Phocas

Names
	Focas

Phocas
Phocas
	7th-century bronze steelyard-weight housed at theBritish Museum,probably representing Emperor Phocas
Byzantine emperor
Reign	23 November 602 –5 October 610
Predecessor	MauriceandTheodosius
Successor	Heraclius
Born	547; ThraciaorCappadocia
Died	5 October 610(aged 62–63); Constantinople
Spouse	Leontia
Issue	Domentzia
Names
Names
	Focas
Mother	Domentzia
Religion	Chalcedonian Christianity

Phocas(Latin:Focas;Greek:Φωκάς,translit.Phōkás;547 – 5 October 610) wasByzantine emperorfrom 602 to 610. Initially a middle-ranking officer in theEastern Roman army,Phocas rose to prominence as a spokesman for dissatisfied soldiers in their disputes with the court of the EmperorMaurice.When the army revolted in 602, Phocas emerged as the natural leader of the mutiny. The revolt proved to be successful and led to the capture ofConstantinopleand the overthrow of Maurice on 23 November 602 with Phocas declaring himself emperor the same day.

Phocas deeply mistrusted the uncooperative elite of Constantinople, to whom he was a usurper and a provincial boor. He, therefore, attempted to base his regime on relatives installed in high military and administrative positions. He immediately faced challenges in domestic and foreign affairs, and responded with little success. He dealt with domestic opposition with increasing ruthlessness that alienated ever wider circles, including some of his own household. At the same time, the Empire was threatened on multiple frontiers.AvarsandSlavsrenewed their destructive raids on the Balkans, and theSasanian Empirelaunched a massiveinvasion of the eastern provinces.Finally, theExarch of Africa,Heraclius the Elder,rebelled against Phocas and gained wide support throughout the empire. Phocas attempted to use border troops to crush the rebellion, but this only resulted in allowing invaders to break into the heartlands of the Empire. Heraclius the Elder's son,Heraclius,took Constantinople on 5 October 610, executed Phocas the same day, and declared himself emperor.

Surviving sources are universally extremely hostile to Phocas. He is described as an incompetent tyrant and usurper who brutally purged any real or perceived opposition and left the Empire wide open to foreign aggression. The veracity of these sources is difficult to ascertain since emperors of theHeraclian dynastywho succeeded Phocas had a vested interest in tarnishing his reputation.

Life

Early life

Phocas was probably born in 547, as he was said to be aged 55 when he became emperor.^[5]He and his family were likely ofThraco-Roman^[6]orCappadocian^[7]origin. The life of Phocas before his usurpation of the Byzantine Empire's throne is obscure, but it is known that he served as a low-ranking officer under EmperorMaurice.

Usurpation

In 602, the Byzantine army rebelled againstEmperor Maurice,largely due to exhaustion and outrage over orders to continue campaigning north of the Danube in winter as well as previous cuts in wages. The army sent Phocas to Constantinople as a spokesperson on behalf of the legions, whereupon he declared himself emperor.^[8]On 23 November 602, Phocas was crowned by the patriarchCyriacusin the church ofSt John the Baptistat theHebdomon.He entered Constantinople two days later, on 25 November.^[9]

Maurice fled the city with his sons,TheodosiusandTiberius,but they were soon after captured and executed. Maurice's wife and daughters were put in the monastery of Nea Metanoia and later killed.^[10]

Foreign conflict

Despite the executions of the previous emperor and his dynastic successors, Phocas remained in a precarious position, which led him to devote his energy to purging enemies and destroying conspiracies. Because of this focus, and the local resistance he faced all throughout the Byzantine Empire, he was unable to confront foreign attacks on the empire's frontiers. TheAvarsandSlavslaunched numerous raids into the Balkan provinces of the Byzantine Empire, and theSassanian Empirelaunchedan invasion of the eastern provincesof the empire.

The Avars were able to take all land in the Balkans north of Thessalonica. The populations of Christian cities were slaughtered or captured. The Byzantines transferred most of their forces to the eastern front due to the threat from the Persians.

