he
opposed image-worship at the second council of Nicaea, but afterwards
retracted. (4) Basil of Achrida, archbishop of Thessalonica about 1155; he
was a stanch upholder of the claims of the Eastern Church against the
widening supremacy of the papacy.

BASIL I. (d. 886), known as the "MACEDONIAN", Roman emperor in the East,
was born of a family of Armenian (_not_ Slavonic) descent, settled in
Macedonia. He spent a part of his boyhood in captivity in Bulgaria, whither
his family was carried by the Bulgarian prince Krum in 813. He succeeded in
escaping and was ultimately lucky enough to enter the service of
Theophilitzes, a relative of the Caesar Bardas (uncle of Michael III.), as
groom. It seems that while serving in this capacity he visited Patrae with
his master, and gained the favour of Danielis, a very wealthy lady of that
place, who received him into her household, and endowed him with a fortune.
He earned the notice of Michael III. by winning a victory in a wrestling
match, and soon became the emperor's boon companion and was appointed
chamberlain (_parakoem[=o]menos_). A man of his stamp, advancing
unscrupulously on the road of fortune, had no hesitation in divorcing his
wife and marrying a mistress of Michael, Eudocia Ingerina, to please his
master. It was commonly believed that Leo VI., Basil's successor and
reputed son, was really the son of Michael. The next step was to murder the
powerful Caesar Bardas, who, as the emperor was devoted to amusement,
virtually ruled the empire; this was done with the emperor's consent by
Basil's own hand (April 866), and a few weeks later Basil was raised to the
imperial dignity. Hitherto few perhaps had divined in the unprincipled
adventurer, who shared in the debauches of the imperial drunkard, the
talents of a born ruler. On the throne he soon displayed the serious side
of his nature and his exceptional capacities for administration. In
September 867 he caused his worthless benefactor to be assassinated, and
reigned alone. He inaugurated a new age in the history of the empire,
associated with the dynasty which he founded,--"the Macedonian dynasty" it
is usually called; it would be more instructive to call it "Armenian." It
was a period of territorial expansion, during which the empire was the
strongest power in Europe. The great legislative work which Basil undertook
and his successor completed, and which may be described as a revival of
Justinianean law, entitles him to the