Emperor Basil BYZANTIUM, II

   Other names for Basil were BYZANTINE EMPIRE Co-Emperor, "Bulgar Slayer", Basileos, "Bulgaroktonos" and BYZANTIUM Emperor.

   Ancestral File Number: 9QZD-SL.

   General Notes:

"Bulgaroktonos," Emperor of BYZANTIUM 963-976, BYZANTINE Co-Emperor with
Constantine VIII Reigned 976-1025.

BOOKS
Wall Chart of World History, Edward Hull, 1988, Studio Editions, Greek Eastern Empire 976: "Basil II and Constantine IX, Co-Emperors 976-1028, Venice lost 997, Bulgaria incorporated 1018..."

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1981, Micropaedia, Vol III, p102, Constantine VIII: "Born Abt 960, Died 1028, Byzantine co-ruler with this brother Basil II 976- 1025; sole reign 1025-1028."

The New Columbia Encyclopedia, 1975, p241, Basil II: "Born Abt 958, Died 1025, Byzantine Emperor (976-1025), surnamed Bulgaroktonos (Bulgar Slayer). With his brother, Constantine VIII, he nominally succeeded his father, Romanus II, in 963, but had no share in the government during the rule of the usurping generals Nicephorus II (963-969) and John I (969-976). Primarily a soldier, Basil exercised virtually sole rule from 976, while his debauched brother was emperor only in name. Basil suppressed (976-989) a series of revolts of the great landowners led by Bardus Sclerus and revived and strengthened the laws directed against them by Romanus I. He annexed (1018) Bulgaria, although leaving it some measure of autonomy, and later extended the eastern frontier of his empire to the Cucasus. During his reign the schism between the Roman and the Eastern churches widened. Basil was succeeded by Constantine VIII (reigned 1025-1028) and by Constantine's daughter Zoe."

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1981, Micropaedia, Vol I, p854, Basil II Bulgarocto- nus: "Born Abt 958, Died 1025, one of the outstanding Byzantine Emperors, extended Byzantine rule in the Balkans, Mesopotamia, Georgia, and Armenia and increased internal imperial authority by attacking the powerful landed interests of military aristocracy and of church.
"Son of Romanus II, Basil was crowned as co-emperor with his brother Constantine in 960. He asserted his claim to sole authority by eliminating the grand chamberlain,who was exiled in 985. He consolidated imperial authority at home and abroad. He maintained the Byzantine position in Syria against aggression stirred up by the Fatimid dynasty in Egypt, and he secured land from Georgia and from Armenia. He waged campaigns against the Bulgarian kingdom under its Tsar Samuel and won a ruthless victory at Ochrida (the capital) that gave him his nickname, `Slayer of the Bulgars.' The Bulgarian kingdom was incorporated into the Byzantine Empire."

Macropaedia, Vol II, p748, Basil II Bulgaroctonus: "The reign of Basil II, widely acknowledged to be one of the outstanding Byzantine emperors, admirably illustrates both the strength and the weakness of the Byzantine system of government. His indomitable and forceful personality and his shrewd statesmanship enabled him to expand imperial territory in the Balkans and in the regions of Mesopotamia, Georgia, and Armenia. At home he increased imperial authority by ruthlessly attacking the powerful landed interests, both of the military aristocrats and of the curch. Under him the Byzantine Empire reached its peak, but his reign demonstrates the inherent weakness of an imperial autocracy that depended so much on the character of theruler.
"...After his father's death in 963, the government was effectively undertaken by the senior military emperors, first by Nicephorus II Phocas, their stepfather, and then by John I Tzimisces. On the latter's death (976) the powerfulgreat-uncle of Basil II, the eunuch Basil the Chamberlain, took control...Basil asserted his claim to sole authority by ruthlessly eliminating the dominating grand chamberlain, who was exiled in 985.
"Basil aimed solely at the extension and consolidation of imperial authority at home and abroad. The main fields of external conflict were in Syria, Armenia, and Georgia on the eastern front, in the Balkans, and in south Italy...He is best known for his persistent and ultimately successful campaigns against a revived Bulgarian kingdom under its Tsar Samuel...Holding northern and central Bulgaria, he advanced towards Samuel's capital, Ochrida, and won the crushing victory that gave him his nickname, "Slayer of the Bulgars." It was then that he blinded the whole Bulgarian army, leaving one eye to each 100th man, so that the soldiers might be led back to their tsar (who died of shock shortly after seeing this terrible spectacle)...He attempted to establish a Greek pope in Rome and to unite in marriage the German (though by birth half Byzantine) ruler Otto III with his favourite niece Zoe. Both schemes failed...
"The ruthlessness and tenacity that served Basil in his military and diplomatic activities were displayed in his domestic policy as well...The by- product of this policy was the imperial protection of the small farmers...Title to land was rigorously inspected, and vast estates were arbitrarily confis- cated. Thus, in spite of hiscostly wars, Basil left a full treasury, some of it stored in special underground chambers...
"...He showed no obvious interest in learning, but he did apparently commission works of religious art, and he had churches and monasteries re- built or completed in Boeotia and in Athens...He seems never to have mar- ried or had children. On his death there was no able military aristocrat or other leader to take the situation in hand, and thus Basil II's work was rapidly undone."

TheStory of Civilization, Will Durant, Vol IV, The Age of Faith, Bk IV, The Dark Ages, Ch XVIII, The Byzantine World, Sec III, p430: "...His successor was one of the most powerful personalities in Byzantine history. Basil II, born to Romanus andTheophano (958), had served as coemperor with Nicephorus Phocas and Tzimisces; now (976) he began at the age of eighteen an undivided rule that lasted half a century. Troubles encompassed him: his chief minister plotted to displace him; the feudal barons, whom he proposed to tax, financed conspiracies against him; Bardas Sclerus, general of the eastern army, rebelled, and was suppressed by Bardas Phocas, who then had himself proclaimed emperor by his troops; the Moslems were recovering nearly all that Tzimisces had won from them in Syria; the Bulgars were at their zenith, encroaching upon the Empire in east and west. Basil suppressed the revolt, reclaimed Armenia from the Saracens, and in a ruthless thirty years' war destroyed the Bulgarian power. After his victory in 1014 he blinded 15,000 prisoners, leaving one eye in every hundredth man to lead the tragic host back to Samuel, the Bulgarian tsar; perhaps interror rather than in admiration the Greeks called himBulgaroctonus, Killer of Bulgars. Amid these campaigns he found time to war against `those who enriched themselves at the expense of the poor.' By his laws of 996 he sought to break up some of the large estates, and to encourage the spread ofa free peasantry. He was about to lead an armada against the Saracens in Sicily when death surprised him in his sixty-eighth year. Not since Heraclius had the Empire been so extensive, nor since Justinian so strong."

ANCESTRAL FILE
Ancestral File Ver 4.13 9QZD-SL Basileos II Emperor of the BYZANTINE EMPIRE Born 958 Constantinople Constantinople Turkey Died 15 Dec 1025.