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Niphates (Persian general)

4th-century BC Persian military general

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 11, 2025
Entity authorityQ39503558 ↗
Source-derived summary

Niphates (Greek: Νιφάτης) was one of the Persian generals in the Battle of the Granicus in 334 BC in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). He was stationed on the Persian right during the battle formation, along with Rheomithres and Petenes, and faced the Thessalians, which according to Arrian did heavy damage to the Persians. The scarcity of the details regarding his participation is attributed to the focus of the available sources on Alexander the Great, who fought the Lydians, Rhoesaces and Spithridates in the center. An earlier timeline, put him in a council with other Persian generals and the Persian cavalry near the city of Zeleia. Niphates was killed during the battle at Granicus.

References

Sources

Smith, William (1878). A New Classical Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography Mythology and Geography Partly Based Upon the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Harper.

Heckel, Waldemar (2006). Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great: Prosopography of Alexander's Empire.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Niphates (Persian general)” as 4th-century BC Persian military general. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Niphates, Persian and general.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1878, 2006—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Niphates, Persian and general providing the first useful test.
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This entry incorporates text from “Niphates (Persian general)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.