Coccas ( el, Κόκκας, died 552) was an

Eastern Roman The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

soldier who deserted to the

Ostrogoths The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the larg ...

during the final stages of the

Gothic War Gothic War may refer to: *Gothic War (248–253), battles and plundering carried out by the Goths and their allies in the Roman Empire. *Gothic War (367–369), a war of Thervingi against the Eastern Roman Empire in which the Goths retreated to Mont ...

. Procopius calls him "a Roman soldier" and "a man of the Gothic army". His name is not Germanic, and might be

Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied t ...

. Coccas was part of Ostrogothic king Totila's army at the

Battle of Taginae At the Battle of Taginae (also known as the Battle of Busta Gallorum) in June/July 552, the forces of the Byzantine Empire under Narses broke the power of the Ostrogoths in Italy, and paved the way for the temporary Byzantine reconquest of the It ...

in June/July 552. He is described as a cavalryman of great physical strength. In order to gain time for the arrival of 2,000 reinforcements led by

Teia Teia (died 552 or 553 AD), also known as Teja, Theia, Thila, Thela, and Teias, was the last Ostrogothic King of Italy. He led troops during the Battle of Busta Gallorum and had noncombatant Romans slaughtered in its aftermath. In late 552/early 5 ...

, Coccas rode towards the Romans and requested them to send forth a champion to engage him in single combat.

Anzalas Anzalas ( el, ανζαλας, died 552?) was an Armenian soldier and retainer of Narses who fought for the Eastern Roman against the Ostrogoth kingdom in the Gothic Wars. Anzalas slayed the Byzantine deserter Coccas, who was in service of the G ...

, an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

retainer of the Roman commander

Narses , image=Narses.jpg , image_size=250 , caption=Man traditionally identified as Narses, from the mosaic depicting Justinian and his entourage in the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna , birth_date=478 or 480 , death_date=566 or 573 (aged 86/95) , allegi ...

, accepted the challenge. Coccas charged at Anzalas and aimed at his stomach, but at the last moment, Anzalas swerved his horse and stabbed Coccas in the side, mortally wounding him. Although Coccas' sacrifice gained him the necessary time for the arrival of Teia, Totila died in the ensuing battle, which was a disaster for the Goths.

References

Sources

* *{{cite book, last=Bury, first=John Bagnell, author-link=J. B. Bury, title=History of the Later Roman Empire: From the Death of Theodosius I to the Death of Justinian, Volume 2, location=Mineola, New York, publisher=Dover Publications, Inc, year=1958, isbn=0-486-20399-9, url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/BURLAT/home.html 552 deaths 6th-century Byzantine people Byzantine defectors Gothic warriors People of the Ostrogothic Kingdom Ostrogothic duellists Military personnel killed in action People of the Gothic War (535–554) Thracian people Year of birth unknown

See also

References

Sources