John Crucis

John Crucis (also John Kroukis; ; ) was a Byzantine rebel, arsonist and demarch of the Greens. He was appointed demarch by Emperor Phocas in late 602. However, he soon led the Greens in a riot, committing arson throughout large areas of Constantinople. In 603, he was publicly burned alive on the orders of Phocas.

Biography Theophanes the Confessor records that, in 602, the Greens appealed to the emperor Maurice, saying "Constantine and Domentziolus, The Greek could alternatively be punctuated to read "Constantine and Domentziolus, o three-times august master of the Romans, are agitating your own colour. Let Crucis be our manager!" The former interpretation implies that Crucis was appointed demarch against the Greens' wishes, while the latter implies that the Greens were divided between a pro-Crucis and an anti-Crucis faction. Historian David Michael Olster hypothesised that the pro-Crucis faction included Germanus' agent Hebdomites, while the anti-Crucis faction was supported by Sergius (Crucis' predecessor as demarch), Constantine Lardys, and Domentziolus.

Shortly after Maurice's overthrow and murder by Phocas, Crucis was appointed to replace Sergius, the first known demarch of the Greens. However, Crucis soon led the Greens in a riot, in which they set fire to a large area around the Mese, from the Palace of Lausus and the praetorium in the east as far as the Forum of Constantine in the west.

The Chronicon Paschale states that Crucis was "was burnt in the Mese between the praetorium of the city prefect and the Forum." Most historians interpret this to mean that Crucis was captured by Phocas and publicly executed by burning. This was in line with other cruelties perpetrated against the Greens by Phocas, who according to Theophanes "maimed many persons and hung their limbs in the Sphendone, while others he beheaded and others he put in sacks and drowned in the sea." These orders were carried out by Cosmas, possibly the former Blue demarch whom Phocas had appointed as urban prefect.