Anno Domini,834-July-17
"How many more people must die to keep this wretched crown? How many lives has the crown of an empire riddled with corruption already claimed?" I said, contemplating the imperial crown as I walked around it and examined its details.
"As many as must die" Sigurd replied with a smile behind me.
"That is not the answer I would give, Sigurd… I would accept those deaths if they were necessary to reform the empire and prevent another civil war from causing so much suffering. But tearing everything down comes at a price: afterward, it must be rebuilt. And rebuilding will take a long time, for this war has shaken the empire's foundations. So many deaths, so much destruction… Now comes the hardest part for a warrior, Sigurd: peace and administration" I said as I paced through the throne room in Constantinople.
The watchful eyes of hundreds of Varangians followed me. They were giants clad in steel, with runes engraved on their armor and purple cloaks marking their service to me personally.
"The war is over… The Italians surrendered when they saw that no resistance remained in the east. As soon as the reinforcements arrived, they laid down their weapons like cowards, without a fight… Apparently, Hjalmar had better luck killing Serbs and forcing them to retreat to their northern territories. With luck, those lands will be ready for you to settle all those people you brought over from Anatolia" Sigurd said, folding his arms and making his armor clatter in the throne room.
"Yes. Fortunately, the Serbs confined themselves to holding out against the sieges. Everything would have been far more complicated if their archon had commanded greater forces, but the numerous levies we raised among them for our campaigns must have weakened their military strength. We recruited a good many of their men. As for the Croats, they had no choice but to submit when that army of Slavs and Varangians descended upon them, joined by the reinforcements Hjalmar brought from the north" I said, studying the map of the empire.
Once again, the empire was united, and all our conquests answered to a single authority, but we had achieved it at a great cost. The administration was stretched to its limits by the purges among imperial officials. The university in Crete could not train administrators as quickly as the empire needed them.
"Well, you have said many times that you need peace… How are we going to secure it?" asked Sigurd, who was wearing some of the belongings of the Sicilian pretender he had killed. The man's rings now adorned the Varangian's fingers, and he wore some of his garments as well.
"We will negotiate nonaggression treaties with our neighbors to secure a lasting peace and resume many of the plans Theophilos had begun to put into practice. The imperial treasury has been considerably depleted by the expenses of the civil war, the continued expansion of the army, and the upkeep of the administration. I will make a donation from my own fortune to the imperial coffers… Shipments of gold and silver worth some eight million nomismata should already be on their way, to finance reconstruction and pay the Abbasids the sum agreed upon for peace" I said, nodding.
"Are we really going to pay them?" Sigurd asked in surprise.
"We must. If we want peace, we have to show that we are willing to keep our word. Paying that gold to keep the Abbasids in the east and persuade them to stop harassing the Roman frontiers is the best thing we can do to prevent further bloodshed. They will remain our neighbors, and launching another campaign against them would cost us too much. All our resources must go toward rebuilding an empire devastated by the wars we have fought without respite over the past decade" I said, walking slowly toward the throne.
"Then it seems we are going to be bored" Sigurd said, somewhat irritated by the decision.
"That is how it must be. I never wanted this, but now that the crown rests upon my head, I must ensure that Rome has firm foundations upon which to recover its glory. The least I can do is carry out the plan Theophilos wanted to undertake with me after our victory in Italy… We should be celebrating now and beginning to introduce reforms to concentrate authority in the emperor and reduce the power of the governors and the Church. Instead, I must do everything at once, making certain that no one exploits gaps in the laws or finds some other way to evade them… I do not want a new aristocracy to arise. My task is now more important than ever, and I will need everyone's help to see it through" I said, reaching the throne and sitting down.
"And what about a few raids… against the sarakenoi of Africa, you know? They say they are still attacking and plundering our ships. We could answer with a show of force, like in the old days, when we raided the African coast and our ships returned laden with thralls. What do you think?" Sigurd asked, picking up the crown and approaching me.
