Byzantine Empire: Macedonian dynasty. Vasily II Bulgarian Slayer Vasily 2 Emperor of Byzantium

There was a Great Emperor in Byzantium, of course, Vasily II (nicknamed the Bulgarian Slayer"), reign - 976-1025. Under him, Rus' was baptized (he married his sister to Prince Vladimir), Bulgaria was annexed to the empire (defeated the usurper Samuel, blinded 15,000 prisoners - but not all of them completely - every hundredth only in one eye - as guides, hence the nickname - did not forgive the Bulgarians for their defeat at the very beginning of their “career”), Iveria and Armenia (adopted the title of “father of the Armenian people”), etc.

And he began by defeating the contenders for the throne (with the help of a Russian expeditionary force of 6,000 soldiers - the result of Vladimir’s execution of the treaty signed by his father Svyatoslav). One of his opponents - the elderly Varda Sklir - surrendered and the emperor asked the experienced politician and military leader for advice - how to deal with the oligarchs/donates? He said the following:

“Keep the donates in the strictest rein, set the highest possible taxes for them, create financially unfavorable conditions and even subject them to targeted, outright persecution - even if not entirely fair; then they will think 100 times before speaking out against the imperial power.”

Not bad advice, but still designed to preserve the system and a long struggle, in the course of which a lot of things can happen - “a person is suddenly mortal” and someone in the environment can be bought out, etc.

The transformation of the emperor's views was helped by an incident - the emir of Aleppo (an Islamic vassal of the empire) announced the impending Fatimid attack on Antioch. Vasily was with the troops in Bulgaria, but reacted quickly - he formed a corps of 17,000 soldiers, allocated 2 mules to each - for the fighter himself and for equipment - and in 16 days (!) he transferred him to Aleppo - in the age of machines these would have been motorized troops . Basil defeated the Fatimids, after which he devastated their country all the way to Tripoli (in the East then, and even now, any answer must be tenfold in strength and consequences, otherwise they will not understand!).

The emperor returned to the capital through Anatolia, local oligarchs along the way gave him luxurious receptions everywhere. Vasily did not like pomp, but something else shocked him - over the past decades, the magnates “grabbed” not only state lands and estates, but also the lands of local agricultural communes - the foundations of the imperial army! The result was an imperial decree, according to which ANY property had to have legal confirmation with a prescription of at least 61 years (!), everything else was returned to the previous owners, without any compensation or payment for “improvements.” Moreover, this also canceled the acts signed by Vasily himself - it was believed that they were prepared with the help of deception and fraud. As a result, many “noble” families were driven into poverty and turned into peasants...

But here, in Russia, you don’t even need 61 years - only 25 years, maximum, have passed!

By the way, Vasily was not considered a true Byzantine - he felt great in the saddle, on a horse, and so he wore simple clothes, did not like “spectacles” and spending on them - the “people” did not like this - they also need “Olympiads”, etc. De facto, he did not care about anything other than the greatness of the empire, and in addition, he did not leave behind any children...

VASILY II THE BULGARIAN Slayer
960 (actual from 976) - 1025

"Cheap victories are worthless. T
Only those victories that deserve anything are those that are the result of hard struggle."
G. Beecher

Vasily was born in 958 and at the age of two was proclaimed emperor. But he began to rule only in 976, after the death of John Tzimiskes. And it should be noted that under none of the rulers who occupied the Byzantine throne after him, the empire never again achieved the power and prosperity to which Vasily II led the country.

His co-ruler was his younger brother Konstantin, who was not actually involved in government affairs until the death of the Bulgarian Slayer. And the basileus had to entrust most of the issues to Vasily Nof, who had real power, for the first decade of his independent rule. Vasily decided to free himself from his powerful relative, depriving him of power and exiling him, only when he was sure that he had gained sufficient experience in political, economic and military affairs.

