باسيل الثاني

(تم التحويل من Basil the Bulgar-Slayer)
لمعلومات عن الحاكم الروسي، انظر باسيل الثاني من روسيا.
باسيل الثاني بـُلگاروكتونوس
إمبراطور الإمبراطورية البيزنطية
صورة باسيل الثاني، من مخطوطة من القرن 11.
العهداسمياً من 960 حتى 976
(إمبراطور مشارك مع أبيه حتى 963، نقفور الثاني حتى 969، يوحنا الأول تزيمسكس حتى 976).
فعلياً 10 يناير 976 –
15 ديسمبر 1025
(49 years, 339 days)
(إسمياً 65 سنة)
سبقهيوحنا الأول تزيمسكس
تبعهقسطنطين الثامن
أباطرة مشاركون
وُلِد958 (0958)
القسطنطينية، الإمبراطورية البيزنطية
توفيNot recognized as a date. Years must have 4 digits (use leading zeros for years < 1000). (عن عمر 67)
الدفن
كنيسة القديس يوحنا اللاهوتي، القسطنطينية
اليونانيةΒασίλειος
الأسرةالأسرة المقدونية
الأبرومانوس الثاني
الأمثيوفانو
الديانةالمسيحية الخلقدونية[note 1]
باسيل الثاني وقسطنطين الثامن، يحملان صليباً. Nomisma histamenon.

باسيل الثاني (Basil II Porphyrogenitus ؛ Greek: Βασίλειος Πορφυρογέννητος, romanized: Basíleios Porphyrogénnētos;[note 2]؛ 958 – 15 ديسمبر 1025)، عُرف في زمنه بإسم باسيل الپورفيروجنيتوس وباسيل الشاب لتمييزه عن سلفه باسيل الأول المقدوني، كان امبراطور بيزنطي من الأسرة المقدونية التي حكمت من 10 يناير 976 إلى 15 ديسمبر 1025. ويُعد من أقوى الشخصيات في تاريخ بيزنطة.

باسيل ابن رومانوس الثاني امبراطور بيزنطة. يعده المؤرخون أشهر أباطرة الأسرة المقدونية التي حكمت قرابة قرنين (867-1059) والتي يعود تأسيسها إلى باسيل الأول (867-886)، الذي توطد حكمه بإعادة جنوبي إيطالية عام 875 إلى النفوذ البيزنطي ووضع نهاية لانقسام الكنيسة في المجمع المسكوني (869-870) في القسطنطينية إضافة إلى محاربة الخلافة العباسية في مرحلة ضعفها.

عُرف باسيليوس الثاني بلقب بلغاروكتونوس ومعناه باليونانية (قاتل البلغار) ودام حكمه من 963-1025 اعتلى عرش بيزنطة مشاركة مع أخيه قسطنطين الثامن بعد وفاة أبيهما، ولكنه لم ينفرد بالحكم إلا بدءاً من عام 976 بعد أن تخلص من مغتصبي العرش نقفور الثاني فوكاس (963-969) ومن بعده يوحنا الأول تزيمسكس (969-976) Tzimiskes. أما أخوه قسطنطين الثامن فقد حكم بعد وفاته عام 1025.

النشأة

ولد باسيل الثاني لرومانوس الثاني وثيوفانو في عام 958، في أسرة من أصل يوناني لاكوني[5][6][7][8][9][10] تنحدر من منطقة لاكونيا في پلوپونيزيا،[11] ربما من مدينة اسبرطة.[12] وفي عام 960، شارك أباه على العرش، ولكن أبوه توفي لاحقاً في سنة 963، عندما كان باسيل في الخامسة من عمره. ولما كان هو وشقيقه قسطنطين الثامن (حكم 1025-1028) مازالا طفلين ليحكما بنفسهما، فقد تزوجت أمهما ثيوفانو أحد كبار قادة جيوش رومانوس، الذي ارتقى العرش باسم نقفور الثاني فوقاس بعد شهور في 963. وقد أغتيل نقفور على يد ابن عمه يوحنا الأول تزيمسكس، الذي أصبح حينها امبراطوراً وحكم لسبع سنوات. وأخيراً، لما توفي يوحنا في 10 يناير 976، ارتقى باسيل الثاني العرش كامبراطور كبير.

ثم بدأ عام 976 وهو في الثامنة عشرة من عمره حكماً منفرداً دام خمسين عاماً.