The Sassanid Persians had formerly been at peace with Maurice as a result of a treaty they made with him in 591. After Phocas usurped and killed Maurice, the Persians invaded the empire in 603.^[11]The Sassanids rapidly occupied the eastern provinces, leading theMagister militum per Orientem,Narses,to defect to their side. Phocas swiftly dealt with him, by inviting him to Constantinople under the promise of safe conduct, then having him burnt alive when he arrived. By 607, the Sassanids had occupiedMesopotamia,Syria,and much ofAsia Minor,as far as theBosphorus.^[12]

By the time his reign ended in 610, the Persians had already crossed the Euphrates and taken Zenobia. Contemporary accounts describe the Persians as being very brutal to the occupied population. The 'miracle of St Demetrios' described the carnage:

[T]he devil raised the whirlwind of hatred in all the East, Cilicia, Asia, Palestine and all the lands from there to Constantinople: the factions, no longer content simply to spill blood in public places, attacked homes, slaughtered women, children, the aged, and the young who were sick; those whose youth and frailty impeded their escape from the massacre, [saw] their friends, acquaintances, and parents pillaged, and after all that, even set on fire so that the most wretched inhabitant was not able to escape.^[10]

Administration

TheColumn of Phocasin Rome

Phocas was unable to control either the state or the army effectively.^[13]Due to his distrust of the bulk of Constantinople's elite, with whom he had had no connection before becoming emperor, frequently filling senior military positions with his relatives. He installed: his brotherDomentziolusasMagister officiorumin 603; his nephewDomentziolusasMagister militum per Orientemin 604, giving him command over the eastern provinces; and his brotherComentiolusasMagister militum per Orientemaround 610. All three remained loyal to Phocas until they were killed by Heraclius.^[14]Of the three known male blood-relatives of Phocas, all three were appointed to senior posts, two in military positions and one in an administrative position. Phocas also appointedPriscus,who was his son-in-law by way of his marriage to Phocas' daughterDomentzia,asComes excubitorum,the captain of theExcubitors,in 603.^[15]

Italian policy

When Phocas was emperor, Byzantine Italy was under continual attack fromLombards,but the Byzantine government spent few resources to aid Italy due to troubles elsewhere. In the entirety of Phocas' reign, the only public structure built with taxes in the city of Rome was a statue of Phocas completed in 608.^[10]

When Phocas usurped Maurice,Gregory the Greatwas bishop of Rome and he praised Phocas as a restorer of liberty. Gregory referred to him as a pious and clement lord, and compared his wife (the new Empress) Leontia to Marcian's consort Pulcheria (whom the Council of Chalcedon called the new Helena). In May 603, portraits of the imperial couple arrived in Rome and were ordered by the pope to be placed in the oratory of St. Caesarius in the imperial palace on the Palatine.^[10]

Imperial approval was needed at that time to appoint a new pope, but the approval was delayed by a year upon the death of Pope Sabinian in 606, as Phocas was occupied with killing internal enemies that threatened his rule.^[10]He finally gave approval in 607 andBoniface IIIbecame pope. Phocas declared Rome "the head of all churches".^[10]Shortly afterwards, Phocas had a gilded statue of himself erected on amonumental columnin theRoman Forum,known as theColumn of Phocas.

Downfall

The deposition of Phocas, 610 AD

Despite being appointed asComes excubitorum,Priscus was not loyal to Phocas, and in 608 he appealed toHeraclius the Elder,theExarch of Carthage,to rebel against Phocas.^[15]Heraclius the Elder agreed, and began to prepare to invade, by cutting off the supply of grain to Constantinople and assembling a large army and navy. Heraclius the Elder launched his invasion in 609, with his nephew,Nicetas,marching troops overland to the capital, and his son,Heraclius,leading a naval invasion ofThessalonica,before marching to Constantinople. Heraclius arrived outside Constantinople on 3 October 610, and seized the city on 5 October. Heraclius was declared emperor on the same day, and swiftly had Phocas executed.^[16]

Legacy

Phocas is generally depicted as a villain by Byzantines and modern historians alike, but some of the earliest sources available about Phocas' reign were written during the reign of Heraclius. The writings that survive are not reliably neutral and the writers would have good reason to demonize him in order to strengthen the rule of Heraclius.^[17]

