[29] Therefore, although the Byzantine Senate confirmed them as emperors with their mother as the nominal regent, de facto power passed for the time into the hands of the parakoimomenos Joseph Bringas. Yet the … [75], Beginning in 1000, Basil was free to focus on a war of conquest against Bulgaria, which he fought with grinding persistence and strategic insight. Manjutakin invaded the emirate, defeated a Byzantine force under the doux of Antioch Michael Bourtzes in June 992, and laid siege to Aleppo. Al-Aziz now prepared to take to the field in person against the Byzantines and initiated large-scale preparations but they were abandoned upon his death. [130][131] The studies of these subjects, and the enlargement projects of the emperors, greatly expanded the library of the University of Constantinople, which again established itself as the main source of learning for its day. Basil was the son of Emperor Romanos II and Empress Theophano, whose maternal family was of Laconian Greek origin from the Peloponnesian region of Laconia, possibly from the city of Sparta. He also conducted a campaign against the Khazar Khaganate that gained the Byzantine Empire part of Crimea and a series of successful campaigns against the Kingdom of Georgia. Basil's military experience that allowed him to eventually turn the war against Bulgaria in the Byzantine Empire's favor were gained through the revolts of Phokas and Skleros in Anatolia that challenged his throne and sometimes got close to deposing him. Samuel was forced into an almost entirely defensive stance; he extensively fortified the passes and routes from the coastlines and valleys held by the Byzantines to the territory remaining in his possession. His influential great-uncle Basil Lekapenos was the de facto ruler of the Byzantine Empire until 985. [76] In 1001, Basil, operating from Thessalonica, regained control of Vodena, Verrhoia, and Servia. [132] Though he was not a man of literature, Basil was a relatively pious ruler who involved himself in the construction of churches, monasteries, and to some extent cities. Although Polyeuctus, the patriarch of Constantinople, disapproved of the marriage, the Church declared it to be valid. The Menologion of Basil II (976-1025) exemplifies the first systematic association of saints with specific locations. When Phokas died in battle,[49] Skleros, whom Phokas had imprisoned, assumed the leadership of the rebellion. Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, kneel at Christ’s feet. Psellos describes the defeated Skleros giving Basil the following advice, which he took to heart: "Cut down the governors who become over-proud. Basil II: A Bulgar-Slayer or a True-Born Bulgarian? καὶ νῦν ὁρῶν, ἄνθρωπε, τόνδε τὸν τάφον Ambros. His complete subjugation of the Bulgarian state earned him the epithet "Bulgar-Slayer" by later generations. [29] In 987–988, a seven-year truce with the Fatimids was signed; it stipulated an exchange of prisoners, the recognition of the Byzantine emperor as protector of Christians under Fatimid rule and of the Fatimid Caliph as protector of Muslims under Byzantine control, and the replacement of the name of the Abbasid caliph with that of the Fatimid caliph in the Friday prayer in the mosque at Constantinople. Other kings of old, other burial places for themselves ordained, But I, Basil, born to the purple, place my tomb on the site of Hebdomon and I sabbatize from the endless toils which I accepted in battles, and which I endured. Nikephoros II and John I were brilliant military commanders but proved to be poor administrators. The conquest of Bulgaria and the submission of the South Slavs created relative peace for the empire's Balkan lands, keeping larger cities – including Constantinople – safe from the previously frequent sieges and looting. Having crushed the Bulgarians, Basil exacted his vengeance cruelly—he was said to have captured 15,000 prisoners and fully blinded 99 of every 100 men, leaving one one-eyed man in each cohort to lead the rest back to their ruler. Fatimid caliph Al-Aziz Billah chose to pursue a more aggressive stance in Syria and appointed Manjutakin as governor of Damascus. [111] Many of these children became his soldiers and officers, taking the places of their fathers. In the urgency of the situation, Georgian prince David III of Tao aided Basil; after a decisive loyalist victory at the Battle of Pankaleia, he was rewarded by lifetime rule of key imperial territories in eastern Asia Minor. [22] Basil's father crowned him as co-emperor on 22 April 960,[3] and his