Unto the foes of him whom he had slayne?
T. Sackville,
A Mirrour for Magistraytes
("The Complaynt," 1587).
Bes'sus a cowardly bragging captain, a sort of Bobadil or Vincent de la Rosa. Captain Bessus, having received a challenge, wrote word back that he could not accept the honor for thirteen weeks, as he had already 212 duels on hand, but he was much grieved that he could not appoint an earlier day.—Beaumont and Fletcher, King and No King (1619).
Rochester I despise for want of wit.
So often does he aim, so seldom hit ...
Mean in each action, lewd in every limb,
Manners themselves are mischievous in him ...
For what a Bessus has he always lived!