Miniature 41 from theConstantine ManassesChronicle, 14th century: Usurper Phocas and the assault against him from the armies of Heraclius

In the cultural sphere, the reign of Phocas is marked by the change of Imperial fashion set byConstantine the Great(r. 306–337). Constantine and all his successors, exceptJulian the Apostate(r. 361–363), were beardless. Phocas again introduced the wearing of thebeard.This fashion lasted until the end of the Byzantine Empire.^[18]

On 19 February 607, Emperor Phocas appointed Boniface III as the new bishop of Rome, then Phocas issued an imperial decree by the Roman government, recognizing Boniface III as the "Head of all Churches" and "Universal Bishop". Phocas transferred the title of "Universal Bishop" from theDiocese of Constantinopleto theDiocese of Rome.Boniface sought and obtained a decree from Phocas in which he restated that "the See of Blessed Peter the Apostle should be the head of all the Churches" and ensured that the title of "Universal Bishop" belonged exclusively to the Bishop of Rome. This act effectively ended the attempt byPatriarch Cyriacus of Constantinopleto establish himself as "Universal Bishop".^[19]^{[unreliable source?]}

In calling the Pope the "head of all churches", Phocas' decree has been important in discussions aboutpapal primacyandpapal supremacy.Some Protestanthistoricistcommentators have seen the decree of Phocas (usually taken to be in 606) as having eschatological significance.^[20]For example, in hisHorae Apocalypticae,Edward Bishop Elliotttook the1260 daysofRevelation 11:3 to be the period between 606 and theUnification of Italyin 1866.

Notes

^His name is sometimes given asFlavius Niceforus Focas.^[3]^[4]However, this is not corroborated by other sources and may be out of confusion with the laterNikephoros II Phokas.

References

^Treadgold, Warren (1997).A History of the Byzantine State and Society.Stanford University Press. p. 237.ISBN 978-0-8047-7937-1.
^"Steelyard-weight".British Museum.
^Alcides Vargas Echegaray (15 June 2021).Sin Fronteras.Caligrama.ISBN 9788418435485.
^William of Tyre (1893). Colvin, Mary Noyes (ed.).Godeffroy of Boloyne; or, The siege and conqueste of Jerusalem.Early English Text Society (originally from the University of Michigan). p. 335.Nicephorus Phocas, Emperor of the East from 602–610.
^PLRE3B p. 1030
^Bury, John Bagnell(1889).A History of the Later Roman Empire: From Arcadius to Irene (395 A.D. to 800 A.D.).Vol. 2.London:Macmillan and Co.p. 197.The reign of Phocas the Thracian, which lasted for eight years, was the realisation of that dreaded something whose approach had long been felt.
^Charanis, Peter(1972).Studies on the Demography of the Byzantine Empire: Collected Studies.Variorum Reprints. p. 221.ISBN 978-0-902089-25-9.The name Phocas appears as early as the fifth century; it is also attested for the sixth century; and there is of course, the Emperor Phocas, apparently of Cappadocian origin, who overthrew Maurice and was in turn overthrown by Heraclius early in the seventh century.
^"Phocas | Emperor, Biography, History, & Facts | Britannica".britannica.Retrieved23 September2024.
^Chronicon Paschale602.
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^fEkonomou, Andrew.Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes.Le xing ton books, 2007
^Kleinhenz 2017,p. 890.
^Carr 2015,p. 80.
^Parnell 2016,p. 6.
^Parnell 2016,p. 136.
^^a ^bParnell 2016,p. 137.
^Chronicon Paschale610.Heraclius arrived on 3 October, "a Saturday" (correct). However, the chronicle later states that he entered the city on 6 October, "a Monday". The 5th is clearly intended.
^Kevin, Crow (2002)."Phocas".De Imperatoribus Romanis.Retrieved25 September2019.
^"Byzantine first & last times".Byzantium.xronikon.Retrieved7 November2012.
^"Apostate church organization: 588 - 606 AD: The final dog fight for control of the world!".bible.ca.Retrieved23 October2021.
^Newsom, Carol A.(2014).Daniel: A Commentary.Westminster John Knox Press.p. 317.ISBN 9781611645392.Retrieved8 July2020.