إمبراطور منفرد (976-1025)

التمردات في الأناضول وتحالف مع الروس

اكتنفته في بداية الحكم المتاعب من كل جانب: فأخذ كبير وزرائه يأتمر به ليغتصب عرشه، وأمد سادة الإقطاع الذين اعتزم أن يفرض عليهم الضرائب المتآمرين عليه بالمال. واجه باسيليوس الثاني تمرداً لملاك الأراضي قاده بارداس سكلروس، قائد جيش الشرق، فأخمد بارداس فوقاس ثورته. وتمكن باسيل من إنقاذ الدولة من حرب أهلية دامت ثلاث سنوات (976-979).

ثم عمل هذا القائد المنتصر على أن يختاره جنوده إمبراطوراً، وكان المسلمون وقتئذ يستردون معظم ما استولى عليه منهم تزيمسكس في بلاد الشام، وبلغت قوة البلغار أوجهاً، وأخذوا يعتدون على بلاد الإمبراطورية من الشرق والغرب.

ثم اقتسم بارداس سكلروس وباراداس فوكاس الدولة البيزنطية سنة 987 إذ اختص الأول بآسيا الصغرى والثاني بالقسم الأوربي وفيه العاصمة. فاستعان باسيليوس الثاني بكبير أمراء روسء الكييڤية ڤلاديمير الأول الذي خف لنجدته على رأس حملة مكنت القيصر من الانتصار على بارداس فوكاس في معركة أبيدوس Abydos في 13 أبريل 989، وارتبطت الكنيسة الروسية في كييڤ بكبير الأساقفة في اليونان. وقضى على الأخطار التي اندلعت في مقدونية وبلغارية. وقلم باسيل أظفار الفتنة.

حملاته ضد الفاطميين

وما أن أنهى الاقتتال الداخلي، وجـَّه باسيل الثاني اهتمامه إلى أعداء الامبراطورية الآخرين. فقد أضعفت الحروب الأهلية البيزنطية موقف الامبراطورية في الشرق وكادت الامبراطورية أن تفقد مكتسبات كل من نقفور الثاني فوكاس ويوحنا الأول تزيمسكس لصالح الفاطميين. وبعد هزيمتين مريرتين لـ دوكس أنطاكية، ميخائيل بورتزس، في 992 و 994، أصبحت حلب محاصرة وأنطاكية مهددة من العرب. وفي 995 شن باسيل الثاني، بجيش مكون من 40,000 رجل (مع 80,000 بغل)،[13] حملة ضد الفاطميين، وفك الحصار عن حلب، ومستولياً على وادي العاصي، وممتداً بغاراته جنوباً، ناهباً جميع المدن من حمص إلى طرابلس.

وبالرغم من عدم امتلاكه لقوات كافية ليصل إلى فلسطين ويستولى على القدس، فقد استولت انتصاراته على معظم بلاد الشام وضمتها لامبراطوريته. فلم يستطيع إمبراطور منذ هرقليوس أن يحتفظ بتلك الأراضي لأي وقت كان، وقد ظلت تلك الأراضي بيزنطية طيلة الخمس وسبعين سنة التالية.

هجمات منجوتكين وتجريدة باسيل الأولى إلى الشام

Encouraged by the defectors after the death of emir Sa'd al-Dawla, Al-Aziz decided to renew his attacks on the Hamdanid Emirate of Aleppo, a Byzantine protectorate, perhaps expecting Basil would not interfere. Manjutakin invaded the emirate, defeated a Byzantine force under the doux of Antioch Michael Bourtzes in June 992, and laid siege to Aleppo. The city easily resisted. In early 993, after thirteen months of campaigning, a lack of supplies forced Manjutakin to return to Damascus.[14]

In 994, Manjutakin resumed his offensive and in September scored a major victory at the Battle of the Orontes against Bourtzes. Bourtzes' defeat forced Basil to intervene personally in the East; with his army, he rode through Asia Minor to Aleppo in sixteen days, arriving in April 995. Basil's sudden arrival and the exaggeration of his army's strength circulating in the Fatimid camp caused panic in the Fatimid army, especially because Manjutakin, expecting no threat, had ordered his cavalry horses to be dispersed around the city for pasture. Despite having a considerably larger and well-rested army, Manjutakin was at a disadvantage. He burned his camp and retreated to Damascus without battle.[15] The Byzantines besieged Tripoli unsuccessfully and occupied Tartus, which they refortified and garrisoned with Armenian troops. 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.[16][17]

التجريدة الثانية إلى الشام، والسلام

Warfare between the two powers continued as the Byzantines supported an anti-Fatimid uprising in Tyre. 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.[15] This defeat drew Basil back into the conflict; he arrived in Syria in October 999 and remained there for three months. Basil's troops raided as far as Heliopolis, placed a garrison at Larissa,[18] and burnt three minor forts in the vicinity of Abu Qubais, Masyath and Arca. The siege of Tripoli in December failed while Emesa was not threatened.[19] Basil's attention was diverted to developments in Georgia following the murder of David III Kuropalates; he departed for Cilicia in January and dispatched another embassy to Cairo.[20]