The reign of the Bulgarian Slayer (or Bulgarokton), despite the stunning successes, cannot be called easy: it was filled with both grueling, numerous wars and internal unrest and rebellions.
Vasily had not yet had time to get used to the idea that he was already a full-fledged ruler when Vardan Sklir raised an uprising. The reason for his rebellion lies in a secret and overt confrontation with Vasily Nofa.
The latter, who had a royal origin (the illegitimate son of Roman Lekapin), but being a eunuch, which deprived him of the right to the imperial throne, feared the glory and power of Skler, who was related to the emperor (Vasily in his first marriage was married to Vardan’s sister), who, having popularity and finances, could continue the series of guardian emperors. Basil removed Skler from the post of Domestic of the Schools of the East, sending him as a strategist to Mesopotamia. This, in fact, meant exile. But Nof’s mistake was also in the fact that he exiled Vardan to a province located next to Armenia, where Sklerus had great family connections and influence.

In the summer of 976, Vardan and Mikhail Wurtz, who joined him, opposed the emperor with their troops. Their authority was so great that a year later all of Asia Minor was under their control. Well-armed warriors and their commanders from the eastern themes grouped around two generals.

At the same time, the rebellious Bulgarians deprived Byzantium of almost all the conquests of Tzimiskes.
The emperor did not know what to do and had almost no hope for a successful ending to his reign. Especially after the rebels, led by Vardan, twice managed to defeat the troops sent by Vasily.
Feeling that he could no longer hesitate, the Bulgarian Slayer decided to send the disgraced nephew of Nicephorus II Vardan Phocas against Skler.
After several defeats, on March 24, 978, Foka managed to defeat the rebel army. The wounded Sklir managed to escape to Baghdad.

Phocas was received with honor by the emperor and at first received considerable honors. But gradually they began to move him away from the court again, and Vardan felt a new approach of disgrace. Therefore, when the restless Vardes Sklera appeared on the territory of Byzantium, Phocas, aimed at pacifying him, taking the old rebel prisoner, united both armies and in August 987 proclaimed himself emperor.

Most of the Byzantine army was under the command of Phocas, and Vasily was forced to turn to the Kiev prince Vladimir for help. Vladimir Svyatoslavovich agreed to help the emperor, but in return demanded that Vasily’s sister Anna be married to him. Although against his wishes, the Bulgarian Slayer still agreed.

The emperor's army, reinforced by the Russian army, inflicted several defeats on Phocas, and in April 988, in the decisive battle near the city of Avidos, it completely defeated the rebel troops. The battle was stubborn, and it remains to be seen how it would have ended if not for the sudden death of Vardas Phokas, the real reason for which was never revealed.
installed. Seeing the basileus on the battlefield, Foka rushed towards him, trying to engage in single combat. But, suddenly feeling bad, he got off his horse, lay down on the ground and died. There were rumors that he was poisoned by a cupbearer bribed by the emperor.
Having learned about the death of the leader, the troops retreated. The rebels were again led by Ward Sklira. But Vasily managed to convince him to stop the civil strife, promising various benefits to him and his supporters.

All these internal troubles turned the pampered, frivolous and prone to debauchery young man into a gloomy, rude, hot-tempered, suspicious and cruel person.

Having abandoned pleasures and an idle life, Bulgarokton made his main task the strengthening of the empire, its thematic structure. Strictly monitoring all expenses, clearly organizing the collection of taxes, and conducting a general inventory of property, he was able to quickly replenish the treasury. Basil shifted part of the burden of taxes from the stratiots to the ikhdinats, and when the country was struck by a bad harvest, he abolished all taxes existing on the sale of products.

Throughout the country, during the reign of Vasily II, construction was carried out, fortresses and houses, palaces and temples were erected.
The emperor generously paid the work of officials and soldiers, which allowed him to reduce bribery and strengthen the army.
As for military operations, Vasily waged a stubborn struggle against Bulgaria for 20 years, making campaigns across the Danube almost every year.
In these campaigns, the brave commander Grigor Tarontsi (Grigory Taronit) became famous, who fell in one of the countless battles. His son Ashot, captured by the Bulgarians, married Samuel's daughter.
Throughout all the wars, Byzantium's advantage continued to grow from year to year. All attempts by the formidable Tsar of Bulgaria Samuel to defeat Vasily were unsuccessful, and his troops suffered crushing defeats.
July 29, 1014 One of the decisive battles took place, in which the Bulgarians were completely defeated. And the Bulgarian Slayer ordered all the prisoners (over 15,000 people) to be blinded either completely or in one eye, sending a chain of unfortunate blind people to Samuel. Unable to bear the sight he saw, Samuel poisoned himself in October of the same year.

