PHOCAS -- the MOST MALIGNED of all BYZANTINE EMPERORS. Start Price USD 0.99 Current Price USD 305.00 Time Left - Bid Count 17 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Friday, July 04, 2008 End Time Friday, July 11, 2008 Location Vienna See more about 'PHOCAS -- the MOST MALIGNED of all BYZANTINE EMPERORS. ' Description                                                            Phocas. Struck 607-609. AV Solidus (4.31 gm.; 21 mm.).  Graphiti on obverse.                                                                             Obv.: d N FOCAS PERP AV, crowned facing bust, holding globus cruciger.                                         Rev.:  VICTORIA AVGU, angel standing facing, holding long P-headed cross & globus cruciger; E/CONOB.                                                                                                          Sear  0620.                                                                                                 Phocas was, and to a certain extent remains, one of the most maligned of all Byzantine emperors.By 600, he was a subaltern officer in the Roman army that served during Maurice`s Balkan campaigns, and apparently was viewed as a leader by his fellow soldiers. He was a member of a delegation sent by the army in that year to Constantinople to submit grievances to the government. The Avars had defeated the Byzantines in 598 and taken a large number of prisoners, and demanded a ransom. Maurice refused to pay and all the prisoners were killed, causing consternation among the army. The delegation's complaints were rejected, and, according to several sources, Phocas himself was slapped and humiliated by prominent court officials at this time.Phocas's rule was welcomed at first by many because he lowered taxes, which had been high during the reign of Maurice. Fulsome letters of courtly praise from Pope Gregory I are attested. The pope, Saint Gregory, appreciated his acceptance of the reforms he had begun. The agrarian reforms of the Church in Italy and particularly in Sicily had been followed in Egypt by the Orthodox Patriarchs. The reform consisted in naming "rectores" as administrators of the latifunds and eliminating all sort of contractors and parasites who exploited the tenant farmers, reducing them to misery, while undermining the income of the owners. The Church needed money to pay for hospitals, maternities, orphanotrophies - all social infrastructures that the state had left to the clergy. Phocas faced great opposition and was regarded by many as a "populist". His coup d'état was the first violent regime change in Constantinople since its foundation by Constantine. He is reported to have responded to this opposition with cruelty, allegedly killing thousands in an effort to keep control of the government. This was probably an exaggeration. No histories actually written under Phocas survive, and thus we are dependent for information on historians writing under his successors, who had an interest in blackening Phocas' reputation.In 608, the Exarch of Africa and his son, both named Heraclius, began a revolt against Phocas, issuing coins depicting the two of them in consular (though not imperial) regalia. By 610, the younger Heraclius had reached the vicinity of Constantinople, and most of the military loyal to Phocas had gone down in defeat or defected. Some prominent Byzantine aristocrats came to meet Heraclius, and he arranged to be crowned and acclaimed as Emperor. When he reached the capital, the Excubitors, an elite imperial guard unit led by Phocas's own son-in-law Priscus, deserted to Heraclius, and he entered the city without serious resistance. Phocas was captured and brought before Heraclius, who asked, "Is this how you have ruled, wretch?" Phocas replied, "And will you rule better?" Enraged, Heraclius personally killed and beheaded Phocas on the spot. Phocas's body was mutilated, paraded through the capital, and burned.                                                                         Every item offered by VIVITE LAETI is unconditionally guaranteed to be genuine & authentic. Place a Bid!