Basil II ( An outstanding monarch, politician, and military strategist in the mid Eastern Roman Empire.
The eleventh emperor of the Byzantine Macedonian dynasty, reigned for 62 years. During his reign, the Byzantine Empire reached its second golden age (the first being the reign of Justinian), and in 1018 AD, it destroyed the once prosperous First Kingdom of Bulgaria. [1]
At the same time, Basil II reiterated Romanus' law to protect small farmers, which eased domestic conflicts. [1]
In 1025 AD, on the eve of the attack on Sicily, Basil II passed away due to illness at the age of 67. [1]
Due to his cruel treatment of Bulgarians during the Bulgarian War, he is also known as the "Bulgarian Butcher".

Basil II was a prominent figure in the mid Byzantine Empire. The era of Basil II was one of the two golden periods on par with the era of Justinian.
Preface Description
Not allowing their subjects to have too much influence, not allowing any prominent military officer to have huge wealth, and using various donations and taxes to suppress them at will, so that they spend all their time taking care of their private affairs and have no time for others to care about. Not trusting anyone, only letting a few people know about their plans.
——A Byzantine writer's description of Basil II's policies. [1]
historical background
The movement to destroy icons in the 8th century and the strengthening of the military district system led to an increase in the military power of the Byzantine Empire. After the 9th century, as the tornadoes brought by the Arab Empire subsided, the Byzantine Empire gradually gained the upper hand on the eastern battlefield, but the Arab Empire remained a major long-term threat.
At the same time, the various "barbarian tribes" in the northern part of the Byzantine Empire, including Bulgarians, Magyars, southern Slavs, Russians, and others, were developing rapidly and entering the stage of statehood. They possessed a fierce and fearless spirit, which made the Byzantine Empire suffer greatly. Especially the Bulgarians, who had already established their country in the late 7th century, became strong enemies of Byzantium during the reign of Grand Duke Krum in the early 9th century, and even forced Byzantium to bow down and pay tribute during the reign of Emperor Simon the Great, almost taking the throne of Byzantium.
Faced with the threat of various barbarians, the Byzantine Empire also had its advantages. Christianity is one of its weapons, often able to turn enemies into friends. "Borrowing barbarians to fight barbarians" was also a common tactic used by the Byzantine Empire, using money or other bait to lure other "barbarians" to attack the more threatening "barbarians". As a result, the Byzantine Empire gained a reputation for being cunning and ever-changing.
In 867, Basil I from Macedonia completed a mythical journey from a farmer to an emperor, establishing the Macedonian dynasty. This miraculous figure achieved success in both military and diplomatic affairs, laying a solid foundation for his successors. But during the reign of his son Leo VI and the heyday of the First Bulgarian Kingdom, he suffered a lot of shame under the whip of Emperor Simon the Great. By the time of Constantine VII and Romanus II, the empire's power gradually fell into the hands of military nobles. The Byzantine Empire was eager for the emergence of a virtuous new ruler.

Early career
In 958, Basil II was born.
At the age of 5, his father Romanus II passed away and he succeeded as emperor, regent of his mother Fiona (also translated as "Theophano"). But later on, Nikifolus Phocas, who held the military power of the empire, married Fiona and became a co emperor with the young Basil brothers as stepfathers. Known as Nicephlus II. Nikifrus Phokas was a representative figure of the military aristocracy in Asia Minor, with great military talent. He recaptured territories such as Crete and Cyprus from the Arabs and used the Russians to inflict devastating blows on his arch enemies, the Bulgarians.
But this outstanding commander died in a cruel palace conspiracy in 967, and the murderer John Gimiskismi took over his throne, becoming the second "co ruler" of Basil, known as John I.
In 976, John Jimiskis died, and at the age of 18, Basil II was determined to monopolize power. But the military aristocracy of Asia Minor, who had already introduced multiple emperors, did not want to be lonely and introduced their new leader, Badas Skoleru. Skoleru declared himself a co emperor immediately after the death of Zikami.
So, a civil war was inevitable, and Basil II sent the imperial chief eunuch Basil Lekapin to quell the rebellion. Lekapin was the illegitimate son of Romanus I (Basil II's great grandfather), cunning and talented, but his military mediocrity made Skoleru even more arrogant. Basil II had to appoint another feudal aristocrat in Asia Minor, Badas Fokas (Nikifrus Fokas's nephew), and sought the help of the Georgian Allies to finally quell Skoleru's rebellion. This rebellion lasted for three years (976-979).
But Badas Phocas is not a good person either. Due to Basil II's adoption of a series of policies to strengthen centralization and suppress the powerful aristocrats of Asia Minor, which harmed their interests, the conflict between the two sides began to intensify.

