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Basil II, the Matador of Bulgaros

There are many historical facts worthy (curious dignity) to be included in that extensive and unfinished list of barbarities committed by human beings, taking this for granted, and knowing that on more than one occasion we will use it to that recommended exercise of not forgetting the mistakes of the past, we focus today on the figure of the Byzantine emperor Basil II and more specifically on the facts that earned him the qualification of Matador de Bulgaros .

Basil II, the Matador of Bulgaros

It was the year 1014 and the energetic Basil II was about to complete one of his purposes: to subject the uncomfortable Bulgarians, who for years had harassed the Byzantine Empire , arriving at the gates of Constantinople on more than one occasion.

The Byzantine army had managed to corner the troops of Samuel (king of the bul garos in those days) in the Greek region of Thessaly, forcing them to fight in unfavorable conditions in the battle of Kleidion .The result would be a crushing Byzantine victory and the capture of 15,000 Bulgarian soldiers.

Basil II, who had no Geneva Convention to comply with and eager to apply a final solution to the Bulgarian problem, ordered to blind the prisoners, leaving one-eyed for every one hundred blind in order to that could guide his companions back home.They tell the chronicles that the Bulgarian king Samuel, who had been announced the return of the remains of his defeated army, went out to meet him, being horrified to see more than fourteen thousand blind guided by a few one-eyed people.It was such a horror that, according to legend, Samuel suffered a stroke and would die two days later.

What we do know is that the first Bulgarian kingdom would finally be converted into a Byzantine province and that Basil II found the tranquility What he needed on this side of the Empire to devote himself to other chores in the East.We also know that when Basil returned to Constantinople as the winner he was acclaimed by the populace as Basil Bulgaroctonos , the Matador of Bulgaros .It is what war crimes have, which hurt less when the other party suffers.

In the end, Basil II would be one of the great Byzantine emperors, arriving at the Empire under his reign to the top of its heyday, saving distances with Justinian.Still, every time I try to put myself in Samuel's flesh and try to visualize that endless row of blind men whose only crime was to lose a war decided by others, something within my is removed.

Basil II, the Matador of Bulgaros

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