John I Tzimiskes
If his military career was quick to peak, it was even quicker to collapse. Upon his uncle's death in 969, Phokas and his family rebelled against the new emperor and their own cousin, John I Tzimiskes. Bardas was proclaimed emperor by troops stationed at Caesarea, but their rebellion was extinguished by another skilled commander, Bardas Skleros. Phokas and his relatives were captured and exiled to the island of Chios, where he would spend the following seven years.