Domentzia was a name shared by the mother of the Byzantine emperor Phocas

Phocas

Phocas was Byzantine Emperor from 602 to 610. He usurped the throne from the Emperor Maurice, and was himself overthrown by Heraclius after losing a civil war.-Origins:...

 (r. 602–610), and a daughter of the same emperor, likely named after her paternal grandmother.

Name

The mother is only named by John of Antioch

John of Antioch (chronicler)

John of Antioch was chronicler in the 7th century. He was a monk, apparently contemporary with Emperor Heraclius . Gelzer identifies the author with the Monophysite Patriarch John of Antioch, who ruled from 630 to 648.John of Antioch's chronicle, Historia chronike, is a universal history...

, who renders her name in Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 as "Dysmenziane" (Δυσμενζιανή). All other occurrences of the name refer to the daughter. The more familiar form "Domentzia" (Δομεντζία) is given by Theophanes the Confessor

Theophanes the Confessor

Saint Theophanes Confessor was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy, who became a monk and chronicler. He is venerated on March 12 in the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Church .-Biography:Theophanes was born in Constantinople of wealthy and noble iconodule parents: Isaac,...

. Anastasius Bibliothecarius

Anastasius Bibliothecarius

Anastasius Bibliothecarius was Head of archives and antipope of the Roman Catholic Church.- Family and education :...

, who translated the work of Theophanes to Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

, renders the name "Domnentzia". The later historian Joannes Zonaras

Joannes Zonaras

Ioannes Zonaras was a Byzantine chronicler and theologian, who lived at Constantinople.Under Emperor Alexios I Komnenos he held the offices of head justice and private secretary to the emperor, but after Alexios' death, he retired to the monastery of St Glykeria, where he spent the rest of his...

 gives the name as "Domnentia" (Δομνεντία), while Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos gives her name as "Dysmenziane", indicating that both women used the same name.

Mother of Phocas

Phocas and his family were likely of Thraco-Roman

Thraco-Roman

The terms Thraco-Roman and Daco-Roman refer to the culture and language of the Thracian and Dacian peoples who were incorporated into the Roman Empire and ultimately fell under the Roman and Latin sphere of influence.-Meaning and usage:...

 origin. The husband of the elder Domentzia is unknown.She had three known sons: Phocas, Comentiolus

Comentiolus (brother of Phocas)

Comentiolus or Komentiolos was the brother of the Byzantine emperor Phocas .Nothing is known of his early life except that he was the son of Domentzia, along with Phocas and the later magister officiorum Domentziolus...

 and Domentziolus

Domentziolus (brother of Phocas)

Domentziolus or Domnitziolus was a brother of the Byzantine emperor Phocas .Phocas and his family were likely of Thraco-Roman origin. Phocas and Domentziolus' mother was named Domentzia. A third brother is known, named Comentiolus.In 603, Phocas appointed Domentziolus as his magister officiorum,...

. The latter seems to have been magister officiorum

Magister officiorum

The magister officiorum was one of the most senior administrative officials in the late Roman Empire and the early centuries of the Byzantine Empire...

by 610. A grandson, also named Domentziolus

Domentziolus (nephew of Phocas)

Domentziolus or Domnitziolus was a nephew of the Byzantine emperor Phocas , appointed curopalates and general in the East during his uncle's reign. He was one of the senior Byzantine military leaders during the opening stages of the Byzantine–Sassanid War of 602–628...

, was granted the title of curopalates

Curopalates

Kouropalatēs, Latinized as curopalates or curopalata and Anglicized as curopalate, was a Byzantine court title, one of the highest from the time of Emperor Justinian I to that of the Komnenoi in the 12th century...

on the ascension of Phocas to the throne in 602.

Daughter of Phocas

The younger Domentzia was a daughter of Phocas and Leontia

Leontia

Leontia was the Empress consort of Phocas of the Byzantine Empire.-Empress:Maurice reigned in the Byzantine Empire from 582 to 602. He led a series of Balkan campaigns and managed to successfully re-establish the Danube as a northern border for his state. By Winter 602, his strategic goals included...

. In 607, she married the general Priscus

Priscus (general)

Priscus was a leading East Roman general during the reigns of the Byzantine emperors Maurice , Phocas and Heraclius . Although the contemporary sources are markedly biased in his favour, Priscus comes across as an effective and capable military leader...

, who served as comes excubitorum, commander of the Excubitors

Excubitors

The Excubitors were founded in circa 460 AD as the imperial guards of the early Byzantine emperors. Their commanders soon acquired great influence and provided a series of emperors in the 6th century...

 bodyguard. As she was the only known child of the Emperor, the marriage effectively made Priscus a heir apparent

Heir apparent

An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....

 to the throne. Her husband fell into disfavour however when the citizenry of Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

 began erecting statues in their honour.

Her marriage took place in the palace of Marina, named after its original owner, a daughter of Arcadius

Arcadius

Arcadius was the Byzantine Emperor from 395 to his death. He was the eldest son of Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of the Western Emperor Honorius...

 and Aelia Eudoxia

Aelia Eudoxia

Aelia Eudoxia was the Empress consort of the Byzantine Emperor Arcadius.-Family:She was a daughter of Flavius Bauto, a Romanised Frank who served as magister militum in the Western Roman army during the 380s. The identity of her father is mentioned by Philostorgius...

. A chariot racing

Chariot racing

Chariot racing was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine sports. Chariot racing was often dangerous to both driver and horse as they frequently suffered serious injury and even death, but generated strong spectator enthusiasm...

 event was arranged to be held in the Hippodrome of Constantinople

Hippodrome of Constantinople

The Hippodrome of Constantinople was a circus that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square named Sultanahmet Meydanı in the Turkish city of Istanbul, with only a few fragments of the original structure surviving...

, in honor of the newlyweds. The leaders of the Blues (Vénetoi) and the Greens (Prásinoi) racing factions (demoi) decided to honor the occasion by erecting statues of the royal family. Thus they placed images of Phocas, Leontia, Domentzia, and Priscus in the Hippodrome. The images of the reigning imperial couple belonged there by tradition, but the latter two implied that Priscus was the heir or co-emperor of Phocas. Phocas was enraged at the implication and ordered the depictions of his daughter and son-in-law to be destroyed.

Phocas further treated the matter as an attempted coup d'état

Coup d'état

A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...

, demanding further investigation of the matter, arresting the demarchs responsible with accusations of treason

Treason

In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...

. While their lives may have been spared due to popular demand, Phocas likely viewed Priscus himself as the culprit, and seems to have started viewing his son-in-law as a potential rival. By alienating Priscus however, Phocas undermined his own hold on the throne. By 608, John of Antioch reports Priscus initiating contact with Heraclius the Elder

Heraclius the Elder

Heraclius the Elder was an East Roman general and the father of Byzantine Emperor Heraclius . Of Armenian origin, the elder Heraclius distinguished himself in the wars against the Sassanid Persians in the 580s. Ca. 600, he was appointed as the Exarch of Africa. In 608, he rebelled with his son...

, the Exarch of Africa

Exarchate of Africa

The Exarchate of Africa or of Carthage, after its capital, was the name of an administrative division of the Eastern Roman Empire encompassing its possessions on the Western Mediterranean, ruled by an exarch, or viceroy...

, and instigating the revolt that would eventually remove Phocas from power.