Basil II ruled the Byzantine Empire for 49 years and earned the title Bulgar Slayer after ordering the blinding of 15,000 captured Bulgarian soldiers, leaving one eye in every hundredth man so they could lead the rest home. He was a paranoid, ascetic bachelor who turned Byzantium into the most powerful state in Europe.

This episode traces the reign of an emperor whose brutality was matched only by his effectiveness.

• The mass blinding of Bulgarian prisoners and its strategic purpose
• His early struggles against overmighty aristocrats and military rebels
• The conquest of Bulgaria and the expansion of Byzantine power
• Why he never married, never named an heir, and left the empire vulnerable