Basil II and the Governance of Empire (976-1025) [Hardcover]

This is the first book-length study in English of the Byzantine emperor Basil II, the Bulgar-slayer. Basil presided over a Byzantium which was the superpower of the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East in the century before the Crusades. Catherine Holmes peels away the layers of later interpretations to reveal an empire that was governed by a potent mixture of subtle persuasion and brute force.

1. Basil's reign in modern and medieval historical literature
2. Basil II and John Skylitzes: the historian's career and working methods
3. Basil II and the testimony of John Skylitzes: textual analysis
4. Basil II and the testimony of John Skylitzes: contexts
5. The revolts of Skleros and Phokas: historiography and the Skleros manifesto
6. Administration and imperial authority on the eastern frontier
7. Administration and imperial authority on Byzantium's western frontiers
8. The reign of Basil II: a reconstruction

Basil II and the Governance of Empiremarks a major advance in the understanding of the late tenth and early eleventh century...[A] fundamental and balanaced monograph... --Speculum