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Byzantine Empire
Anonymous Class A2
Bronze Follis 28mm (8.60 grams)
Struck during the joint-reign of Basil II and Constantine VIII 1025-1028 A.D.
Reference: Sear 1813
Bust of
Christ
facing, wearing a nimbus crown, pallium and colobium, and holding
book
of Gospels with both hands.
+IhSЧS / XPISTЧS / bASILЄЧ / bASILЄ (“Jesus Christ
King of Kings”) in four
lines.
For more than a century, the production of Follis denomination Byzantine coins
had religious Christian motifs which included included
Jesus Christ, and even Virgin Mary. These coins were designed to honor Christ
and recognize the subservient role of the Byzantine emperor, with many of the
reverse inscriptions translating to “Jesus Christ King of Kings” and “May Jesus
Christ Conquer”. The Follis denomination coins
were the largest bronze denomination coins issued by the Byzantine empire, and
their large size, along with the Christian motif make them a popular coin type
for collectors. This series ran from the period of Byzantine
emperors John I (969-976 A.D.) to Alexius I (1081-1118 A.D.). The accepted
classification was originally devised by Miss Margaret Thompson with her study
of these types of coins. World famous numismatic
author, David R. Sear adopted this classification system for his book entitled,
Byzantine Coins and Their Values. The references about this coin site Mr. Sear’s
book by the number that they appear in that work. The class types of coins
included
Class A1,
Class A2,
Class B,
Class C,
Class D,
Class E,
Class F,
Class G,
Class H,
Class I,
Class J,
Class K. Read more and see examples of these coins by reading the
JESUS CHRIST
Anonymous Class A-N Byzantine Follis Coins Reference.
Click here to see all the Jesus Christ Anonymous Follis coins for sale.
Click here to see all coins bearing Jesus Christ or related available for sale.
You are bidding on the exact
item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime
Guarantee of Authenticity.
Jesus of Nazareth (c. 5 BC/BCE – c. 30 AD/CE), also
referred to as Jesus Christ or simply Jesus, is the central figure
of
Christianity. Most
Christian denominations
venerate him as
God the
Son
incarnated
and believe that he
rose from the dead
after being
crucified
.
The
principal sources of information regarding Jesus are the four
canonical gospels, and most
critical scholars
find them, at least the
Synoptic Gospels, useful for reconstructing Jesus’ life and
teachings. Some scholars believe apocryphal texts such as the
Gospel of Thomas and the
Gospel according to the Hebrews
are also
relevant
.
Most critical historians agree that Jesus was a
Jew
who was regarded as a teacher and
healer
, that he
was baptized
by
John the Baptist, and
was crucified
in
Jerusalem
on the orders of the
Roman Prefect
Judaea,
Pontius Pilate, on the charge of
sedition
against the Roman Empire
. Critical Biblical scholars and
historians have offered competing descriptions of Jesus as a self-described
Messiah,
as the leader of an apocalyptic movement, as an itinerant sage, as a charismatic
healer, and as the founder of an independent religious movement. Most
contemporary scholars of the
Historical Jesus consider him to have been an independent,
charismatic founder of a Jewish restoration movement, anticipating an imminent
apocalypse. Other prominent scholars, however, contend that Jesus’ “Kingdom
of God” meant radical personal and social transformation instead of a
future apocalypse.
Christians traditionally believe that Jesus was
born of a virgin
:529–32
performed
miracles
,:358–59
founded
the Church
,
rose from the dead
, and
ascended
into
heaven,:616–20
from which he
will return
.:1091–109
Most Christian scholars today present Jesus as the awaited Messiah promised in
the
Old Testament and as God, arguing that he fulfilled many Messianic
prophecies of the Old Testament
. The majority of Christians
worship Jesus as the incarnation of God the Son, one of three divine persons of
a reject Trinitarianism
Trinity, wholly or partly,
believing it to be non-scriptural.
Basil II (Greek:
Βασίλειος Β΄, Basileios II; 958 – 15
December 1025) was a
Byzantine Emperor
from the
Macedonian dynasty
who reigned from 10 January
976 to 15 December 1025. He was known in his time as Basil the
Porphyrogenitus
and Basil the Young
to distinguish him from his supposed ancestor,
Basil I the Macedonian
.
