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TOBIAS, Norman, 1938-
BASIL I (867-886), THE FOUNDER OF THE
MACEDONIAN DYNASTY: A STUDY OF THE
POLITICAL AND MILITARY HISTORY OF
THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE IN THE NINTH
CENTURY. [Portions of Text in Greek],
Rutgers—The State University, Ph.D., 1969
History, medieval
University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan
© NORMAN TOBIAS 1970
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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BASIL I (867-886), THE POUNDER OP THE MACEDONIAN DYNASTY
A STUDY OP THE POLITICAL AND MILITARY HISTORY OF THE
BYZANTINE EMPIRE IN THE NINTH CENTURY
By NORMAN TOBIAS
A thesis submitted to
The Graduate School
of
Rutgers U niversity
in p a rtial fulfillm ent of the requirements
for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
W ritten under the direction of
Professor Peter Charanis
of the Department of History
New Brunswick, New Jersey
May, 1969
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ABSTRACT OP THE THESIS
Basil the F irst (867-886), the Pounder of the Macedonian Dynasty
A Study of the P o litical and M ilitary History of the
Byzantine Empire in the Ninth Century
by NORMAN TOBIAS, Ph.D.
Thesis d irector: Professor Peter Charanis
Since the f ir s t monograph on Basil the F irst (867-886)
was w ritten in 1908 by Albert Vogt, a considerable amount
of research has been undertaken by many international
scholars. New sources, c ritic a l analyses of the character
of the older sources, and new in terp retation s have revised
and broadened the whole perspective of the ninth century,
altering the trad itio n al picture of B asil’s place in history.
This dissertatio n has a twofold purpose: one, to
provide a new synthesis of the founder of the Macedonian
dynasty which is now long overdue; two, to f i l l in the
deficiencies of Vogt’s e arlie r study, especially the p o liti
cal and m ilitary career of the Emperor B asil.
To achieve my objective I have made a careful analysis
of the relevant Greek, Latin, Armenian, Syriac, Hebrew, and
Slavic sources as well as the secondary lite ra tu re which
has emerged in the la s t sixty years since Vogt’s study.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ABSTRACT......................................................................................................... ii
PREFACE......................................................................................................... iv
Chapter
I. TEE ORIGIN AND BIRTH OF BASIL THE FIRST . . . 1
II. THE EARLY LIFE OF BASIL.................................................. $1
I I I . BASILS RISE TO IOWER....................................................... 9l)-
IV. THE EASTERN THEATER: BASIL’S WARS WITH THE
PAULI C IA N S .............................................................................157
V. BASIL'S WARS WITH THE EASTERNA RABS 873-886:
LAND AND NAVAL OPERATIONS............................................200
VI. THE WESTERN THEATER: THE DALMATIAN AND
ITALIAN CAMPAIGNS..........................................................261
VII. BASIL AND THE SICILIAN WARS..............................................3^2
V III. BASIL’S RELATIONS WITH OTHER PERIPHERAL
STATES 867-886 383
IX. . BASIL’S INTERNAL POLICY......................................................1)43
X. THE CONCLUSION; THE DEATH OF BASIL AND HIS
PLACE IN HISTORY .......................................lj-71
APPENDIX: REPRESENTATIONS....................................................................I(.8l
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.............................................................................I4.88
BIBLIOGRAPHY.....................................................................................................1l91
VITA........................................................................................................................525
iii
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PREFACE
In 1908 the f ir s t monograph on the Emperor Basilt he
F irst (867-886) was w ritten by the B yzantinist AlbertV ogt.
This study, en titled Basile I er\ empereur de Byzance et la
c iv ilisa tio n byzantine a la fin du IX8 sie c le , described the
in stitu tio n a l, religious, and cultural history of the ninth
century. As this has been the only monograph on the
Emperor B asil, Vogt’s book has since' served as the standard
reference for the founder of the Macedonian dynasty.
In the la s t sixty years, our understanding of the ninth
century has been significantly altered and broadened by the
illum inating studies of many international scholars. In the
domain of adm inistrative h istory, for instance, there are
now the studies of J. B. Bury, H. Glykatzi-Ahrweiler,
L. Brelaier, and R. Guilland.
The b rillia n t and stim ulating studies of H. Gregoire
have changed our perspective of the contributions of the
Amorians, placing B asil's rise to power in a new lig h t.
In a sim ilar manner F. Dvornik in his analytical study,
The Photian Schism, has reinterpreted the religious problems
which plagued the Empire. On the subject of B asil’s early
lif e , N. Adontz has added much inform ation. More recently
the chronological problems and legends which complicated the
iv
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study of B asil’s life and reign have also been c la rifie d by
such scholars as V. Grumel, F. Halkin, R. J. H. Jenkins, and
G. Moravcsik, to mention only a few.
In the lig h t of the many studies since Vogt’s monograph,
a re-examination of B asil's reign is now long overdue. This
study has, therefore, endeavored to f i l l th is need in two
ways: f ir s t, by carefully examining the primary sources in
view of recent studies in order to provide a synthesis of
the research of the past sixty years; second, by fillin g in
the deficiencies which s till remain. For instance, in the
areas of m ilitary and p o litica l history little exists outside
of Vogt's curt treatment and A. A. V asiliev’s older study,
Vizanti.ja i Araby (1900-1902).