Year after year, like a hammer, Vasily continued to hammer Bulgaria (for which he received the nickname Bulgarokton), completely
and conquering her. And for another 170 years this country remained under the rule of the Byzantine emperors.

In the East, in 996, the Arabs managed to capture Aleppo, which Byzantium lost forever.
During the years of his reign, Vasily had to conduct military operations not only against the Bulgarians and Arabs, but also lead troops against Armenia, Abkhazia, Iberia, conflict with the Khazars, and strengthen the power of Byzantium over Italy in battles. Only the death of the emperor prevented the prepared campaign against Sicily.

Vasily II the Bulgarian Slayer, one of the most talented and significant emperors of the Macedonian dynasty, died on December 15, 1025.
Armenians on the Byzantine throne. R.V. Ter-Ghazaryan

Asilius was proclaimed emperor at the age of two, but was allowed to rule only in 976 after his death. His co-ruler was his younger brother. Having accepted power over the Roman Empire, Vasily did not want to share his worries with anyone outside or take other people's advice. However, at first he also could not rely on himself, since he had no experience either in commanding an army or in public administration. Therefore, he brought closer to him his relative Parakimomen Vasily, who was distinguished by his great intelligence, and learned from him the art of ruling. But as he grew older and gained experience in all matters, he deprived him of power and exiled him. From now on, he himself made all the decisions, he himself managed the army and civil affairs, governing not according to written laws, but according to the unwritten regulations of his unusually naturally gifted soul.

His reign was filled with exhausting wars and brutal rebellions. Already in 976, Vardas Skleros rebelled in Asia Minor, capturing all Asian themes in a short time. Having learned that all the heavily armed warriors had flocked to Sklerus, the emperor and his entourage decided at first that they had died, but then, gathering their courage, they decided otherwise and armed the disgraced Barda Phocas, the nephew of the late emperor, against Sklerus, entrusted him with the remaining forces and sent them against the rebels. In 978 Skleros was defeated and fled to the Arabs. The winner Phocas initially received considerable honors and became one of the persons closest to the emperor, but then he began to receive less and less attention, and he, realizing that he was in danger of new disgrace, in 987 proclaimed himself emperor and raised a rebellion against Vasily. The decisive battle with Phocas took place in April 988 at Avidos. Noticing Vasily, Foka rushed towards him with all his might, but suddenly got off his horse, lay down on the ground and died. There was a rumor that the cupbearer, bribed by the emperor, poisoned him before the battle. Varda Sklir, who led the rebels, reconciled with the emperor in the same year.

Under the influence of all these events, Vasily’s nature changed greatly. In his youth, he was prone to licentiousness and effeminacy, indulged in carousing without hesitation, often indulged in love affairs and was carried away by friendly feasts. But difficult trials and cruel blows of fate forced him, according to Psellos, to set sail in full sail away from a pampered life and, over time, completely change his character. Over the years, he became a gloomy, rude, hot-tempered man and alien to any luxury. He abandoned jewelry, no longer wore necklaces around his neck or a tiara on his head, took off extra rings, threw off colorfully decorated clothes and was concerned only with how to bring the affairs of his state into harmony. Having closed all the channels through which incoming money flowed, he increased his treasury to two hundred thousand talents. He thoroughly studied military affairs and therefore unerringly appointed knowledgeable and skillful assistants to all posts. He carried out campaigns against the barbarians in a completely different way from the custom of most emperors, who set out in mid-spring and returned at the end of summer. He endured the winter cold and summer heat, languishing with thirst, did not immediately rush to the source and was truly as hard as flint and resistant to all bodily deprivations. He did not like open battles and won more by cunning than by valor.

