OCTOBER 6, 1014 – Born Basileios II, Emperor Basil II ruled Rome’s Byzantine Empire from 976 A.D. until his death in 1025 A.D. By the time the Empire took control of Bulgaria, he

had already regained many of the territories lost in Asia Minor and Syria.

On July 29, Emperor Basil finally separated Bulgarian leader Samuel from his army after many years of battle. Having conquered Samuel’s army, he took 15,000 of the troops

as prisoners of war, and on October 6 ordered nearly all of them to be blinded. Ten percent of these POWs were blinded only in one eye so they could lead the rest back to Bulgaria. Samuel was shocked at the sight of his mutilated men, and fainted. Two days later, he died of a stroke. Bulgaria finally

succumbed to the Byzantines, and Basil II earned the nickname “Boulgaroktonos,” the Bulgar-slayer.

Basil II eventually returned Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) and much of Southern Italy back to Roman control. He lived a military lifestyle, to the point of rationing his food in the same way as his soldiers had to, and he took in the children

of his fallen troops as his own. He was planning a takeover of Sicily when he died in 1025 A.D. His last request was to be buried next to his cavalry training field so he could oversee his dead soldiers train for combat for all eternity. ?