Basil II

Basil II Porphyrogenetus (Greek: Βασίλειος Πορφυρογέννητος, romanized: Basileios Porphyrogennetos; 958 - December 15, 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar Slayer (Greek: ὁ Βουλγαροκτόνος, romanized: ho Boulgaroktónos), was the main Byzantine emperor from 976 until 1025. He and his brother Constantine VIII were crowned before their father, Romanus II, died in 963, but they were too young to rule. The throne therefore passed to two generals, Nicephorus Phocas and John I Tzimisces before he became the main emperor, although his influential great-uncle Basilio Lekapenus remained de facto regent until 985. His reign of 49 years and 11 months was the longest of any Roman emperor since Augustus.

The first years of his administration were dominated by civil wars against two powerful aristocratic generals in Byzantine Anatolia: first Bardas Sclero and then Bardas Phocas, which ended shortly after the death of the latter and the submission of the former in 989 Basil then oversaw the stabilization and expansion of the Byzantine Empire's eastern frontier and the complete subjugation of the First Bulgarian Empire, its main European enemy, after a long struggle. Although the Byzantines had secured a truce with the Fatimid Caliphate in 987-988, he led a campaign against the Caliphate that ended with another truce in 1000. He also led a campaign against the Khazarian Khanate, conquering a part of the Crimea and a series of successful campaigns against the Kingdom of Georgia.

Despite near-constant warfare, Basil distinguished himself as an administrator, reducing the power of the great landed families that dominated the empire's administration and military, filling its treasury to its greatest extent in four centuries. Although his successors were largely incapable rulers, the empire flourished for decades after his death. One of the most important decisions taken during his reign was to offer the hand of his sister Anna Porphyrogeneta to Vladimir I of Kiev in exchange for military support, thus forming the military unit known as the Varangian Guard. His sister's marriage led to the Christianization of Kievan Rus' and the incorporation of her successor states into the Byzantine cultural and religious tradition. Basil II is seen as a national hero in Greece, but he is a despised figure in Bulgaria.

Physical appearance and personality

The courtier and historian Michael Psellos, who was born towards the end of the reign of Basil II, offers a description in his Chronography. Psellos depicts him as a stocky man of shorter than average stature who was nonetheless an impressive figure on horseback. He had pale blue eyes, high arched eyebrows, bushy sideburns—which he was in the habit of curling between his fingers when he was deep in thought of him or angry—and in his later life a sparse beard. He also claims that he was not an articulate speaker and had a loud laugh that convulsed his entire body. He is further described as having ascetic tastes and caring little for the pomp and ceremony of the imperial court, usually wearing a somber robe. dark purple in color, embellished with some of the gems that usually decorated imperial costumes. He is also depicted as an able administrator who left a well-stocked treasury on his death.He allegedly despised literary culture and feigned contempt for the learned classes of Byzantium.

According to the 19th-century historian George Finlay, Basil II saw himself as “prudent, just, and devout; others considered him severe, rapacious, cruel and intolerant. He cared little for Greek learning and he was a type of the highest Byzantine ethic, retaining much more his Roman than Greek origin." The modern historian John Julius Norwich wrote: "No lonelier man ever sat the Byzantine throne. And it is not surprising: Basilio was ugly, dirty, rude, rude, philistine and almost pathologically bad. In short, he was profoundly anti-Byzantine. He only cared about the greatness of his empire. It is not surprising that in the hands of him he reached his heyday ».

Early years and government (960-976)

Basil Coronation as co-emperator, miniature of the Skylitzes Matritensis.

Currency of Nicephorus II (left) and Basil II (right).

Basil II was born in 958. He was porphyrogenetic ("born in the purple"), like his father Romano II and his grandfather Constantine VII; this was the denomination used for children born to a reigning emperor. He was the eldest son of his father and his second wife, the Laconian Greek Theophano, who was the daughter of a poor innkeeper named Craterus and may have originally been from the city of Sparta. He may have had an older sister named Helen (born c. 955). Romanus II succeeded his father as sole emperor after the latter's death in 959. Basil II's father crowned him co-emperor on 22 April 960, and his younger brother Constantine VIII (born 960 or 961, who would eventually rule as sole emperor in 1025-1028) in 962 or 963. The emperor died just two days after the birth of his youngest daughter, Anna, on March 15, 963 at the age of 24. At the time, her unexpected death was commonly thought to have been the result of hemlock poisoning; chroniclers Leo the Deacon and John Escilitzes hinted that Theophanus was responsible, and according to Escilitzes, had been complicit with her husband in an attempted before poisoning Constantine VII.