As in a ll works, however, many topics in this study
have already been touched on by other scholars. To them I
am greatly indebted. At the same time my conclusions are my
own, especially in the area of the p o litica l and m ilitary
history of B asil, where I place the emperor’s reign in its
proper perspective..
In conclusion I wish to express my most sincere apprecia
tion to the faculty of the Department of History at Rutgers
U niversity, to Professor E. W. McDonnell, and especially to
Professor Peter Charanis, who started me on this road and
guided my f ir s t steps.
Norman Tobias
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1
CHAPTER I
THE ORIGIN AND BIRTH OF BASIL THE FIRST
On September 2 Ip, 867 A.D.^ at St. Mamas, a suburban
imperial palace across the Golden Horn, a group of Armenian
conspirators stole quietly into the im perial bed-chamber
where the Emperor Michael III, stupefied with wine, lay
asleep and promptly dispatched him. The mastermind of this
crime was h is co-Emperor, Basil the Macedonian, who owed
everything including h is position to the murdered sovereign.
Fear of losing his recently acquired position to a possible
riv al coupled with an insatiable ambition compelled Basil to
consummate th is atro city against his benefactor. With blood
stained hands he attained the pinnacle of h is m ortal ambition
and established one of the most distinguished dynasties in
Byzantine h isto ry .
Prior to this event l it t le can be said with certainty
concerning the career of B asil. His early years are
entangled in a labyrinth of legends and myths conceived by
his grandson, Constantine Porphyrogenitus, and the court
^Theophanes Continuatus, Chronograph!a, ed. I . Bekker
(Bonn, CSBH, 1838), p. 210, 1)4,“T H ’r ^ l v T fy'v,
€ ( K cf t T tT <i 7 f 1 is cf 1 k*j v o j 7T p ca ~J~s "
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2
h isto rian s. Even his origin and b irth are subjects of de
bate .
The main d iffic u lty lie s in the contradictory nature
of the evidence found in the sources. For instance, both
Byzantine and Armenian sources are in accord over B asil’s
Armenian ancestry, but there is considerable disagreement
over his lineage, especially by Byzantine authors. On the
one hand, the court h isto rian s of the tenth century maintain
B asil’s royal origin from the Arsacids; but la te r, derivative
Byzantine authors give more humble origins. The Arab h isto
rians and w riters add more fuel to th is controversy by not
only being divided over his royal lineage but by asserting,
directly or in d irectly , that Basil was a Slav. H istorians
have, therefore, found ample opportunity for unraveling this
entangled question according to preconceived opinions.
In order to dissipate some of the perplexities asso
ciated with B asil’s origin and b irth , i t w ill perhaps be
beneficial to present, f ir s t, the divergent views which have
found expression in historiography and then to discuss the
evidence of the sources.
The Origin of B asil: The Historiography
Prior to the advent of nationalism , modern historians
viewed the problem of national or ethnic origin disdainfully,
treating the subject in a perfunctory manner or, at best,
2
G. Moravcsik, "Sagen und Legenden liber Kaiser B asileios
I , ” P.O .P. , 15 (1961), 61-126. (This is the most recent
study to examine the legends ''■^nnected with B asil.)
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3
with a disparaging consideration. They weighed B asil's
origin with relativ e indifference.
Even the immortal work of Charles Du Fresne Du Cange,
Familiae Byzantinae (1680) reflects th is general tendency.
Du Cange was to ta lly sile n t concerning B asil's ethnic origin,
although he nowhere excluded the p o ssib ility of his Armenian
n atio n ality . With regard to his lineage, Du Cange believed
that he was of humble origin and rejected the emperor’s royal
3
genealogy as a Fnotian forgery. The Annales E cclesiastici
(1685) of the p ro lific Church h istorian, Cardinal Baronius,
arrived at precisely the same opinion, as h is words clearly
show:
Therefore, when Michael was dead, B asil, who ruled with
him previously as a colleague, assumed the sole ru le.
He was a Macedonian of obscure or base origin, even i f
some have w ritten in fla tte ry that he was descended from
the ancient lineage of the Arsacids.^-
3
C. Du Cange, H istoria byzantina duplici commentario
illu s tra ta : Familiae Byzantinae (2d ed., Venice, 1729), p.
1381 jiEt si Basilium ad supremam, quam adeptus e st, digni
tatem unica eduxerit fortuna, non vero parentum aut fam iliae
splendor, cum ex infimo ortum genere consentiant scriptores
fere omnes [refers to N icetas, Liudprand, and Zonaras]: non
defuere tamen qui August! donatum titu lo , quo Principis v irtu -
tem ac praeclaras dotes commendarent, majoremque auctoritatem
conciliarent im peranti, imaginariam quandam a Tyridate
Armeniorum Rege arcersivere nobilitatem , qua turn ipse, turn
posteri adeo sunt d e lin iti, ut tanquam veram ac legitimam
haud aegre amplexi sin t. F ic titii istiu s stemmatis Photium
Patriarcham auctorem suisse aiunt; quod ille d ig esserit in
B asilii favorem, cuius demereri gratiam avebat."
^C. Baronius, Ann ales E cclesiastici (Coloniae Agrip-
pinae, 1685), Tomus X, p. 370: i:Extincto itaque Michaele
Im peratore, B asilius ab eo antea in collegam assumptus solus
im perat. Fuit Macedo genere ignobile, lic e t ex Arsacidarum,
antiqua stirpe progenitum adulantes a lii prodiderunt.” Else
where he also discusses the Fhotian forgery (p. 527).
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