For twenty years, Vasily waged a stubborn war with the Bulgarians, making campaigns across the Danube almost every year. Already in the first years of the war, the Romans took and plundered Pliska, Preslava, Vidin. In 1014, the Bulgarians were defeated in a bloody battle near Strymon (Vasil ordered 15,000 prisoners to be blinded). In 1018, the Bulgarian capital Ohrid surrendered, and the following year the Romans captured the last Bulgarian city - Sirmium. Once again, like several centuries ago, the Danube became the northern border of the empire. Wars against other enemies were equally successful - in Asia, Transcaucasia and Italy. At the end of 1025, Vasily planned a large expedition to Sicily, but suddenly fell ill and died.

At the end of July 1014, the stocky and slovenly 56-year-old warrior Vasily II began to take cruel revenge on the Bulgarians, who had been rampant in his empire for more than two centuries.

The Bulgarians were descended from the warlike Turkic tribes of Central Asia, who appeared in the European steppes west of the Volga at the end of the 4th century. One of the tribes, or "horde", settled on the plain between the Danube and the Balkan Mountains, and by the 7th century. The newcomers became related through marriages both with the indigenous Vlachs and with the Slavs who had recently appeared there. In 811, Krum, Khan of Bulgaria (802-814), killed the Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus I, and then besieged Constantinople. During the reign of Tsar Boris I (852-889), the Bulgarians converted to Christianity, which gave them a sense of deep cultural unity, but did not at all reduce their willingness to kill Greeks and ravage the Byzantine lands to the south.

Military campaigns of Vasily II in 1000-1004. had already returned to Byzantine control most of the Eastern Balkans from Thessaloniki to the Iron Gate on the Danube, the gorge separating Serbia from Romania. Now, in July 1014, he advanced to the Klidion chasm, which led into the valley of the Strumitsa River near the city of Serei, and found that the army of the Bulgarian king Samuil had occupied this pass and blocked the entrance by erecting a wooden palisade. A Byzantine force was sent up the wooded hillside to attack the Bulgarians from the rear, while the emperor himself led his troops directly into the stockade. The victory was complete. Vasily captured 15 thousand prisoners and divided them into hundreds. Then he ordered everyone to be blinded in both eyes, but to leave in each hundred a leader blinded in only one eye, after which he sent this “army” to King Samuel, who escaped death.

By the time they reached the royal castle in Prespa, October had arrived. At the sight of them, the king had a stroke, and two days later he died without regaining consciousness. After another three and a half years of war, Vasily triumphantly entered the Bulgarian capital Ohrid (now in Macedonia). All the Balkans again belonged to Byzantium. The emperor received oaths of allegiance from everywhere, and earned the nickname Bulgaroctonus - “Bulgar Slayer.”

Early years and reign of Nikephoros

Vasily received his first lessons in cruelty in his early years. His father Romanus II died in March 963, and his mother Theophano called upon the general Nikephoros Phocas to protect her and her two sons, Basil and Constantine. This ascetic Anatolian aristocrat, who in 961 conquered the island of Crete for the empire, defeating the Saracens who had captured it, was at that time camped with his army near Caesarea in Cappadocia and was already heading back to Constantinople after his victories over the Arab emir Seif ad- Daula in the Syrian campaign of 961-962. As proof of his piety and valor, he carried the tattered tunic of St. John the Baptist, captured in Aleppo. His army took the city in 944, after which they burned the emir's magnificent palace to the ground. This tunic was carried before Nikephoros upon entering Constantinople and during the solemn procession to the hippodrome, where his triumph was officially celebrated. After Nikephoros returned to Cappadocia, soldiers, according to ancient Roman custom, raised him on their shields and proclaimed him emperor. He was crowned on August 16 in the Hagia Sophia, where the patriarch placed the emperor's crown on the head of Nicephorus II Phocas.

