 His unnamed father was "logothetes ton agelon", and he was possibly the grandson of a namesake 13th-century official who was a friend and correspondent of Patriarch Gregory II of Constantinople.Of his career, it is only known that Phakrases served as "parakoimomenos" under Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos (r. 1282–1328).Maximos Planoudes intended to teach him, and a manuscript names him as the author of a list of offices in verse.