In 1000, a ten-year truce was concluded between the two states.[21][22] For the remainder of the reign of Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah (ح.  996–1021), relations remained peaceful as al-Hakim was more interested in internal affairs. Even the acknowledgement of Fatimid suzerainty by Abu Muhammad Lu'lu' al-Kabir of Aleppo in 1004 and the Fatimid-sponsored installment of Aziz al-Dawla as the city's emir in 1017 did not lead to a resumption of hostilities, especially because al-Kabir continued to pay tribute to the Byzantines and al-Dawla quickly began acting as an independent ruler.[23] 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.[24]

الفتح البيزنطي لبلغاريا

Military campaigns during the Byzantine-Bulgarian War.
انتصار باسيل الثاني من خلال منتدى قسطنطين، من Madrid Skylitzes

كما استطاع باسيليوس الثاني إعادة الاستقرار إلى آسيا الصغرى، وتمكن من إيقاف هجمات الدولة الفاطمية. ثم وجه اهتمامه نحو حاكم مقاطعة «البلغار» صموئيل الذي استبد بالحكم ولقب نفسه قيصر بلغارية. فحطم قوة البلغار بعد حرب طاحنة دامت ثلاثين عاماً.

بدأ باسيليوس هجومه الكبير على بلغارية عام 1001، واستمرت الحرب أربع سنوات استرد بعدها باسيليوس نصف ممتلكات صموئيل. ثم نشبت الحرب ثانية وحقق باسيليوس مرة أخرى انتصاره الحاسم في معركة بيلازيكا (يوليو 1014)، وأسر 15,000 رجل ذكرت المصادر أنه أمر بسمل عيون 15.000 أسير، ولم يترك إلا عيناً واحدة لكل مائة واحد منهم ليقود هذه الجموع المنكودة في عودتها إلى صمويل قيصر البلغار، صموئيل المنهزم الذي مات غماً بعد أشهر قليلة (أكتوبر 1014) مما أدى إلى استكمال إخضاع البلغار. وقد خلّد باسيليوس الثاني انتصاره بتشييد بوابة القصر في مدينة اوريد Ohrid عاصمة البلغار. وأطلق عليه اليونان اسم قاتل البلغار (بلغاراكتونوس Bulgaroctonus) ولعل ذلك كان منهم رهبة له لا إعجاباً له.

الاصلاحات الداخلية

ووجد بين هذه الحروب وقتاً يشن فيه حرباً شعواء على "الذين أثروا على حساب الفقراء". فحاول بما سنه من قوانين الاصلاح الزراعي في عام 996 أن يجزئ بعض الضياع الكبيرة ويشجع انتشار الفلاحين الأحرار. وكان كبار الملاك قد نازعوه العرش، واستعان لذلك برومان ليكاپين Romain Lécapène الذي وضع برنامج هذه الإصلاحات، كما أقدم باسيليوس الثاني على تحديد أملاك الكنيسة في السياق نفسه.

حملة الخزر

السهوب الپونطية، ح.1015. المناطق الزرقاء هي كانت من المحتمل تحت سيطرة الخزر.

وفي السنوات الأخيرة من عهده اهتم بالسياسة التوسعية، فأرسل حملة إلى بلاد القفقاس واستولى على أرمينية وجورجية من المسلمين عام 1021.

Although the Kievan Rus' had broken the power of the Khazar Khaganate in the 960s, the Byzantines had not been able to fully exploit the power vacuum and restore their dominion over Crimea and other areas around the Black Sea. In 1016, Byzantine armies in conjunction with Mstislav of Chernigov attacked the Crimea,[20] much of which had fallen under the control of the Khazar successor kingdom of George Tzoul based at Kerch. Kedrenos reports that Tzoul was captured and the Khazar successor kingdom was destroyed. Subsequently, the Byzantines occupied southern Crimea.[25]

