View source for Spithridates

{{Short description|Achaemenid satrap of Lydia and Ionia (died 334 BC)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Spithridates
| office              = [[Satrap]] of [[Lydia (satrapy)|Lydia]]
| predecessor         = [[Autophradates]]
| successor           = position abolished
| image               = IONIA,_Achaemenid_Period._Spithridates._Satrap_of_Sparda_(Lydia_and_Ionia),_circa_334_BC.jpg
| caption             = Coin of Spithridates, Achaemenid Satrap of Sparda (Lydia and Ionia), circa 334 BC
| death_date          = 334 BC
| death_place         = At the Granicus in the [[Troad]] region<br />(modern-day [[Biga Çayı|Biga River]], [[Turkey]])
| termstart           = 365
| termend             = 334 BC
| allegiance          = [[File:Standard of Cyrus the Great (Achaemenid Empire).svg|18px|Achaemenid Empire]] [[Achaemenid Empire]]
| battles             = {{tree list}}
*[[Wars of Alexander the Great]]
**[[Battle of the Granicus]]{{KIA}}
{{tree list/end}}
}}
'''Spithridates''' ([[Old Persian]]: [[wiktionary:Reconstruction:Old Persian/Spiθradātaʰ|{{Transliteration|peo|*Spiθradātaʰ}}]]; [[Ancient Greek]]: {{lang|grc|[[wiktionary:Σπιθριδάτης|Σπιθριδάτης]]}} {{Transliteration|grc|Spithridátēs}}; fl. 365–334 BC) was a [[Persian people|Persian]] [[satrap]] of [[Lydia (satrapy)|Lydia]] and [[Ionia (satrapy)|Ionia]] under the [[high king]] [[Darius III of Persia|Darius III Codomannus]]. He was one of the Persian commanders at the [[Battle of the Granicus]], in 334 BC. In this engagement, while he was aiming a blow from behind at [[Alexander the Great]], his arm was cut off by [[Cleitus the Black]] and he subsequently died.{{r|Arrian}}

[[File:Spithridates attacking Alexander from behind at the Battle of Granicus.jpg|thumb|left|Spithridates attacking Alexander from behind at the [[Battle of Granicus]]. [[Charles le Brun]] (detail).]]
[[Diodorus Siculus|Diodorus]] calls him '''Spithrobates''' ({{lang|grc|Σπιθροβάτης}} {{Transliteration|grc|Spithrobátēs}}), and appears to confound him with [[Mithridates (Persian general)|Mithridates]], the son-in-law of Darius, whom Alexander slew in the battle with his own hand; while what [[Arrian]] records of Spithridates, Diodorus accounts it  for his brother [[Rhosaces]].{{r|Diodorus|Plutarch}}

Spithridates was replaced by the Hellenistic satrap [[Asander]] in his territories.

== References ==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name=Arrian>Arrian, ''[[Anabasis Alexandri]]'', [http://websfor.org/alexander/arrian/book1a.asp 1.12.8, 15.8, 16.3]</ref>
<ref name=Diodorus>Diodorus, ''[[Bibliotheca historica]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Diod.+17.19.1 XVII. 19], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Diod.+17.20.1 20]</ref>

== Footnotes ==
<ref name=Plutarch>[[Plutarch]], ''[[Parallel Lives]]'', "Alexander", [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plut.+Caes.+16.1 16] ; ''[[Moralia]]'', "On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander", [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/Fortuna_Alexandri*/1.html#2 I. 2]</ref>
}}

==Sources==
*[[William Smith (lexicographer)|Smith, William]] (editor); ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]'', {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20051231190048/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/3229.html "Spithridates (2)"]}}, [[Boston]], (1867)
{{SmithDGRBM|title=Spithridates}}

{{Achaemenid rulers}}

[[Category:Opponents of Alexander the Great]]
[[Category:334 BC deaths]]
[[Category:Achaemenid satraps of Lydia]]
[[Category:Military leaders of the Achaemenid Empire]]
[[Category:4th-century BC Iranian people]]
[[Category:Darius III]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Achaemenid satraps of Ionia]]
[[Category:Military personnel of the Achaemenid Empire killed in action]]


{{Achaemenid-bio-stub}}