The early years of his long reign were dominated by civil war against
powerful generals from the
Anatolian
aristocracy. Following their
submission, Basil oversaw the stabilization and expansion of the eastern
frontier of the
Byzantine Empire
, and above all, the final and
complete subjugation of
Bulgaria
, the Empire’s foremost European foe,
after a prolonged struggle. For this he was nicknamed by later authors as “the
Bulgar-slayer” (Greek:
Βουλγαροκτόνος, Boulgaroktonos), by
which he is popularly known. At his death, the Empire stretched from Southern
Italy to the Caucasus and from the Danube to the borders of Palestine, its
greatest territorial extent since the
Muslim conquests
four centuries earlier.
Despite near-constant warfare, Basil also showed himself a capable
administrator, reducing the power of the
great land-owning families
who dominated the
Empire’s administration and military, while filling the Empire’s treasury. Of
far-reaching importance was Basil’s decision to offer the hand of his sister
Anna to
Vladimir I of Kiev
[1]
in exchange for military support, which led to the
Christianization
of the
Kievan Rus’
and the incorporation of Russia
within Byzantine cultural sphere.
Birth and childhood
Basil was the son of Emperor
Romanos II
and Empress
Theophano
, whose maternal family was of
Laconian
Greek
origin[2][3][4][5][6][7]
from the Peloponnesian
region of
Laconia
,[8]
possibly from the city of
Sparta
.[9]
His paternal ancestry is of uncertain origins, his putative ancestor Basil I,
the founder of the dynasty, being variously attributed as Armenian, Slavic, or
Greek. Indeed the biological father of
Leo VI the Wise
(Basil IIs great-grandfather)
was possibly not Basil I, but
Michael III
.[10]
The family of Michael III were Anatolians from Phrygia and of Greek speech and
culture, though originally of the
Melchisedechian
heretical faith. In 960, Basil
was associated on the throne by his father, who then died in 963 when Basil was
only five years old. Because he and his brother, the future Emperor
Constantine VIII
(ruled 1025–1028), were too
young to reign in their own right, Basil’s mother
Theophano
married one of Romanos’ leading
generals, who took the throne as the Emperor
Nikephoros II
Phokas several months later in
963. Nikephoros was murdered in 969 by his nephew
John I Tzimisces
, who then became emperor and
reigned for seven years. When Tzimisces died on 10 January 976, Basil II finally
took the throne as senior emperor.
Asian rebellions and alliance with Rus’
Basil was a brave soldier and a superb horseman, and he would prove himself
as an able general and strong ruler. In the early years of his reign,
administration remained in the hands of the
eunuch
Basil Lekapenos
(an illegitimate son of Emperor
Romanos I
), President of the Senate, a wily and
gifted politician who hoped that the young emperors would be his puppets. Basil
waited and watched without interfering, devoting himself to learning the details
of administrative business and military science.
Even though Nikephoros II Phokas and John I Tzimiskes were brilliant military
commanders, both had proven to be lax administrators. Towards the end of his
reign Tzimiskes had belatedly planned to curb the power of the great landowners,
and his death, coming soon after his speaking out against them, led to rumours
that he had been poisoned by Basil Lekapenos, who had acquired vast estates
illegally and feared an investigation and punishment.
As a result of the failures of his immediate predecessors, Basil II found
himself with a serious problem at the outset of his reign as two members of the
wealthy military elite of
Anatolia
,
Bardas Skleros
and
Bardas Phokas
, had sufficient means to
undertake open rebellion against his authority. The chief motive of these men,
both of whom were experienced generals, was to assume the Imperial position that
Nikephoros II and John I had held, and thus return Basil to the role of impotent
cypher. Basil, showing the penchant for ruthlessness that would become his
trademark, took the field himself and suppressed the rebellions of both Skleros
(979) and Phokas (989) but not without the help of 12,000
Georgians
of
Tornikios
and
David III Kuropalates
of
Tao.