"Perhaps… But it will not be a war. I may send one of your brothers so you can have your amusement and your journeys to Valhalla. What matters most now is to begin my watch as emperor and carry out the work Theophilos should have lived to do" I said, accepting the crown.
"I am glad to hear it" Sigurd replied, taking his place beside me.
I slowly put on the crown, feeling the weight of its gold and jewels as the Varangians opened the doors and numerous administrators entered the throne room, accompanied by foreign dignitaries.
"The path to the throne has been long, and I never wished to walk it, but here I am. The path to a better tomorrow will be longer still" I said, preparing to work.
Personal Information
Name: Basil Makedon.
Birth: August 811.
Death: December 875.
Occupations: military commander, administrator, and emperor.
Predecessor: Theophilos, whose death triggered a succession crisis.
Successor: Theophilos II.
Consort during his reign: Brynhilde.
Issue: several children.
End of reign: voluntary abdication.
Early Years
Basil's youth was marked by his captivity among a Slavic people whose name is unknown. He remained enslaved for more than a decade. During this period, he met Saint Theodore the Evangelizer, who had arrived in those lands on a mission to evangelize the tribes attacking the imperial frontiers. During his captivity, Theodore taught him the language of the Slavs, Greek, and some Latin.
The experience of slavery featured prominently in his later writings. Basil associated his captivity with the imperial authorities' inability to protect the frontier population. His hostility toward officials he considered incompetent and his insistence on military preparedness appear linked to this memory.
According to surviving accounts, Basil escaped by deceiving his captors. At the time, a Slavic nobleman employed him in administrative work, although the exact location of his captivity remains unknown. After reaching Roman territory, he settled near Adrianople and established a smithing enterprise along the Evros River. Attacks on the region led him to organize the defense of his workers and seek permission to maintain an armed force of his own.
His relationship with Leo Skleros facilitated the incorporation of this initiative into the imperial military system. The small contingent he assembled marked the beginning of his career as a commander. Their relationship eventually deteriorated, and Skleros remained imprisoned until his death following Basil's accession to the throne. Nevertheless, Basil continued to refer to him as his "political father" in his writings.
During his career as a mercenary and imperial commander, he met Hakon Hakonulf, regarded as the founder of Europe's Varangian dynasties. Hakon had been captured and sold into slavery. He taught Basil the Norse language, and the two subsequently formed an alliance that helped consolidate Basil's military and political position within the empire.
Military and Political Rise
The reconquest of Crete marked a turning point in Basil's career. Leo Skleros recommended him to Emperor Michael II to lead the expedition. Basil conducted a swift campaign that restored the island to imperial rule. During the operations, he employed siege engines described by the sources as innovative, whose use subsequently influenced the imperial army's siege doctrine.
His growing prestige brought broader responsibilities and enabled him to act on behalf of the emperors on certain missions. During the reign of Theophilos, he participated in the eastern reconquest campaigns and played a prominent role in the recovery of Antioch, where he used the sewer system to bring troops into the city.
Repression and the Erasure of Memory
Although the sources do not describe Basil's early conduct as exceptionally cruel for his time, several accounts identify a change during the Macedonian campaign. There, he ordered the enslavement of an entire people and subsequently used his imperial authority to erase their memory.
The lack of information about this community is attributed in part to those measures. Neither the tribe nor the names of its settlements can be securely identified from surviving evidence. The sources also describe the deliberate destruction of material remains and the depopulation of the area. These actions make it difficult to establish the identity of the persecuted people and reconstruct their history.
Military Ability
Basil was regarded as one of the foremost commanders of his time. Accounts of his campaigns emphasize his swift decision-making, his ability to improvise, and his use of foreign contingents to compensate for the limitations of his own forces.
His military conduct was characterized by flexibility. Rather than adhering exclusively to a particular doctrine, he combined Roman, Slavic, and Arab methods according to the circumstances. This tactical adaptability was accompanied by considerable autonomy in the conduct of his campaigns.