Campaigns against Georgia

المقالة الرئيسية: Byzantine–Georgian wars

The integrity of the Byzantine Empire was threatened after a full-scale rebellion led by Bardas Skleros broke out in 976. After winning a series of battles, the rebels conquered Asia Minor. 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. David's rebuff of Basil in Bardas Phokas' revolt of 987, however, evoked Constantinople's distrust of the Georgian rulers. After the revolt's failure, David was forced to make Basil the legatee of his extensive possessions. In 1001, after the death of David of Tao, Basil inherited Tao, Phasiane and Speri.[26] These provinces were then organized into the theme of Iberia with the capital at Theodosiopolis. This forced the successor Georgian Bagratid ruler Bagrat III to recognize the new rearrangement. Bagrat's son George I, however, inherited a longstanding claim to David's succession. George, who was young and ambitious, launched a campaign to restore the Kuropalates's succession to Georgia and occupied Tao in 1015–1016. He entered in an alliance with the Fatimid caliph of Egypt, al-Hakim, forcing Basil to refrain from an acute response to George's offensive. The Byzantines were also involved in a relentless war with the Bulgarians, limiting their actions to the west. As soon as Bulgaria was conquered in 1018 and al-Hakim was dead, Basil led his army against Georgia. Preparations for a larger-scale campaign against the Kingdom of Georgia were set, beginning with the re-fortification of Theodosiopolis.[20]

A miniature depicting the defeat of the Georgian king George I ("Georgios of Abasgia") by the Basil II. Madrid Skylitzes, fol. 195v.

In late 1021, Basil, at the head of a large Byzantine army reinforced by the Varangian Guard, attacked the Georgians and their Armenian allies, recovering Phasiane and continuing beyond the frontiers of Tao into inner Georgia.[27] King George burned the city of Oltisi to prevent it falling to the enemy and retreated to Kola. A bloody battle was fought near the village Shirimni at Lake Palakazio on 11 September; the emperor won a costly victory, forcing George I to retreat northwards into his kingdom. Basil plundered the country and withdrew for winter to Trebizond.[28]

Several attempts to negotiate the conflict failed. George received reinforcements from the Kakhetians and allied himself with the Byzantine commanders Nikephoros Phokas Barytrachelos and Nikephoros Xiphias in their abortive insurrection in the emperor's rear. In December, George's ally the Armenian king Senekerim of Vaspurakan, who was being harassed by the Seljuk Turks, surrendered his kingdom to the emperor.[29] During early 1022, Basil launched a final offensive, defeating the Georgians at the Battle of Svindax. Menaced both by land and sea, George agreed to a treaty that handed over Tao, Phasiane, Kola, Artaan and Javakheti, and left his infant son Bagrat as Basil's hostage.[30]

Fiscal policies

Basil II (left) and Constantine VIII (right) in a Bari Exultet roll, produced during Basil's late reign.[note 3]

In 992, Basil concluded a treaty with the Doge of Venice Pietro II Orseolo under terms reducing Venice's custom duties in Constantinople from 30 nomismata to 17 nomismata. In return, the Venetians agreed to transport Byzantine troops to southern Italy in times of war.[33][note 4] According to one estimate, a Byzantine landowning farmer might expect a profit of 10.2 nomismata after paying dues for half of his best-quality land.[35] Basil was popular with the country farmers,[36] the class that produced most of his army's supplies and soldiers. To assure this continued, Basil's laws protected small agrarian property owners and lowered their taxes. Despite the almost constant wars, Basil's reign was considered an era of relative prosperity for the class.[20][37]

Seeking to protect the lower and middle classes, Basil made ruthless war upon the system of immense estates in Asia Minor[38]—which his predecessor Romanos I had endeavored to check[39]—by executing a legal decree in January 996 that limited rights to property ownership. If the owner of an estate could prove that he claimed his estate prior to the Novels of Romanos, he would be allowed to keep it. 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.[40] In 1002, Basil also introduced the allelengyon tax[41] as a specific law obliging the dynatoi (wealthy landholders) to cover for the arrears of poorer tax-payers. Though it proved unpopular with the wealthier sections of Byzantine society,[42] Basil did not abolish the tax;[43] the emperor Romanos III abolished the allelengyon in 1028.[41] By 1025, Basil—with an annual revenue of 7 million nomismata—was able to amass 14.4 million nomismata (or 200,000 pounds/90 tonnes of gold) for the Imperial treasury due to his prudent management.[44][45] Despite his attempts to control the power of the aristocracy, they again took control of the government following his death.[46]

Military policies

Basil II was praised by his army[47] because he spent most of his reign campaigning with it rather than sending orders from Constantinople, as had most of his predecessors. This allowed his army to be largely supportive of him, often making his stance in political and church matters unquestionable. He lived the life of a soldier to the point of eating the same daily rations as the rest of the army. He also took the children of dead army officers under his protection and offered them shelter, food and education.[48] Many of these children became his soldiers and officers, taking the places of their fathers.[49] One of them, Isaac Komnenos, later became emperor himself.

