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Basil II (Greek: ?as??e??? ??, 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 theYoung to distinguish him from his supposed ancestor Basil I the Macedonian,

The first part of his long reign was dominated by civil war against powerful generals from the Anatolian aristocracy. Following their submission, Basil oversawthe stabilization and expansion of the Byzantine Empire's eastern frontier, andabove all, the final and complete subjugation of Bulgaria, the Empire's foremostEuropean foe, after a prolonged struggle. For this he was nicknamed by later authors as "the Bulgar-slayer" (Greek: ?????a???t????, Boulgaroktonos), by which he is popularly known. At his death, the Empire stretched from Southern Italy tothe 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, and 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 the Byzantine cultural sphere.Contents

1 Birth and childhood2 Asian rebellions and alliance with Rus'3 Campaigns against the Arabs4 Khazar campaign5 Later years6 Assessment7 In literature8 References9 Bibliography10 External links

Birth and childhoodCoronation of Basil as co-emperor, from the Madrid Skylitzes

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] originating in 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 thedynasty, being variously attributed Armenian, Slavic or Greek ancestry. Indeedthe 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 Anatoliansfrom 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, but the latter died in 963, when Basil was only five years old. Because he andhis brother, the future Emperor Constantine VIII (ruled 10251028), 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. Finally, when John died on 10 January 976, Basil II took the throne as senior emperor.