When Romanus II died in 963, his two sons were too young to rule in their own right. Thus, although the Byzantine Senate confirmed them as emperors with their mother as nominal regent; the de facto power passed for the moment to the paracemomen José Bringas. The empress did not trust Bringas, however, and another of his adversaries was Basilio Lecapeno, -a son illegitimate and eunuch of Emperor Romano I – great-grandfather of Basil II. Lecapenus himself had been a paracemomen of Constantine VII and a great bájulo of Romano II. The famed general Nikephoros Phocas, who had just returned from his conquest of the Emirate of Crete and after a highly successful raid into Cilicia and Syria, culminating in the sack of Aleppo, he was equally hostile to Bringas. Phocas was proclaimed emperor by his men in July and marched on Constantinople. Bringas tried to bring troops to stop the advance of his rival, but the population of the capital supported the general, so he had to escape, leaving his post to Lecapeno, and on August 16, 963, Seals put on his crown.

On September 20, Phocas married Theophane, but trouble arose; It was the second marriage of each spouse and it was thought that the first was the godfather of Basilio II or his brother, perhaps both. Although Polyeuctus, the patriarch of Constantinople, disapproved of the marriage, the church declared it valid. With this support, Phocas secured his legitimacy and became guardian of his stepsons. However, Theophon assassinated him in December 969 and John Tzimisces, the late emperor's nephew and later successor, exiled the assassin. John married Theodora, a sister of Romano II. The new sovereign would rule until his death on January 10, 976, the date on which Basil II acceded to the throne. Immediately afterwards, he had his mother return from the convent where she was exiled.

Single Emperor (976-1025)

Rebellions in Anatolia and alliance with Kievan Rus

Histamenon Basil II (left) and Constantine VIII (right).

Basil II was a very successful horse soldier and through his achievements proved himself a capable general and strong ruler. In the first years of his reign, the administration remained in the hands of Lecapeno. As president of the Byzantine Senate, he was a cunning and talented politician who hoped to manipulate the young emperors. The young Basil II waited and watched without interfering, devoting himself to learning the ins and outs of administrative affairs and military science.His predecessors were brilliant military commanders, but they turned out to be poor administrators. Toward the end of his reign, Tzimisces had belatedly planned to curb the power of the great landowners; his death, which occurred shortly after he spoke out against them, sparked rumors that he had been poisoned by Lecapenus, who illegally acquired vast estates and feared investigation and punishment. Early in his reign, the failures of his predecessors The immediate results left him with a serious problem: Bardas Sclero and Bardas Seals, members of the wealthy military elite of Byzantine Anatolia, had sufficient means to wage open rebellion against his authority.

Sclero and Phocas, both experienced generals, wanted to assume the imperial position that Phocas and Tzimisces had occupied, thus returning Basil II to the role of powerless cipher. The young emperor, showing a penchant for cruelty, took to the field itself and suppressed the rebellions of both Sclero (979) and Phocas (989) with the help of twelve thousand Georgians from Tornicius and David III Curopalata of Tao. Lecapeno's fall occurred between rebellions in 985; he was accused of conspiring with the rebels and was punished with exile and confiscation of his property.

Choke of the armies of Sclero and Focas in Pankalia, miniature of the Skylitzes Matritensis.

The relationship between the two generals was complicated; Seals were instrumental in defeating Sclero's rebellion, but when the former later rebelled, the latter returned from exile to support him. When Phocas was killed in battle, Sclero, whom Phocas had imprisoned, took over leadership of the rebellion. Basil II's brother Constantine, who had no interest in politics, statecraft or the military –led troops with his brother; this would be the only military command he would have. The campaign ended without combat when the general was forced to surrender to him in 989. He was allowed to live but died blind, either from disease or from being maimed as punishment for his insurrection.

These rebellions had a profound effect on Basil II's outlook and methods of rule. Psellos describes how the defeated general gave the emperor the following advice, which he took to heart: “He Reduce governors who become too proud. Let no general on campaign have too many resources. Exhaust them with unfair taxes, to keep them busy with their own business. Do not admit any women to the imperial councils. It is not accessible to anyone. Share your most intimate plans with few.” For Anthony Kaldellis, his revolt was intended above all to test the strength of the regime, without overthrowing the Macedonian dynasty.

To defeat these dangerous revolts, Basil II formed an alliance with Prince Vladimir I of Kiev, who in 988 had captured the Theme of Chersonese, the empire's main base on the Crimean peninsula. Vladimir offered to evacuate the province and supply six thousand of his soldiers as reinforcements to the Byzantines. In return, he demanded to marry the emperor's younger sister, Anna, but he hesitated at first. The Byzantines viewed all northern European peoples—namely, Franks and Slavs—as barbarians. Anne objected to marrying a barbarian ruler because such a marriage was unprecedented in imperial annals.