Basil did not innovate in terms of military organization: in the conquered territories he introduced both the small themes or strategiai, centred around a fortress town, that were such a common feature of the 10th-century reconquests of the East under Phokas and Tzimiskes,[50] as well as the extensive regional commands under a doux or katepano (Iberia in 1000,[51] Asprakania or Upper Media in 1019/22,[52] Paristrion in 1000/20,[53] Bulgaria in 1018,[54] and Sirmium in 1019[55]). The exact size of the army under Basil II is unknown, but estimates put it as high as 110,000 men, excluding the imperial tagmata in Constantinople; a considerable force, compared with the nominal establishment force of ح. 120,000 in the 9th–10th centuries, or the 150,000–160,000 of the field armies under Justinian I.[56] At the same time, however, under Basil the practice began of relying on allied states—most notably Venice—for naval power, beginning the slow decline of the Byzantine navy during the 11th century.[57]

التوسع الأخير

كما هاجم الأباطرة الجرمان وسيطر على دلماسية وكرواتية. ثم أخذ يستعد لمهاجمة جزيرة صقلية التي كان يحكمها العرب، وهو في الثامنة والستين من عمره. ولكن الموت عاجله بعد أن شيد امبراطورية تمتد من جبال القفقاس إلى ساحل الأدرياتيك ومن ضفاف الدانوب إلى نهر الفرات. ولم تبلغ الإمبراطورية منذ أيام هرقل ما بلغته في أيامه من السعة، ولم يكن لها منذ عهد جستنيان مثل ما كان لها في عهده من القوة.

الحياة اللاحقة والوفاة والدفن

The Byzantine Empire at the death of Basil II in 1025

Basil II later secured the annexation of the sub-kingdoms of Armenia and a promise that its capital and surrounding regions would be willed to Byzantium following the death of its king Hovhannes-Smbat.[58] In 1021, he also secured the cession of the Kingdom of Vaspurakan by its king Seneqerim-John, in exchange for estates in Sebasteia.[29] Basil created a strongly fortified frontier in those highlands. Other Byzantine forces restored much of Southern Italy, which had been lost during the previous 150 years.[59]

Basil was preparing a military expedition to recover the island of Sicily when he died on 15 December 1025,[note 5] having had the longest reign among any Byzantine or Roman emperor.[66] 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.[67] Basil was to be buried in the last sarcophagus available in the rotunda of Constantine I in the Church of the Holy Apostles but 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.[20][68] The epitaph on Basil's tomb celebrated his campaigns and victories. His final resting place carried the following inscription:

From the day that the King of Heaven called upon me to become the Emperor, the great overlord of the world, no one saw my spear lie idle. I stayed alert throughout my life and protected the children of the New Rome, valiantly campaigning both in the West and at the outposts of the East ... O, man, seeing now my tomb here, reward me for my campaigns with your prayers.[48]

In 1260, during the unsuccessful Nicean Byzantine siege of Constantinople, then held by the Latin Empire, a corpse was found, upright in a corner of the Church of St. John the Evangelist, with a shepherd's flute placed in its mouth. An inscription allowed the Nicaean soldiers to identify the corpse as the remains of Basil II. The body of Basil II was transferred to the Monastery of the Saviour at Selymbria. The following year, Constantinople was recovered by the Byzantines.[69]

ذكراه

تقييم

Personifications of Serbia and Croatia in front of Basil II, painting by Joakim Marković, 18th century.

An assessment of the reign in the eyes of the subsequent generations is given by Psellos:

He crushed rebellions, subdued the feudal landowners, conquered the enemies of the Empire, notably in the Danubian provinces and the East. Everywhere the might of Roman arms was respected and feared. The treasury was overflowing with the accumulated plunder of Basil's campaigns. Even the lamp of learning, despite the emperor's known indifference, was burning still, if somewhat dimly. The lot of ordinary folk in Constantinople must have been pleasant enough. For most of them life was gay and colourful, and if the city's defensive fortifications were at some points in disrepair they had no cause to dread attacks.[70]

Basil II's reign is one of the most significant in Byzantine history. His constant military campaigns led to the zenith of Byzantine power in the Middle Ages.[71][72] The restoration of the Danubian frontier helped establish a more stable and secure border for the empire in Europe, maintaining a stronger barrier against Hungarian and Pecheneg raiders. 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. 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.[73] Basil's creation of the Varangian Guard provided him and his successors with an elite mercenary force capable of changing battle outcomes and boosting morale that became feared by the emperor's enemies.[74]

At this time, the Macedonian Renaissance was taking effect, seeing the rise of classical Greek scholarship being assimilated into Christian art and the study of ancient Greek philosophy being widespread.[75][76] 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.[77] 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.[78]

