The Legend of Basil the Bulgar-Slayer

The reign of Basil II (976–1025), the longest of any Byzantine emperor, has long been considered as a 'golden age', in which his greatest achievement was the annexation of Bulgaria. This, we have been told, was achieved through a long and bloody war of attrition which won Basil the grisly epithet Voulgartoktonos, 'the Bulgar-slayer'. In this 2003 study Paul Stephenson argues that neither of these beliefs is true. Instead, Basil fought far more sporadically in the Balkans and his reputation as 'Bulgar-slayer' was created only a century and a half later. Thereafter the 'Bulgar-slayer' was periodically to play a galvanizing role for the Byzantines, returning to centre-stage as Greeks struggled to establish a modern nation state. As Byzantium was embraced as the Greek past by scholars and politicians, the 'Bulgar-slayer' became an icon in the struggle for Macedonia (1904–1908) and the Balkan Wars (1912–1913).

List of illustrations; Preface; Annotated and translation; List of abbreviations; 1. Basil the Bulgar-slayer: an introduction; 2. Basil and Samuel; 3. Basil annexes Bulgaria; 4. Victory and its representations; 5. Basil the younger, porphyrogennetos; 6. The origins of a legend; 7. Basile après Byzance; 8. Basil and the 'Macedonian question'; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

This 2003 illustrated, revisionary account of the long reign of the Byzantine emperor Basil II (976-1025) establishes that the 'Bulgar-slayer' legend was in fact created long after Basil's death, and shows how the emperor's supposedly fearsome reputation was seized upon by scholars and politicians in the modern period.