Vladimiro had researched various religions and sent delegates to various countries. Marriage was not the main reason for him to choose Christianity. When he promised to be baptized and convert his people to Christianity, Basil II finally agreed. The couple married in the Crimea in 989. The Rus' warriors brought into the Byzantine army were instrumental in putting down the rebellion; they were later organized into the Varangian Guard. This marriage had important long-term implications, marking the beginning of the process by which the Grand Duchy of Moscow would, many centuries later, proclaim itself the "Third Rome" and claim political and culture of Byzantium.

Campaigns against the Fatimid Caliphate

Once the internal conflict was quelled, Basil II turned his attention to the other enemies of the empire. Byzantine civil wars had weakened his position in the east, and the conquests of his predecessors had all but been lost to the Fatimid Caliphate.In 987-88, a seven-year truce was signed with the Fatimids; it stipulated an exchange of prisoners, the recognition of the Byzantine emperor as protector of Christians in Saracen territories and of the caliph as protector of Muslims in Byzantine domains, and the substitution of the name of the Abbasid caliph for that of the Fatimid in the Friday prayer in the Constantinople mosque. This lasted until the vizier Ya'qub ibn Killis died in 991. Caliph Al-Aziz chose to take a more aggressive stance in Syria and appointed Manjutakin as governor of Damascus.

Manjutakin's attacks and Basil's first expedition to Syria

Spurred on by defectors after the death of emir Sa'd al-Dawla, Al-Aziz decided to renew his attacks on the Hamdanid Emirate of Aleppo, a Byzantine protectorate; he perhaps he hoped that the emperor would not interfere. Manjutakin invaded the emirate, defeated a Byzantine force under the Doge of Antioch Michael Burtzes in June 992, and besieged Aleppo, but the city easily held out. In early 993, after thirteen months of campaigning, lack of supplies forced Manjutakin to return to Damascus.

In 994, he resumed his offensive and in September won a great victory in the battle of the Orontes against Burtzes. The defeat of the Doge forced Basil to intervene personally in the East; with his army, he rode across Asia Minor to Aleppo in sixteen days, arriving in April 995. His sudden arrival and the exaggerated numbers of his army circulating in the Fatimid camp caused panic, especially since Manjutakin, who did not I expected no threat; he had ordered the horses of his army to disperse throughout the city to graze. Despite having a considerably larger and well-rested army, Manjutakin was at a disadvantage, so he burned his camp and withdrew to Damascus without fighting. The Byzantines besieged Tripoli unsuccessfully and occupied Tartous, which they reinforced and garrisoned with Armenian troops. Al-Aziz was now preparing to take the field in person against the Byzantines and began full-scale preparations, but these were discontinued after his death.

Second expedition to Syria and peace

War between the two powers continued as the Byzantines supported an anti-Fatimid uprising in Tyre. In 998 Damien Dalaseno, Burtzes's successor, launched an attack on Apamea, but the Fatimid general Jaysh ibn al-Samsama defeated him at battle on July 19, 998. This defeat brought the emperor back into the conflict; he arrived in Syria in October 999 and stayed there for three months. Byzantine troops attacked Heliopolis, garrisoned Larissa, and burned three minor forts in the vicinity of Abu Qubais, Masyaf, and Arqa. The siege of Tripoli in December failed while Emesa was not threatened. Basil II's attention was diverted to events taking place in Georgia after the assassination of David III Curopalata; he left for Cilicia in January and sent another embassy to Cairo.

In 1000, a ten-year truce was concluded between the two states. During the remainder of Al-Hakim bi-Amrillah's reign, relations remained peaceful as the caliph was more interested in internal affairs. Not even the recognition of Fatimid sovereignty by Abu Muhammad Lu'lu' al-Kabir of Aleppo in 1004 and the Fatimid-sponsored installation of Aziz al-Dawla as emir of the city in 1017 led to renewed hostilities, especially as al-Kabir continued to pay tribute to the Byzantines and al-Dawla quickly he began to act as an independent ruler. Al-Hakim's persecution of Christians in his domains and especially the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in 1009 on his orders strained relations and, together with interference in Aleppo, provided the main focus of Byzantine-Fatimid diplomatic relations until the late 1030s.

Conquest of Bulgaria

Military campaigns during the Bulgarian-Byzantine wars.

Basil II sought to restore the former territories of the Byzantine Empire. At the beginning of the second millennium, he fought Samuel of Bulgaria, his greatest adversary. Bulgaria had been partially subjugated by the Tzimisces after Sviatoslav I's invasion of kyiv, but parts of the country remained outside Byzantine control under the reign of Samuel and his brothers.