Literary works, eulogies and poems were made by the great cities of the Byzantine Empire that mostly tried to juxtapose the classic past of kingdoms and empires with the new expansion of Basil II in which he was compared with many important figures of the east such as Cyrus the Great and Artaxerxes.[79] He was also particularly compared with Alexander the Great who was believed to be Basil's ancestor.[79] Classical works such as "The Persians" by the ancient Greek tragedian Aeschylus were among the most recited in the empire during the expansion given the different confrontations against the caliphates that the Byzantines indiscriminately and classically called "Medes".[80][81] Despite the great expansion during his reign, his military and non-scholastic character led him to be criticized and related to the ancient Spartan monarchs or tyrants who at that time were remembered for being men of action, cruelty and decision who, like Basil, paid little attention to promoting the arts or literary culture and preferred a military environment.[82]

Basil II lacked heirs[83] due to the "dearth of cousins found within the Macedonian dynasty",[84][note 6] so he was succeeded by his brother Constantine and his family, who proved to be ineffective rulers. Nevertheless, fifty years of prosperity and intellectual growth followed because the funds of state were full, the borders were safe from intruders, and the Empire remained the most powerful political entity of the age. At the end of Basil II's reign, the Byzantine Empire had a population of approximately 12 million people.[86]

Although they were beneficial, Basil's achievements were reversed very quickly. Many of the Georgian, Armenian and Fatimid campaigns were undone after the succession crisis and eventual civil war after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071.[87] Because many of the empire's governors went to the capital with their soldiers to seize power after the capture of emperor Romanos IV,[88] the Anatolian frontier was largely left undefended against the Seljuk Empire.[89] The Normans permanently pushed the Byzantines from Southern Italy in April 1071.[90]

According to the 19th century historian George Finlay, Basil saw himself as "prudent, just, and devout; others considered him severe, rapacious, cruel, and bigoted. For Greek learning he cared little, and he was a type of the higher Byzantine moral character, which retained far more of its Roman than its Greek origin".[91] The modern historian John Julius Norwich wrote of Basil: "No lonelier man ever occupied the Byzantine throne. And it is hardly surprising: Basil was ugly, dirty, coarse, boorish, philistine and almost pathologically mean. He was in short deeply un-Byzantine. He cared only for the greatness of his Empire. No wonder that in his hands it reached its apogee".[92]

Bulgarian commentator Alexander Kiossev wrote in Understanding the Balkans: "The hero [of] a nation might be the villain of its neighbour ... The Byzantine emperor Basil the Murderer of Bulgarians, a crucial Greek pantheon figure, is no less important as [a] subject of hatred for our national mythology".[93]

تصويره في الأدب

Seal of the Greek Macedonian Committee during the Greek Struggle for Macedonia, depicting Basil II (front) and Alexander the Great
  • During the 20th century in Greece, interest in Basil II led to a number of biographies and historical novels about him. One of these is Basil Bulgaroktonos (1964) by historical fiction writer Kostas Kyriazis (el). Written as a sequel to his previous work Theophano (1963) which focuses on Basil's mother, it examines Basil's life through three fictional narrators and has been continuously reprinted since 1964.[94] 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.[95]
  • Penelope Delta's second novel Ton Kairo tou Voulgaroktonou (In the Years of the Bulgar-Slayer)[96] is also set during the reign of Basil II.[97] 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 again set Greeks and Bulgarians in bitter enmity with each other.[98]
  • 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 is resentful towards anything remotely 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 book, Dragoumis foresees 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".[99]
  • Basil Basileus is a comic book series by Theocharis Spyros and Chrysa Sakel. The plot and illustration is based on academic bibliography. The story is set in the early years of Basil II, from the time of John I Tzimiskes and the formation of the Varangian Guard until the final years of Basil II.[100]

السلف

Notes

  1. ^ الكنيسة الأرثوذكسية الشرقية و الكنيسة الكاثوليكية الرومانية were under communion as the الكنيسة الخلقدونية حتى الانشقاق العظيم في 16 يوليو 1054.[1]
  2. ^ Regnal numbers were never used in the Byzantine Empire. Instead, the Byzantines used nicknames and patronymics to distinguish rulers of the same name. The numbering of Byzantine emperors is a purely historiographical invention, beginning with Edward Gibbon in his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.[2] In his lifetime and later, Basil was distinguished from his namesake predecessor by the surnames the Younger (Greek: ὁ νέος, romanized: ho neos) and, most often, the Purple-born (Greek: ὁ πορφυρογέννητος, romanized: ho porphyrogénnetos).[3][4]
  3. ^ These portraits of Basil II and Constantine VIII are generally believed to be reliable.[31] Constantine is portrayed as having a longer beard, which coincides with how he's depicted in later coinage.[32]
  4. ^ The Edict on Maximum Prices issued during Diocletian's reign placed the cost on carpets from Cappadocia "at 3000 denarii, a price 30-fold the cost of a modios of wheat and thus approximately the value of perhaps two middle Byzantine nomismata".[34]
  5. ^ This is the universally accepted date for Basil's death.[3][60][59] The date is found in the Skylitzes' (and Cedrenus') chronicle archived in the Bibliothèque nationale de France.[61] Two latter copies, from the 15th century, give 12 December.[61][62] Two others, from the 13th century, give 13 December.[63][64] The 1839 edition of the CSHB uses the Paris manuscript, but forgets to translate the full date (Δεκεμβρίῳ γὰρ μηνί ιεʹ), a mistake that is repeated in the 2010 translation.[65]
  6. ^ Basil's father; grandfather, Constantine VII; and great-grandfather, Leo VI, each had either no siblings or childless siblings.[84] Basil himself was unmarried[85] and childless,[84][85] and his brother Constantine VIII's three daughters—Eudokia, Zoë and Theodora—all remained childless as well.[84]