Bibliography

Carr, John (2015).Fighting Emperors of Byzantium.Pen and Sword.ISBN 9781473856400.
Crawford, Peter (2013).The War of the Three Gods: Romans, Persians and the Rise of Islam.Pen and Sword.ISBN 9781473829510.
Kleinhenz, Christopher (2017).Routledge Revivals: Medieval Italy (2004): An Encyclopedia.Taylor & Francis.ISBN 9781351664431.
Parnell, David Alan (2016).Justinian's Men: Careers and Relationships of Byzantine Army Officers, 518-610.Springer.ISBN 9781137562043.

External links

Media related toPhocasat Wikimedia Commons

Regnal titles
Phocas Non-dynastic Born:unknownDied:610
Preceded by Maurice	Byzantine Emperor 602–610	Succeeded by Heraclius
Preceded by Mauricein 583, then lapsed	Roman consul 603	Succeeded by Heraclius the Elder andHeracliusin 608

[5] His name is sometimes given asFlavius Niceforus Focas.^[3]^[4]However, this is not corroborated by other sources and may be out of confusion with the laterNikephoros II Phokas.

[1] Treadgold, Warren (1997).A History of the Byzantine State and Society.Stanford University Press. p. 237.ISBN 978-0-8047-7937-1.

[2] "Steelyard-weight".British Museum.

[3] Alcides Vargas Echegaray (15 June 2021).Sin Fronteras.Caligrama.ISBN 9788418435485.

[4] William of Tyre (1893). Colvin, Mary Noyes (ed.).Godeffroy of Boloyne; or, The siege and conqueste of Jerusalem.Early English Text Society (originally from the University of Michigan). p. 335.Nicephorus Phocas, Emperor of the East from 602–610.

[6] PLRE3B p. 1030

[7] Bury, John Bagnell(1889).A History of the Later Roman Empire: From Arcadius to Irene (395 A.D. to 800 A.D.).Vol. 2.London:Macmillan and Co.p. 197.The reign of Phocas the Thracian, which lasted for eight years, was the realisation of that dreaded something whose approach had long been felt.

[8] Charanis, Peter(1972).Studies on the Demography of the Byzantine Empire: Collected Studies.Variorum Reprints. p. 221.ISBN 978-0-902089-25-9.The name Phocas appears as early as the fifth century; it is also attested for the sixth century; and there is of course, the Emperor Phocas, apparently of Cappadocian origin, who overthrew Maurice and was in turn overthrown by Heraclius early in the seventh century.

[9] "Phocas | Emperor, Biography, History, & Facts | Britannica".britannica.Retrieved23 September2024.

[10] Chronicon Paschale602.

[Ekonomou-11] Ekonomou, Andrew.Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes.Le xing ton books, 2007

[FOOTNOTEKleinhenz2017890-12] Kleinhenz 2017,p. 890.

[FOOTNOTECarr201580-13] Carr 2015,p. 80.

[FOOTNOTEParnell20166-14] Parnell 2016,p. 6.

[FOOTNOTEParnell2016136-15] Parnell 2016,p. 136.

[FOOTNOTEParnell2016137-16] Parnell 2016,p. 137.

[17] Chronicon Paschale610.Heraclius arrived on 3 October, "a Saturday" (correct). However, the chronicle later states that he entered the city on 6 October, "a Monday". The 5th is clearly intended.

[18] Kevin, Crow (2002)."Phocas".De Imperatoribus Romanis.Retrieved25 September2019.

[19] "Byzantine first & last times".Byzantium.xronikon.Retrieved7 November2012.

[20] "Apostate church organization: 588 - 606 AD: The final dog fight for control of the world!".bible.ca.Retrieved23 October2021.

[21] Newsom, Carol A.(2014).Daniel: A Commentary.Westminster John Knox Press.p. 317.ISBN 9781611645392.Retrieved8 July2020.

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