Lynching of Alexios Apokaukos

Date: June 11, 1345 • Location: Athens, Greece

Inspecting a new prison without being escorted by his bodyguard, the megas doux Alexios Apokaukos, chief minister of the Byzantine Empire, was lynched by the prisoners.

The megas doux was one of the highest positions in the hierarchy of the later Byzantine Empire, denoting the commander-in-chief of the Byzantine navy. It is sometimes also given in English by the half-Latinizations megaduke or megadux. The Greek word δούξ is the Hellenized form of the Latin term dux, meaning leader or commander.