Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/887

Rh COTYLA. Vulcan with forcipes behind him, the reverse an eagle standing on a thunderbolt. [L. S.] COTTA, L. AURUNCULE'IUS, served as legate in the amiy of C. Julius Caesjir in Gaul, and distinguished himself no less by his valour than by his foresight and prudence. In B. c. .54, when Caesar, on account of the scarcity of provi- sions in Gaul, distributed his troops over a greiit part of the country for their winter-quarters, Cotta and Q. Titurius Sabinus obtained the command of one legion and five cohorts, with which they took up their position in the territory of the Eburones, between the Aleuse and the lihine. Soon after, Ambiorix and Cativolcus, the chiefs of the Ebu- rones, caused a revolt against the Romans, and attacked the camp of Cotta and Sabinus only fif- teen days after they had been stationed in the country. Cotta, who apprehended more from the cunning than from the open attacks of the Gauls, strongly recommended his colleague not to abandon the camp and tnist to the faith of the Gauls ; but Sabinus, who feared that they should be overpow- ered in their Avinter- quarters, was anxious to avail himself of the safe-conduct which Ambiorix pro- mised, and to proceed to the winter-quarters of the legions neai-est to them. After some debates, Cotta gave way for the sjike of concord among his forces. The Romans were drawn into an ambus- cade by the Gauls, and Cotta, who neglected none of the duties of a general in his perilous position, received a wound in his face while addressing the soldiers ; but he still continued to fight bravely, and refused entering into negotiations with the enemy, until shortly after he and the greater part of his soldiers were cut down by the Gauls. (Cae- sar, B. G. ii. 11, V. 24-37 ; Dion Cass. xl. 5, 6 ; Sueton. Goes. 25 ; Appian, B. C. ii. 1 50 ; Floras, iii. 10; Eutrop. vi. 14.) [L. S.] M. and P. COTTII, of Tauromenium in Sicily, two Roman knights, witnesses against Verres. (Cic. Verr. v. 64.) CO'TTIUS, son of Donnus, was king of seve- ral Ligurian tribes in those parts of the Alps, which were called after him, the Cottian Alps. He maintained his independence when the other Alpine tribes were subdued by Augustus, till at length the emperor purchased his submission, by granting him the sovereignty over twelve of these tribes, with the title of Praefectus. Cottius there- upon made roads over the Alps, and shewed his gra- titude to Augustus by erecting (b. c. 8) at Segusio, now Suza, a triumphal arch to his honour, which is extant at the present day, and bears an inscrip- tion, in which the praefect is called M. Julius Cot- tius, and the names of the people are enumerated, of which he was praefect. His authority was transmitted to his son, who also bore the name of M. Julius Cottius, and upon whom the emperor Claudius conferred the title of king. But upon the death of this prince, his kingdom was reduced by Nero into the form of a Roman province. (Amm. Marc. xv. 10 ; Strab. iv. p, 204 ; Plin. //. N. iii. 20. s. 24 ; Orelli, Inscr. No. 626 ; Dion. Cass. Ix. 24 ; Suet. Ner. 1 8 ; Aur. Vict. Caes. 5, Epit. 5 ; Eutrop. vii. 14.) CO'TYLA, L. VA'RIUS, one of Antony's most intimate friends and boon companions, al- though Cicero says that Antony had him whipped on two occasions, during a banquet, by public ■laves. He was probably aedile in B. c. 44, as he is called in the following year a man of aedilician COTYS. 86i) rank. When Antony was besieging Mutina, in B. c. 43, he sent Cotyla to Rome, to propose terras of peace to the senate ; and when after his defeat at Mutina he had collected another army in Gaul, and rocrossed the Alps later in the year, he en- trusted Cotyla with the command of the legions, which he left behind in Gaul. (Cic. Philipp. v. 2, viii. 8, 10, ) 1, xiii. 12 ; Plut. Ant. 18, who calls him Cotylo.) COTYS or COTYTTO (Ko'ruy or KotuttcJ), a Thracian divinity, whose festival, the Cotyttia {Did. of Ant. s. v.), resembled that of the Phrygian Cybele, and was celebrated on hills with riotous proceedings. In later times her worship was in- troduced at Athens and Corinth, and was connect- ed, like that of Dionysus, with licentious frivolity. Her worship appears to have spread even as far as Italy and Sicily. Those who celebrated her fes- tival were called fidirrai, from the purifications which were originally connected with the solem- nity. (Strab. x. p. 470 ; Hesych. Suid. s. vr. KoTuy, Stoo-wTTjs ; Herat. Epod. xvii. 56 ; Juven. ii. 92; Virg. Catal. v. 19; A. Meineke, Quaest. Seen. p. 41, &c.) [L. S.] COTYS (KoTvs). 1. A king of Paphlagonia, seems to have been the same whom Xenophon (Anab. v. 5. § 12, &c.) calls Corylas. Otys also is only another form of the name. A vasssd origi- nally of the Persian throne, he had thrown off his allegiance to Artaxerxes II., and, when summoned to court, as a test probably of his loyalty, had re- fused obedience. He therefore listened readily to the recommendation of Spithridates to enter into alliance with Sparta, and having met Agesilaus for this purpose on his entrance into Paphlagonia, he left with him a considerable reinforcement for his array. For this service Agesilaus rewarded Spi- thridates by negotiating a marriage for his daugh- ter with Cotys, B. c. 395. (Xen. Hell. iv. ]. § 3, &c.) The subject of the present article has been identified by some with Thyus, whom Datames conquered and carried prisoner to Artaxerxes about B. c. 364 ; but this conjecture does not appear to rest on any valid grounds. (See Schneider, ad Xen. Nell. I. c.) [Thvcs.] 2. King of Thrace from b. c. 382 to 358. (See Suid. s. v., where his reign is said to have lasted twenty-four years.) It is not, however, till to- wards the end of this period that we find anything recorded of him. In b. c. 364 he appears as an enemy of the Athenians, the main point of dispute being the possession of the Thracian Chersonesus, and it was at this time that he first availed himself of the aid of the adventurer Charidemus on his desertion from the Athenian service [see p. 684, b.]. He also secured the valuable assistance of Iphicrates, to whom he gave one of his daughtei-s in marriage, and who did not scrapie to take part with his father-in-law against his country. (Dem. c. Aristocr. pp. 663, ^^9., 672 ; Pseudo-Aristot. Oecon. ii. 26 ; Nep. Tphicr. 3 ; Anaxandr. ap. Athen. iv. p. 131.) In b. c. 362, Miltocythes, a powerful chief, revolted from Cotys, and engaged the Athenians on his side by promising to cede the Chersonesus to them ; but Cotys sent them a letter, outbidding his adversary in promises, and the Athenians passed a decree in the king's favour. It has been thought that this was the same decree which conferred on him the gift of citizenship. (See Thiriwall's Greece^ vol. v. p. 217 ; Ep. Phil. ad Ath. p. 161, where he is called " Sitalces.")