The new emperor became regent under two young heirs to the throne, but the dynastic principle was violated, and the marriage of Nicephorus with Theophano further strengthened his position. In his role as emperor, however, he displeased powerful factions. The Church was outraged by the edict, which prohibited it from accepting donations of lands to add to its already extensive holdings. By giving lands to those who offered the highest price for them, Nikephoros put at a disadvantage those small owners who previously, by law, had the first right to purchase neighboring lands. Taxes increased greatly, and Nikephoros refused to pay an annual cash subsidy to the Bulgarians, whom he had been “feeding” since 927, considering Bulgaria a useful buffer state between Byzantium and Kievan Rus. This new force, which arose in the middle of the 9th century, quickly consolidated, and Nikephoros' decision to help the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav, who was fighting with the Bulgarians, with money, turned out to be disastrous. At the head of an army consisting of Russians, Hungarians and Pechenegs, Svyatoslav defeated the Bulgarians and in the fall of 969 began to threaten Byzantium on its border with Thrace.

John Tzimiskes and the assassination of the emperor

On the morning of December 11, 969, Nikephoros was found dead: he was killed at night by John Tzimiskes, another Anatolian commander and Theophano's new lover. John went to the throne room of the palace, put on the purple imperial buskins and, supported by Theophano, Basil and Constantine, was proclaimed the new emperor by the palace nobility. Feofano was sent into exile, and anti-church measures were canceled. Bardas Skleros, a relative of John, together with the former emperor's nephew Peter Phocas (a eunuch and therefore not a rival for the throne), led an army that defeated the invading Russian forces at the Battle of Arcadiopolis in the spring of 970. By 971 Svyatoslav admitted defeat and began to retreat through Bulgaria, where he was killed by disgruntled Pechenegs, former allies, who made a cup from his skull. John forced Tsar Boris to abdicate, and the Bulgarian crown was placed triumphantly on the altar of Hagia Sophia, symbolizing the country's loss of independence. In addition, he repulsed the Egyptian Fatimid caliphate, which in 971 attacked Antioch through the Sinai Peninsula. By 974, John's army had restored Byzantine control over Syria, Lebanon and Palestine.

Vasily takes the throne

After the sudden death of John, Basil ascended the throne in 976. Vasily needed to strengthen dynastic power, and in 985 he expelled the court manager, a eunuch also named Vasily, from the palace, and confiscated his vast estates. Varda Sklir, who considered himself the true heir of John Tzimiskes and led the eastern armies, began a three-year civil war. At one time, Bardas Phocas, another nephew of Emperor Nicephorus, was sent into exile in Pontus on the Black Sea as punishment for the rebellion he raised against John Tzimiskes. Vasily convinced him to take an oath of allegiance and lead a military campaign, which ended with the flight of Sklerus to Baghdad. In 987, Sklerus nevertheless resumed his struggle for the imperial throne and entered into an alliance with Phocas. However, Phocas betrayed him and threw him into prison, after which he set off at the head of an army on a campaign through Asia Minor to attack Constantinople. Then the Bulgarian problem arose again. The recent war almost did not affect Western Bulgaria, and it was there that the new Bulgarian Tsar Samuel appeared, who led the popular uprising. In 986, the city of Larissa in Byzantine Thessaly fell to Samuel's army, and the Greeks were defeated.

Vasily turned to the Kyiv prince Vladimir for military assistance, and in December 988, 6 thousand Varangians arrived in Constantinople, who played an important role in the military successes of the Kyiv state. The emperor was forced to agree to Vladimir’s demand to give him his sister Anna as his wife if he accepted the Christian faith. The new Russian Church became part of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and Orthodox culture gained new breath.

The Varangians of Vladimir crossed the Hellespont in February 989 and defeated the forces of Phocas at the Battle of Chrysopolis. Following this, Phocas died of a massive heart attack, and the freed Sklerus, by this time almost blind, expressed his submission to Basil and advised him to impose taxes on the Anatolian nobility and cut down their land holdings in order to keep them in obedience. Basil announced an edict on January 1, 996, which returned to the previous owners all property acquired over sixty-one years, and no compensation was provided. In doing so, he destroyed the economic base of large landowners like Foca, strengthened the position of the small ones who formed the backbone of the imperial army, and returned the lands to the possession of the emperor.

