View source for Coutzes

{{Short description|Byzantine Military General}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Coutzes
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|allegiance=[[Byzantine Empire]]
|branch= [[Byzantine army]]
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|rank= General
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|battles= [[Battle of Thannuris]] ([[Battle of Mindouos|Mindouos]])
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'''Coutzes''' or '''Cutzes''' ({{langx|el|Κούτζης}}; {{fl.|528}}) was a general of the [[Byzantine Empire]] during the reign of Emperor [[Justinian I]] ({{reign|527|565}}).
==Biography==
Coutzes appears in the sources in 528, as joint ''[[dux]]'' of [[Phoenice Libanensis]] together with his brother, [[Bouzes]]. The dual command had been instituted the year before by Emperor [[Justinian I]] ({{reign|527|565}}), and Coutzes led the troops stationed at [[Damascus]], while his brother led the troops at [[Palmyra]].{{sfn|Martindale|1992|p=366}} The 6th-century historian [[Procopius]] described both brothers as being young at the time. Coutzes also had another brother, [[Venilus|Benilus or Venilus]], and was most probably the son of the general and rebel [[Vitalian (general)|Vitalian]].{{sfn|Martindale|1992|p=366}}
In 528, a year after the outbreak of the [[Iberian War]] against [[Sassanid Persia]], the two brothers were ordered, along with other commanders, to reinforce [[Belisarius]] (then ''[[dux Mesopotamiae]]'') who was protecting the construction of a fort at [[Tell Tuneinir|Thannuris]]. When the Byzantines attacked a Persian army, however, they suffered a heavy defeat in the [[Battle of Thannuris]]. Coutzes's fate is uncertain; Procopius writes that he was taken prisoner and never seen again, while [[Zacharias of Mytilene]] records that he was killed.{{sfn|Martindale|1992|p=366}}{{sfn|Greatrex|Lieu|2002|pp=86–87}}
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
==Sources==
* {{cite book|last1=Greatrex|first1=Geoffrey|last2=Lieu|first2=Samuel N. C.|title=The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars (Part II, 363–630 AD)|location=London, United Kingdom|publisher=Routledge|year=2002|isbn=0-415-14687-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NnLDQgAACAAJ}}
* {{Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire|volume=3}}
[[Category:6th-century Byzantine generals]]
[[Category:Generals of Justinian I]]
[[Category:Roman-era Thracians]]
[[Category:People of the Roman–Sasanian Wars]]
[[Category:Byzantine prisoners of war]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of the Sasanian Empire]]