Because the Bulgars had been raiding Byzantine lands since 976, the government sought to cause dissension among them by allowing their captive Tsar Boris II of Bulgaria to escape. This stratagem failed, so Basil II took advantage of the pause in his conflict with the nobility to lead an army of thirty thousand troops to Bulgaria and besiege Sredets (Sofia) in 986. Having losses and worried about the loyalty of some of his governors, lifted the siege and returned to Thrace, but was ambushed and severely defeated at the Battle of Trajan's Gate. He escaped with the help of his Varangian guard and attempted to recoup his losses by putting brother of Samuel, Aaron, against him. Aaron was tempted by the offer to marry Princess Anna, but negotiations failed when he discovered that the bride he had been sent was an impostor.By 987, Samuel had eliminated his brother; another brother, named David, was killed in 976 by Wallachians, the caravan guards, between Prespa and Kastoriá. Although the incumbent Tsar Roman of Bulgaria was captured in 991, Basil II lost Moesia to the Bulgars.

The Armenian prince Gregorio Taronita is ambushed by the Bulgarians near Thessalonica, miniature of the Skylitzes Matritensis.

While the emperor was distracted by internal rebellions and recuperating the military situation on his eastern border, Samuel had extended his rule from the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea, thereby recapturing most of the territory previously controlled by Bulgaria of Sviatoslav's invasion. He also made damaging raids into Byzantine territory as far as central Greece. In 996, the general Nicephorus Uranos defeated a raid by the Bulgarian army at the Battle of Esperchaeus in Thessaly. Samuel and his son Gabriel narrowly escaped capture.

From the year 1000, Basil II was free to concentrate on a war of conquest against Bulgaria, which he fought with perseverance and strategic acumen. In the same year, the generals Nicephorus Xifias and Theodorocanos took the old Bulgarian capital, Great Preslav, and the cities of Lower Preslav and Pliska. In 1001, he regained control of Vodena, Berea, and Servia, while operating from Thessalonica. The following year, he mobilized his army to Philippopolis and occupied the length of the military road from the western Haemo Mountains to the Danube, cutting off communications between the central Macedonian domains of Samuel and Paristrio (the lands south of the lower Danube). Following this success, he laid siege to Vidin, which fell after a prolonged resistance.The Tsar reacted to the Byzantine campaign by launching a full-scale raid into the heart of Byzantine Thrace and took his main city, Adrianople, by surprise..

After returning home with his extensive booty, Samuel was intercepted near Skopje by a host led by Basil II, whose forces stormed the Bulgar camp, defeated them, and recovered the booty from Adrianople. Skopje surrendered soon after the battle, and the emperor treated his governor, Romanus, with open kindness. In 1005, Dyrrhachian's governor, Ashot Taronite, surrendered his city to the Byzantines. Dyrrhachian's defection he completed the isolation of Samuel's core territories in the western Macedonian highlands. The Tsar was forced into an almost entirely defensive posture; he extensively fortified the passes and routes from the coasts and valleys that were in enemy power to the territory that remained in his power. Over the next few years, the Byzantine offensive slowed and no significant gains were made, although an attempted counter-attack by the Bulgars in 1009 failed at the Battle of Kreta, east of Thessaloniki.

Byzantine victory over the Bulgarians in the battle of Clidio, miniature of the Skylitzes Matritensis.

In 1014, Basil II was ready to launch a campaign aimed at destroying the Bulgarian resistance. On July 29, 1014, at the Battle of Clidius, Basil and his general Nicephorus Xifias outmaneuvered the Bulgarian army, which was defending one of the fortified passes, but Samuel avoided capture thanks to the courage of his son Gabriel. Having crushed the Bulgars, the emperor retaliated cruelly: he is said to have captured fifteen thousand prisoners and completely blinded ninety-nine out of a hundred men, leaving one one-eyed man in each cohort to lead the rest back to their ruler.. One possible reason for this revenge was that, in Byzantine eyes, the Bulgars were rebels against their authority, and blinding was the usual punishment meted out for unsubmissives. Samuel collapsed when he saw his blinded army and died on 6 October 1014, after suffering a stroke.

Bulgaria fought for four more years; its resistance was inflamed by the emperor's cruelty, but it surrendered in 1018. This submission was the result of continued military pressure and a successful diplomatic campaign aimed at dividing and bribing Bulgarians. Bulgarian chiefs. This victory and the subsequent submission of the Serbs fulfilled one of Basil II's objectives; the empire regained its old Danubian border for the first time in 400 years.

Basil II Triumph through the Forum of Constantine, miniature of the Skylitzes Matritensis.

