The general Bardas Phokas, nephew of the murdered Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas, is a scion of the Phokas family, the empire’s most prominent aristocratic clan in the tenth century.

His father Leo Phokas the Younger had been a curopalates and brother to Nikephoros.

Even as a young man, Bardas had gained a reputation for his great expertise in the science of war, but if his military career had been quick to peak, it is even quicker to collapse.

He is proclaimed Emperor by troops stationed at Caesarea, but their rebellion is extinguished by another skilled commander, Bardas Skleros.

Phokas and his relatives are captured and exiled to the island of Chios, where he will spend the following seven years.