PHOCAS, MIB 26, Date 607-610 AD, Gold Tremissis Constantinople Byzanz, Cross, Victory

★ A rarere Tremissis issue from Phocas in a near extremely fine condition - beautiful style of Phocas portrait - full weight - big 18mm diameter Tremissis flan ★
Imperator Caesar Flavius Focas Augustus
Reign: Phocas
Mint: Constantinople
Date: 607/610 AD
Nominal: Tremissis
Material: Gold
Diameter: 18mm
Weight: 1.46g
Reference: DOC 18
Reference: MIB 26
Reference: Sear 633
Obverse: Diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust of Phocas right, seen from front
Inscription: dN FOCAS P P AVC
Translation: Dominus Noster Focas Perpetuus Augustus
Translation: Our Lord, Focas, perpetual August
Reverse: Cross potent
Inscription: VICTORI FOCAS AVC CONOB
Translation: Victoria Focas Augustorum, Constantinopolis Obryzum
Translation: The victory of Phocas the Augustus, Constantinople 1/72 pound pure gold
Comment: Phocas (Fokas, Focas or Phokas; born after 547 AD in Thrace; died 5 October 610 AD in Constantinople) was emperor of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire from 602 to 610 AD. The first successful usurper in Eastern Roman history, he is traditionally regarded as a despotic ruler whose rule is said to have shaken the Eastern Roman Empire. The opposition in Constantinople succeeded in conspiring with Herakleios the Elder, the exarch of Carthage and father of the later emperor of the same name, despite the "police state" that Phocas, according to the sources, had established for his protection. Apparently, some powerful provincial governors also played a role, as did Phocas' own son-in-law Priskos, who commanded the guard of the excubitores. In 608 AD, the revolt began in Carthage and grew into a civil war.
The nephew of the elder Herakleios, Niketas, conquered Alexandria in 609 AD in fierce battles. When the rebels had militarily secured the rich Eastern Roman provinces of Africa and Egypt, the son of the exarch, the younger Herakleios, moved from Carthage with the fleet against Constantinople in 610 AD. He did not yet claim the title Augustus, but called himself consul together with his father. As soon as the masts of the fleet became visible on the Sea of Marmara, a revolt is said to have broken out in Constantinople; however, there are indications that Herakleios was in fact in the Sea of Marmara for a longer period of time while his followers organised the coup in the city. The fighting began in early October 610 AD. Phokas had assigned part of the defence to the Circus parties; but the Green party, which was supposed to guard the Sophia harbour, defected to Herakleios and landed his men. The comes Orientis Bonosus, loyal to Phocas, was wounded in the fighting and subsequently slain by the excubitores, whom their commander Priskos had persuaded to defect from Phocas. Two days later, the patricius Probus and the curopalatus Photius also changed sides and arrested Phocas in the palace. According to reports, Phocas was dragged into the street by his beard and taken to the admiral's ship in front of Herakleios. When the latter saw Phokas trembling for his life before him, he reportedly asked him, "You ruled the empire?" Phokas reportedly asked him the counter question, "Will you do better?" According to reports, Phokas was beheaded, mutilated and put on display. According to other sources, however, Phokas had already been murdered when Herakleios arrived in Constantinople, so the exchange of words between the two is probably fictitious. The sources agree that Phocas' head was paraded through the city on a lance, as was the custom for overthrown emperors. The corpses of his brother Domentiolus and his supporters Bonosus and Leontius were also presented to the people for desecration.
Phocas' reign is in any case a clear caesura in the history of the Eastern Roman Empire. During his reign, which fell in a time of upheaval, Constantinople apparently temporarily failed as a power of order. At that time, the willingness of the Germanic kingdoms to recognise Eastern Rome as a supreme power and overlord also seems to have waned. Thus Phocas acted less by deeds than by omission on the one hand and destruction on the other, although objectivity must concede on many points that the difficult economic and military situation of the empire would probably have overtaxed other rulers. Thus, it can be said that Phocas was the last emperor of late antiquity, while his successor Herakleios ushered in the Eastern Roman early Middle Ages through his reforms and thus ensured the continuity of the empire.