The relationship between the two generals was interesting: Phokas was
instrumental in defeating the rebellion of Skleros, but when Phokas himself
later rebelled, Skleros returned from exile to support his old enemy. When
Phokas dropped dead and fell from his horse in battle, Skleros, who had been
imprisoned by his erstwhile accomplice, assumed the leadership of the rebellion,
before being forced into surrendering to Basil in 989. Skleros was allowed to
live, but he ended his days blind, perhaps through disease, though he may have
been punished by blinding.</ref>
These rebellions had a profound effect on Basil’s outlook and methods of
governance. The historian
Psellus
describes the defeated Bardas Skleros
giving Basil the following advice: “Cut down the governors who become
over-proud. Let no generals on campaign have too many resources. Exhaust them
with unjust exactions, to keep them busied with their own affairs. Admit no
woman to the imperial councils. Be accessible to no one. Share with few your
most intimate plans.”[11]
Basil, it would appear, took this advice to heart.
In order to defeat these dangerous revolts, Basil formed an alliance with
Prince
Vladimir I of Kiev
, who in 988 had captured
Chersonesos
, the main Imperial base in the
Crimea
. Vladimir offered to evacuate
Chersonesos and to supply 6,000 of his soldiers as reinforcements to Basil. In
exchange he demanded to be married to Basil’s younger sister
Anna
(963–1011). At first, Basil hesitated. The
Byzantines viewed all the nations of Northern Europe, be they
Franks
or
Slavs
, as
barbarians
. Anna herself objected to marrying a
barbarian ruler, as such a marriage would have no precedence in imperial annals.
Vladimir had conducted long-running research into different religions,
including sending delegates to various countries. Marriage was not his primary
reason for choosing the Orthodox religion. When Vladimir promised to baptize
himself and to convert his people to Christianity, Basil finally agreed.
Vladimir and Anna were married in the Crimea in 989. The Rus’ recruitments were
instrumental in ending the rebellion, and they were later organized into the
Varangian Guard
. This marriage had important
long-term implications, marking the beginning of the process by which the
Grand Duchy of Moscow
many centuries later
would proclaim itself “The
Third Rome
” and claim the political and
cultural heritage of the Byzantine Empire.
The fall of Basil Lekapenos followed the rebellions. He was accused of
plotting with the rebels and punished with exile and the confiscation of his
enormous property. Seeking to protect the lower and middle classes, Basil II
made ruthless war upon the system of immense estates in Asia Minor, which his
predecessor, Romanos I, had endeavored to check.
Campaigns against the Fatimid Caliphate
Basil II and
Constantine VIII
, holding cross.
Nomisma histamenon
.
Having put an end to the internal strife, Basil II then turned his attention
to the Empire’s other enemies. The Byzantine civil wars had weakened the
Empire’s position in the east and the gains of Nikephoros II Phokas and John I
Tzimiskes came close to being lost to the
Fatimids
.
In 987/988, a seven-year truce was signed with the Fatimids, stipulating an
exchange of prisoners, the recognition of the Byzantine emperor as protector of
the Christians under Fatimid rule and of the Fatimid Caliph as protector of the
Muslims under Byzantine control, as well as the replacement of the Abbasid
Caliph’s name by that of the Fatimid Caliph in the
Friday prayer
in the mosque of
Constantinople
.[12][13]
Nevertheless, perhaps in the belief that Byzantium would not interfere, in 991
the Fatimids launched a campaign against the
Hamdanid
Emirate of Aleppo
, a Byzantine protectorate.
The Fatimids, under the governor of
Damascus
Manjutakin
, scored a series of successes
against the Hamdanids and their Byzantine allies, including a major victory
against the doux
of
Antioch
,
Michael Bourtzes
, at the
Battle of the Orontes
in September 994. The
latter forced Basil to intervene personally in the East: in a lightning campaign
he rode with his army through
Asia Minor
in sixteen days and reached Aleppo
in April 995, forcing the Fatimid army to retreat without giving battle. The
Byzantines besieged
Tripolis
unsuccessfully and occupied
Tartus
, which they refortified and garrisoned
with Armenian troops. The Fatimid caliph
Al-Aziz
now prepared to take the field in
person against the Byzantines and initiated large-scale preparations, but they
were cut short upon his death.[14][15][16]
Warfare between the two powers continued, with the Byzantines supporting an
anti-Fatimid uprising in
Tyre
. In 998, the Byzantines under Bourtzes’
successor,
Damian Dalassenos
, launched an attack on
Apamea
, but the Fatimid general Jaush ibn al-Samsama
defeated them in battle on 19 July 998. This new defeat brought Basil II once
again to Syria in October 999. Basil spent three months in Syria, during which
the Byzantines raided as far as
Baalbek
, took and garrisoned
Shaizar
and captured three minor forts in its
vicinity (Abu Qubais, Masyath, ‘Arqah), and sacked
Rafaniya
.
