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🚩 Basil became one of the strongest Byzantine emperors, winning territory in the Balkans, Mesopotamia, Armenia, and Georgia. He crushed rebellions, subdued feudal landowners and conquered the enemies of the Empire. Italy was reorganized and a campaign to retake Sicily was prepared. The might of Roman armies was again respected and feared.
🚩 Big thanks to History Rhymes for collaborating with me on this video: https://www.youtube.com/@historyrhymes1701
🎼 Music: Epidemic Sounds Filmstro Impact Allegretto – Kevin MacLeod
📚 Sources: John Haldon – Byzantium at War AD 600 – 1463 Ian Heath & Angus McBride – Byzantine Armies 886-1118 Ian Heath & Angus McBride – Byzantine Armies 1118 – 1461 Judith Herring – Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire David Nicholle – Manzikert 1071: The Breaking of Byzantium John Julius Norwich – The Normans in the South Paul Stephenson – The Legend of Basil the Bulgar Slayer
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🚩 Big thanks to History Rhymes for collaborating with me on this video: https://www.youtube.com/@historyrhymes1701
📢 Narrated by David McCallion
🎼 Music: Instinct – Bensound Impact Allegretto – Kevin MacLeod Crypto – Kevin MacLeod Epidemic Sounds Volatile Reaction – Kevin MacLeod Filmstro
📚 Sources: John Haldon – Byzantium at War AD 600 – 1463 Ian Heath & Angus McBride – Byzantine Armies 886-1118 Ian Heath & Angus McBride – Byzantine Armies 1118 – 1461 Judith Herring – Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire David Nicholle – Manzikert 1071: The Breaking of Byzantium John Julius Norwich – The Normans in the South Paul Stephenson – The Legend of Basil the Bulgar Slayer
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🚩 Coming back to you with the next installment of the Basil II, the Bulgar Slayer series. In part 5, Basil decisively defeats Samuel of Bulgaria at Kleidion. The victory was a turning point. It is also during this period that Basil blinded 15,000 Bulgarian troops as punishment, an act that largely contributed to later getting the nickname “the Bulgar-slayer”.
🚩 By the end of the 10th, Emperor Basil realized he cannot fight a two-front war. So he began consolidating his position against the Fatimids in the east and shifted his focus west. Between the years 998 and 1004, Basil the Bulgar Slayer began the destruction of the Bulgarian Empire.
🚩 Basil had successfully stabilized the empire after the civil war, exacerbated by the conflict with the Fatimids in Syria. Samuel of Bulgaria took advantage of the situation to invade the Byzantine Empire in the west. Meanwhile, the Fatimids were preparing to push Romans out of Syria. Emperor Basil now faced a fight on two fronts against two formidable opponents. In this episode we will show the Battle of Spercheios (997 AD) and the Battle of Apamea (998 AD), as Basil tries to organize his army to stave off multiple incursions into Byzantine territory.
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🚩 Big thanks to Srpske Bitke https://www.youtube.com/@SrpskeBitke and Dr.Byron Waldron for collaborating with me on this video.
📢 Narrated by David McCallion
📝 Written by Dr. Byron Waldron
🎼 Music: Instinct – Bensound Impact Allegretto – Kevin MacLeod Crypto – Kevin MacLeod Epidemic Sounds Volatile Reaction – Kevin MacLeod
📚 Sources: Carter, M. L. 1985: A Numismatic Reconstruction of Kushano-Sasanian History, Museum Notes (American Numismatic Society) 30, 215-281.
Dodgeon, M. H. & S. N. C. Lieu. (eds.). 1991: The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD 226-363: A Documentary History, London & New York: Routledge.
Edwell, P. 2021: Rome and Persia at War: Imperial Competition and Contact, 193-363 CE, London & New York: Routledge.
Hauser, S. R. 2013: Where is the man of Hadr, who once built it and taxed the land by the Tigris and Chaboras? On the significance of the final siege of Hatra, in L. Dirven (ed.), Hatra: Politics, Culture and Religion between Parthia and Rome. Oriens et Occidens 21, Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 119-139.
Kettenhofen, E. 1982: Die römisch-persischen Kriege des 3. Jahrhunderts n. Chr.: nach der Inschrift Šāhpuhrs I. an der Ka’be-ye Zartošt (ŠKZ). Beihefte zum Tubinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients. Reihe B, Geisteswissenschaften, no. 55, Wiesbaden: Ludwig Reichert.
Kroll, T. (tr.). 1985: The Chronicle of Arbela. CSCO 468, Scriptores Syri 200, Leuven: Peeters Publishers.
MacDonald, D. 1981: The Death of Gordian III: Another Tradition, Historia 30.4, 502-508.
Mosig-Walburg, K. 2009: Römer und Perser: vom 3. Jahrhunderts bis zum Jahr 363 n. Chr., Gutenberg: Computus.
Piacentini, V. F. 1985: Ardashir I Papakan and the Wars against the Arabs: Working Hypothesis on the Sasanian Hold of the Gulf, Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 15, 57-77.
Potter, D. S. 1990: Prophecy and History in the Crisis of the Roman Empire: A Historical Commentary on the Thirteenth Sibylline Oracle, Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press.
Potter, D. S. 2018: Decius and Valerian, in D. W. Burgersdijk & A. J. Ross (eds.), Imagining Emperors in the Later Roman Empire. Cultural Interactions in the Mediterranean 1, Leiden: Brill.
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🚩 Over the past decade, Bulgarian armies under Samuel had conquered much of the European possessions of the Byzantine Empire. In 986, Basil II led the campaign personally with 30,000 soldiers. This much larger than average Roman field army showed the importance the Emperor placed on the threat from Bulgaria and the intent to subdue the Bulgarians with one strike…
🚩 Heraclius’ campaigns are an example of an indirect approach to war strategy. And although his gains would be swiftly lost in the wake of the Muslim Conquest, the method by which they were achieved would remain a point of pride in Byzantine military history.
📜 Sources: Howard-Johnston J. The Last Great War of Antiquity. Oxford University Press 2021. Kaegi W. Heraclius Emperor of Byzantium. Cambridge University Press 2003. Daryaee T. Sasanian Persia. IB Tauris 2009. Kaegi W. Byzantine Military Unrest 471-843. Adolf M Hakkert 1981. Kardaras G. Byzantium and the Avars, 6th-9th Century AD. Brill 2019. Luttwak E. The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press 2009. Pohl W. The Avars. Cornell University Press 2018. Pourshariati P. Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire. IB Tauris 2008. Reinink G, Stolte B (eds.). The Reign of Heraclius (610-641). Peeters 2002. Maksymiuk K. Geography of Roman-Iranian Wars. Uniwersytet Przyrodniczo-Humanistyczny w Siedlcach, Siedlce 2015. Greatrex G, Lieu S. The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars: Part II AD 363-630. Routledge 2002.
