How long was Basil II's reign as Byzantine emperor?
Basil II reigned as senior Byzantine emperor for 49 years and 11 months, from 976 to his death on the 15th of December 1025. This is the longest reign of any Roman or Byzantine emperor on record.
Questions about Basil II
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Why was Basil II called the Bulgar Slayer?
Basil II earned the epithet after the Battle of Kleidion on the 29th of July 1014, when he was said to have captured 15,000 Bulgarian prisoners and ordered 99 of every 100 men fully blinded, leaving one one-eyed man per cohort to lead the rest back to Samuel of Bulgaria. Samuel reportedly suffered a stroke upon seeing his blinded army and died two days later, on the 6th of October 1014.
What was the Varangian Guard and how did Basil II create it?
The Varangian Guard was an elite Byzantine military unit formed from Rus' warriors supplied by Prince Vladimir I of Kiev. Vladimir provided 6,000 soldiers in exchange for marriage to Basil's sister Anna Porphyrogenita; the marriage took place in Crimea in 989. The Rus' warriors helped suppress the rebellions of Bardas Skleros and Bardas Phokas and were subsequently organized into the permanent Varangian Guard.
How did the marriage of Anna Porphyrogenita and Vladimir I affect Eastern European history?
The marriage of Anna and Vladimir I of Kiev in 989 triggered the Christianization of Kievan Rus' and drew its successor states into the Byzantine cultural and religious tradition. This process eventually led the Grand Duchy of Moscow to proclaim itself the Third Rome and claim the political and cultural heritage of Byzantium.
How much gold did Basil II leave in the Byzantine treasury?
By 1025, Basil II had accumulated 14.4 million nomismata in the imperial treasury, equivalent to 200,000 pounds or 90 tonnes of gold, against an annual revenue of 7 million nomismata. He achieved this despite near-constant warfare throughout his reign.
What land laws did Basil II introduce to limit the Byzantine aristocracy?
In January 996, Basil issued a decree stripping illegally acquired estates from landowners who could not prove their title predated the Novels of Romanos, allowing the original legal owners to reclaim the land. In 1002, he introduced the allelengyon, a tax requiring wealthy landholders to cover the tax arrears of poorer neighbors; it remained in force until Emperor Romanos III abolished it in 1028.