The rulers of neighboring Croatia, Krešimir III and Gojslav, who were previously allies of Bulgaria, accepted Byzantine supremacy to avoid the same fate; Basil II welcomed their offers of vassalage and bestowed on them the honorary title of patrician. Croatia remained a tributary state to the emperor until his death in 1025. Before returning to Constantinople, he celebrated his triumph in Athens. He displayed considerable political skill in his dealings with the vanquished Bulgars, bestowing many former leaders with titles courtiers, posts in the provincial administration and high command in the army. In this way, he sought to absorb the local elite into Byzantine society. Since Bulgaria did not have a cash economy to the same extent as Byzantium, he decided to accept their taxes in kind. His successors reversed this policy by demanding payments in cash, a decision that led to considerable discontent and a rebellion later in the xi century.

Khazarian Campaign

The pathetic steppe, c. 1015. The areas in blue are those that were possibly still under the control of jázaro.

Although Kievan Rus had broken the power of the Khazarian Khanate in the 960s, the Byzantines had not been able to fully exploit the power vacuum and restore their rule over the Crimea and other areas around the Black Sea. In 1016, Byzantine armies together with Mstislav of Chernigov attacked the peninsula, much of which had fallen under the Khazar George Tzul, who had his capital at Kerch. Cedreno reports that they caught Tzul and destroyed the Khazarian State. Later, the Byzantines occupied the southern Crimea.

Campaigns against Georgia

The integrity of the Byzantine Empire was threatened after a full-scale rebellion led by Bardas Sclero broke out in 976. After winning a series of battles, the rebels conquered Asia Minor. Given the urgency of the situation, the Georgian prince David III Curopalata helped Basil II; after a decisive loyalist victory at the Battle of Pankalia, he was rewarded with lifetime rule of key imperial territories in eastern Asia Minor. However, David joined the Bardas Phocas revolt of 987, causing distrust in Constantinople towards the Georgian rulers. After the failure of the revolt, he was forced to designate the emperor as heir to his extensive possessions. In 1001, after David's death, he inherited Tao, Basiani and Speri.These provinces were then organized into the Theme of Iberia, with the capital at Theodosiopolis. This forced the Georgian ruler's successor, Bagrat III, to recognize the new reorganization. However, Bagrat's son George I inherited an old claim to David's succession. George, who was young and ambitious, launched a campaign to restore the succession to Georgia and occupied Tao in 1015-1016. He entered into an alliance with the Fatimid Caliph of Egypt, al-Hakim, forcing Basil II to refrain from a sharp response to George's offensive. The Byzantines also found themselves embroiled in unrelenting warfare with the Bulgars, limiting their actions to the west. After the conquest of Bulgaria in 1018 and al-Hakim's death in 1021, the emperor led his army against Georgia. Preparations were made for a major campaign, which began with the fortification of Theodosiopolis.

A miniature that represents the defeat of the Georgian king George I by Basilio II. Skylitzes MatritensisFol. 195v.

In late 1021, Basil II, commanding a large army and reinforced by the Varangian guard, attacked the Georgians and their Armenian allies. He recaptured Basiani and continued beyond the borders of Tao into the interior of Georgia.King George burned the city of Oltisi to prevent it from falling into enemy hands and withdrew to Kola. On September 11, a bloody battle was fought near the village of Shirimni on Lake Palakazio; the emperor won a costly victory, forcing George to retreat north of his kingdom. He plundered the country and withdrew to spend the winter in Trebizond.

Several attempts to negotiate an end to the conflict failed. George received reinforcements from the Kakhetians and allied with the Byzantine commanders Nicephorus Focas Baritraquelo and Nicephorus Xifias in their failed insurrection behind the emperor. In December, the Armenian king Senekerim of Vaspurakan, a Georgian ally, who was being harassed by the Seljuk Turks, handed over his kingdom to the emperor.In early 1022, Basil II launched a final offensive, defeating the Georgians at the Battle of Esvindax. Threatened both by land and sea, the king agreed to seal a treaty handing over Tao, Basiani, Kola, Artaan, and Javakheti, leaving his infant son Bagrat as a hostage to the Byzantines.

Wars in Italy

Germanic invasion (981-983)

During the Byzantine rebellions, Italy was left to its own devices; it was poorly defended and protected only by local militias. As the Saracens of Sicily continued their raids on Italy, Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor, despite being married to Tzimisces' niece Theophano Sclero, wanted to continue his father's project and invade Byzantine possessions. The Byzantine government tried unsuccessfully to dissuade the emperor, who began his raids in the summer of 981. He was in central Italy when one of his best allies, Pandulf Ironhead, Prince of Salerno and Benevento, died in March of that year. anus. Despite this loss, Otto II invaded Byzantine Apulia in 982, which he toured for five months, taking most of the cities. However, when he arrived in Calabria, he met the Saracens of Sicily who inflicted a heavy defeat on him near Stilo (July 13, 982). The emperor owed his salvation to his riding out to sea, where a Byzantine ship picked him up. After reforming his army at Rossano, the emperor withdrew to Rome, where he died in December 983. Ultimately, the Byzantines' victory allowed them to re-establish their rule over Apulia with the capture of Ascoli Satriano by Calociro Delfina in 982.