Patronage of Education and Research
Basil promoted education and established a teaching system in Crete that the sources credit with the rapid spread of reading and writing among its inhabitants. Some accounts describe this process as achieving literacy among the entire population, although the extent of that claim is difficult to establish.
He also financed one of the leading scholars of his time and supported the establishment of several universities. Various later works attribute to him a pioneering role in the development of the scientific method and the establishment of research practices that would influence subsequent generations.
This patronage remained closely connected to his military interests. Basil consistently sought ways to apply knowledge and technological advances to weaponry, siege warfare, and the army's needs.
These advances were also evident in shipbuilding and metallurgy. During Basil's rule, the output of Roman smithies increased considerably. The sources attribute part of this development to the emperor's own knowledge, acquired during his captivity, and to the introduction of processes that enabled steel to be produced in large quantities to supply the army.
In shipbuilding, vessels were developed that required smaller crews and could carry heavier loads. Their characteristics have been interpreted as sufficient to permit Atlantic crossings, although there is no evidence that their builders recognized this capability or that such voyages took place during his reign.
Religion
Publicly, Basil presented himself as an adherent of Orthodox Christianity, although many contemporaries associated him with iconoclasm. His personal writings and other contemporary accounts, however, suggest that his participation in religious ceremonies primarily reflected the obligations of his office.
In his writings, he expressed a certain preference for Norse beliefs, though this did not necessarily imply religious adherence. In several texts, he professed no belief in deities, a position that has been interpreted as conscious atheism.
Relationship with Theophilos and the Civil War
Surviving imperial correspondence reveals a close relationship between Basil and Theophilos. In several letters, they exchanged insults in a friendly manner, and some of Theophilos's letters expressed his wish to arrange marriages between their children. These marriages never took place.
Their closeness constitutes one of the main arguments supporting the historical interpretation that Basil did not knowingly participate in the conspiracy and was taken by surprise by the betrayal. Other historians have noted that the outcome benefited him considerably: the deaths of Theophilos, Theodora, and their son removed the principal obstacles to his accession and enabled him to assume power on the very day of the coup. Nevertheless, accounts attributed to surviving scholai describe Basil kneeling, weeping, and begging forgiveness before Theophilos's severed head.
The Great Purge
The Great Purge was one of the principal episodes of repression during Basil's rule. It targeted aristocrats, priests, officials, soldiers, eunuchs, and other groups associated with imperial power. Estimates place the death toll at more than 130,000 people, executed on the emperor's direct orders in a campaign intended to eliminate those he considered enemies and their families.
The identification of the victims is limited by the decree ordering the destruction of records and references to those purged. Numerous names and lineages disappeared from the surviving documentation. Estimates of the death toll derive primarily from tallies intended to confirm that the executions had been carried out, recording numbers of the dead to verify that none of those targeted had escaped.
Consolidation of Power
After prevailing in the civil war, Basil consolidated his authority over the empire and completed the final purges in the recovered territories. Although his campaigns were concluded with relative ease, the conflict caused hundreds of thousands of deaths.
The confiscations provided him with vast tracts of land and substantial gold reserves. These resources were used to cover the considerable costs of reconstruction and the restoration of imperial authority after a prolonged period of warfare.
Rule
Basil's rule was marked by a policy of peace and stabilization. Once the civil war had ended, the emperor declared no new wars and sought to maintain favorable relations with neighboring states. He also encouraged the formation of several vassal states north of the Black Sea, supplying them with weapons, armor, and funding. These territories were intended to serve as a first line of defense against raids and reduce the need to deploy imperial forces directly.
This policy did not, however, exclude territorial expansion. Basil supported the expeditions of his Varangian nephews, who were related to him through his wife. These initiatives produced a form of indirect intervention that characterized part of his foreign policy.
When he considered a conquest advantageous, he turned to Varangian warriors from the foederati governorships, assembled under a chieftain and financed by the imperial authorities. He provided them with money, weapons, ships, and provisions to conduct campaigns serving the empire's interests. This system contributed to the formation of the Varangian Kingdom of Africa, the Varangian Kingdom of Rus, and the Varangian Kingdom of Britannia, whose conquests were supported by Roman steel, ships, and supplies.
