Scopasis ( grc, Σκώπασις ) was a 6th-century BC

Scythian The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...

king of the Sauromatae tribe. The

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

historian

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...

mentions him in his Histories, as he and the kings Taxakis and

Idanthyrsus Idanthyrsus (Ancient Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ) is the name of a Scythian king who lived in the 6th century BCE, when he faced an invasion of his country by the Persian Achaemenid Empire. Name and etymology The name () is the Hellenized fo ...

commanded the three divisions of the Scythian forces, when Scythia was invaded by Darius I of Persia in between 520 and 507 BC (most likely in 513 BC). It was the contingent under the command of Scopasis that arrived at the Istros (Danube) river before Darius could reach it during his retreat. Scopasis defeated Darius' Ionian allies to destroy the bridge of boats over the river and thus ensure the destruction and defeat of the Persian forces.

References

*{{SmithDGRBM, wstitle=Scopasis Sarmatian rulers Scythian rulers 6th-century BC rulers Achaemenid Thrace