brother Constantine (born 960 or 961, eventually to rule as sole emperor Constantine VIII in 1025–1028) in 962 or 963. Indeed the biological father of Leo VI the Wise (Basil IIs great-grandfather) was possibly not Basil I, but Michael III. the Evangelist) at the Hebdomon Palace complex outside the walls of Constantinople. Admit no woman to the imperial councils. autokrator of the earth and senior emperor. Photo by Cplakidus, 2012. [note 5] Basil II then held power for forty years. [40] John married Theodora, a sister of Romanos II. [69] Al-Hakim's persecution of Christians in his realm and especially the 1009 destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at his orders strained relations and, along with Fatimid interference in Aleppo, provided the main focus of Fatimid–Byzantine diplomatic relations until the late 1030s. Michael VIII Palaeologus translated Basil's relics from their original burial place at the Hebdomon (see below) to his own family monastery near Selymbria. He cared only for the greatness of his Empire. The courtier and historian Michael Psellos, who was born towards the end of Basil's reign, gives a description of Basil in his Chronographia. [71], Because the Bulgars had been raiding Byzantine lands since 976, the Byzantine government sought to cause dissension among them by allowing the escape of their captive emperor Boris II of Bulgaria. He also conducted damaging raids into Byzantine territory as far as central Greece. This list may not reflect recent changes (). [90] Basil's successors reversed this policy, a decision that led to considerable Bulgarian discontent and rebellion later in the 11th century. Basil II, who ruled four generations after the first Basil (the Macedonian), is commemorated on many streets in Greek cities as ‘Voulgaroktonos’ (Bulgar-slayer). [93] These provinces were then organized into the theme of Iberia with the capital at Theodosiopolis. Be accessible to no-one. [137] Because many of the empire's governors went to the capital with their soldiers to seize power after the capture of emperor Romanos IV,[138] the Anatolian frontier was largely left undefended against the Seljuk Empire. [92], The integrity of the Byzantine Empire was threatened after a full-scale rebellion led by Bardas Skleros broke out in 976. In 998, the Byzantines under Damian Dalassenos, the successor of Bourtzes, launched an attack on Apamea but the Fatimid general Jaysh ibn al-Samsama defeated them in battle on 19 July 998. Vladimir offered to evacuate Chersonesos and to supply 6,000 of his soldiers as reinforcements to Basil. [48][33], The relationship between the two generals was complicated; Phokas was instrumental in defeating the rebellion of Skleros but when Phokas later rebelled, Skleros returned from exile to support him. Bringas tried to bring in troops to stop his rival's advance, but the capital's populace supported Nikephoros. However, he had later asked his brother and successor Constantine VIII to be buried in the Church of St. John the Theologian (i.e. And it is hardly surprising: Basil was ugly, dirty, coarse, boorish, philistine and almost pathologically mean. Basil II (Greek: Βασίλειος Β΄, Vasileios II; 958 – 15 December 1025) was a Byzantine Emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025. [124] At the time of his death, the Empire stretched from southern Italy to the Caucasus and from the Danube to the Levant, which was its greatest territorial extent since the Muslim conquests four centuries earlier. [28], Basil and Constantine were too young to rule in their own right when Romanos died in 963. [79], After turning homeward with his extensive plunder, Samuel was intercepted near Skopje by a Byzantine army commanded by Basil, whose forces stormed the Bulgarian camp, defeating the Bulgarians and recovering the plunder from Adrianople. He leads the Byzantines in Civilization VI. He was in short deeply un-Byzantine. If a person had illegally seized an estate following the Novels of Romanos, he would have his rights to the estate declared null and the legal owners could reclaim it. Basil plundered the country and withdrew for winter to Trebizond. [85] Croatia remained a tributary state to Basil until his death in 1025. Byz. The Persians and Scythians (Bulgars) bear witness to this, In this way, he sought to absorb the Bulgarian elite into Byzantine society. [73] Basil escaped with the help of his Varangian Guard and attempted to recover his losses by turning Samuel's brother Aron against him. 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