These kingdoms maintained ties with the imperial government and regularly supplied recruits for the Varangian Guard and, later, for the Varangian army serving the Roman emperors.
The Great Reforms
Basil's rule was characterized by the strengthening of the emperor's absolute authority. To achieve this, he established centralized command structures and separated military and civilian responsibilities in the provinces.
The military reform replaced the thema system. Although that system allowed troops with some experience to be maintained at a relatively low cost, it also concentrated control over provincial forces and resources in the hands of military governors, giving them the means to challenge the emperor. The separation of these powers made commanders dependent on funding from the imperial treasury and supplies from state granaries, without provincial tax revenues of their own to sustain their armies.
The new system introduced five years of compulsory military service, organized through periodic censuses. This measure ensured a regular intake of recruits into the imperial army. The recruitment model remained in effect without substantial modification, although training and weaponry underwent subsequent changes.
With the Roman aristocracy all but eliminated, officer training came to depend largely on military academies established in various provinces. Programs were also organized through which Roman officers were sent to the northern vassal states to gain experience commanding foederati troops. These measures helped create a corps of intermediate-ranking officers recognized for their training and their ability to replace their superiors if they were killed.
Administrative reform encompassed the separation of civilian and military responsibilities and the establishment of academies to train magistrates and imperial officials. Among its principal measures were anticorruption oversight bodies and a state inspectorate, tasked with reviewing officials' conduct and identifying those who exploited their positions for personal gain.
Laws were also enacted to limit the accumulation of land and wealth. Taxes were imposed on inheritances, transfers of assets during an owner's lifetime, and large fortunes, with the aim of preventing the emergence of a new aristocracy. The reappearance of groups capable of challenging the emperor's power was one of Basil's recurring concerns.
These provisions required those who held large amounts of gold or land to surrender a considerable share of their assets to the state through taxation. In addition to providing revenue for the imperial treasury, they allowed the economic power of potential rivals to the emperor's authority to be monitored and restricted.
Religious Reform
The Church's subordination to imperial authority was formalized at the Council of Constantinople in 835. There, the ecclesiastical authorities recognized the emperor as God's supreme representative on earth and declared that his authority did not depend on its conferral by the clergy. Various ecclesiastical privileges were also abolished, and much of the Church's income was placed under imperial control. Donations and revenues from its lands were to be remitted to the treasury, whose administration was responsible for distributing funds among religious institutions.
The council recognized the emperor's extensive powers over the clergy, including the ability to appoint and dismiss its members at his own discretion. The right of sanctuary became subject to imperial orders. The authority of priests to pronounce spiritual condemnations against people under the emperor's jurisdiction was also regulated.
These measures were accompanied by a unification of religious practices under a new denomination, Universal Christianity, which incorporated many of the forms of worship found within the empire. Its introduction throughout imperial territory sought to establish a common religious organization that recognized the supreme authority of the Emperor of the Romans.
Reconstruction
Reconstruction occupied almost three decades of Basil's rule. During this period, thousands of cities and towns were restored or founded, while improving economic and agricultural conditions encouraged sustained population growth. Estimates attribute a doubling of the population to this process, with some regions approaching a threefold increase. The establishment of medical academies and the reduction in infant mortality contributed to particularly pronounced demographic growth after the first fifteen years of his rule.
The availability of land, including territories acquired through conquest, and access to inexpensive food also encouraged this growth.
Educational reforms extended formal instruction in Greek, mathematics, and other disciplines throughout the empire. Education included oaths of loyalty to the emperor and promoted a shared Roman identity. The spread of Greek contributed to the decline and disappearance of various local languages, as well as the gradual assimilation of communities incorporated into the imperial state.
Consolidation of the Roman State
Basil's reforms placed the Roman state in a position of extraordinary strength by the end of his three decades of rule. The empire possessed a large educated population, numerous centers of military production, and an administration capable of supporting both the operation of existing provinces and the incorporation of new territories.
