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Biography of Basil, II
Name: Basil, II
Birth Date: c. 958
Death Date: December 15, 1025
Place of Birth: N/A
Nationality: Byzantine
Gender: Male
Occupations: emperor
Basil, II
The Byzantine emperor Basil II (ca. 958-1025) ruled from 963 to 1025 and was called Bulgaroctonus (Bulgar-Slayer). He was the last and greatest of the emperors who brought Byzantium to its military zenith.The elder son of Emperor Romanus II, Basil and his younger brother, Constantine, succeeded in title as children upon their father's death in 963. Their position was exploited by two successive military usurpers, Nicephorus Phocas (963-969) and John I Tzimisces (969-976). Upon John's death, while Constantine remained in the background, Basil attempted to rule but became dependent upon his great-uncle, the eunuch Basil the Chamberlain. A cunning politician of long experience, the chamberlain helped Basil face the challenges of two more would-be usurpers, the aristocrats Bardas Sclerus and Bardas Phocas. Amid these struggles the chamberlain's tutelage became intolerable, and Basil drove him from office.The rebellions of the two Bardases eventually drove Basil to seek military help from Prince Vladimir of Kiev; this …showed first 150 words…
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…showed last 150 words…next years of the tireless Emperor's reign were spent in settling the empire's interests in eastern Asia Minor and the Caucasus. He began the dismemberment and annexation of independent Armenia. Then, still restless, Basil turned his attentions further westward. He planned an expedition to reconquer Sicily and expand Byzantine authority in Italy; but before he could undertake this campaign, Basil suddenly took ill and died on Dec. 15, 1025. A bachelor, Basil left the throne to his younger brother, Constantine VIII, during whose reign (1025-1028) began the rapid erosion of the strength Basil had built up. Further Reading The chief scholarly study of Basil II is in French. Good general accounts in English are in George Ostrogorsky, History of the Byzantine State (1940; trans. 1956; rev. ed. 1969), and in Romilly Jenkins, Byzantium: The Imperial Centuries, A.D. 610-1071 (1966), part of which is reproduced in J. M. Hussey, ed., The Cambridge Medieval History, vol. 4 (2d ed. 1966), pt. 1.
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