chapter 2 Samuel’s State in The Byzantine Ideology: Basil II and the Construction of Identity

The emperors of old allotted to themselves different burial-sites: some here, others there; but I, Basil the purple-born, erect my tomb in the region of Hebdomon. Here I rest, on the seventh day, from the numerous toils I bore and endured on the battlefield, for from the day that the King of Heaven called upon me to become the emperor, the great overlord of the world, no one saw my spear lie idle. I stayed alert throughout my life and protected the children of the New Rome, valiantly campaigning both in the West, and at the outposts of the East, erecting myriads of trophies in all parts of the world. And witnesses of this are the Persians and the Scyths, together with the Abkhaz, the Ismaelite, the Arab and the Iberian. O man, seeing now my tomb here, reward me for my campaigns with your prayers.1 Basil II’s verse epitaph ∵

The death of Samuel on 6th October 1014 left his State without an exceptional leader who had symbolized its unity for decades. Internecine conflicts in the imperial dynasty which had led to the murder of the heir to the throne, Gabriel Radomir (1014–1015) by his cousin John Vladislav (1015–1018), went in favor of

1 Silvio G. Mercati, “L’epitafio di Basilio Bulgaroctonos secondo it codice Modense Greco 144 ed Ottoboniano Greco 344,” 232–234; Mercati, “Sull’epitafio di Basilio II Bulgaroctonos,” 226–231. English translation by Lauxtermann, Byzantine poetry from Pisides to Geometres, 237.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004394292_004 Samuel’s State in The Byzantine Ideology 77

Figure 4 A modern reproduction of Basil II’s psalter portrait National Historical Museum, Athens

Basil II for the final conquest of Samuel’s State. However, it took him three years to gain control over the main cities and forts in the heartland includ- ing Ohrid and Prespa. Basil benefited from the death of John Vladislav during the siege of Dyrrachium in 1018 and the shifting allegiance of the leading men in exchange for obtaining the titles and prestige from Byzantium. In such cir- cumstances Vladislav’s widow Maria offered the terms of surrender that were