Basil presided over a Byzantium which was the superpower of the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East in the century before the Crusades. This is a study in... » 

Basil presided over a Byzantium which was the superpower of the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East in the century before the Crusades. This is a study in English of the Byzantine emperor Basil II, the 'Bulgar-slayer'. It reveals an empire that was governed by a potent mixture of subtle persuasion and brutal force. «