Basil I

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Basil I (Greek: Βασίλειος ὁ Μακεδών, Basíleios ō Makedṓn; 811 – 886) was Byzantine Emperor from 867 to 886.

Biography

Originally a peasant from the theme of Makedonia, Basil I entered the court of Michael III and eventually rose in both influence and power, becoming Michael's favourite courtier and chamberlain. In 867, Basil I was crowned co-emperor and later with aid from the Order of the Ancients, he had Michael assassinated and thus became sole emperor of the empire.

Working with the Order of the Ancients

Within the same year, due to the Order's influence, he began to suspect his son Leo to be the child of his predecessor and planned to have him killed. From his beliefs, he became quite callous with his son, even going as far as breaking the boy's arm after an attempted archery demonstration. Despite many instances, Leo managed to survive near-death events. However, the emperor continued to enlist the Order to secretly murder his son. His latest attempt involved letting vipers loose in Leo's room, but fortunately, the Hidden One Hytham killed them and saved the boy while undercover as Varangian guard.

In response, Basil had Hytham brought before him while the Varangian guard Thyra brought Leo as well. Initially thanking Hytham, the emperor angrily ordered Leo to offer his thanks, then coerced the boy to apologize for leaving the door open to the vipers. Baffling Hytham, Basil stated his work did not go unnoticed and implicitly threatened him before dismissing his audience. Realizing Hytham as a problem, he asked the Order to kill him. This led the Order to hire the Varangian guard Steros and another man to kill him in his sleep, only for Hytham to foil the attempt by killing Steros and scaring his accomplice away.

Basil and the Order tried another attempt as they planned an invasion of attackers from the Order to find and kill Leo and his nurse Anna. To plan ahead, the Order enlisted Leo's tutor Theodore, who provided the location and even poisoned the guards near the children's wing of the emperor's palace. However, their efforts were thwarted by Thyra, Hytham, and Basim Ibn Ishaq, Hytham's mentor and a Master Assassin. After further investigation by the three allies, they discovered Theodore's role in the assassination attempt, which Thyra later told Empress Eudocia Ingerina.

Hoping to cover his tracks, Basil immediately ordered Theodore's execution. In order to avoid the rumors and speculation of the attempts against Leo, Basil orchestrated a family outing in Philopation. While his imperial family sat and had a picnic, he and his favorites left to hunt for wolves. To build his reputation among the people, he also planned a chariot race within the Hippodrome, even putting rumors out of himself racing within the event. After a day of preparation, Basil and his family arrived at the Hippodrome and then he addressed the crowd and ensured his part in the races.

After some upsets between the green and blue teams, the crowd became too hostile. Once Basil entered the race himself, the crowd fixated on him while his competitors began to crowd each other to give the emperor space. Once the race began, the emperor was in the lead. However, after Basim threw a spike within the second lap, Basil lost control of the cart and suffered a mishap. At the moment, the Order, orchestrated by their leader Isaac, tried to assassinate Leo again. Although chaos erupted, Leo was ultimately saved by his former head of security Justin while Thyra, Basim, and Hytham eliminated the remaining Order members, including Isaac. Seeing both Leo and Justin hailed as heroes, Basil terminated his relationship with the Order while he dealt with new political and military issues.

Later life

Throughout the rest of his reign, Basil made great work to gain the influence of both its citizens and the Eastern Orthodox Church, giving the latter with much donations as well as gifting priests in Constantinople with expensive gifts. Basil also worked to restore and maintain relations with Rome and Pope John VIII by providing them with precious goods obtained from trading with Dublin in Ireland.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Wrath of the Druids (first mentioned)
• Assassin's Creed: The Golden City (first appearance)