Hims
was not seriously threatened, but a
month-long siege of Tripoli in December failed. However, as Basil’s attention
was diverted to developments in
Armenia
, he departed for
Cilicia
in January and dispatched another
embassy to Cairo. In 1000 a ten-year truce was concluded between the two states.[17][18]
For the remainder of the reign of
al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah
(r. 996–1021) relations
remained peaceful, as Hakim was more interested in internal affairs. Even the
acknowledgement of Fatimid suzerainty by
Lu’lu’
of Aleppo in 1004 and the Fatimid-sponsored
instalment of
Fatik Aziz al-Dawla
as the city’s emir in 1017
did not lead to a resumption of hostilities, especially since Lu’lu’ continued
to pay tribute to Byzantium and Fatik quickly began acting as an independent
ruler.[19][20]
Nevertheless, Hakim’s persecution of Christians in his realm, and especially the
destruction of the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
at his orders in
1009, strained relations and would, along with Fatimid interference in Aleppo,
provide the main focus of Fatimid-Byzantine diplomatic relations until the late
1030s.[21]
Byzantine
conquest of Bulgaria
Basil II and his step-father, Emperor Nikephoros II
Basil also wanted to restore to the Empire territories that it had long lost.
At the start of the second millennium, he took on his greatest adversary,
Samuel of Bulgaria
.
Bulgaria
had been partly subjugated by John I
Tzimiskes, but parts of the country had remained outside Byzantine control,
under the leadership of Samuel and his brothers.
Since the Bulgars had been raiding Byzantine lands since 976, the Byzantine
government sought to cause dissension amongst them by first allowing the escape
of their captive emperor
Boris II of Bulgaria
.
This having failed, Basil used a respite from his conflict with the nobility
to lead an army of 30,000 men into Bulgaria and besiege Sredets (Sofia)
in 986. Taking losses and worried about the loyalty of some of his governors,
Basil lifted the siege and headed back for
Thrace
but fell into an ambush and suffered a
serious defeat at the
Battle of the Gates of Trajan
.
Basil escaped with the help of his
Varangian Guard
and attempted to make up his
losses by turning Samuel’s brother Aaron against him. Aaron was tempted with
Basil’s offer of his own sister Anna in marriage (the same Anna wed to
Vladimir I of Kiev
, two years later), but the
negotiations failed when Aaron discovered that the bride he was sent was a fake.
By 987 Aaron had been eliminated by Samuel, and Basil was busy fighting both
Skleros and Phokas in Asia Minor. Although the titular emperor
Roman of Bulgaria
was captured in 991, Basil
lost Moesia
to the Bulgarians.
In 992, Basil II concluded a treaty with
Pietro Orseolo II
by the terms that
Venice
‘s custom duties in Constantinople would
be reduced from 30
nomismata
to 17 nomismata in return
for the Venetians agreeing to transport Byzantine troops to southern
Italy
in times of war.[22]
Triumph
of Basil II through the
Forum of Constantine
, from the
Madrid Skylitzes
In the years of Basil’s distraction with internal rebellions and recovering
the military situation on his eastern frontier Samuel had extended his rule from
the Adriatic Sea
to the
Black Sea
, recovering most of the lands which
had been Bulgarian before the invasion of
Svyatoslav I of Kiev
. He also conducted
damaging raids into Byzantine territory as far as central
Greece
. The turning of the tide of the conflict
occurred in 996 when the Byzantine general
Nikephoros Ouranos
inflicted a crushing defeat
on a raiding Bulgarian army at a battle on the River
Spercheios
(Sperchius) in Thessaly. Samuel and
his son
Gabriel
were lucky to escape capture.[23]
From 1000, Basil II was free to focus on a war of outright conquest against
Bulgaria, a war he prosecuted with grinding persistence and strategic insight.
