A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

3. A king of the Odrysae in Thrace. He was originally an ally of Rome, but was forced into an alliance against her with Perseus, to whom he gave hostages for his fidelity, and supplied a force of 2000 men. When Perseus was conquered by Aemilius Paullus in B. C. 168, Bites, the son of Cotys, was taken prisoner and carried to Rome, and his father sent ambassadors to offer any sum of money for his freedom, and to account for his own conduct in having sided with Macedonia. The Roman senate did not admit the excuse of Cotys as a valid one, but they made a flourish of generosity, and released the prince unransomed. Cotys is honourably recorded as differing widely from the generality of his countrymen in sobriety, gentleness, and cultivation of mind. (Plb. 27.10, 30.12; Suid. s.v. Liv. 42.29, 51, 57, 59, 67, 43.18, 45.42.)