A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology
William Smith, Ed.

Rhascu'poris

1. Brother of Rhascus, and with him chieftain of a Thracian clan, whose territories extended from the northern shores of the Propontis to the Hebrus and the neighbourhood of Philippi. Whether the clan were that of the Sapaei or the Korpalli, or comprised both races, is uncertain. But it occupied both the mountain ridge that skirts the Propontis and the southern plains which He between the base of Mount Rhodope and the sea (comp. Appian, App. BC 4.87, 105; Tac. Ann. 2.64; Plin. Nat. 4.11 (18)). We can only thus explain the seeming inconsistency in Appian's account of these chieftains ; for he describes their territory as a lofty, cold, and woody region, and yet assigns to them a powerful body of cavalry. In the civil war, B. C. 49-48, Rhascuporis joined Cn. Pompey, with 200 horse, at Dyrrachium; and in the war that followed Caesar's death, he aided Cassius with 3000, while his brother Rhascus, at the head of an equal number of cavalry, embraced the cause of the triumvirs. According to Appian this was a politic and provident device for mutual security; and it was agreed beforehand that the brother whose party was triumphant, should obtain the pardon of the brother whose party was vanquished. And so, after the victory at Philippi, Rhascuporis owed his life to the intercession of Rhascus. Each brother rendered good service to his respective party. When the road from Asia into Macedonia, by Aenos and Maroneia, had been preoccupied by the triumviral legions, Rhascuporis, in whose dominions the passes were, led the armies of Brutus and Cassius by a road through the forest, known only to himself and Rhascus. And Rhascus, on the other hand, by his local knowledge, detected the march of the enemy, and saved his allies from being cut off in the rear. (Caes. Civ. 3.4; Appian. B. C. 4.87, 103-106, 136; Lucan. Pharsal. 5.55; D. C. 47.25.) For the varieties in the orthography of Rhascuporis, e. g., Rhascypolis, Rascyporis, Thrascypolis, &c., see Fabricius, ad Dion Cuss. 47.25; Adrian, Turneb. Adversar. 14.17. On the coins we meet with Βασίλεος Ῥασκουπόριδος (Cary, Hist. des Rois de Thrace, pl. 2), and Ῥαισκουπόριδος (Eckhel, vol. ii. p. 59). Lucan (l.c., ed. Oudendorp) calls him "gelidae dominum Rhascupolin orae."