In 1000 the Byzantine generals
Nikephoros Xiphias
and Theodorokan took the old
Bulgarian capital of
Great Preslav
, and the towns of Lesser Preslav
and Pliskova.[24]
In 1001 Basil himself, his army operating from Thessalonica, was able to regain
control of Vodena, Verrhoia and Servia.[25]
The following year Basil based his army in
Philippopolis
and occupied the length of the
military road from the western Haemus Mountains to the Danube, thereby cutting
off Samuel’s communications between his Macedonian heartland and Moesia.
Following up this success he laid siege to
Vidin
, which eventually fell following a
prolonged resistance.[26]
Samuel reacted to the Byzantine campaign with a daring stroke; he launched a
large-scale raid into the heart of Byzantine Thrace and surprised the major city
of
Adrianople
.
On returning homeward with his extensive plunder Samuel was intercepted near
the town of
Skopje
by a Byzantine army commanded by the
emperor. Basil’s forces stormed the Bulgarian camp, inflicting a severe defeat
on the Bulgarians and recovering the plunder of Adrianople. Skopje surrendered
shortly after the battle; its governor, Romanos, was treated with overt kindness
by the Emperor.[27]
In 1005, the governor of
Durazzo
, Ashot Taronites, surrendered his city
to the Byzantines. The defection of Durazzo to the Byzantines completed the
isolation of Samuel’s core territories in the highlands of western Macedonia.
Samuel was forced into an almost entirely defensive stance and he extensively
fortified the passes and routes from the Byzantine held coastlands and valleys
into the territory remaining in his possession. During the next few years, the
Byzantine offensive slowed and no significant gains were made, though in 1009 an
attempt by the Bulgarians to counterattack was defeated at the
Battle of Kreta
, which was fought to the east
of Thessalonica.
In 1014 Basil was ready to launch a campaign aimed at destroying Bulgarian
resistance. On 29 July 1014, Basil II and his general Nikephoros Xiphias
outmanoeuvred the Bulgarian army, which was defending one of the fortified
passes, in the
Battle of Kleidion
. Samuel avoided capture only
through the valour of his son Gabriel. Having crushed the Bulgarians, Basil was
said to have captured 15,000 prisoners and blinded 99 of every 100 men, leaving
150 one-eyed men to lead them back to their ruler. Samuel was physically struck
down by the dreadful apparition of his blinded army, and he died two days later
after suffering a stroke. Although the extent of Basil’s mistreatment of the
Bulgarian prisoners may have been exaggerated, this incident helped to give rise
to Basil’s Greek epithet of Boulgaroktonos, meaning “the Bulgar-slayer”,
in later tradition.[28][29]
The first recorded coupling of the term Boulgaroktonos with Basil II
dates from a number of generations after his death, when it is used in a poem
from the reign of
Manuel I Komnenos
dating to around 1166.[30]
Bulgaria fought on for four more years, its resistance fired by Basil’s
cruelty, but it finally submitted in 1018. This submission was the result of
continued military pressure and a successful diplomatic campaign aimed at
dividing and suborning the Bulgarian leadership. This victory over the
Bulgarians, and the later submission of the
Serbs
, fulfilled one of Basil’s goals, as the
Empire regained its ancient
Danubian
frontier for the first time in 400
years. Before returning to
Constantinople
, Basil II celebrated his triumph
in Athens
. Basil showed considerable statesmanship
in his treatment of the defeated Bulgarians; he gave many former Bulgarian
leaders court titles, positions in provincial administration, and high commands
in the army. In this way he sought to absorb the Bulgarian elite into Byzantine
society. Bulgaria did not have a monetary economy to the same extent as was
found in Byzantium, and Basil made the wise decision to accept Bulgarian taxes
in kind. Basil’s successors reversed this policy; a decision which led to
considerable Bulgarian discontent, and rebellion, later in the 11th century.
Khazar campaign
Although the power of the
Khazar
Khaganate
had been broken by the
Kievan Rus’
in the 960s, the Byzantines had not
been able to fully exploit the
power vacuum
and restore their dominion over
the Crimea
and other areas around the
Black Sea
.
In 1016,
Byzantine armies
, in conjunction with
Mstislav of Chernigov
, attacked the Crimea,
much of which had fallen under the sway of the Khazar successor kingdom of
George Tzoul
, based at
Kerch
.
Kedrenos
reports that George Tzoul was captured
and the Khazar
successor-state
was destroyed. Subsequently the
Byzantines occupied the southern Crimea.
