Basil II
958 – 1025 · Generation XXV · Emperor (r. 976–1025) · Macedonian
Basil (AD 958 – 1025). Emperor (r. 976–1025). 'the Bulgar-Slayer'; never married, no children. No Roman emperor reigned longer — just short of half a century — though in the early years his great-uncle, the eunuch Basil Lekapenos, held the real power. Revolts by the Anatolian generals Bardas Skleros and Bardas Phokas nearly unseated him; to crush them he turned to Vladimir of Kiev, trading his sister Anna's hand for six thousand Rus warriors — the nucleus of the Varangian Guard — and Vladimir's promise of baptism for himself and his people. Then came the long wars: campaigns against the Fatimid Caliphate and the Khazars, victories over Georgia, and above all the grinding conquest of Bulgaria, the empire's chief European rival, which earned him the epithet Bulgar Slayer. He broke the power of the great Anatolian landowners, left a full treasury, and died in 1025 with the empire larger than at any time since the Muslim conquests four centuries before. To Greek tradition he is a heroic figure; to Bulgarian memory, a hated one.
One of 16 people of Macedonian (811–1057) in this archive. The empire’s widest reach — a house of soldier-emperors and scholars.
Line of descent: Basil I → Leo VI → Constantine VII → Romanos II → Basil II.
Parents
- Romanos II (938 – 963)
- Theophano (941 – 976)
Siblings
- Constantine VIII (960 – 1028)
- Anna (963 – 1011)