Cours or Curs ( el, Κούρς), also known as Coursos, Cursos ( el, Κοῦρσος), Qwrys, Crous or Crus ( el, Κρους), was an East Roman (Byzantine) general of the 6th century.

Biography

Cours is recorded as being a "

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 ...

", which in effect implies most probably a Hunnic (or perhaps

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

) origin. Nothing is known of his early life, except that he served in Italy in the 550s under

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 ...

Roman-Persian Frontier in Late Antiquity

He first appears in 574, after the outbreak of a new

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

with

Sassanid Persia The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

in 572, when he was placed, along with general Theodorus, in command of the Byzantine army of

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

. Probably late in the same year, or in 575, they invaded

Caucasian Albania Caucasian Albania is a modern exonym for a former state located in ancient times in the Caucasus: mostly in what is now Azerbaijan (where both of its capitals were located). The modern endonyms for the area are ''Aghwank'' and ''Aluank'', among ...

, taking hostages from the Albani, Sabiri, and other tribes to ensure their loyalty.. They resumed operations in Albania in the next year, but their absence from Armenia was exploited by the Persian shah

Khosrow I Khosrow I (also spelled Khosrau, Khusro or Chosroes; pal, 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩; New Persian: []), traditionally known by his epithet of Anushirvan ( [] "the Immortal Soul"), was the Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from ...

(r. 531–579), who passed through Armenia unmolested and invaded Byzantine territory, reaching as far as Sebastea; there, however, he was confronted by the converging armies of Curs and the ''

magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers", plural ) was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, ...

per Orientem'',

Justinian Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...

. While Khosrau, confronted by a larger army than he expected, refused to offer battle, Curs on his own initiative attacked, drove part of the Persian army back, and captured most of the Persian baggage train.. In 578, Cours served with

Maurice Maurice may refer to: People * Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr * Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor *Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...

, then the ''magister militum per Orientem'' and future

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

, on his first, successful campaign against the Persians. In the autumn of that year, Maurice sent him across the river

Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...

to plunder Persian territory. In the next year, Cours and

John Mystacon John, surnamed Mystacon, "the mustachioed", ( el, , '' fl.'' 580–590),. was a prominent East Roman (Byzantine) general in the wars with Sassanid Persia during the reigns of Byzantine emperors Tiberius II (r. 578–582) and Maurice (r. 582–602) ...

together led Byzantine forces in Armenia, winning a victory over the Persians that resulted in the capture of the Persian commander himself and his son, as well as much booty. In late 582, however, serving as John's ''

hypostrategos ''Strategos'', plural ''strategoi'', Latinized ''strategus'', ( el, στρατηγός, pl. στρατηγοί; Doric Greek: στραταγός, ''stratagos''; meaning "army leader") is used in Greek to mean military general. In the Hellenisti ...

'' (deputy commander), through his inaction (allegedly due to

jealousy Jealousy generally refers to the thoughts or feelings of insecurity, fear, and concern over a relative lack of possessions or safety. Jealousy can consist of one or more emotions such as anger, resentment, inadequacy, helplessness or disgust. ...

towards John), the Byzantines were defeated in battle. He disappears thereafter from the sources, and may have been dismissed in the same year..

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cours 6th-century Byzantine military personnel Byzantine generals Magistri militum Huns People of the Roman–Sasanian Wars Byzantine people of Hunnic descent