introduction

Two emperors dominate the generation or so following iconoclasm, Michael III the Amorian (842–67) and Basil I the Macedonian (867–86). The story of this pair is intimately intertwined, although it climaxed with the assassination of the former at the instigation of the latter on the night of 23 September 867 in Michael’s bedroom in the palace of St Mamas. Thus began the long ascendancy of the Macedonian dynasty, which witnessed the peak of Byzantium’s power. A clear understanding of the reigns of Michael and Basil is, however, fraught with difficulty given the nature of our main narrative sources. These are both late – dating to the mid-tenth century – and polarised. The Macedonians were naturally keen to justify the ousting of Michael III, so he is depicted in Theophanes Continuatus and Genesios as unworthy of imperial power and deserving of his fate. The Macedonians were also concerned to present Basil in the best possible light, as God-favoured and preordained to rule. The most famous expression of this is the Life of Basil (which forms book five of Theophanes Continuatus’ chronicle), written in the reign of his grandson Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (945–59), though we also have Leo VI’s Funeral oration for Basil I (dated to 888) and poems and artefacts from Basil’s reign. However, a hostile view of Basil is provided by the chronicle of Symeon the Logothete, which also treats Michael more ambiguously. Despite these sources’ polarity and emphasis on court politics it is clear that there was continuity in the goals of the two regimes.