Hello everyone and welcome to the history of Byzantium, episode 158, The Legend Slayer.

Asking for listener questions at the end of each century has been an invaluable experience.

And for any feedback I receive, I always assume that there are hundreds of silent listeners

who have wondered the same thing.

When we reached the end of Basil II's monumental reign, one listener commented that the story

was a bit of a letdown.

Where was the drama?

Where was the sweeping praise of Basil the Bulgur Slayer, greatest of all Byzantine emperors?

Soon after, two other listeners asked, why is it that we know so little about his reign?

Remember that once the civil wars were over, we were left in the dark about large sections

of the Bulgarian war, and we know almost nothing about life in Constantinople.

It's these and a few other questions that I'd like to discuss today.

I don't want to repeat myself too much, but the popular image of Basil was formed by historians

of the 19th and early 20th century.

They put Basil's decades-long war in Bulgaria together with the mass blindings and collapse

of the kingdom and hey presto.

Basil was a man driven by vengeance who would not rest until the Bulgarian state had been

annexed.

It's true that Basil was a driven man, and he did blind enemies who broke their word,

but there is little evidence that it was a personal matter.

In fact, Basil's behavior is very similar to a man who is seldom remembered John Corcuas.

As you are now hopefully recalling, John was the senior general appointed to take charge

...