Basil II

For other uses, see Basil II (disambiguation).

Basil II
Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans
Basil is crowned by angels. An image of Christ sits above him and to the sides are six figures adorned in red, yellow, and purple clothing. A group of people prostrate before the emperor.
Replicated depiction of Basil II from his Menologion, National Historical Museum
Byzantine emperor
Reign10 January 976 –
15 December 1025
Coronation22 April 960 as co-emperor
PredecessorJohn I Tzimiskes
SuccessorConstantine VIII
Born958
Constantinople, Byzantine Empire
Died15 December 1025 (aged 67)
Constantinople, Byzantine Empire
Burial
Church of St. John the Theologian, Constantinople
GreekΒασίλειος
DynastyMacedonian
FatherRomanos II
MotherTheophano
ReligionChalcedonian Christianity[note 1]

Basil II Porphyrogenitus (Greek: Βασίλειος Πορφυρογέννητος Basileios Porphyrogennetos;[note 2] 958 – 15 December 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar Slayer (Greek: ὁ Βουλγαροκτόνος, ho Boulgaroktónos),[note 3] was the senior Byzantine emperor from 976 to 1025. He and his brother Constantine VIII[note 4] were crowned before their father Romanos II died in 963, but they were too young to rule. The throne thus went to two generals, Nikephoros Phokas (r. 963–969) and John Tzimiskes (r. 969–976) before Basil became senior emperor, though his influential great-uncle Basil Lekapenos remained as the de facto ruler until 985.[note 5] His reign of 49 years and 11 months was the longest of any Roman emperor.[note 6]

The early years of Basil's reign were dominated by civil wars against two powerful generals from the Byzantine Anatolian aristocracy: first Bardas Skleros and later Bardas Phokas, which ended shortly after Phokas' death and Skleros' submission in 989. Basil then oversaw the stabilization and expansion of the eastern frontier of the Byzantine Empire and the complete subjugation of the First Bulgarian Empire, its foremost European foe, after a long struggle. Although the Byzantines had made a truce with the Fatimid Caliphate in 987–988, Basil led a campaign against the Caliphate that ended with another truce in 1000. 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.

Despite near-constant warfare, Basil distinguished himself as an administrator, reducing the power of the great land-owning families who dominated the Empire's administration and military, filling its treasury, and leaving it with its greatest expanse in four centuries. Although his successors were largely incapable rulers, the Empire flourished for decades after Basil's death. One of the most important decisions taken during his reign was to offer the hand of his sister Anna Porphyrogenita to Vladimir I of Kiev in exchange for military support, thus forming the Byzantine military unit known as the Varangian Guard. The marriage of Anna and Vladimir led to the Christianization of the Kievan Rus' and the incorporation of later successor states of Kievan Rus' within the Byzantine cultural and religious tradition. Basil is seen as a Greek national hero but is a despised figure among Bulgarians.

  1. ^ Sue 2014.
  2. ^ a b Foss 2005, pp. 93–102.
  3. ^ a b PMBZ, Basileios II. (#20838).
  4. ^ Stephenson 2010, pp. 66–80.
  5. ^ Stephenson 2000, p. 62.
  6. ^ Stephenson 2010, pp. 89–96.
  7. ^ Whittow 1996, p. 348.


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