The expansion of education had provided a broad pool of officials, scribes, and administrators. By the end of his reign, the government had personnel trained to assume responsibilities in future governorships, allowing conquests to be planned without relying exclusively on the administrative structures of conquered territories.
Imperial workshops and arsenals supplied a professional army backed by substantial reserves of weapons and resources. Including the contingents of vassal rulers, the total forces available to the emperor approached half a million men. Their mobilization depended on the obligations and circumstances of each territory, but they represented a considerably greater military capacity than Basil had inherited upon ascending the throne.
The imperial coffers were full, and the state possessed the means to finance prolonged campaigns. This combination of wealth, administrative capacity, and military strength fostered expectations among commanders and courtiers of an imminent war of expansion.
Abdication and the Coronation of Theophilos
Basil's decision to abdicate surprised those who had expected him to lead a new era of conquest personally. After thirty years of rule, he handed the crown to his son Theophilos, placing at his disposal the resources accumulated through decades of reform and consolidation.
Basil participated in his successor's coronation ceremony. His presence visibly demonstrated his support for the new sovereign and the continuity between their reigns. Power was transferred with a well-stocked treasury, an army eager to take the field, and an administration prepared to extend its operations into new provinces.
During the first five years of Theophilos's reign, Basil remained his son's adviser. His experience helped guide the new emperor, although he did not participate directly in the campaigns of reconquest or assume command of the armies that conducted them.
After this period, he retired to Crete, finally fulfilling the desire to leave behind the obligations of imperial life that he had expressed at various stages of his career.
Bardas and His Retirement in Cyprus
After his defeat in the civil war and the pardon granted by Basil, Bardas, the brother of Maria, the emperor's former wife, settled in Cyprus. There, he married a local peasant woman and brought his sisters to live with him. He permanently abandoned his pursuit of the throne and never again became involved in imperial politics.
His later life revolved around farming and family. Reports from the agents who continued to watch him described his daily activities, the upbringing of his children, and his trips out to sea to fish with them.
Although the surveillance had been intended to detect any possible resumption of his political activities, the surviving documents portray a man who had accepted his exclusion from power and built a stable life away from Constantinople.
Private Writings and Basil's Envy
The discovery of the records kept by the spies assigned to observe Bardas, together with the books in which Basil commented on their reports, revealed the intensity of the emperor's envy toward his former rival.
Basil had secured the throne, while Bardas had lost any prospect of claiming it. Yet in his private reflections, the emperor acknowledged that Bardas's life was far closer to the one he himself would have wished to lead.
The reasons for this envy were specific: being able to remain close to his children, spend his days with his family, cultivate the land, and go fishing without the constant obligation to attend to affairs of state. The tranquility described by the spies contrasted with an imperial existence governed by petitions, administrative disputes, military decisions, and suspicions of conspiracy.
His children's accounts portray Basil as an affectionate father who took an active role in their education. He sought to make time to be with them, teach them, and participate in their upbringing. His own writings nevertheless show that he considered his presence insufficient. The responsibilities of government prevented him from being there for every moment he wished to share with them.
This was the aspect of Bardas's life that affected him most deeply. His former adversary could be a father every day, while Basil had to fit his family into whatever time he could set aside from his imperial obligations.
The comparison recurs throughout his writings and reveals a lasting dissatisfaction. For Basil, political victory had brought a burden from which Bardas had been freed precisely because he had been defeated and withdrawn from the struggle for power.
His subsequent retirement to Crete gave these documents particular significance. His abdication, five years of service as an adviser, and eventual departure from court form a sequence consistent with his desire to regain control over his own life. His envy of Bardas thus endured as one of the most personal expressions of the distance between the power Basil had attained and the domestic happiness he would have preferred.
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Well, here we are at the end of the story. Thank you to everyone who supported me along the way. I have to say, it has been a long journey with a lot of studying, but now, if anyone asks me about medieval history, I can leave their head spinning with everything I know.XD