Later years
Basil II returned in triumph to Constantinople, then promptly went east and
attacked the
Georgian
Kingdom of
Tao-Klarjeti
, and later secured the annexation
of the sub-kingdoms of
Armenia
(and a promise to have its capital and
surrounding regions to be willed to Byzantium following the death of its king
Hovhannes-Smbat
).[31]
In 1021, he also secured the cession of the
Kingdom of Vaspurakan
by its king,
Seneqerim-John
, in exchange for estates in
Sebasteia
. Basil created in those highlands a
strongly fortified frontier, which, if his successors had been capable, should
have proved an effective barrier against the invasions of the
Seljuk Turks
.
In the meantime, other Byzantine forces restored much of
Southern Italy
, lost over the previous 150
years, to the Empire’s control. Just before Basil died, on 15 December 1025, he
was preparing a military expedition to recover the island of
Sicily
.
Basil was to be buried in the last sarcophagus available in the rotunda of
Constantine I
in the Church of the Holy
Apostles. However, he later asked his brother and successor
Constantine VIII
to be buried in the Church of
St. John the Theologian (i.e. the Evangelist), at the
Hebdomon
Palace complex, outside the walls of
Constantinople. The
epitaph on the tomb
celebrated Basil’s
campaigns and victories. During the pillage of 1204, Basil’s grave was
desecrated by the invading Crusaders of the
Fourth Crusade
.
Assessment
The Byzantine Empire at the death of Basil II in 1025
Basil was a stocky man of less than average stature who, nevertheless, cut a
majestic figure on horseback. He had light blue eyes and strongly arched
eyebrows; in later life his beard became scant but his sidewhiskers were
luxuriant and he had a habit of rolling his whiskers between his fingers when
deep in thought or angry. He was not a fluent speaker and had a loud laugh which
convulsed his whole frame.[32]
As a mature man he had ascetic tastes, and cared little for the pomp and
ceremony of the Imperial court, and typically held court dressed in military
regalia. Still, he was a capable administrator, who, uniquely among the
soldier-emperors, left a full treasury upon his death.[33]
Basil despised literary culture and affected an utter scorn for the learned
classes of Byzantium; however, numerous orators and philosophers were active
during his reign.[34]
He was worshipped by his army, as he spent most of his reign campaigning with
them instead of sending orders from the distant palaces of Constantinople, as
had most of his predecessors. He lived the life of a soldier to the point of
eating the same daily rations as any other member of the army. He also took the
children of deceased officers of his army under his protection, and offered them
shelter, food and education. Many of them later became his soldiers and
officers, and came to think of him as a father.
Besides being called the “Father of the Army”, he was also popular with
country farmers. This class produced most of his army’s supplies and soldiers.
To assure that this continued, Basil’s laws protected small agrarian property
and lowered their taxes. His reign was considered an era of relative prosperity
for the class, despite the almost constant wars. On the other hand, Basil
increased the taxes of the nobility and the church and looked to decrease their
power and wealth. Though understandably unpopular with them, neither of them had
the power to effectively oppose the army-supported Emperor.
Basil never married or had children. As a young man he was a womanizer, but
when he became emperor, he chose to devote himself to the duties of state.
Psellus ascribes Basil’s radical change from a dissolute youth to a grim
autocrat to the circumstances of the rebellions of Bardas Skleros and Bardas
Phokas.[35]
Unfortunately, Basil’s asceticism meant that he was succeeded by his brother and
his family, who proved to be ineffective rulers. Nevertheless, 50 years of
prosperity and intellectual growth followed because the funds of state were
full, the borders were not in danger from exterior intruders, and the Empire
remained the most powerful political entity of the Middle Ages. Also, under
Basil II, the Byzantine Empire probably had a population of about 18 million
people. By AD 1025, Basil II (with an annual revenue of 7,000,000 nomismata)
was able to amass 14,400,000 nomismata (or 200,000 pounds of gold) for
the Imperial treasury due to his prudent management.
In literature
During the 20th century in
Greece
, interest in the prominent emperor led
to a number of biographies and historical novels about him. Arguably the most
popular is Basil Bulgaroktonus (1964) by historical fiction writer
Kostas Kyriazis
(b. 1920). Written as a sequel
to his previous work Theophano (1963), focusing on Basil’s mother, it
examines Basil’s life from childhood till his death at an advanced age, through
the eyes of three fictional narrators. It has been continuously reprinted since
1964.
