v11_0563 - BASILIO I IL MACEDONICO Solidus

BASIL I "THE MACEDONIAN"

(23/09/867-28/08/886)

Basil was associated with the throne on May 26, 866 by Michael III the Drunkard and became sole emperor after having assassinated him. He reigned alone for a year, then associated to the throne in 868 his favorite son Constantine, who died in 879. Under the reign of Basil I, Syracuse fell into the hands of Islam and in 878, Sicily was definitively lost. Basil's reign was a period of consolidation. The emperor collected all of Justinian's legal works better known as the Basilica. Basil died in a hunting accident.