References

  1. ^ Sue 2014.
  2. ^ Foss 2005, pp. 93–102.
  3. ^ أ ب PMBZ, Basileios II. (#20838).
  4. ^ Stephenson 2010, pp. 66–80.
  5. ^ Nicol, Donald MacGillivray (1992). Byzantium and Venice: A Study in Diplomatic and Cultural Relations. Cambridge University Press. p. 44. ISBN 0521428947. Basil II was aware that Otto had been made susceptible to Byzantine influence and ideas by his Greek mother Theophano.
  6. ^ McCabe, Joseph (1913). The empresses of Constantinople. R.G. Badger. p. 140. OCLC 188408. (Theophano) came from Laconia, and we may regard her as a common type of Greek.
  7. ^ Diacre, Léon le – Talbot, Alice-Mary – Sullivan, Denis F. (2005). The History of Leo the Deacon: Byzantine Military Expansion in the Tenth Century. Dumbarton Oaks. pp. 99–100. ISBN 0884023249. Nikephoros himself claimed that he wished to maintain his customary moderate lifestyle unaltered, avoiding cohabitation with a wife..And he took in marriage the wife of Romanos, who was distinguished in beauty, and was indeed a Laconian woman.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Bury, John Bagnell – Gwatkin, Henry Melvill – Whitney, James Pounder – Tanner, Joseph Robson – Previté-Orton, Charles William – Brooke, Zachary Nugent (1923). The Cambridge medieval history. Camb. Univ. Press. pp. 67–68. OCLC 271025434. The new ruler, Romanus II… took possession of the government, or rather handed it over to his wife Theophano. We have already seen who this wife was. The daughter of Craterus, a poor tavern-keeper of Laconian origin, she owed the unhoped-for honour of ascending the throne solely to her beauty and her vices.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Durant, Will – Durant, Ariel (1950). The Story of Civilization: The age of Faith; a history of medieval civilization – Christian, Islamic, and Judaic – from Constantine to Dante: A.D. 325–1300. Simon and Schuster. p. 429. OCLC 245829181. Perhaps Romanus II (958–63) was like other children, and did not read his father's books. He married a Greek girl, Theophano; she was suspected of poisoning her father-in-law and hastening Romanus' death{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Hyslop, R. (2008). Varangian. Cuthan Books. p. 545. ISBN 0955871824. Theophana, a Greek inn-keeper's daughter, married the emperor Romanus II in 958. She was alleged to have murdered this husband to marry the general Nicephorus
  11. ^ Goodacre, Hugh George (1957). A handbook of the coinage of the Byzantine Empire. Spink. p. 203. OCLC 2705898. Theophano, in spite of her accomplishments, was but of the humblest birth…she came from Laconia, no doubt bringing with her thence the peerless beauty of the Greek type. Romanus II and Theophano were married about the year 956
  12. ^ Miller, William (1964). Essays on the Latin Orient. A. M. Hakkert. p. 47. OCLC 174255384. The Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus, who wrote about the middle of the tenth century, has left us a favourable sketch of the Peloponnese as it was in his day.. His biography represents that city (Sparta) – of which the contemporary Empress Theophano, wife of Romanos II and Nikephoros Phokas, was perhaps a native.