Arab raids (991-1002)

At the end of the x century, few major events took place in Italy and Byzantine possessions were hardly threatened. However, the incursions of the Arabs of Sicily, such as the siege of Taranto in 991, the capture of Matera in Calabria in 994 and the Lombard revolts, Smaragdo who allied himself with the Saracens and carried out the campaign from 997 to the AD 1000, they forced the Byzantines to remain on their guard, the local militias were not strong enough to deal with the invaders. The direct consequence of this weak defense was the miserable life that the inhabitants of Apulia led. Fortunately for the Byzantines, there were no further Germanic incursions, particularly as Theophan died in 991. Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor, sent an embassy in 996 to Basil II, led by John Filigatus and Bernard of Hildesheim, to marry him. a Byzantine princess. However, it was not until 1001 and a new embassy headed by Arnulf II, the Archbishop of Milan, that the negotiations were successful. But when the princess, Zoe, landed in Bari in 1002, she learned that Otto III had died.

Lombard rebellion

As the Arabs continued their raids into Byzantine territory, great danger loomed for their possessions in Italy. Indeed, on May 9, 1009, an insurrection broke out in Bari led by two Lombard aristocrats: Melo and his brother-in-law Dato. The latter pursued the city garrison, which had not had a catapán since the death of Juan Curcuas. The Byzantine forces in Italy, which were too weak, unable to protect the population from the Arabs and the insolence of the officials towards the natives caused the reason for the revolt. With the help of the militias, the movement spread throughout Apulia. Finally, ten months after the start of the uprising, Basil II sent contingents to Italy in March 1010. After a 61-day siege, the general Basilio Argiro retook Bari and restored Byzantine authority. Melo, who was about to be captured, fled to Benevento and then to the Holy Roman Empire. The Germanic Emperor Henry II conferred on him the title of Prince of Apulia.

However, another danger threatened the empire: from the xi century, the Normans abandoned their lands because of the overpopulation, limited resources, and a government that did not grant them enough "independence." These warriors and merchants could be found all over Europe. In fact, they often went on pilgrimage. Some of these Normans frequented the pilgrimage of Saint Michael to Mount Gargano. In that place, Melo found them and urged them to fight against the Byzantines. However, it is more likely that it was the prince of Salerno, Guaimario III of Salerno, who appealed to the Norman knights through emissaries. Finally, they joined the revolting Lombards and Melo repeatedly defeated the catapan Leon Tornicio in the spring of 1017. In a few months, the rebels occupied all of Apulia. Basilio II decided to replace Tornicio with Basilio Boioanes, a more energetic man. In ten months, the latter suppressed the Lombard revolt and, in October 1018, he inflicted the greatest defeat on the Lombard-Norman army at Cannae (present-day Barletta), on the right bank of the River Ofanto. Melo managed to escape to Bamberg where he died in 1020. Following this victory, imperial authority in southern Italy was reestablished and Boioanes created a military brand blocking the Gargano massif and built a new city, Troia, protecting the road. to Benevento as well as a whole line of fortresses against which Henry II failed.

Fiscal policies

Basil II (left) and Constantine VIII (right) in a roll of the Bari Exultet produced during the last reign of Basil.

In 992, Basil II concluded a treaty with the Doge of Venice Pietro II Orseolo under terms that reduced Venice's customs duties in Constantinople from just 30 to just 17. In exchange, the Venetians agreed to transport Byzantine troops south of Italy in times of war. By one estimate, a Byzantine farmer could expect a profit of 10.2 nosimas after paying dues for half of his best-quality land. The emperor was popular with rural farmers, the class that produced most of his army's supplies and soldiers. To ensure this continued, his laws protected small landowners and reduced their taxes. Despite almost constant warfare, the reign of Basil II was considered an era of relative prosperity for this class.

