This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 70-644 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 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 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 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PLEASE NOTE: Mounted illustrations are not original copy. Some are blurred and indistinct. Filmed in the best possible way. UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 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. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 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 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 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 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 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 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 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 " Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 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.) Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 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). Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.