For his part, commentator Alexander Kiossev, wrote in “Understanding the
Balkans: “The hero of one nation might be the villain of its neighbour (…) The
Byzantine emperor Basil the Murderer (sic) of Bulgarians, a crucial figure in
the Greek pantheon of heroes, is no less important as a subject of hatred for
our [Bulgarian] national mythology “[1].
Penelope Delta
‘s second novel, Ton Kairo tou
Voulgaroktonou (In the Years of the Bulgar-Slayer),[36]
is also set during the reign of Basil II.[37]
It was inspired by correspondence with the historian
Gustave Schlumberger
, a renowned specialist on
the Byzantine Empire, and published in the early years of the 20th Century, a
time when the
Struggle for Macedonia
once again set Greeks
and Bulgarians in bitter enmity with each other.
Ion Dragoumis
, who was Delta’s lover and was
deeply involved in that struggle, in 1907 published the book Martyron kai
Iroon Aima (Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Blood), which was full of resentment
towards everything Bulgarian. He urges Greeks to follow the example of Basil II:
“(…)Instead of blinding so many people,
Basil
should have better killed them instead.
On one hand these people would not suffer as eyeless survivors, on the other the
sheer number of Bulgarians would have diminished by 15 000, which is something
very useful.” Later in the same book, Dragoumis foresaw the appearance of “new
Basils” who would “cross the entire country and will look for Bulgarians in
mountains, caves, villages and forests and will make them flee in refuge or kill
them”.
Rosemary Sutcliff
‘s 1976 historical fiction
novel
Blood Feud
depicts Basil II from the point
of view of a member of his recently created
Varangian Guard
.
Constantine VIII (Greek:
Κωνσταντίνος Η΄, Kōnstantinos VIII)
(960 – 11 November 1028) was reigning
Byzantine Emperor
from 15 December 1025 until
his death. He was the son of the Emperor
Romanos II
and
Theophano
, and the younger brother of the
eminent Basil II
, who died childless and thus left the
rule of the
Byzantine Empire
in his hands.
Family
As a youth, Constantine VIII had been engaged to a daughter of Emperor
Boris II of Bulgaria
, but in the end he married
a Byzantine aristocrat named Helena, daughter of Alypius. By her he had three
daughters: Eudokia, who became a nun, Zoe, future empress, and Theodora.
Life
Basil II
and Constantine VIII,
holding cross.
Nomisma histamenon
.
Constantine VIII had been crowned with his brother by their father from 962;
he was then only an infant. However, for some 63 out of the 68 years of his life
he was eclipsed by other emperors, including
Nikephoros II Phokas
,
John I Tzimiskes
, and Basil II. Even when his
elder brother became senior emperor, Constantine was perfectly content to enjoy
all the privileges of Imperial status without concerning himself with state
affairs. On occasion Constantine participated in his brother’s campaigns against
rebel nobles. In 989, he acted as mediator between Basil II and
Bardas Skleros
. Otherwise he spent his life in
the search of pleasure and entertainment, including spectator sports at the
Hippodrome of Constantinople
, or amusing
himself with riding and hunting.
When Basil II died on 15 December 1025, Constantine finally became sole
emperor, although he ruled for less than three years before his own death on 11
November 1028.
Physically Constantine was tall and graceful, where Basil had been short and
stocky. He was a superb horseman. By the time he became emperor, he had chronic
gout and could hardly walk. His reign was a disaster because he lacked courage
and political savvy. He reacted to every challenge with impulsive cruelty,
persecuting uppity nobles and allegedly ordering the execution or mutilation of
hundreds of innocent men. Constantine carried on as he always had: hunting,
feasting, and enjoying life – and avoided state business as much as possible. He
was poor at appointing officials. Within months, the land laws of Basil II were
dropped under pressure from the
Anatolian
aristocracy (the
dynatoi
), although Constantine struck at
the nobility when threatened by conspiracy.
Like his brother, Constantine died without a male heir. The Empire thus
passed to his daughter
Zoe
, whom he had married to
Romanos Argyros
. Their other daughter, Irene
married Vsevolod I of Kiev and had descendants.
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