Seeking to protect the lower and middle classes, Basil II waged ruthless war against the system of vast estates in Asia Minor—which his predecessor Romanus I had striven to control—by executing a legal decree in January of 996 that limited the rights to the property of goods. If a property owner could prove that he claimed it before the Romano Novels, he would be allowed to keep it. If a person had illegally seized property following Romano's Novels, their rights to the property would be declared null and void and the legal owners could reclaim it. In 1002, Basil II also introduced the alelengio tax. as a specific law that forced the dinatos (rich landowners) to cover the arrears of the poorest taxpayers. Although he proved unpopular with the wealthier sections of Byzantine society, he did not abolish the tax, the Roman Emperor III revoking the allelengio in 1028. In 1025, he had an annual income of 7 million nomismas; he was able to further amass 14.4 million nomismas (200,000 pounds or 90 tons of gold) for the imperial treasury due to his prudent management.Despite his attempts to tame the power of the aristocracy, they retook control of the government after the death of him

Military Policies

Basil II was praised for his army because he spent most of his reign on military campaigns rather than sending orders from Constantinople, as most of his predecessors had done. This allowed his army to heavily support him, often making his stance on political and ecclesiastical matters unquestioned. He led the life of a soldier to the point of eating the same daily rations as the rest of his men. He also took the children of the deceased officers under his protection and offered them shelter, food and education. Many of these children became his soldiers and officers, taking the place of their fathers. One of them, Isaac Komnenos, became later became emperor.

Basil II did not innovate in terms of military organization: in the conquered territories he introduced both the small themes, centered around a fortress city, which were such a common feature of the reconquests of the East in the x under Seals and Tzimisces, as well as the extensive regional commands under a doge or catapan (Iberia in 1000, Baspracania or High Media in 1019/ 1022, Paristrio in 1000/1020, Bulgaria in 1018, and Sirmium in 1019). The exact size of the army under Basil II's reign is unknown, but estimates put it at one hundred and ten thousand men, excluding the imperial tagma at Constantinople; a sizeable force, compared to the nominal establishment troops of c. one hundred and twenty thousand in the ix and x, or the hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty thousand of field armies under Justinian I. At the same time, however, his reign began the practice of relying on allied states, most notably Venice, for naval power, beginning the slow decline of the Byzantine navy during the xi.

Later life, death and burial

The Byzantine Empire to the Death of Basil II in 1025.

Basil II later secured the annexation of the sub-kingdoms of Armenia and the promise that its capital and surrounding regions would be bequeathed to Byzantium upon the death of their king Hovhannes-Smbat. In 1021, he also secured the cession of the Kingdom of Vaspurakan by its king Senekerim, in exchange for property in Sebaste. The emperor created a heavily fortified border in those highlands. Other Byzantine forces restored much of southern Italy, which had been lost for the previous 150 years.

Basil II was preparing a military expedition to recapture the island of Sicily when he died on December 15, 1025, having had the longest reign of any Byzantine or Roman emperor. The empire stretched from southern Italy to the Caucasus and from the Danube to the Levant, which was its largest territorial extent since the Muslim conquests four centuries earlier. The emperor was to be buried in the last available sarcophagus in the Rotunda of Constantine I in the Church of the Holy Apostles, but later asked his brother and successor, Constantine VIII, to be buried in the Church of Saint John the Theologian in the Hebdomon palace complex, outside the walls of Constantinople. Basil II's tomb epitaph celebrated his campaigns and victories. His final resting place bore the following inscription:

"Since the day the King of Heaven called me to become emperor, the great supreme lord of the world, no one saw my inactive spear. I remained alert throughout my life and protected the children of New Rome, courageously campaigning both in the West and in the outposts of the East... Oh, man, seeing now my grave here, join me for my campaigns with your prayers."

In 1260, during the unsuccessful Nicene siege of Constantinople, then held by the Latin Empire, a corpse was found, standing in a corner of the Church of Saint John the Theologian, with a shepherd's flute placed in his mouth. An inscription allowed the Nicene soldiers to identify the corpse as the remains of the emperor. His body was taken to the Savior's Monastery in Selimbria.The following year, Constantinople was recaptured by the Byzantines.

Legacy

Evaluation

Characters of Serbia and Croatia in front of Basil II, painting by Joakim Marković, xviii century.

Pselos gives an assessment of the kingship in the eyes of later generations:

He crushed rebellions, subjected the feudal landowners, conquered the enemies of the empire, especially in the provinces of the Danube and the East. Everywhere the power of Roman weapons was respected and feared. The treasure overflowed with the accumulated loot of Basilio's campaigns. Even the lamp of knowledge, despite the well-known indifference of the emperor, continued to burn, though somewhat tenuously. The fate of ordinary people in Constantinople must have been quite pleasant. For most of them life was joyful and colorful, and if the defensive fortifications of the city were at some point in bad shape, they had no reason to fear attacks.

