Just a reminder this guy was the rightful heir to an Emperor that was assassinated and then outlived BOTH of the usurpers to ascend the throne. And at his time he was considered very odd for an Emperor with how little he spent and how he acted personally, despite all that he was the greatest Emperor of his time and perhaps his Empire’s 1,000 year history.
Heisenberg6626 on
He also taxed aristocrats and gave social benefits to commoners. This left the imperial treasury full and the standard of living high.
He wasn’t actually a dick to Bulgarians either after the war despite his nickname. He was pretty chill for his reputation.
ByzantineBasileus on
Little know fact, Basil II was also an amateur ophthalmologist.
SOHONEYSAME on
Italian legend.
redracer555 on
I remember him because he was one of the leaders in Civ VI.
Accurate_Literature6 on
He also gave his sister over to Vlad the Great in exchange for military support. Without him Russia may not have become Christian.
AmpovHater on
Bulgaria was at the peak of its powers during Simeon. Peter was a ruler who valued peace and appeasement, and this complacency weakened the state. We didn’t write down much secular history to be sure what processes took place domestically, but the Bogomils, for example, undermined the church and state and encouraged people not to fight.
By the time the wars with Basil began, Bulgaria had faced invasions by the Pechenegs*, Magyars and the Rus, the latter had executed and imprisoned hundreds of bolyars and this decimated the heavy cavalry. At Trajan’s gate Bulgaria had an infantry and archer army, it wasn’t anything like the army of Simeon.
*Roman sources say the Pechenegs were more numerous than the Bulgarians and we had to appease them
Ymir25 on
He also founded the Varangian Guard. Which is pretty damn metal
ciaphas-cain1 on
If he bothered having kids he’d be undoubtedly number one but leaving a bad successor etc
Aesirite on
*Antisocialism*? For breaking with the aristocracy?
10 Comments
Just a reminder this guy was the rightful heir to an Emperor that was assassinated and then outlived BOTH of the usurpers to ascend the throne. And at his time he was considered very odd for an Emperor with how little he spent and how he acted personally, despite all that he was the greatest Emperor of his time and perhaps his Empire’s 1,000 year history.
He also taxed aristocrats and gave social benefits to commoners. This left the imperial treasury full and the standard of living high.
He wasn’t actually a dick to Bulgarians either after the war despite his nickname. He was pretty chill for his reputation.
Little know fact, Basil II was also an amateur ophthalmologist.
Italian legend.
I remember him because he was one of the leaders in Civ VI.
He also gave his sister over to Vlad the Great in exchange for military support. Without him Russia may not have become Christian.
Bulgaria was at the peak of its powers during Simeon. Peter was a ruler who valued peace and appeasement, and this complacency weakened the state. We didn’t write down much secular history to be sure what processes took place domestically, but the Bogomils, for example, undermined the church and state and encouraged people not to fight.
By the time the wars with Basil began, Bulgaria had faced invasions by the Pechenegs*, Magyars and the Rus, the latter had executed and imprisoned hundreds of bolyars and this decimated the heavy cavalry. At Trajan’s gate Bulgaria had an infantry and archer army, it wasn’t anything like the army of Simeon.
*Roman sources say the Pechenegs were more numerous than the Bulgarians and we had to appease them
He also founded the Varangian Guard. Which is pretty damn metal
If he bothered having kids he’d be undoubtedly number one but leaving a bad successor etc
*Antisocialism*? For breaking with the aristocracy?