A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

BASILIUS.
gradual1 y conquered during the ninth century.
They had also laid siege to Chalcis; but there
they were defeated with great loss, and the Greeks
burnt the greater part of their fleet off Creta. After these successes, Basil sent an army to Italy,
which was commanded by Procopius and his lieutenant Leo. Procopius defeated the Arabs wherever he met them; but his glory excited the jealousy of Leo, who abandoned Procopius in the heat
of a general action. Procopius was killed while
endeavouring to rouse the spirit of his soldiers,
who hesitated when they beheld the defection of
Leo. Notwithstanding these unfavourable occurrences, the Greeks carried the day. Basil immediately recalled Leo, who was mutilated and sent
into exile. The new commander-in-chief of the
Greek army in Italy was Stephanus Maxentius,
an incompetent general, who was soon superseded
in lis command by Nicephorus Phocas, the grandfather of Nicephorus Phocas who became emperor
in 963. This happened in 885; and in one campaign Nicephorus Phocas expelled the Arabs from
the continent of Italy, and forced them to content
themselves with Sicily.
About 879, Basil lost his eldest son, Constantine.
His second son, Leo, who succeeded Basil as Leo
VI. Philosophus, was for some time the favourite
of his father, till one Santabaren succeeded in
kindling jealousy between the emperor and his son.
Leo was in danger of being put to death for crimes
which he had never committed, when Basil discovered that he had been abused by a traitor. Santabaren was punished (885), and the good understanding between Basil and Leo was no more
troubled. In the month of February, 886, Basil
was wounded by a stag while hunting, and died
in consequence of his wounds on the 1st of March
of the same year.
Basil was one of the greatest emperors of the
East; he was admired and respected by his subjects and the nations of Europe. The weak government of Michael III. had been universally
despised, and the empire under him was on the
brink of ruin, through external enemies and internal troubles. Basil left it to his son in a flourishing state, with a well organised administration,
and increased by considerable conquests. As a
legislator, Basil is known for having begun a new
collection of the laws of the Eastern empire, the
BaeaAutcal Aiardas-, "Constitutiones Basilicae," or
simply "Basilica," which were finished by his son
Leo, and afterwvards augmented by Constantine
Porphyrogeneta. The bibliographical history of this
code belongs to the history of LEO VI. Philosophus.
(See Diet. of Ant. s. v. Basilica.) The reign of
Basil is likewise distinguished by the propagation
of the Christian religion in Bulgaria, a most important event for the future history of the East.
Basil is the author of a small work, entitled
Kespa'Aama reapaivesrirac (o'. rpis reOV Eavro vi sl
A-o'ra (Eyxhortationum Capita LXVI. ad Leoncis
filiuam), which he dedicated to, and destined for,
his son Leo. It contains sixty-six short chapters,
each treating of a moral, religious, social, or political principle, especially such as concern the duties
of a sovereign. Each chapter has a superscription,
such as, Isep1 arateivoe'ses, which is the first; respl
T-Lpijs 'lepsWsv; fniept 8vcasomsYrjS; lEpl c ipxiIs;
Ilept Ad'yov 'eAEiov, &c., and nept dray.rv.'ews
ypixCwv, whichn is the last. The first edition of
this work was published, with a Latin translation,

BASILIUS. 469
by F. Morellus, at Paris, 1584, 4to.; a second edition was published by Damke, with the translation
of Morellus, Basel, 1633, 8vo.; the edition of
Dransfeld, Gattingen, 1674, 8vo., is valued for
the editor's excellent Latin translation; and another edition, with the translation of Morellus
corrected by the editor, is contained in the first
volume (pp. 143-156) of Bandurius, " Imperium
Orientale," Paris, 1729.
(Preface to the Erxhortationes, in Bandurius
cited above; Zonar. xvi.; Cedren. pp. 556-592,
ed. Paris; Leo Grammat. pp. 458-474, ed. Paris;
Fabric. Bibl. Graec. viii. pp. 42, 43.) [W. P.]
BASPLIUS II. (Bao-iAstos), emperor of the
East, was the elder son of Romanus IT., of the
Macedonian dynasty, and was born in A. n. 958;
he had a younger brother, Constantine, and two
sisters, Anna and Theophano or Theophania. Romanus ordered that, after his death, which took
place in 963, his infant sons should reign together,
under the guardianship of their mother, Theophano
or Theophlania; but she married Nicephorus Phocas, the conqueror of Creta, and raised him to the
throne, which he occupied till 969, when he was
murdered by Joannes Zimisces, who succeeded to
his place. Towards the end of 975, Zimisces received poison in Cilicia, and died in Constantinople
in the month of January, 976. After his death,
Basil and Constantine ascended the throne; but
Constantine, with the exception of some military
expeditions, in which he distinguished himself, led
a luxurious life in his palace in Constantinople,
and the care of the government devolved upon
Basil, who, after having spent his youth in luxuries and extravagances of every description, shewed
himself worthy of his ancestor, Basil I., and was
one of the greatest emperors that ruled over the
Roman empire in the East.
The reign of Basil II. was an almost uninterrupted series of civil troubles and wars, in which,
however, the imperial arms obtained extraordinary
success. The emperor generally commanded his
armies in person, and became renowned as one of
the greatest generals of his time. No sooner was
he seated on the throne, than his authority was
shaken by a revolt of Sclerus, who, after bringing
the emperor to the brink of ruin, was at last defeated by the imperial general, Phocas, and obliged
to take refuge among the Arabs. Otho II., emperor of Germany, who had married Theophania,
the sister of Basil, claimed Calabria and Apulia,
which belonged to the Greeks, but had been promised as a dower with Theophlania. Basil, unable
to send sufficient forces to Italy, excited the Arabs
of Sicily against Otho, who, after obtaining great
successes, lost an engagement with the Arabs, and
on his flight was taken prisoner by a Greek galley,
but nevertheless escaped, and was making preparations for a new expedition, when he was poisoned. (982.) In consequence of his death, Basil was
enabled to consolidate his authority in Southern
Italy. In different wars with Al-masin, the khalif of Baghdad, and the Arabs of Sicily, who were
the scourge of the sea-towns of Southern Italy, the
Greeks made some valuable conquests, although
they were no adequate reward either for the expenses incurred or sacrifices made in these expeditions. Basil's greatest glory was the destruction
of the kingdom of Bulgaria, which, as Gibbon says,
was the most important triumphs of the Roman
arms since the time of Belisarias. Basil opened