Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/351

Rh secretariis ; Athanasius, the minister of finances ; David, master of the palace, and many others be- sides great numbers of inferior people, who all suffered death under the most horrible torments. The tyrant's fury, the devastations of the Avars, the alarming success of the Persians, threw the empire into consternation and despair. Dara, the bulwark of the empire towards the Tigris, was taken by Chosroes in 606 ; Edessa, of no less importance, shared its fate ; Syria was a heap of ruins ; Mesopotamia yielded to the king ; whoso- ever was suspected of having been a friend to Mauricius, or of being opposed to the present state of things, was seen bleeding under the axe of the executioner. At last Phocas 'insulted his former favourite Crispus, the husband of his only daughter Domentia, who had vainly endeavoured to produce a change in the conduct of the emperor. Crispus, a sensible and well-disposed man, looked out for assistance, and fully aware of the chances which any conspiracy ran that was carried on in the corrupted capital, he sought it at the farthest extremity of the empire, in Mauritania. Hera- clius, exarch of Africa, was the person upon whom his choice fell. Confiding in his strength and the love of the Africans, Heraclius entered into the plans of Crispus, and began to show his sentiments by prohibiting the exportation of corn from the ports of Africa and Egypt, from whence Constan- tinople used to draw its principal supplies. The consequence was, as was expected, discontent in the capital. Although urged by Crispus to declare himself openly, Heraclius wisely continued his policy during two years. Meanwhile, the name of Phocas was execrated throughout the whole empire ; and owing to a mad order which he gave for the baptism of all the Jews in his dominions, a terrible riot broke out in Alexandria. Shortly before this, the Persians, after having routed Domentiolus near Edessa, inundated all Asia Mi- nor, appeared at Chalcedon, opposite Constanti- nople, and laden with booty retired at the approach of the winter (609—610). This led to riots in Constantinople, and a bloody strife between the Blues and the Greens. Phocas was insulted by the populace, and the means he chose to restore quiet were only calculated to increase the troubles ; for by a formal decree he incapacitated every ad- herent of the green faction from holding any office, either civil or military. Now, at the proper mo- ment, Heraclius, the eldest son of the exarch Heraclius, left the shores of Africa with a fleet, and his cousin Nicetas set out at the head of an army for Constantinople, where Crispus was ready to receive and assist them without the tyrant hav- ing the slightest presentiment of the approaching storm. Their success is related in tlie life of Heraclius. On the third of October, 610, Con- stantinople was in the hands of Heraclius, after a sharp contest with the mercenaries of Phocas, who spent the ensuing night in a fortified palace, which was defended by a strong body. The guard fled during the night. Early iii the morning the senator Photius approached it with a small band, and finding tho place unguarded, entered and seized upon Phocas, whom they put into a boat and paraded through the fleet. He was then brought before Heraclius on board the imperial galley. Heraclius, forgetting his dignity, felled the captive monster to the ground, trampled upon him with his feet, and charged him with his abominable government. " Wilt thou govern bet- ter," was the insolent answer of the fallen tyrant. After suffering many tortures and insults, Phocaa had his head struck off. His body was dragged through the streets, and afterwards burned, together with that of Domentiolus, who had fallen in tha battle. Phocas, the most blood-thirsty tyrant that ever disgraced the throne of Constantinople, was as ugly in body as monstrous in mind. He was short, beardless, with red hair, shaggy eyebrows ; and a great scar disfigured his face all the more, as it became black when his passions were roused. Heraclius was crowned immediately after the death of his rival. (Theoph. p. 244, &c. ; Cedren. p. 399, &c. ; Chron. Pasch. p. 379—383 ; Zonar. vol. ii. p. 77, &c. in the Paris ed. ; Simocatta, viii. c. 7, &c.) [W. P.]

PHOCAS, grammarian. [Foca.]

PHO'CAS, JOANNES. [Joannes, No. 100.]

PHOCAS, the name of an engraver of gems, which appears on a stone described by Caylus (Reciueil vii. pi. xxvii.). [P. S.]

PHO'CION, the Athenian general and statesman, son of Phocus, was a man of humble origin, and appears to have been born in B. c. 402 (see Clint. F. H. sub annis 376, 317). According to Plutarch he studied under Plato and Xenocrates, and if we may believe the statement in Suidas (s. v. ), Diogenes also numbered him among his disciples. He distin- guished himself for the first time under his friend Chabrias, in B. c. 376, at the battle of Naxos, in which he commanded the left wing of the Athenian fleet, and contributed in a great measure to the victory [Chabrias]. After the battle Chabrias sent him to the islands to demand their contri- butions and offered him a squadron of twenty ships for the service ; but Phocion refused them, with the remark that they were too few to act against an enemy, and too many to deal with friends ; and sailing to the several allies with only one galley, he obtained a large supply by his frank and conciliatory bearing. Plutarch tells us that his skill and gallantry at the battle of Naxos caused his countrymen thenceforth to regard him as one likely to do them good service as a general. Yet for many years, duririg which Chabrias, Iphi- crates, and Tiniotheus chiefly filled the public eye, we do not find Phocion mentioned as occupied prominently in any capacity. But we cannot sup- pose that he held himself aloof all this time from active business, though we know that he was never anxious to be employed by the state, and may well believe that he had imbibed from Plato principles and visions of social polity, which must in a measure have indisposed him for public life, though they did not actually keep him from it. In B. c. 351 he undertook, together with Evagoras, the command of the forces which had been collected by Idrieus, prince of Caria, for the purpose of re- ducing Cyprus into submission to Artaxerxes III. (Ochus), and they succeeded in conquering the whole island, with the exception of Salamis, where Pnytagoras held out against them until he found means of reconciling himself to the Persian king. [Evagoras, No. 2.] To the next year ( B.C. 350) Phocioii's expedition to Euboea and the battle of Tamynae are referred by Clinton, whom we have followed above in Vol. I. p. 568, a ; but his grounds for this date are not at all satisfactory, and the eveiita in q.uestion should probably be referred to z 2