In April 995, Basil's well-trained army crossed Anatolia in just sixteen days, covering a distance of a thousand kilometers. And 17 thousand soldiers appeared in front of the city walls of Aleppo, besieged by the Fatimids. Aleppo was saved, and with it Northern Syria, while a ten-year truce concluded with the Egyptian Caliphate made it possible to secure the eastern Syrian border of Basil's empire. In the west, the Bulgarians, led by Samuel, invaded the Byzantine province of Hellas, went to Corinth and occupied the port of Dyrrachium, and then moved through Dalmatia to Bosnia. Also in 1000, Basil defended his western front by turning the Dalmatian coast into a protectorate of Venice under Byzantine suzerainty.

In the same year, Prince David Kurapalat was killed in Georgia, which was very opportune, since the punishment of David for supporting Bardas Phokas implied the return of his lands to the empire after the death of the owner. Among these lands were extensive possessions north of Lake Van, the rights to which Byzantium had previously transferred to David and which were added to his own ancestral lands.

Territorial expansion of Byzantium

Byzantine rule over Bulgaria was not too burdensome, and taxes were low. The Bulgarian Empire became two parts of the Byzantine Empire, Bulgaria and Parisria, while in the west - Croatia, Dioclea, Serbia and Bosnia - ruled by local princes under the suzerainty of the empire. The archbishop of the Bulgarian church was appointed by Vasily, but otherwise the church retained its autonomy.

There were still enough military troubles. King George of Abkhazia annulled the agreement concluded by his father, and after the death of Bagrat in 1014, he occupied David's possessions by force. In 1021-1022 Vasily restored his power over Georgia, after which, as a result of a diplomatic agreement, he also extended it to the Armenian region of Vaspurakan and part of Azerbaijan. Immediately before his death, he was preparing for the invasion of Sicily, which was conquered for the empire by Belisarius in 535, but from the end of the 9th century. occupied by the Arabs.

Basil completely identified himself with Byzantium, and during his reign the empire expanded more than ever. However, he was not married and had no heir. Ahead was defeat in the battle with the Seljuk Turks at Manzikert (1071), after which Byzantium lost Anatolia. Taking advantage of the war between Byzantium and the Seljuks, the Bulgarians in 1185 raised a popular uprising, which ended with the birth of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. In the first half of the 13th century. it became the main force in the Balkans, after which it was conquered by the Tatar-Mongols, then the Serbs, and at the end of the 14th century. conquered by the same force that destroyed Byzantium itself - the Ottoman Empire.

His co-ruler, as before, was his younger brother Constantine VIII

Although Basil, by the will of his father Romanus II, was crowned while still a child, due to his youth he did not have any real power either during the reign of Nikephoros Phocas or under John Tzimiskes. But despite this, both he and his brother could well consider themselves lucky - they were not only not deprived of their lives, but were not even maimed, castrated or sent to a monastery.

Power passed into the hands of Vasily when he was no more than twenty years old, so his great-uncle, also Vasily, was in charge of state affairs under him. He was the son of Roman I and his Bulgarian concubine, and as a child he was castrated, just in case, by order of Constantine Porphyrogenitus. Eunuch Vasily occupied one of the highest court positions, which gave him the right to a bedroom next to the imperial chambers, and all contacts with the emperor depended only on his will.

As always happens when there is a change of ruler, things escalated into unrest and attempts to usurp power. The commander of the eastern troops, Varda Sklir, whose sister Mary was married to John Tzimiskes, was proclaimed emperor by his own soldiers in 976, and only three years later his rebellion was able to be suppressed by another outstanding commander, Varda Phocas - he, like Sklir, came from an aristocratic background. circles of Asia Minor. Sklir himself escaped by fleeing to the Arabs.

In 985, the emperor, suspecting that the eunuch Vasily and Varda Phocas were preparing a conspiracy against him, organized a kind of coup d'etat: Vasily was arrested and sent into exile, losing his entire fortune.

