Emperor Flavius Phocas Augustus was emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, between 602-610. He declared himself emperor after capturing Constantinople and killing the then-Emperor Maurice. Taking the empire in this manner made him highly distrustful of the elite of Constantinople, so he installed his relatives into positions of power and brutally purged anyone who opposed him. To secure his power he then garnered the favor of the Pope in Rome. He issued an edict conceding to Boniface III the primacy of the Church of Rome not only in the Western Churches but also in that of Constantinople and all the Eastern Churches in 606. This has for centuries been to the exasperation of the Patriarchs of the Eastern Orthodox Church. In 608 Phocas bestowed upon the Pope the Pantheon of Rome, a temple formerly dedicated to Cybele and all the gods, and thenceforth to the Virgin Mary and all the martyrs.

A monumental column was erected in the Roman Forum in honor of Phocas in 608. The column has been determined to have originally been created in the 2nd century as part of an unknown structure and was repurposed to honor Phocas.