v08_0766 - FOCAS Demi-follis

PHOCAS

(23/11/602-5/10/610)

Phocas succeeded Maurice Tiberius who had just been assassinated while trying to flee from Constantinople and take refuge with his friend Chosroes II, king of the Sassanids. To avenge his friend, the Sassanid resumed hostilities against the Byzantines and invaded Syria and Asia Minor. He seized Caesarea of Cappadocia and Chalcedony. Meanwhile, the Avars spread across the Balkans, sowing death in their path. The Empire seemed on the verge of breaking up when a revolt broke out in Carthage, led by Heraclius and his father, Exarch of Carthage. They drove out Phocas who was executed in 610.