𐎫𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎠 ; grc-gre, Ἀρταξέρξης), was King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 359/58 to 338 BC. He was the son and successor of ...

in Phoenicia and in Egypt where he was singled out for his 'valour and loyalty' to serve alongside allied Theban troops. He took part in the

Battle of the Granicus The Battle of the Granicus in May 334 BC was the first of three major battles fought between Alexander the Great of Macedon and the Persian Achaemenid Empire. The battle took place on the road from Abydus to Dascylium, at the crossing of the Gr ...

in 334 BC where he was killed. According to

Diodorus of Sicily Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...

, after his brother Spithridates was killed by

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

the fight between him and Rhosaces happened like this: :"The Persian fell, but just at this moment his brother Rhosaces galloped up and brought his sword down on Alexander's head so hard that he split his helmet and wounded his scalp. As Rhosaces aimed another blow at the same break in the helmet, Cleitus , known as "the Black," dashed up and cut off the Persian's arm." However, Arrian records Spithridates as the one who lost his arm to Cleitus and thus Diodorus seems to confound Rhosaces with his brother Spithridates. According to Arrian, Rhosaces hit hard Alexander on his helmet before Alexander managed to kill him. Arrian 1.15.7-8

References

Military leaders of the Achaemenid Empire 334 BC deaths 4th-century BC Iranian people Military personnel of the Achaemenid Empire killed in action Opponents of Alexander the Great Persian people of the Greco-Persian Wars Year of birth unknown Achaemenid satraps of Ionia {{iran-mil-bio-stub