Basil the Younger
He is the subject of a Greek hagiographical biography, the Vita sancti Basilii iunioris,[b] written by his pupil Gregory.
[1][2][3][4][5] The Vita sancti Basilii iunioris is preserved in whole or in part in a total of 24 manuscripts dating from the 12th to the 19th century.
249 of the Synodal (Patriarchal) Library in Moscow and published in François Halkin, Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca, 3rd edition (Brussels, 1957).
The terminus post quem is provided by the death of the Patriarch Theophylaktos, whom Gregory readily criticizes; the terminus ante quem by the death of Constantine VII, since his joint reign with his son Romanos II is mentioned but there is no reference to Romanos' sole reign.
The terminus ante may, however, be pushed back to 961 (the death of Romanos' mother Helena Lekapene) or even 963 (date of composition of the Vision of Kosmas).
[10] The passage through the air towards heaven is interrupted by 21 toll houses (telonia), each manned by demons and dedicated to exposing a specific sin:[10] Theodora's soul runs out of good deeds to outweigh her sins by the fifth toll house and must rely thereafter on Basil's gold.
Arrested on suspicion of espionage, he is brought to Constantinople, where he is interrogated, tortured and thrown before a lion by the parakoimomenos Samonas.
[c][7] After the death of John and Helena, Basil moves into the house of Constantine Barbaros, Samonas' successor as parakoimomenos, in the Arkadianai quarter.
These brothers, relatives of Barbaros and of the tourmarches of Paphlagonia, are said to have been held in high regard by those reigning at the time, which points to the period of the regency of Empress Zoe Karbonopsina in 914–919 for Basil's stay.
[7] During his stay in the Great Palace, Basil rebukes Romanos I for his greediness and lechery, a reproach that the emperor, indulgent towards monks, did not mind.
It may be included because Doukas's widow was forced to retire to an estate in Paphlagonia or as an excuse to criticize the Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos.
[7] The third part of the Vita begins in the reign of Romanos I, specifically after the death of his son Christopher (931) and at a time when there were seven persons of imperial rank in the palace.
[7] According to Gregory, he was buried by Constantine Barbaros in the private church of the Theotokos on the Asian side of the strait across from the capital.
The likely source for this story is Pseudo-Symeon, who records that Barbaros' father owned "a small suburban estate by the sea" near the capital and that Leo VI turned it into a monastery.
