The Column of Phocas: Rome's Last Imperial Monument

In 608 AD, a gilded statue of Emperor Phocas was raised atop a towering Corinthian column in the Roman Forum — the last imperial monument ever built there. But Phocas was a bloody usurper who had seized power after a mutiny, and within two years he would be overthrown and executed. This episode unpacks the strange story of that column: who paid for it, why it was erected, and what its lonely survival tells us about the end of the ancient city. We explore the political chaos of early 7th-century Byzantium, the role of Pope Boniface IV (who dedicated the column), the symbolic power of public monuments, and how the Column of Phocas became a silent witness to the Forum's decay. With names like Phocas, Boniface IV, Heraclius, the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna, and the Curia Julia, we trace a line from the last imperial gesture to the medieval reclamation of Rome's ruins. #ColumnOfPhocas #Phocas #BonifaceIV #Heraclius #ByzantineEmpire #RomanForum #LastImperialMonument #EarlyMiddleAges #Rome #ExarchateOfRavenna #PatriarchSmaragdus #CuriaJulia #ImperialPropaganda #7thCentury #AncientRome #MedievalRome #FexingoHistory #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo