Phocas

Phocas, who lived from 547 to 5 October 610, served as eastern Roman emperor from 602 to 610. A middle-ranking military officer likely of Thraco-Roman or Cappadocian origin, he rose to prominence by advocating for soldiers dissatisfied with Emperor Maurice's court, and when the army mutinied in 602 Phocas emerged as its leader, leading to Maurice's overthrow and execution that November; he was proclaimed emperor on 23 November 602 at age fifty five. His reign, which lasted until 5 October 610, was troubled: he viewed the Constantinopolitan elite with suspicion and staffed key positions with relatives, the Sasanian Empire launched major invasions of the eastern provinces, and his harsh treatment of opponents alienated increasingly wide circles. The exarch of Africa, Heraclius the Elder, rebelled against him with widespread support, and Heraclius's son captured Constantinople and executed Phocas on 5 October 610, becoming emperor himself the same day. Surviving sources are almost universally hostile to Phocas, depicting him as an incompetent tyrant, though historians note the bias of accounts written under his successors. His wife was Leontia and their daughter was Domentzia.