  13. ^ J. Norwich, Byzantium: The Apogee, 251
  14. ^ Whittow 1996, pp. 379–380.
  15. ^ أ ب Wortley 2010, p. 322.
  16. ^ Kennedy 2004, p. 325.
  17. ^ Lev 1995, pp. 201–203.
  18. ^ Magdalino 2003, p. 86.
  19. ^ Stevenson 1926, p. 252.
  20. ^ أ ب ت ث ج Holmes 2003.
  21. ^ Lev 1995, pp. 203–205.
  22. ^ Stephenson 2010, p. 32.
  23. ^ Lev 1995, p. 205.
  24. ^ Lev 1995, pp. 203, 205–208.
  25. ^ Mango 2002, p. 180.
  26. ^ Holmes 2005, p. 2.
  27. ^ Magdalino 2003, p. 65.
  28. ^ Wortley 2010, p. 347.
  29. ^ أ ب Mango 2002, p. 309.
  30. ^ Holmes 2005, p. 483.
  31. ^ خطأ استشهاد: وسم <ref> غير صحيح؛ لا نص تم توفيره للمراجع المسماة ODB-ConstantineVIII
  32. ^ Spatharákīs 1976, pp. 91−95.
  33. ^
  34. ^ Cooper & Decker 2012, p. 96.
  35. ^ Laiou 2007, p. 303.
  36. ^ Stephenson 2000, p. 280.
  37. ^ Magdalino 2003, p. 79.
  38. ^ Bury 1911, p. 476.
  39. ^ Cartwright 2018a.
  40. ^ Vogt 1923b, p. 92.
  41. ^ أ ب Makris 2006.
  42. ^ ODB, "Allelengyon" (A. Cutler), p. 69.
  43. ^ Thomas & Thomas 1987, p. 165.
  44. ^ Sewter 1953, p. 19.
  45. ^ Magdalino 2003, p. 85.
  46. ^ Stephenson & Hoppenbrouwers 2014, p. 9.
  47. ^ Stephenson 2010, p. 66.
  48. ^ أ ب Herrin 2013, p. 219.
  49. ^ Holmes 2005, p. 260.
  50. ^ Kühn 1991, pp. 61ff..
  51. ^ Kühn 1991, p. 187.
  52. ^ Kühn 1991, p. 192.
  53. ^ Kühn 1991, p. 223.
  54. ^ Kühn 1991, p. 227.
  55. ^ Kühn 1991, p. 233.
  56. ^ Haldon 1999, pp. 100–103.
  57. ^ Haldon 1999, pp. 90–91.
  58. ^ Treadgold 1997, p. 528–529.
  59. ^ أ ب Hussey 1998.
  60. ^ خطأ استشهاد: وسم <ref> غير صحيح؛ لا نص تم توفيره للمراجع المسماة ODB
  61. ^ أ ب Thurn 1973, p. 868 (note 84).
  62. ^ Schreiner 1975, p. 158. Δεκεμβρίου ιβ'.
  63. ^ Grierson 1962, p. 58.
  64. ^ Schreiner 1975, p. 165. Δεκεμβρίου ιγ'.
  65. ^ Wortley 2010, p. 348.
  66. ^ Rogers 2010, p. 126.
  67. ^ Holmes 2005, p. 23.
  68. ^ Cartwright 2018c.
  69. ^ Stephenson 2010, p. 95.
  70. ^ Sewter 1953, p. 12.
  71. ^ Cartwright 2017.
  72. ^ Wortley 2010, p. 28.
  73. ^ Mango 2002, p. 199.
  74. ^ Blöndal & Benedikz 2007, p. 171.
  75. ^ Mango 2002, p. 277.
  76. ^ Magdalino 2003, p. 256.
  77. ^ Lawler 2011, p. 118.
  78. ^ Holmes 2005, p. 280.
  79. ^ أ ب Manafis 2020, [صفحة مطلوبة].
  80. ^ Magdalino 2004, pp. 611–643.
  81. ^ Moennin 2016, pp. 159–189.
  82. ^ Ševčenko 1968.
  83. ^ Magdalino 2003, p. 66.
  84. ^ أ ب ت ث Brubaker & Tougher 2016, p. 313.
  85. ^ أ ب Sewter 1953, pp. 29–30.
  86. ^ Treadgold 1997, p. 570.
  87. ^ Holmes 2005, p. 206.
  88. ^ Holmes 2005, p. 203.
  89. ^ Mango 2002, p. 310.
  90. ^ Mango 2002, p. 189.
  91. ^ Finlay 1856, p. 427.
  92. ^ Norwich 1997, p. 216.
  93. ^ Kiossev 2000.
  94. ^ Kyriazis 1964.
  95. ^ Sutcliff 1976.
  96. ^ Beaton 1999, p. 103.
  97. ^ Stephenson 2000, p. 120.
  98. ^ Danforth 1998.
  99. ^ Dragoumis 1907.
  100. ^ "Basil Basileus".
  101. ^ ODB, "Macedonian dynasty" genealogical table, p. 1263.

Bibliography

Primary sources
Secondary sources

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