Rebellion of Bardas Phokas the Younger

Bardas Phokas the Younger was proclaimed emperor by powerful eastern aristocrats opposed to Basil II. His rebellion followed years of conflict between the Macedonian emperors and military families with strong provincial armies.

Basil secured assistance from Vladimir of Kyiv and received a force of Rus warriors. Phokas advanced towards Constantinople but died during the decisive fighting at Abydos in 989, causing the rebellion to collapse.

This context supports Byzantine fiction about Basil II’s early reign, civil war, court politics and the arrival of Rus and Norse troops in imperial service.