The reign of Basil II is one of the most important in Byzantine history. His constant military campaigns led to the zenith of Byzantine power in the Middle Ages. The restoration of the Danube frontier helped establish a more stable and secure frontier for the empire in Europe, maintaining a stronger barrier against invading Hungarians and Pechenegs.. The conquest of Bulgaria and the submission of the southern Slavs created relative peace for the empire's Balkan lands, keeping the largest cities, including Constantinople, safe from frequent sieges and looting. Basil's military experience that finally allowed him to turn the war against Bulgaria in favor of the Byzantine Empire was gained through the Phocas and Sclero revolts in Anatolia that challenged his throne and, at times, came close to deposing it. the Varangian Guard provided him and his successors with an elite mercenary force capable of turning the tide of battle and boosting the morale that became feared by the emperor's enemies.

At this time, the Macedonian Renaissance was having its effect, seeing the rise of classical Greek scholarship assimilated into Christian art and the generalization of the study of ancient Greek philosophy. the emperors greatly expanded the library at the University of Constantinople, which again established itself as the main source of learning for its day. Although not a man of letters, Basil II was a relatively pious ruler who engaged in church building, monasteries and, to some extent, cities.

The great cities of the Byzantine Empire produced literary works, eulogies, and poems that, for the most part, attempted to juxtapose the classical past of kingdoms and empires with the new expansion of Basil II in which he was compared to many important figures of the East like Cyrus the Great and Artaxerxes. He was also especially compared to Alexander the Great, who was believed to be his ancestor. Classical works such as "The Persians" by the playwright Aeschylus were among the most recited in the empire during the expansion given the different confrontations against the caliphates that the Byzantines indistinctly and classically called "Medes". Despite the great expansion during his reign, his military and non-scholastic character led him to be criticized and related to the old Spartan monarchs or tyrants who at that time At that time they were remembered for being men of action, cruelty and determination who, like Basilio, paid little attention to the promotion of the arts or literary culture and preferred a military environment.

Basil II lacked heirs due to the "scarcity of cousins found within the Macedonian dynasty", so he was succeeded by his brother Constantine and his family, who proved ineffective rulers. Yet fifty years of prosperity and intellectual growth followed because the state funds were full, the borders were safe from intruders, and the empire remained the most powerful political entity of the age. At the end of Basil II's reign, the Byzantine Empire had a population of approximately twelve million people.

Although beneficial, these gains were reversed very quickly. Many of the Georgian, Armenian, and Fatimid campaigns were undone after the succession crisis and eventual civil war after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. Because many of the empire's governors went to the capital with their soldiers to seize power after the capture of Roman Emperor IV, the Anatolian frontier was left largely defenseless against the Seljuk Empire. The Normans permanently expelled the Byzantines from the southern Italy in April 1071.

Modern Viewpoints and Representations in Literature

Sello del Comité Macedonio Helénico durante la Lucha por Macedonia, que representa a Basilio II (frente) y Alejandro Magno.

• Bulgarian commentator Alexander Kiossev wrote in Understanding the Balkans: «The hero [of] a nation could be the villain of his neighbor... The Byzantine emperor Basilio the Killer [ sic ] of Bulgarians, a crucial figure of the Greek pantheon, is no less important as [a] subject of hatred for our national mythology». During the centuryxx In Greece, the interest in Basilio II led to a series of historical biography and novels about it. One of them is Basil Bulgaroktonos (1964) of the historical fiction writer Kostas Kyriazís. Written as sequel to his previous work Theophano (1963), which focuses on Basilio's mother, examines Basilio's life through three fictional narrators and has been continuously reprinted since 1964. The 1976 historical fiction novel by Rosemary Sutcliff Blood Feud He describes Basilio II from the point of view of a member of his newly created varega guard.
• Penelope Delta's second novel, Ton Kairo tou VoulgaroktonouIt is also set during the reign of Basil II. He was inspired by the correspondence with historian Gustave Schlumberger, a renowned specialist in the Byzantine Empire, and was published in the early years of the xx century, a time when the Fight for Macedonia returned to Greeks and Bulgarians in a bitter enmity with each other.
• Ion Dragumis, who was a lover of Delta and was deeply involved in that struggle, in 1907 published the book Martyron kai Iroon Aimawhich shows resentful with everything remotely Bulgarian. He urged the Greeks to follow the emperor's example: "Instead of blinding so many people, it would be better if Basilio had killed them. On the one hand, these people would not suffer as eyeless survivors, on the other, the large number of Bulgarians would have decreased by fifteen thousand, which is very useful." Later in the book, Dragumis envisages the emergence of "new Basilios, who would go through the whole country and look for the Bulgarians in mountains, caves, towns and forests and make them flee into shelter or kill them."
• In the video game Civilization VI, Basil II leads the Byzantine Empire as part of the seasonal pass New Frontier.

Ancestors