In 985, Vasily led troops on a campaign against Samuel, who managed to create a strong state on the territory of Macedonia and Bulgaria with its capital in Ohrid, which threatened northern Greece. The campaign, however, ended in the defeat of the Byzantines. Taking advantage of this failure, the Asia Minor aristocracy again kindled a civil war. The rebels were led by Varda Sklir and Varda Foka, who a few years ago had been sworn enemies. This time, at first they acted in complete agreement, but then Phocas removed Skleros and, proclaiming himself emperor, marched on the capital.

The legitimate ruler was literally saved at the last moment by armed reinforcements from the Kyiv prince Vladimir, the grandson of Princess Olga. The Russian detachment in 989 played a decisive role in the battles of Chrysopolis and Avidos.

Vasily vowed to give his sister Anna as a wife to Vladimir if he himself accepted baptism and baptized Rus'. But the marriage of a “purple-born” with a barbarian—namely, almost everyone who was not a Byzantine was considered a barbarian in Constantinople—was something completely unheard of. Vasily was afraid of the promise he had made and continued to stall for time. Only when Vladimir began to threaten the Byzantine possessions in Crimea, Anna was finally married to the Kyiv prince.

This event was of enormous historical significance: Rus' really accepted baptism, although it was not without violent attempts at resistance. Thus, the Eastern Slavs, like the southern Slavs earlier, found themselves in the sphere of religious and cultural influence of Byzantium - with all the ensuing consequences that are felt to this day.

In domestic politics, Vasily, just like Roman I Lekapin before him, tried to restrain the growth of large landownership and church property - this was done both in the interests of the state (the need to preserve small landownership), and out of Vasily’s personal hostility towards the aristocracy, especially Asia Minor, whose representatives constantly threatened his power.

But Vasily paid most of his attention to foreign policy. He constantly fought, and above all with Samuel, the ruler of Macedonia and Bulgaria. This Byzantine emperor was first and foremost a warrior, harsh both to himself and to others. He preferred life in a military camp to court ceremonies.

Beginning in 991, Vasily almost constantly waged wars on the northern borders of the empire. However, he had to interrupt them in order to fight for several years (mostly successful) with the Arabs, first in Syria, where he managed to retain Byzantine possessions within its former borders, and then in Armenia - with the same result.

In 997, King Samuel, in an aggressive raid, reached the Peloponnese itself, but on the way back he was defeated by the Byzantine army.

In 1001–1004, the emperor won a number of victories in the war with Samuel and occupied most of the lands under his control.

In 1014, the Byzantines defeated Samuel's troops in the Strumitsa River valley and captured more than ten thousand soldiers. The emperor ordered to blind all the prisoners, leaving only one eye for every hundredth, so that he could serve as a guide for the rest, and released them. Two days after King Samuel saw this army of blind men, he died. His successors recognized themselves as subjects of Byzantium, and Vasily II himself received the nickname Bulgarian Slayer.

Thanks to the victorious wars, the borders of Byzantium were established along the Danube and Sava. The entire Balkan Peninsula found itself within the sphere of religious and cultural influence of Byzantium - although in some areas it was more intense and in others less intense. In the east and south, the borders of the empire reached northern Syria, and in the west - southern Italy. And although the empire was no longer as vast as in the times of Justinian I or Heraclius, it still represented one of the largest and best organized states of that time in Europe and the Mediterranean basin. And from the point of view of the level of civilization and culture in this region, he had no equal. Only a few Arab centers could compete with Byzantium in some aspects, while all the countries of Western and Central Europe were semi-barbaric in comparison. Rome lay in ruins, and meanwhile Constantinople, which had never been captured for many centuries, shocked the imagination not only with the splendor of its temples and the architecture of secular buildings, but also with the continuity of the existence of institutions of state power. Although, on a global scale, Byzantium, of course, cannot stand any comparison with what China was able to achieve - in all spheres of public life.

Vasily the Bulgarian-Slayer died of natural causes on December 15, 1025 during preparations for the next campaign against the Sicilian Arabs. He was not married and left no offspring.

In the same year, the first king of Poland, Boleslaw the Brave, died, who, like Vasily, was a successful conqueror.