Phocas
Phocas was a centurion who became Byzantine emperor by mutiny, ruled eight years, and was torn apart in the palace. He was a junior officer in the Danube army — a centurion or a low-ranking staff officer, which is the point everyone makes about him — when the troops mutinied in 602 over the emperor Maurice's order to winter beyond the river rather than return to quarters, and over pay. Maurice had been a competent soldier and a disastrous manager of money. He had refused to ransom 12,000 prisoners from the Avars, who killed them, and had cut army rations. The army marched on Constantinople and proclaimed Phocas, who was acclaimed by a population that had rioted against Maurice over bread. He had Maurice executed at Chalcedon, and the emperor's five sons killed in front of him first. The reign that followed is described by every source as a disaster, though the sources were written under his successor and had every reason to say so. What is not disputed is what happened on the frontiers: Khosrow II of Persia used the murder of Maurice, who had restored him to his throne, as a pretext, and took Syria, Palestine and eventually Egypt; the Avars and Slavs overran the Balkans; and Phocas answered internal opposition with executions and mutilations. Heraclius, the exarch of Africa, sent a fleet in 610. Phocas was dragged before him, mutilated and killed, and his body burned in the forum. He is the emperor whose column still stands in the Roman Forum, the last monument raised there.
- Lived: 547 CE – 610 CE
- Nationality: Byzantine
- Roles: emperor, head_of_state, military_leader