In 986 AD, Badas Skoleru made a comeback with the support of Arabs, Kurds, and Armenians, launching a larger second rebellion. Basil II had planned to repeat the old trick and allow Badas Phocas to suppress the rebellion once again. However, Badas Phocas led his army to join forces with the rebels to fight against the emperor. In 987, he proclaimed himself emperor and quickly took control of almost the entire Asia Minor, leaving only Constantinople for Basil II.
This is the most critical moment in Basil's life, but human potential can only be fully realized at such a moment. He made full use of the advantages of having the capital and orthodox status, utilizing the abundant financial resources of Constantinople, and using the personal army of Roswaleg as his main force. After two years of hard work, he quelled this rebellion.
In 988, Basil II successfully formed an alliance with Grand Duke Vladimir I Sviatoslavich of Kiev, and the Russian army became mercenaries of the Byzantine army. (The price of this alliance with Byzantium was to post the emperor's sister Anna. As the Russians were considered barbarians by the Byzantines, Anna initially firmly refused and resisted with death, but in the end, she had to comply for the sake of national interests.)
Although the rebellion was quelled, it still left serious wounds in the heart of Basil II. Afterwards, he no longer trusted his country's military aristocracy and instead began to use mercenaries on a large scale for combat.

Internal Iron Wrist
Basil ascended to the throne at the age of 5, took power at the age of 18, and finally pacified all hostile forces at the age of 31, truly monopolizing power. Although born in the deep palace and raised in the hands of women, he has become a mature and seasoned monarch after several court struggles to seize power and quell rebellions.
After two rebellions, the military aristocratic power in Asia Minor, which was once a serious threat to monarchy, was severely affected. However, Basil still has lingering fear of aristocratic power. On the other hand, at that time, the aristocracy were more willing to invest funds in more profitable land management, and land consolidation activities became increasingly intense. As the cornerstone of the national army and tax revenue, the economic situation of the self cultivated peasant soldiers deteriorated day by day, and the number of free farmers who served in corv é e labor and paid taxes continued to decrease.
Basil is acutely aware of this, and a key focus of his policies after taking office is to curb the powerful. In 996, he strictly ordered the feudal lords to return all the land occupied by the farmers in the village. In 1001, the "Payment Agency Law" was promulgated, which stipulated that the "wealthy and strong" must be responsible for the "poor and weak" in paying taxes. If the "poor and weak" are unable to pay, they will be paid by the "wealthy and strong" on their behalf. This means that the secular landlords will have to take responsibility for the taxation of their serfs, ensuring the country's tax revenue while also cracking down on the greedy landlords. Although this law was strongly opposed by the feudal lords, it was still upheld during the reign of Basil II.
However, overall, Basil II's efforts did not stop the trend of the Byzantine Empire where the rich became richer and the poor became poorer. Generally speaking, a society will spontaneously experience wealth inequality without intervention, and only the dominant emperors in the early stages of a dynasty have the ability to reverse this trend. However, the efforts of emperors in the middle of a dynasty often have little effect.

Using force in Syria
After resolving the domestic enemies, Basil II turned his attention to West Asia, where the Arabs had been infiltrating Byzantine territories in Asia. Since the early Caliphate's large-scale invasion of Byzantine territory was repelled, both sides have been engaged in a tug of war. During the reigns of Nicephus II and John I, they adopted a tough policy and seized some territories from Muslims; But the rebellion in Asia and the prolonged civil war that followed weakened Byzantium's position in the East, and these places gained and lost again. Aleppo is besieged by Muslim troops, and Antioch is also under threat. In 995, Basil II assembled a 40000 strong army to fight against the Arabs in Asia. He achieved several victories in Syria, lifted the siege of Aleppo, and subsequently occupied the Orontes River Valley. Basil II even advanced further south (Homs and Mesopotamia), but due to insufficient troops, he did not attempt to recapture Jerusalem.
In July 998, Damian Darasenos, the governor of Antioch in the Byzantine Empire, launched an attack on the city of Apamia under the control of the Fatimid dynasty. He won first and then lost, and died in the Battle of Apamia. In 999, Basil II led his army to the east, captured Apamia, and set fire to the city of Aka.
The victory of Basil II restored the Byzantine Empire's rule in Syria. Since the rise of the Arabs, Byzantium has lost the territory of the ancient Roman Empire in Syria, and no Byzantine emperor after Heraclius was able to rule these places. Due to the achievements of Basil II, these regions were reintegrated into Byzantium for 75 years.】

Bulgarian Butcher
After the arrival of the year 1000, Basil began his military campaign to conquer Bulgarian Tsar Samuel. In 1002, Bulgaria reached its peak, and through a series of conquests, Samuel expanded Bulgaria's territory to a vast area north of the Danube, south of northern Greece, west of the Adriatic Sea, and east of the Black Sea. And all the territories were taken from Byzantium for 300 years. And Basil was determined to reclaim these territories, and in the following decade or so, the Byzantine and Bulgarian armies engaged in prolonged warfare on the Balkan Peninsula. On July 29, 1014, Basil forced the Bulgarian main force to near Salonica on the north coast of the Aegean Sea, forcing the Bulgarian army to engage in a decisive battle, and the Battle of Cresion broke out. The Bayan army achieved a decisive victory, capturing 14000 defenders. Basil ordered 99% of the prisoners to be blinded and the remaining 1% to be taken home, in order to intimidate the Bulgarians. As a result, Basil earned the reputation of being a "Bulgarian killer". In 1018, Basil invaded Bulgaria on a large scale, and the First Kingdom of Bulgaria was destroyed. Byzantium annexed all the territories of Bulgaria for 168 years and subdued the Kingdom of Serbia in Dalmatia. At the same time, in 1016, Basil and Kiev Rus united and defeated the attack of the Kingdom of Cosa on the Crimean Peninsula, successfully preserving Byzantine territory in the southern part of the Crimean Peninsula.